You're the One That I Want (5 page)

The summer before going into year eleven was a glorious one. Every day seemed to be spent running around in the sweltering sunshine with careless abandon. The long days stretched the daylight hours, increasing the time we had to explore and play. More than any other summer holiday I can remember, that one was gay and merry – our last chance to be proper kids before heading back to school, turning sixteen and starting the gruelling lead-up to our GCSE exams. For the last time in our lives we were free from worries, responsibilities and expectations. It was a summer filled with smiles of contentment … for the most part, anyway.

We were that little bit older by then and our mums felt at ease about us going out independently, allowing us to go into the village on our own – as long as we promised to stay together and headed home before it got dark. They implied they were doing us a favour but, let’s face it, we were a handful and it was a relief for them to get rid of us for a few hours when they could. There was only so much they could take of us being under their feet after they had been used to sending us off to school each day. With us out of their hair they were left to enjoy the peace that had only existed before we came into the world kicking and screaming.

Robert and Daniella (the school’s current golden couple) had frequently been found snogging each other’s faces off whenever they had the chance during term time. Despite their keenness, though, they hadn’t actually managed to see each other so far during that summer break. Instead they had been texting almost every day and spent an hour every night on MSN. Much to Ben’s and my disdain.

Our local park, to which we’d become regular visitors, had a variety of trees lining the pathways and clustered around its edges, most of which we’d succeeded in climbing. The boys had developed a little routine when it came to tackling their vertical beams, one that was aggravating to say the least. Essentially, they would clamber up as quickly as they could, perch from up high and grin down at me, heckling for me to start climbing. I had no doubt that Robert and Ben never saw my being a girl as something that made me a lesser human being, but when it came to climbing trees I was slower and more fearful – something that amused them. Now, I wasn’t a girlie girl, I wasn’t scared of getting grubby. I just wasn’t overly keen on heights! Usually I overcame my fear and cautiously ascended, taking care not to look down until I was on a sturdy branch but, occasionally, if the tree just seemed too big and freaked me out, I’d decline the challenge and remain grounded, much to the boys’ annoyance. I’d lie beneath the tree, basking in the gorgeous sunshine, ignoring the leaves and twigs that they playfully threw down

at me until they got bored and descended, joining me at ground level.

Three weeks into our six weeks of freedom we were
once again in the park, towards its back end, with the boys deciding what tree to take on.

‘This one!’ shouted Ben as he approached a sparse-looking beech tree, and started to fly up it with ease.

Robert followed suit. Only once they were both dangling from its branches, swinging with youthful serenity, did they look down at me, Ben grinning manically, while Robert simply raised his eyebrows, daring me to join them.

‘Come on,’ called Ben. ‘Hurry up!’

‘Don’t rush me,’ I warned in a huff as I placed my baby blue rucksack next to the base of the tree, took out a bottle of Coke and downed a big gulp of it, the fizz burning my insides in my haste.

‘I don’t understand what takes you so long.’

‘I’m just getting ready.’

‘You’ve climbed bigger!’ encouraged Ben.

‘I know, I know …’ I faltered, peering up at the pair of them, each in their grubby army-like camouflage shorts and khaki-green t-shirts. Their look was certainly Action Man inspired, my own was a touch more Sporty Spice, with dark blue Adidas trackie bottoms that had three florescent orange stripes running down each leg. Stupidly I’d put on a white t-shirt that day, and there was no way it would still be gleaming white by the time I got home, so I knew I’d get a telling off from Mum for getting it dirty.

‘It’s an easy one!’ Ben encouraged.

‘Get up here!’ yelled Robert, taking a more forceful approach. After a heavy pause he slowly, and teasingly, added, ‘Don’t be such a girl, Maddy.’

Well, that was enough to get me out of my strop and up the tree instantly. Talk about succumbing to peer pressure. Ben was right, it wasn’t as hard as some of the others they’d forced me up and, as long as I looked up it and not down at my feet, the height didn’t seem so bad. I just took my time.

‘I knew that would get you up here,’ Robert laughed with a cheeky wink, once I’d joined them on the steady branch they were both perched on.

‘Very clever,’ I smiled, looking out at the rest of the park.

Putting my fears aside, there was nothing like being up high in a tree with Robert and Ben. Even though we were realistically only seven or eight feet in the air, to us that seemed ginormous – we might as well have been at the top of the Empire State Building, it would have evoked the same feeling of wonder. The air seemed different up there, cooler and fresher, and the view more beautiful than when we were grounded. We could see the whole park. There was also something about becoming invisible to others as we hid behind the tree’s leaves and branches that felt magical. I completely understood why the boys loved being up there so much. An overwhelming sense of peace would take over us for a moment or two when we first sat there, as though we’d entered a new world.

Inevitably, at some point, the peace and tranquillity we’d marvelled over would descend into chaos with the boys shaking the branches and trying to do forward rolls on them. I’d clamp my arms and legs onto the branch and scream my head off at them to stop, scared that we were
on the verge of falling and breaking all of our bones. They never listened to me, they just cackled, finding my fears hilarious.

Getting down was always fun too … NOT. The boys would courageously swing and leap to the ground, landing with ease, whereas I’d painstakingly hold on for as long as I could while the boys shouted at me to jump – occasionally pulling at one of my legs if they got really bored of waiting for me.

That’s how it had been on that day in the middle of our summer holidays – the boys had teased me just as much to get down the tree as they had to get up it. That’s why, as we were walking back through the park heading home, I decided it was time to get my own back on the overly

confident duo. I hated being the weaker one. It was time for them to squirm instead. And so, as we walked towards a tree we’d nicknamed ‘The Big Green’, a monster of an oak tree that had been too difficult for any of us to master with its wide girth and sporadic branches, an idea popped into my head.

‘Go on, then,’ I said to them both, pointing towards the giant feat, feeling pleased with myself for thinking up such a great plan. ‘I dare you.’

‘What?’ shrieked Ben, laughing at the ridiculousness of what I’d suggested, shaking his head so vigorously that his cheeks wobbled. ‘No chance.’

‘Why not?’ I demanded.

‘Because!’

‘That’s not a proper answer,’ I said.

‘It’s dinner time. We have to get back,’ he replied, his voice becoming shrill with panic.

‘Don’t be such a wimp.’

‘I’m not being a wimp.’

‘You are,’ I goaded.

‘I’m not!’

‘Are.’

‘Not.’

‘Are!’

‘Not!’

‘I’ll do it,’ Robert said calmly, breaking in on our bickering, causing Ben and I to whip our heads round to face him.

‘Really?’ Ben asked, clearly as shocked as I was by his bravery. Or stupidity.

‘Of course,’ he shrugged, as though it was nothing.

I was impressed, although sure he’d change his mind as we made our way closer to the Big Green; after all, the nearer we got, the more of a monster it became. Just standing beneath it and looking up at its expansiveness was enough to make me nervous and dizzy, even though I wasn’t the one about to climb it. There’s no questioning the fact that Robert was the most confident of the three of us – that was something we’d always been aware of – but surely even he had his limits! I’d expected the pair of them to quake at the very thought of it – not for one of them to give it a go!

‘You sure?’ I gulped.

‘Yep,’ he barked, without the slightest quiver in his voice.

And off he went, up the tree, hugging it as he pulled himself higher and higher. His legs and arms were strong as he scrambled up to near where its branches began to poke out.

Ben and I stood below, gawping at him as he kept going higher and higher, inch by inch.

‘Whoa!’ I muttered.

‘I know,’ he whispered.

Within seconds that wonder turned into panic. Maybe it was because he was getting cocky from our admiration and trying to show off, making him less careful, or perhaps the challenge was simply too great for him after all.

Somehow Robert’s left foot slipped, the rubber of his Hi-tech trainers grinding along the bark to make a terrifying scraping sound as it did so. He tried, with a giant reach, to grasp hold of the tree, of its branches, of anything he could, but failed. Instead, his hands grabbed at the air as he fell backwards, legs and arms flailing around helplessly, before landing on the ground next to us with a thud and an almighty crack. He writhed in pain, clutching hold of his thigh, his face distorted with agony.

‘Argh!’ he screamed.

Ben rushed to his side first and knelt down beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. Once the shock allowed me to move again I joined him, taking hold of one of Robert’s hands. It was the only thing I could think of that might soothe him in some way. He gripped it tightly. So tightly it caused me to clench my jaw to steady myself.

‘Rob, you okay?’ Ben asked. ‘Where does it hurt?’

‘My leg!’ he yelped, the torturous pain causing him to roll from side to side on his back.

Looking at his leg we could clearly see he’d broken it. A bone was sticking out in a grotesque manner. I couldn’t help but wince at the sight of it.

I looked up at Ben as panic started to rise within me. Surprisingly, for the boy who was eager to be led rather than followed, he looked calm and composed as he took control and decided what we had to do.

‘You stay here. I’ll go to get help,’ he said, looking from me to our injured friend, firmly gripping him on the shoulder. ‘I won’t be long, Robbie.’

‘Quick!’ he screamed, before inhaling sharply between his teeth.

‘You gonna be okay?’ Ben asked me, getting to his feet and grabbing for my hand, which he squeezed three times as though he was pumping courage and strength through his touch.

I nodded and watched as he turned away from me and sprinted across the park. My heart ached as I looked down at Robert and saw his face scrunched up as he battled with the pain, groaning as he held on to my hand a little tighter, his breathing becoming erratic and forced.

‘Shh …’ I breathed, trying to keep myself from bursting into tears as I attempted to comfort him. Not only was I horrified at seeing my best friend in such pain, and lost over how to help him, but I also felt enormously guilty. I was the one who’d sent him up that ridiculous tree, after all. I’d only wanted to show them that we all had limitations and that I shouldn’t have been given such a hard time for my own. I hadn’t expected Robert to climb it and I certainly didn’t think he’d break something as a result.

‘I’m so sorry,’ I sobbed eventually, after watching his suffering for a few minutes, unable to keep in my shame
any longer. Robert was the strong one of the three of us, and I’d reduced him to a vulnerable mess with my stupidity.

‘What are you crying for, you loser?’ he croaked.

‘Because it’s my fault.’

‘What?’

‘I told you to go up there. This wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t done that …’

‘Don’t be such a girl, Maddy,’ he groaned, flinching in pain as laughter trickled out of him.

I stopped crying and just stared at him open mouthed, wondering how he could possibly use that line on me when he was in such a state himself.

‘
Me
being a girl? What about
you
?’ I teased, giving his shoulder a gentle shove.

‘Huh?’

‘If Daniella saw you now she’d think you were the biggest girl she’s ever seen,’ I continued. ‘I mean, she’d probably dump you on the spot,’ I shrugged.

‘Maddy …’

‘What? At least I
am
a girl! What’s your excuse?’

‘Really? You’re choosing this moment to verbally abuse me?’

‘You started it.’

‘I fell out of a tree and broke my leg,’ he said incredulously, his face still twisted in agony at the pain. ‘Please, just … be nice!’ he exhaled.

He laughed then. Laughed so hysterically that I couldn’t tell if he was laughing or crying for a moment or two. Perhaps it was a mixture of both as they battled
against each other, but the laughter eventually won. His chuckle filled the air around us as he leaned back and closed his eyes, bringing his free hand up to cover his crinkled face.

Looking at him, at the ridiculousness of the situation, at our bickering, I couldn’t help but dissolve into a fit of giggles myself. My body doubled over, causing my forehead to gently rest on Rob’s chest before I rolled off on to my back. With our heads and shoulders touching, and hands still gripping hold of each other, we laughed uncontrollably side by side as our cackles drifted skywards and entwined into the leaves of the Big Green.

It was a perfect moment, born from something horrific and shocking, that briefly brought us closer than we’d ever ventured before.

By the time Ben came back with Robert’s dad, we had tears streaming down our faces and couldn’t stop smiling. Ben looked at us not only as though we’d gone mad, but also with a bemused sadness, as though he was troubled to be left out of whatever was going on. He quizzed us both eagerly, asked what we were laughing about, but his confused face, and the fact that we were effectively being giddy over nothing, made me laugh harder – so hard that my body convulsed once more with laughter, moving me on to my side so that my mouth was nuzzled into Rob’s neck, as I tried to calm myself down.