SOMEONE DIFFERENT (25 page)

‘What?’

His voice went quieter. ‘One time with my mum an’ dad.’

‘Oh ...’

‘And I didn’t even do nothin’ about it.’

‘Of course you didn’t. How could you; you would’ve been what? Seven? Eight?’

‘I know, but I’ve always thought I shoulda tried. An’ that ... well, there’s no way I’d let it happen again.’ He shrugged. ‘I suppose that’s why I went a bit psycho on him. I’m sorry.’

The memories of everything Rory had said and done over the last few months came back to me. Maybe Jay shouldn’t have done what he did; but neither should Rory. ‘He had it coming,’ I said coldly. ‘It’s about time someone stood up to him.’

Jay frowned. ‘Has he done anythin’ like that to ya before?’

‘No.’ I could almost hear Jay’s thoughts, see the anger rising. The last thing he needed was winding up anymore about Rory; that wouldn’t be good for anyone. ‘He’s just an absolute, one hundred percent tosser,’ I said. ‘And he’s jealous to death because Tia loves you so much!’

A huge grin fought its way on to Jay’s face. He picked up a handful of chips, ate them, then said, ‘Anyway, what happened with your mum and dad?’

I flicked my eyes up to the ceiling. ‘Oh, God; they only wanted me to take a pregnancy test.’

‘What?’ The cup he’d just picked up off the table dropped back down again and toppled over. ‘I mean, you can’t be ... can ya?’

‘Of course not. But they don’t know that, because they never bothered to ask.’

‘Bloody hell.’ He patted his chest and smiled. ‘Ya got me like proper freaked out then.’

‘But you know I can’t be.’

‘I know ya shouldn’t be, but it’s not like they’re always a hundred percent safe, is it? Ya still hear about accidents happenin’ sometimes.’

My hand still rested on his and I squeezed it. ‘That is one thing you really don’t need to worry about. I am absolutely, not, pregnant.’

He smiled again, even wider than before. ‘Yeah, alright. So did they say anything else?’

I collected up the polystyrene boxes and empty cups as I spoke. ‘No, not really – just more of what they said while you were there. You know ...’

‘I can definitely say goodbye to the job then?’

I glanced at the floor before I answered him. ‘For the moment, yes. But they might change their minds, you never know ...’

He pushed his chair backwards and picked up the rubbish. ‘Yeah, ya never know. D’ya want anythin’ else?’

‘No, thank you. What shall we do now?’

‘I oughta go home really; have a shower an’ get outa these clothes.’

‘Can I come?’

‘Course ya can, if ya want to. I don’t want things to get any worse for ya though – your mum and
dad’ll already be kickin’ off cos of ya waggin’ school.’

‘Well, they can kick off all they like. If they’re going to be all arsey when I get home, I may as well make the most of it while I’m still out.’ I tilted my head until my hair fell over my eyes a little, then slowly, I looked up at Jay and raised my eyebrows.

Jay swallowed. ‘There’s a bus in ten minutes,’ he said, as he jumped to his feet.

And we laughed as we walked along in each other’s arms, until just before we reached the bus-station, where I stopped. ‘Oooh, look at that,’ I said, smiling at the Carphone Warehouse sign, and I went in and treated myself to a brand new phone, and a couple of top-up cards.

By half-past-two we’d arrived at Jay’s house, and as soon as the front door closed behind us, a voice shouted through from the kitchen. ‘Where the fuck have you been?’

Jay cringed. ‘You go up,’ he said to me. ‘Wait in my bedroom.’

But I only got as far as the second step before his dad appeared in the tiny hallway. He looked at me, then at Jay. ‘Who’s she?’

‘She’s called Anna.’

‘What ya brought her here for?’

‘
Cos she’s a friend.’

‘Just a friend, eh?
Then how come I had her mam and dad knockin’ on my door earlier, talkin’ about you breakin’ the law – pervy little bugger – an’ them threatenin’ to bring the police round?’

Oh, God. I knew school would have informed them about us going off together, but I never expected that.

Jay took off his jacket and hung it on the door handle. ‘What did ya tell ’em?’

‘I told ’
em ya weren’t here, neither of ya.’ His dad tapped his pockets and looked around. ‘They left a number somewhere though; wanted me to ring ’em when ya turned up.’

‘I’ll phone them,’ I said. ‘I’ll let them know where I am and that I’m OK.’

‘Meck sure ya do then. Cos I can do without ’em turnin’ up here agen.’ He stepped closer to Jay. ‘I were just about to nip out for a swift un actually,’ he said quietly. ‘But I can’t seem to find my wallet anywhere.’

Jay’s shoulder’s dropped. ‘Here.’ He took a ten pound note out of his jeans’ pocket and handed it to his dad. His dad grinned, then left.

‘Sorry,’ I said as we went up the stairs together. ‘They must have found your address out from the files in the office; I never even thought about that.’

‘Don’t worry abou
t it. Are ya really gonna call ’em?’

‘I might, in a bit. It’s their own fault though, isn’t it? They shouldn’t have taken my phone, then they would’ve been able to contact me themselves.’

Jay switched the TV on in his room and passed me the remote. ‘Will ya be OK while I get showered?’

‘Of course, I’ll be fine.’ I reached up and kissed him. ‘You won’t take too long though, will you?’

‘You know me, sweetheart – I can make things take just as long as you want ’em to.’

We both smirked as he backed out of the room, then I stood smiling for a second until the goose bumps on my arms began to prickle. I felt at the icy radiator and noticed a dial at the bottom set to zero. Jay would freeze into an icicle if he got out of the shower in that temperature. I hesitated, then turned the dial up just a little, to two, hopefully enough to take the edge off the bitter coldness in the room.

After that, I settled on to the bed and made myself comfortable. I examined my new phone and added Jay’s number to it, then I called his phone so he could save mine, and left one of the top-up cards next to his TV.

I did think about speaking to Dad, but obviously I couldn’t risk him finding out I’d bought another phone, and I wasn’t sure about using Jay’s either; I’d have to ask him, see if I could make the number private.

Jay came back in then. He wore a clean pair of jeans but nothing else. His hair shimmered with water, and a couple of drops trickled steadily down his face.

I moved the phone and its box off the bed. He paused, then my fingers touched his chest as he sat beside me, and we fell back together, kissing.

God, he made my heart hammer. He made my mouth tingle, and the inside of my body quiver. His warm, damp hair stroked my cheek as he slowly leaned over and kissed my neck. Then, he undid the top two buttons on my shirt; gently, he pulled it to one side, and kissed my shoulder as well.

Reaching up, I opened the rest of the buttons. Jay slipped his hand inside the shirt, and gently caressed my ribs, and then my stomach, and then ...

He sat up sharply, taking his hand off me like I was on fire.

‘What’s wrong? I asked.

His eyes were wide as they drifted away from me.

‘Jay?’

Gradually, he focussed on me again, then gulped. ‘I’m sorry ... it’s just ...’

Oh, what was wrong with me; where were my brains? It was bound to have been on his mind, wasn’t it
– what Rory had said, what his dad and my dad had said; maybe even what the police had said to him about it being illegal? I pushed myself up until I was sitting next to him. ‘I wasn’t thinking.’ What were the right words? ‘Is it ... I mean, does it feel different?’

‘It just feels like, ya know; more serious? Like I’m not sure if we should?’

‘Because of the age thing?’

‘Yeah, I suppose, an’ because everybody’s havin’ a go at me.’

I scrambled up on to my knees, shuffled as close to him as I could, and took hold of his hands. I thought about it for a little while, then said, ‘If you forget about the law, and if you forget about everyone else, and just concentrate on us ... does it feel wrong?’

He looked at me, then very faintly, he shook his head. ‘Does it to you?’

All the feelings I’d just experienced came back. But it wasn’t just that, it wasn’t just his touch or his lips or even his smile. It was everything. The way he made me feel special, and important, and that I mattered. It was the way he made me feel loved.

I lifted up his hands and kissed them in turn. ‘It couldn’t feel more right,’ I whispered.

And as we lay back down together, neither of us had any more doubts.

***

I would have stayed there all night.

Honestly, that small, cold, dingy room held more warmth for me than all the fires and drapes and silk carpets back at home had ever done.

But Jay had his sensible head on. ‘They’ll be goin’ mental as it is,’ he said, fastening up his jeans. ‘An’ for all we know, they might’ve already reported ya missin’ to the cops.’

I thought about the way his dad had ranted on when we’d first arrived, and how furious he’d be if the police did come. And then I thought about who he’d take that anger out on.

‘I’ll catch the bus back,’ I said, standing up and reaching for my school shirt. ‘That phone cost quite a lot, and I probably ought to save as much money as I can in case I need it for anything else.’

‘Are ya sure? It’ll be dark soon.’

‘I’ll be fine.’

‘OK, well I’ll walk ya to the bus-stop at least
though.’

The odd streetlight that actually worked had already flickered on by the time we left Jay’s house. A mangy looking Staffordshire Bull terrier limped along in front of us, and a silver Golf with an bucket-sized exhaust roared past at about a hundred miles an hour.

My grip on Jay’s hand tightened with every step. Leaving him at anytime was like my worst nightmare, but knowing I had to go back to Mum and Dad, and all the arguments and the atmosphere; it made me more nervous than ever.

Jay took his hand out of mine and put it around my shoulder instead. ‘You’ll be fine,’ he said. ‘They might yell an’ go a bit psycho on ya, but apart from that, they can’t really do much more than they already have. And you’ve got your new phone
now; ya can call me whenever ya want.’

I smiled, and made a huge effort to banish it all out of my mind and enjoy the last few minutes we had together.

But those last few minutes turned out to be a whole lot shorter than I expected. My feet froze as Dad’s Lexus coasted around the corner, speeded up, then ground to a halt right next to us. I stared up at Jay. He squeezed my shoulder and whispered, ‘Don’t worry, it’ll be OK.’

The doors slammed shut and Mum and Dad appeared on the pavement by our side.

I spoke quickly; sometimes getting in first gave me the advantage. ‘I was just on my way home,’ I said. ‘Jay was walking with me to the bus-stop, so I could –’

‘Well, now there’s no need for him to walk with you anymore.’ Dad jangled the car keys. ‘Get in, Annabel.’

I turned to Jay, but all I could manage was a very jittery, ‘Bye.’

Rubbing my arm softly, he winked and said, ‘You’ll be OK, yeah?’

Before I could even answer him though, Dad sprung forward and pulled Jay’s hand off me. Jay snatched it back, looking completely stunned. He opened his mouth, then closed it again.

But I didn’t have so much control. ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’ I yelled.

‘Be quiet and get in the car.’

‘But you can’t do that, you’ve absolutely no right ...’

Jay took my arm again. ‘It’s alright,’ he said quietly.

‘No. No, it’s not. All you did was touch me.’

The Staffy from earlier came hurtling down the road and barked like crazy at Dad.

‘Annabel,’ Mum shouted over the racket. ‘We will not ask you again; get in.’

Without even thinking about it, I shook my head.

‘Right, I’ve had just about enough of this.’ Dad flung open the backdoor of the car. ‘In. Now. Or I will put you in.’

A shiver ran down my spine and I clung to Jay’s jacket. ‘I don’t want to.’

He glanced around at everything that was happening, then his eyes fell back to mine. ‘I know, an’ believe me, I’d proper love to just take ya back to our house. But d’ya think that’d be the best thing?’

My heart sank. Yes, it would, it would’ve been the best thing ever. We’d just run off into the darkness; disappear and never have to see them again.

Except it wouldn’t be like that, would it?

He was right.

I shot Dad a warning look, then kissed Jay on his cheek. He reached up and stroked the side of my face, then gave me one of his most loving, reassuring smiles.

As soon as Dad shut the car door behind me I opened the window. The dog was still hanging around, and it snapped at Dad’s heels as he walked back to the driver’s side. Jay and I stared at each other as Dad revved the engine and pulled away, then I twisted up on to the seat and looked out of the back window. Jay’s eyes followed our car right along the road, but as we began to turn the corner, another car drew up beside him.