Then Came You (12 page)

I share a look with Dana, who blushes and looks away. After our talk yesterday, she’d made me promise not to tell anybody about her still harbouring feeling for Alex, and I’d promised. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to talk to
her
about how she felt.

I knew she still liked him, but I also understood that he was a jerk and he broke her heart. I must be a horrible friend. What kind of friend is happy for their friend to have feelings for somebody who broke their heart?

Joey pokes my cheek, bringing me back to earth; Remy and Dana are arguing over I Spy and Joey has been trying to show me a text by shoving his phone in my face. “
Look,
” he exclaims. “Some loser has just
lied
about being raped! I just got told then from their cousins friend who-“

“Joey,” I say slowly. “I, um, I gotta go.” I jump up and say a rushed bye before running inside the school and to the empty library – even the librarian has gone for lunch. I fall against a bookshelf at the back and bring my hand up to cover my face.

That word…

Every time I hear it, I break. I take a deep breath, my heart racing as I try to pull myself together.

No,
I think to myself.
I will not break down.
I push the memories back into the deepest, darkest corner of my mind and forget about them as much as I can. I sigh, wipe my eyes fiercely with the sleeve of my jumper, and stand up. I won’t let it get to me again.

But no matter how much I try to convince myself, there’s still that internal voice called my subconscious whispering mockingly;
yeah right.

Seventeen

“And
then
I’m going to change my name to Simon, so
every
body has to do what I say…” Remy laughed evilly, falling back against Joey’s leg. We were sat in my house – unfortunately, they’d turned up so we could “study”, and yet none of them said anything about how empty it was and about its poor state. I was beginning to thing none of them cared.

So here we are; me, Joey, Remy and Dana. Joey was sat on the chair in the corner, me and Dana were sat on the couch (again, avoiding The Dent) and Remy was, well, she was rolling on the floor as she made a long list of evil plans to do in the future.

Dana looked bored, her head leaning on her hand as she watched Remy try to pull off Joey’s shoe. I nudged her gently. “You okay?”

“Yeah…” she nods, a frown pulling at her brow. “It’s just my Gran – she’s been a bit…
off,
lately.”

“Oh. Is she okay?”

“What? Yeah,” she nods quickly, a small smile on her face. “She’s fine, crazy and loving as ever. I’d know if something was up.” I nod slowly, and her smile grows, her eyes lighting up. “In fact, she’s been asking about you; she really liked you last time.”

“I was under the impression she liked everyone,” I admit sheepishly, ducking my head. She bursts out laughing.

“Oh, of course she does; she’s like some big, cuddly bear! But she took an extra shine to you. I think it’s because she knows that we all trust you.”

I look up at that, my eyes wide.
“Really?
You guys all trust me?”

“Yeah, silly,” she chuckles. “Why do you think we all come to
you
with our problems? You probably remind my Gran of her when she was our age.”

I nod again, my lips curling up. I like the sound of that, of being helpful to people. I guess it gives me a purpose I’ve never had before. My mum was always the problem-solver when she was alive, not me. In fact, I often
caused
some of the problems.

“Darcy!” Remy squeals suddenly, her face bright red. “Do you by any chance have anything to eat; I’m starved.” Yeah, not many people would say something like that in another person’s house, but with Remy, you can expect it; she’s not really… tactful. But I suppose I like the fact that she’s so outspoken.

“Sure,” I nod, getting up. “Come one, we’ll see if we’ve got anything.” She giggles and skips – yes,
skips –
after me into the kitchen. I breathe a sigh of relief, thankful that I’d cleaned the house yesterday after Dad had left; he still hadn’t come back yet, so it was safe for now.

She looked around with an innocent expression on her face. “Aw,” she cooed. “It’s so cute and homey. Our kitchen is so clean and white it feels like we’re doing surgery whenever somebodies cutting the chicken.” I took that as a compliment.

“So, what do you want?” I ask her as I open one of the cupboards. I frown when I find it’s empty;
shit.
Remy looks over my shoulder and her face mirrors my own expression.

“Um, maybe some food?”
She jokes, a goofy grin on her face. I nod stiffly, closing the door not too gently and turning to another one. Again, there’s nothing in it.
I’m sure we haven’t eaten that much…

I slam it shut harder this time, before carrying on with the task. Each cupboard is as empty as the next, with only the bare minimum of snack-ish foods found: half a packet of stale biscuits, a bag of crisps and a few tins of beans – there isn’t even any
bread,
for God’s sake!

Remy looks at me with a sad expression on her face, before it’s replaced with a knowing smile. “I guess someone in your house forgot to go shopping. Speaking of – where
is
everyone?”

“At work,” I say immediately, my usual response. She nods knowingly and doesn’t question it anymore; well, I guess she knows all too well what it’s like to have parents who work all the time.

“Okay then, well, I
think
we should go out to get something to eat then,” she says loudly, running into the living room to tell Joey and Dana the new news. I sigh before walking after her; there’s no way I’ll find any money to go out without them getting suspicious.

Dana looked at me and grinned sheepishly. “I want to pay: you’ve helped me lie crazy lately and I owe you on.”

“I’m not a charity case,” I warn her, punching her arm playfully. She grins, looping her arm through mine and walking up after Joey and Remy.

Turns out, Dana isn’t the only one who can drive; we pile into Joey’s car in laughter and he skids down the road, following Remy’s directions. I’m squeezing onto Dana’s hand tightly
he
whole way: Joey is a really
fast
driver. Dana turns to me and laughs loudly.

“Relax!” Remy cheers as she turns around in her seat, grinning at me like a giddy little puppy. “Think of it as a rollercoaster –
weeeee
!”

“I hate rollercoasters!” I grumble, banging my head on the window and hiding my pale face behind my hair. The others laugh, but I ignore them the rest of the way there.

We eventually stop at a fancy diner, one of those lost-in-time places, with jukeboxes and the whole retro-theme going on. We walk in and a pink haired waitress in her thirties beams and leads us to a red booth in the corner. Joey scoffs the moment she’s walked away.

“
Looks like
Frenchy
got lost in time,” he jokes quietly. We snicker, and then we pick up our menus, going silent as we make our choices. I take the moment to look around, before throwing my head back and laughing at it all. They turn to look at me like I’m crazy.

“Have you seen how much we stick out?” I tell them, gesturing to the couples, families and old people that are eating and talking around us.

Remy nods sheepishly, blushing slightly. “Yah, I kinda forgot this is where I went to as a kid.”

“I can imagine you here as a little girl,” Dana muses.

“Me too,” Joey agrees.

“Yeah.”
I frown, staring at her for a while until she starts to shift uncomfortably. “But I still can’t imagine you without pink hair.”

She laughs lowly. “That’s what happens when your mum’s a troll” She winks. “You get… mad hair.”

We go quiet, and the pink haired woman walks back, a bubbly smile on her face – if I didn’t know any better, I’d think
she
could be Remy’s mum. “Can I take your orders?” She asks us, and we give her them one by one. I take a quick look at Dana before ordering the cheapest thing on the menu. She smiles and takes the menus with her as she goes to get our drinks.

“You know,” Dana starts, looking at me. “You didn’t have to order tap water: I can afford a glass of coke.”

“Bye Darcy!” They scream out the windows as I open my front door. I turn around and wave, a huge grin on my face as I watch them zoom off in Joey’s car. I take a deep breath, step inside, and shut the door behind me. I head into the kitchen and pour myself a glass of water because there’s nothing else to drink.

Over and hour later I was in the livingroom; I’d finished my homework and was packing it away in my back, when there was a rough knock on the door. I groan, peel myself off the carpet and let my wobbly legs carry me to the front door. I gulp when I come face to face with an angry looking cop.

“Ma’am, I’m Officer Pierce: I believe this man is your father?” I nod stiffly, not even bringing myself to look at the broken man I used to know as I stare at the badge on the officers’ shirt. “He’s been arrested for Drunk and
Disorderly,
we would have kept him in overnight only he made us very aware that he had a daughter he needed to take care of. Will you be able to handle him from here?”

“Y-yes, Officer,” I stammer croakily, stepping aside so my dad can stumble past me and into the livingroom, no doubt to fall asleep in his dent. “Thank y-you for bringing him.”

He nods stiffly, but his eyes warm a little. “I’m afraid there’s going to be a fine: it’ll be £400 this time, double the previous. And of course, the first fine will need to be paid within the next few weeks, or else your father will have to attend court.” He hands me some papers with a sympathetic smile. “Here’s all you need to know. You have a month to get the fines paid. Have a nice day, ma’am.”

The final part seemed ironic, like some twisted joke the law enforcers have.
I’m sorry, you’re wife has died. Have a nice day.

You father has been arrested. Have a nice day.

I throw the papers and cover my ears with my hands, screaming loudly as I fall to the ground. We have no food, no money, and we need to pay a bunch of fines by the end of the month. I lift my head up and sniff, wiping my tears angrily.

I need to sort out this mess of a life.

I need a job.

Eighteen

Jaffa Cakes or Digestives?
It was the million dollar question as I stood in the biscuit aisle, staring at the packets in deep thought. They were both cheap, and on offer. I only needed the basics, but biscuits counted as basics, right?

“Can’t decide?” A familiar voice says in my ear. I turn and grin at the girl again and she returns the smile. “I personally prefer the Jaffa’s, but hey – it’s your call.”

I sigh, turning round to face her: she’s pushing her cap up and down on her head, shiny red-brown hair in a side plait this time. “I think I’ll just skip them both.” I don’t bother telling her that it’s because I really can’t afford them – hell, I can only
just
afford the tiny basket scattered with cheap brands. She looks down and checks out the basket, a knowing look in her eyes.

“Yeah, I know what you mean. Too many carbs and sugar, right?” She jokes knowingly. “You know… there’s an opening for a job here, if you want one: the girl I used to share the job with got sacked because Boss-man caught her steeling hair dye and coco pops.”

I shrug, “I’ve never worked at a grocery store before,” I admit sheepishly. She wrinkles her nose and shakes her hand dismissively.

“Eh, doesn’t matter. I can show you the ropes, and so long as you
look
like you’re working, you’re all good.” She winks, making me laugh.

She walks with me as I head to the tills, talking about random stuff like how she got her job and the crazy customers she’s met. I’m putting the few groceries I’d got when she nudges me playfully. “So, what do you say?” She asks me. “Like I said, I’m very good at persuading people.”

I chew my lip, thinking about all the problems having a job could solve. I could pay the fine, get proper food and take care of me and dad more. Not like he’ll notice: he disappears half the time and only comes home to drink and fall into a semi-coma in his dent. He doesn’t even go to work anymore after he was fired for not turning up. This job could be my last hope to keep the scraps of my family from falling apart.

“Okay,” I sigh finally, breathing the word out deeply and turning to her with a smile. “Thank you.”

She rolls her eyes at me. “Don’t mention it: anything for a fellow struggler. Oh, and by the way: my name is Clara.”

I was sat at home doing my homework when somebody knocked on the front door. I opened it and was surprised to see Clara standing at the door in denim shorts and a band shirt, a huge grin on her face.

“Guess what!” She exclaims. I stand out of the way so she come in and she does, her hands moving in excitement. I close the door and turn around to face her.

“What?”