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Chapters (75)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise
  3. About the Author
  4. Title Page
  5. Intoroduction
  6. ONE
  7. TWO
  8. THREE
  9. FOUR
  10. FIVE
  11. SIX
  12. SEVEN
  13. EITHT
  14. NINE
  15. TEN
  16. ELEVEN
  17. TWELVE
  18. THIRTEEN
  19. FOURTEEN
  20. FIFTEEN
  21. SIXTEEN
  22. SEVENTEEN
  23. EIGHTEEN
  24. NINETEEN
  25. TWENTY
  26. TWENTY-ONE
  27. TWENTY-TWO
  28. TWENTY-THREE
  29. TWENTY-FOUR
  30. TWENTY-FIVE
  31. TWENTY-SIX
  32. TWENTY-SEVEN
  33. TWENTY-EIGHT
  34. TWENTY-NINE
  35. THIRTY
  36. THIRTY-ONE
  37. THIRTY-TWO
  38. THIRTY-THREE
  39. THIRTY-FOUR
  40. THIRTY-FIVE
  41. THIRTY-SIX
  42. THIRTY-SEVEN
  43. THIRTY-EIGHT
  44. THIRTY-NINE
  45. FORTY
  46. FORTY-ONE
  47. FORTY-TWO
  48. FORTY-THREE
  49. FORTY-FOUR
  50. FORTY-FIVE
  51. FORTY-SIX
  52. FORTY-SEVEN
  53. FORTY-EIGHT
  54. FORTY-NINE
  55. FIFTY
  56. FIFTY-ONE
  57. FIFTY-TWO
  58. FIFTY-THREE
  59. FIFTY-FOUR
  60. FIFTY-FIVE
  61. FIFTY-SIX
  62. FIFTY-SEVEN
  63. FIFTY-EIGHT
  64. FIFTY-NINE
  65. SIXTY
  66. SIXTY-ONE
  67. SIXTY-TWO
  68. SIXTY-THREE
  69. SIXTY-FOUR
  70. SIXTY-FIVE
  71. SIXTY-SIX
  72. SIXTY-SEVEN
  73. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  74. CLIMATE EMERGENCY
  75. Copyright

Mr Walters sits back at his desk. In the brief moment that I look up, he raises his mug at me.

FIFTEEN

FIFTEEN

I spend a long time packing my bag after Mr Walters tells us we can go. I’m the last one in the room, and as I come out into the corridor, I listen for the other boys’ voices. I’m not keen on walking the way they’re walking.

Outside the school buildings, I see them heading down the main drive and towards town, so I turn the other way and head for the side gate that opens out onto the housing estate and the park. It’ll more than double my walk home, but I’m OK with that.

As I’m crossing the road before the park, I hear someone calling my name behind me. I ignore it and speed up, but the shouting gets nearer and nearer until it’s at my shoulder.

‘Josh. Why didn’t you stop?’ It’s Dana. She sounds out of breath.

‘Sorry, I didn’t hear you.’ I look over her shoulder, up and down the street. I’m flushing with nervousness again.

She seems to know why I’m uncomfortable, ‘Don’t worry. Carl’s nowhere near here. He’s got a job this afternoon out of town.’

I relax, but only slightly.

‘Can I walk home with you? Just had an hour with Amber.’

‘What for?’

‘Told Mrs Beasley to shove her ingredients up her arse in Cookery. And Amber never misses a chance to tell me about how crap I’m doing. “Your choices have consequences, you know.” I could do with someone who makes me laugh. What were you in for?’

‘Biology. Walters.’

She looks slightly startled. ‘Aren’t you, like, really clever though?’

I shrug my shoulders.

Dana smiles. ‘Don’t worry. I won’t tell.’ Her smile fades quickly. ‘Was Alan in there with you?’

‘Yeah. And a few others.’

For a second, a cloud crosses her face. But then she loops her arm through mine and starts to march me up the road, past the park. I’m going even further in the wrong direction.

We walk on up the hill for a few minutes in silence, the sound of construction machinery getting louder as we approach the edge of town and the new estate.

‘I’m sorry about Friday. Carl can be horrible sometimes. But he’s alright really.’

My cheek goes warm. I’m not sure what to say. So I say just that. ‘I don’t know what to say.’

‘He shouldn’t have hit you.’

‘Yeah, well.’

‘He just gets jealous. It’s because he loves me, he says.’ Dana was starting to smile again, and there was more of a spring in her step.

I’m stuck for words again. I can’t really remember the me that she was laughing with just under a week ago.