Letter’s Aren’t Always for Love

Chapter One

 

   There were three high schools all within about four miles where I lived, I was now attending my third high school: St Christopher's High School. From the way the building looked, from the iron gates at the front that were fitted between six feet walls, to the windows that had perfect blinds in them, it didn't take a genius to know that this school was the more 'posh' school of the area that got the most money from the government. I mean, at Forest Green, my second high school, they barely had enough chairs per pupil! They were always running out of paper, books, spare pens etc...it was ridiculous and yet it seems that I have been upgraded...I wonder what made them take me in, it's not like I have the best track record!

   I took a deep breath before stepping through the gates...the yard was full of pupils all in their uniform, like most schools you could distinguish the slags from the nerds and the bad boys to the stuck-up kids just from the way they wore it.

   A horn beeped from behind me making me jump, Kain and Henry, two of my brothers, were sat in the car, Henry glaring at me and Kain and Kain sat smiling like an idiot at me, completely ignoring Henry's death stares, that I was more than used to. Henry was the third eldest of my siblings after Jenny and Jason but was by far the most hated. He consistently drove me to and from school, which you may think is a nice gesture, but it's not. He does it so that I can't go out with my friends, not that I have any. According to Henry, by having no social life whatsoever, I get better grades, when it does the complete opposite. I lost all my friends after leaving, well being kicked out, of my first high school, they all thought they were suddenly too good for me...but then I did get pregnant aged thirteen, aborted it, then went on a huge downward spiral that consisted of smoking - weed and fags -, drinking and sleeping around.

   I was a thirteen year old teenager who didn't give a shit.

      Leaning against the brick walls of the at least a fifty year old building, my eyes scanned the yard for someone I could at least talk to for now so I didn't look like a total loner, but nobody really stood out to me, everyone seemed to be in their own little groups while I looked like a complete twat on my own.

   At my first high school, I felt at home, I mean, when I was in year seven, I had Chloe, my other sister in year eight, Kain in year ten and Mollie in year eleven, so if anybody ever picked on me, I had back-up and Mollie certainly made it known that I was her little sister. Then, one by one, we all got kicked out of that school...it still makes us laugh, well everyone but Henry. Mollie gave up on high school when she was kicked out for selling fags in the yard on her second to last week of high school, Kain was kicked out for fighting, but it wasn't his fault, and carried on his high school life and now he's at college doing plastering, Chloe and I were kicked out at the same time for smoking weed at the end of the fag path, there were five of us, but only Chloe and I were kicked out, they must have had a personal vendetta against our family or something...

   At my second high school, Forest Green, I was only there for five months, from September to December and now I'm here. Chloe doesn't even bother with school anymore, so I'm the only one who is at school now. But that's what I don't get, Chloe doesn't go school at all and Henry doesn't give a damn, but when I skip one day, he goes crazy. I didn't have a guardian, but if I 'had' to have one, it would Henry seeing as Jenny has her own little flat and has just found out she's pregnant and Jason, lives about fifteen miles down the road in North Manchester with his fiancé Tina and daughter Ivy, who is absolutely gorgeous. 

   I glanced in the window that was near where I stood, checking over my uniform again, I pulled my skirt a little higher, un-tucked my white shirt and loosened my tie. My blonde hair flowed down my shoulders and back naturally and my mascara (that Chloe and I used five-finger discount to obtain) made my blue eyes to stand out even more. Out of all my family, only Mollie and I had blonde hair, the rest of the family took after our often absent mother who had dark brown hair.

   I turned around to see a boy with short brown hair and brown eyes walking towards me, and although I felt like when I entered those gates I was entering hell, if I was mates with this hot piece of ass, I may actually make it through the days! 

   "Hi, I'm Matt, I saw you over here and couldn't help but wonder why you were all alone," he greeted and I smiled, I was definitely going to like this boy!

      "Hi Matt, I'm Leigh-Anne, and I'm all alone because I'm new," I replied. 

      "Well hello Leigh-Anne, do you want to join my friends?" He asked as he pointed at three other people, two boys and one girl. 

      "Yes please, standing alone can get boring pretty quickly," I joked and he cracked a smile, showing all of his perfect white teeth. 

      We both wandered across the yard to where they were, "Nathan, Holly, James, this is Leigh-Anne, she's new," Matt introduced me and I flashed them a smile, standing between Holly and Matt. Holly was dressed in a similar fashion to me, which made me feel less nervous. 

   "Which school you from?" Nathan questioned.

      "I've just come from Forest Green," I replied and James' eyes widened suddenly.

      "Just before Christmas?" He asked with a huge smile on his face and I nodded slightly scared of where he was going with this, "do you know someone called Charlie Roberts?" 

      I racked my brain trying to remember the name but nothing came up, "no sorry, but I was only there for five months why?" I wondered, genuinely curious now. Matt, Nathan and Holly all had similar faces as me, so it was obviously his own little thing.

   "You guys, do you remember Mrs Heath?" He asked the other three and they all nodded their heads...wait a minute, how the hell did they know who she was? 

      "Woah! How in God's name do you know who that witch is?" 

      James smirked, "you threw the chair at her, didn't you?" He spoke with an air of confidence.

      "Yeah, and she deserved it! But how the hell do you know?" 

      Matt's eyes widened, "wait, your the girl who threw the chair at Mrs Heath?" He asked and I nodded my head, not knowing what else to say, I mean, she honestly deserved it, I wasn't in for a week as I was skipping and when I did turn up, she passed me a mini exam, in Spanish I may add, and I got four our of the ten wrong, so she gave me a detention. I refused to turn up, so she got the Deputy to escort me to her classroom then, when it was just us two, I tried to escape but she locked the door so I threw a chair at the wall in a mad fit of rage and it clipped her on her arm, but obviously, being the bitch she was, she over-exaggerated everything, seeing as the school couldn't afford working cameras and I was kicked out on the spot.

   "I hated that woman, she couldn't teach Spanish to save her life..." Nathan muttered making me laugh. When I went to Forest Green, there were no options left, so I had to do Spanish and hated it...thankfully I don't have to do it here. I was lumped with History and Geography this time and I didn't mind either, so it wasn't too bad.

   "When did she teach here?" 

      "She left when we were in year nine, she locked everybody in the classroom during dinner, so everybody brought their parents in with James and Nathan's leading, demanding she be sacked and because the school didn't want a huge argument and bad publicity, they sorted it out fairly quickly, ending in her sacking." Holly gave her two cents. "Anyway, let's stop talking about this bitch, we've established that Leigh is a bad ass, but now we need to get on to more pressing matters like, which form are you in?" 

   I shrugged my shoulders before bringing out a piece of paper that Mollie and I picked up yesterday along with my timetable and map of the school, "Erm...Acts," I replied and her shoulders visibly stooped, she must be alone in there or something.

   James punched her in the shoulder lightly, "you have Nathan and I with you!" He yelled whilst pretending to be offended.

      "Yeah, but you're already boring," Holly smirked making Nathan pretend to crack his knuckles, trying to look intimidating, but with his baby face, it failed miserably. "Anyway, you're with Matt."

      I glanced at Matt and he nodded his head, "yeah, we gained a new form tutor this year, he's called Mr Hughes and teaches Maths, he's only twenty-four and has a right laugh with us all the time," Matt explained and I smiled, if I get kicked out of this school then I know that without a doubt I'll end up on the streets, so the fact that I have a sound form tutor is good, because if I do get into a bit of bother, hopefully, he'll stick up for me.

   "That's good," I smiled before the bell sounded from inside the school indicating that it was time for form. "Matt, I'm linking arms with you so I know where I'm going," I told him before doing what I said. We said bye to Holly, Nathan and James who were all going in the opposite direction and then I let Matt pull me through the huge crowds of people that were entering the building at the same time as us.

   We walked into a classroom that was on the second floor and as soon as I stepped through the door and noticed who Mr Hughes was, I nearly had a heart attack, the funny thing is, I think he had a worse reaction to me, as he managed to spit his coffee all over his desk when he spotted me, which, if I wasn't struggling for breath, I would have laughed myself at him. "Can I talk to you outside...Leigh-Anne is it?" He asked and I nodded my head stiffly before un-linking my arm from Matt and going outside. 

   He waited until the hallways were empty before staring at me with his mouth hung open. "Now, I know this may sound weird, but please tell me you're not the person I think you are..." he asked and I gulped.

   "I'm the one and only," I choked out, not knowing what else to say. The man, who is my form tutor and maths teacher is the man that knocked me up when I was thirteen. I never thought I would see the guy again, the only reason as to why I recognise him is because the guy has the exact same unique, bright blue eyes as the guy that I shagged up a back alley when I was absolutely wasted and had just fallen out of a nightclub that had less rules than Beirut did. 

   "Well, this is awkward, I thought you were at least eighteen when you fell out of that nightclub, but then again, I was that wasted that night, I would have shagged anyone," he tried to joke, but it just made the tension between us even thicker.

   "Uhm, well, I need to stay at this school, so i won't bring any unnecessary drama," I told him and he visibly relaxed. 

      "Thanks, but Leigh-Anne, I know you aborted, what I think was my child," he whispered and my eyes widened, how the hell did he know? The only people that knew were Chloe, Chloe's then boyfriend Sam and his brother Harry as he and Sam walked in on me telling Chloe. 

   "Erm...it was yours, but how do you know? I only..erm...only told three people," I replied.

      He scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably, "I happen to be Harry's best friend, I asked him where he had been one night when we were going out on the lash and he said that he had been helping out his friend, he then brought up his Facebook, pointed to you then told me everything," he admitted sheepishly and I groaned. I thought I could trust Harry, but then again, if someone told me important news like that, I probably would have told my best friend, or Chloe as she, before today, was my only friend.

   "Ahh, well, as long as you don't make it too uncomfortable for me, I won't tell anyone," I reassured him and he smiled.

      "Thanks again Leigh, do you want to go to form then?" He asked and I nodded my head before wandering back in after him and going to the top corner where Matt sat, his bag saving me a space.

      "What was all that about?" Matt asked in a hushed tone and I shrugged my shoulders.

      "He just wanted to know if I was the new girl, that's all," I lied and he nodded like that was a reasonable explanation, which I suppose it was. I only lied to him because, one, I didn't actually know the guy properly, so I didn't know if I could trust him or not and two, I didn't want my secrets being displayed around the whole school before I make it to break, that would suck big time.

   Mr Hughes did the register quickly, "right you can talk now til the bell goes," he told the class and I don't think the class had to be told twice before it erupted in loud chatter. 

      "So, what have you got first?" Matt asked, starting up conversation.

      "Biology, with a teacher called Mrs Macaulay, is she nice?" I responded.

      He smirked, answering my question: no, "no, she isn't too bad, but if you don't do your homework or turn up late or forget any equipment she'll round on your ass quicker than you can spell biology. If you stick to her rules, she's sound, if you don't, you'll unleash the devil," he informed me and I felt like crying. Great, a shit teacher first thing on a Monday morning, just what I needed.

   "What have you got?"

      "I have Chemistry, do you have Mr Hughes for Maths?" I nodded my head and he smiled once again, making me smile myself, "good, you have Maths with Holly and I." 

      "Yes!" I cheered, a little too loudly, as the two lads in front of us turned around and gave me a weird look before going back to their own conversation about the football game at the weekend, how predictable. 

   I glanced at Mr Hughes at the front and I couldn't help but thinking that it was just my luck, that the person who knocked me up happened to be my form tutor. This is just great...my last chance at getting a decent education and this happens, woo! Hint the sarcasm.

   The bell rang and Matt took me to Biology before he went to his lesson. Nathan was already sat down at the back of the class so I made my way over to him, "can I sit here? I don't wanna look like a lone on my first day," I asked and he nodded his head.

   "Yeah course, it'll be nice to have some company since the she-witch placed me back here alone for 'talking too much'" he laughed and I placed my bag on the floor and grabbed a pen from my bag, the only thing that was actually with me. 

   "Well, if that's the case, I won't be sitting with you too long then," I chuckled. 

      After the lesson with the Mrs Macaulay, who did move me before the end of the lesson, I made my way to Maths, which Nathan took me too. "Thanks," I told him honestly.

      "No problem, I'll see you at dinner," he told me before going into his own room. 

      I was one of the first kids there, but before I could even choose a seat, Mr Hughes stopped me, "we're having a new seating plan Leigh-Anne, so come and stand at the front please," he ordered kindly and I nodded my head. Now, I know I shouldn't be, but as I look at him properly, I can actually see how fit he actually is. How the hell did I bang that? Oh, yeah, beer goggles. 

   I smiled before standing with the three other people who were also stood there. Holly came in next with Matt and I smiled as they wandered over to me. "Have a good lesson?" Matt asked and I shrugged my shoulders. 

   "I had Nathan in my lesson, but I didn't get to sit next to him long as she separated us before the end of the lesson for not listening," I laughed.

      "Sounds exactly like her," Holly mumbled making me crack a smile.

      The rest of the class soon filed in and Mr Hughes stood at the back of the class, calling out names, "Leigh-Anne, as your new and I don't know your maths ability, I want you to sit at the front please," he asked me and I groaned, is he freakin' kidding me? He looked deadly serious, so I am assuming he isn't unfortunately.

   This boy from behind me wolf whistled as I stepped forward, so I turned around to see a boy with blonde, shaggy hair and huge, stupid smile on his face. He looked like he thought he was the dog's bollocks, but just looking at him, I knew that he wasn't anything special at all. He was probably one of the cocky little shits, who think they 'rule' the school because their family has money or something..."Do you want to repeat that?" I asked.

   He looked a little shocked at my words, but it only lasted a few seconds, "yeah, I think you should lower your skirt a little, it's teasing the hell outta me," he smirked and I had to resist the urge to gag at his words.

   "Have them words ever gained you a girl before?" 

       "Err...err...what's it to you, you interested?" He recovered after stuttering like a complete knob head.

       "I'm about as interested in you as a vegetarian is in a McDonalds beef burger," I dissed before turning around and sitting right at the front of the class. Whilst I walked to my seat, everybody else in the class did the predictable 'oohhs' and 'you just got burned' which made me laugh and feel a bit better that at least one asshole got what he deserved today.

   My Hughes fake coughed to get the attention of everyone again and looked down the list of people on his register, "Sam White, I want you next to Leigh-Anne," He spoke and I glanced at him. He had short black hair and was a little on the chubby side, but he looked decent, looked being the word here. When he sat down next to me, I thought I was going to die for a second time that day. The B.O. that was coming from him was enough to make me want to gag, my reaction also got a few laughs, most notably Matt, Holly and the guy I just insulted..I guess karma is a bitch sometimes.

   The rest of the class were placed in order and just to my luck, Matt and Holly were sat next to each other - at the back. The only thing Mr Hughes did get right was placing the cocky little excuse of a boy at the back of the class as well.

   He came and stood at the front of the class, "well, these will be your seats now until I feel like mixing you around again. Seeing as we have a new girl in class, Leigh-Anne she is called by the way if you haven't already met her, we can take it easy today," he spoke before placing some horrendous looking algebra equations on the board...it's times like this when I wish I actually tried in school. I'm not even stupid, before my life went downwards, I was in all the top sets and was on course for great exam results, but since then, I haven't cared, then when I arrived here, they placed me in set two for everything, which meant, if I wanted to actually succeed in life, I had to try that little bit harder and actually try and make up for the past two years of education that I have seemingly missed.

2: Lesson Two: Learn To Keep Your Gob Shut

Chapter Two

 

    Halfway into the lesson, I had made my way through four of the sixteen algebra equations on the board and Sam next to me had finished, which I hated because I looked like an even bigger idiot than before. When he looked like he wasn't concentrating, I tried to look at his answers, but I think leaning over gave it away, especially when I coughed loudly due to the horrendous smell he was emitting. 

   "What are you doing?" He asked me with a frown.

      I smiled forcefully at him, "I was just...erm...looking for my pen!" I cried when I thought of something, but I think he guessed with the two people sat behind me who snickered that I was in fact lying through my teeth. 

   "Yeah sure you were. Why don't you just go to the headteacher now and get yourself moved to set 6 to avoid further embarrassment, eh?" He snapped back and I just froze on the seat at his comeback. I never actually expected to say anything back, not that he didn't have the right to.

   "Now I am sorry. You see, I'm actually good at Maths, algebra isn't my strongest suit, so please go ahead and stink up the place with you're horrible BEO!" I shouted back. "I'm sorry I was looking at your answers, but you aren't the most approachable person! Jeez." 

   Mr Hughes came and stood in front of us, casting a shadow over our desk and attracting the rest of the class that weren't already aware to us. "What's happening here?" He asked and Sam continued to glare at the desk like he would fucking go away!

   "Nothing sir, we were just having a minor disagreement." I replied for us both and Sam scoffed which made me roll my eyes, of course he would. Bloody idiot.

      "Care to add anything else Sam?" Mr Hughes asked him and instead of dignifying him with an answer, he just got up out of his seat, grabbed his crap and stormed out of the door. Why, I didn't have a bleeding clue. It's not like I actually did anything. 

   "Leigh, would you go and step outside the classroom for a few minutes and I'll come and talk to you in a minute?" He asked, well more like ordered and I gaped at him. What in God's name had I done? Fuck all, that's what!

   "What have I done?" I demanded, still rooted in my seat.

       He blew out a big breath and glared at me. "Please. Just do as I say." He spoke through gritted teeth and I clenched my fists from giving him the finger and wandered out the room. There were windows in the classroom that looked out to the corridor, so it wasn't like I could just go on a wander round the school like I used to, not like it would do any good as I would probably get lost and end up getting an even bigger punishment that what I would be getting now, one that would definitely please Henry. Not.

   After getting the class to calm down again from the 'spectacle' of someone storming out and the new girl being sent out, he joined me outside. "So, what happened then?" 

      "Well, I leaned over to look at his answers as I was stuck on number five and he snapped at me, which in my defence, the only reason as I didn't ask him for help was because if I did ask it would probably have been the same outcome. Anyway, he called me stupid so I pointed out his bad body odour problem and then you came and he stormed out and you sent me out, which I may add was stupid." I explained. 

   The good thing about it though was that it didn't even feel like we had a past, I don't know why it didn't, but I think it was because I refused to believe it, due to me needing to stay in this school, or I just didn't feel 'anything' for him. Because, there is no denying he is bang tidy, but that can stay locked away in my brain to rot away forever because dreaming your teacher was fit is definitely not on God's list of good deeds, if there is a heaven.

   "I'm the teacher Leigh-Anne and if I want to send you out of the lesson because you disrupted it, then I will. Please don't question me. So now I want you to one, ask me next time you get stuck so we can avoid anything like this again and two, I want you to go and find and apologise to Sam. He's different to other kids in that he keeps things bottle up and I feel like he could use a friend in this lesson, so please help us all out." He told me and I had to hold in the groan I wanted to let out. 

   I nodded reluctantly, "Any suggestions as to where he might be?" I asked him and he smiled and nodded himself.

      "Try Mrs Williams, if you go right at the end of the corridor here, then take another right and then a left, at the end of that corridor will be where she is." He told me and i gave him a forced smile before turning around and following his directions.

   Once I made it there, I knocked on the door and a very mumsy looking woman answered the door, her body blocking any sight into the room so I couldn't actually see if he was in there. "Erm, hi?" I introduced. "Are you Mrs Williams?" 

   She nodded her head, "I am yeah, why, who's asking?" 

      I gave her a small smile, no wonder Sam came to her, she seems like such a lovely lady. "I'm Leigh-Anne, is Sam in there?"

      She frowned at me, which made me feel about two feet tall before nodding again. "He is, you can tell your maths teacher that Sam isn't coming back to lesson." She replied before going to close the door but I placed my hand to stop her.

   "No don't please, I came to talk to him actually." I admitted.

      She held her finger up for a minute to tell me to wait there before closing the door and clearly talking to Sam before opening it up fully to reveal three chairs leant against a wall facing a desk with a computer and nicer looking chair. There were hand drawn posters littering the walls, obviously by pupils who wanted to say thanks etc..."Sam, I'm sorry for us getting off on the wrong foot." I started as I sat in the chair next to us. "Honestly, I'm never like that normally. I think that jerk with the blonde hair just riled me." I told him.

   He looked up at me, his red eyes all puffy and I frowned, he must be really emotional for what I said to have affected him that badly. Jeez, what he said to me was way worse. "It's fine. It wasn't really what you said anyway, it's just stuff at home, but erm..thanks for saying sorry, and I am too." 

   I gave him a sympathetic smile, "thanks, I know you have Miss here, but if you want to talk to someone else, I'm here for you." I told him honestly. I honestly felt so bad for him.

      He smiled slightly, "thanks. Can you tell sir that I'm going to work in internal for the rest of the lesson?" 

      "Course." I leant forward and gave him an awkward hug, trying to not breathe in the bad smell. Yeah, I am so going to hell. "Hope to see you in lesson tomorrow." 

      I waved at them both before going back out of the room and walking back to lesson, which took me double the time it did to get there as I had forgotten where to go and ended up having to wander into a random lesson to ask for directions, which wasn't embarrassing at all. It certainly wasn't embarrassing when the teacher shouted at me for having my shirt untucked and my skirt too short.

   After the lesson, I wandered out with Matt and Holly and I could tell by their faces that they were dying to laugh. So once we were in the corridor, I stood still and let them get it out of their system, which they certainly did. "I couldn't believe you actually said that to Sam!" Holly laughed. "Normally in lesson, we just spray deodorant at him from behind." 

     I smiled but then frowned. "I felt awful though, anyway, he's my friend now and I'll sort him out." I told them both.

     "Good, I don't know why anyone hasn't done it before, maybe that's because it's the first time he actually stormed out of lesson actually..." Matt spoke up and I shrugged my shoulders before letting them take me to break. 

   "So, what you getting?" Holly asked me as she looked at the menu and I shook my head.

      "Nothing."

      "Seriously? You'll be starving," she replied.

      "I forgot my money." I lied when really, I had no money as we couldn't afford it. I was on free school meals and according to the woman Molly and I saw yesterday, the money doesn't go on til dinnertime, so it looks like I'll have to starve, it's not like it'll be a foreign sensation.

   "Aww that sucks, do you want me to get you a piece of toast? It only costs 15p?" She offered and I shook my head again.

      "It's fine, but thanks." I told her honestly and she smiled before turning around and ordering a bacon buttie. I turned to Matt, "so, you okay?"

      "Yeah thanks, just a little shocked at what happened in Maths," he chuckled. 

      I tilted my head to the side a little in confusion. He knew I threw a chair at a teacher and that I had been kicked out of two schools and yet he was shocked at me being sent out and telling a cocky git to stuff one. Hmm. "How so?"

   He laughed and I had to admit, it was pretty cute seeing as he snorted a little, which I'm guessing was unintentional. "Well, this morning when we were talking about Mrs Heath etc...I thought you were kind of over-exaggerating like some people do to try and get friends, but I think you seem genuine, which is great as it means you're not one of those fake girls who think plastering on the fake tan and think inch makeup makes them look 'appealing' to men, which in a little secret between us two-" he leant closer in, "-it doesn't." He finished which made me smile and let out a little chuckle.

   "I'm glad I'm not a 'fake' girl then." I laughed. "And for the record, you seem like you're a pretty genuine guy yourself." I replied.

      He smiled before turning to a girl who had natural blonde hair and bright blue eyes who was stood next to us. "Hi Matt, is this the new girl?" She asked nicely whilst looking between us.

      "Yeah, this is Leigh-Anne, Leigh, this is Mandy." He introduced us both, but he looked really awkward being around her for some reason, which made me laugh.

      "Nice to meet you Leigh-Anne, anyway, I was just wondering if you would join my new club, it's for anti-bullying." She asked him and passed him a flyer that was in black and white. 

      Matt looked over the flyer and looked back up to her, shrugging his shoulders, "I'll do it if Leigh-Anne joins." He replied and Mandy looked at me with these puppy dog eyes which made me laugh and nod my head, but then, it wasn't just because she gave me the puppy dog eyes, it was also because I wanted to show to Sam that I wasn't a complete bitch. Besides, isn't it for the best that he now knows so that he can sort it out?

   "Thank you!" She cried in happiness before giving us both a quick hug and charging towards the next group of people. 

      Holly joined us as soon as she left and scowled in her direction. "How could she be so happy?" She questioned as she took a bite of her buttie. Matt glared in her direction, not in a mean way, but more in way that showed he had just been landed in some deep do-do. "What did I say? She dumped you after stating that 'it wasn't working out' which was a stupid reason as you used to be perfect together, not that I believe that now as she's shown her true colours, all these stupid groups she does are all fake anyway, I bet they don't last two seconds!" She ranted which made me smile. She honestly was a great friend to Matt and hopefully mine when I get to know her properly.

   The rest of the day passed by fairly quickly and at the end of the day I wandered out of the front doors with everybody else and low and behold Henry was sat there in his car with a scowl on his face as he watched some of the girls walk by him who had their skirts too high. Dick.

   I looked around the yard to see if I could see Matt, Holly or the other two but when I couldn't I sighed before getting in the car and getting my phone out to play Angry Birds so i didn't have to talk to him.

3: Lesson Three: Keep A Strong Hold Of Your Phone

Chapter Three

 

    Halfway into the journey, Henry stopped the car and I could feel his eyes on me. I tried to carry on playing, like he wasn't there, but after a few moments it got annoying so I locked the screen on my phone and glared up at him. "What?" I snapped annoyed. 

   "How was school today?" He asked in a calm voice and I frowned before putting my phone in my pocket, I guess he wants to do this now. In the middle of the ASDA car park.

      "Fine. I met a girl called Holly. Now, why are we here?" I didn't even bother telling him about James, Matt or Nathan because let's be honest, I knew he would jump to the wrong conclusion straight away and I could do without a headache today.

   "That's good. Have any homework?" 

       "No." I told him the truth. I would probably get some tomorrow but I didn't today surprisingly. 

       He scrutinized my face to try and see if I was lying before getting out of the car. "Come on, we need some shopping." He spoke before closing the door. 

       I sighed before getting out myself. I hated doing the shopping, it was so tedious and although I'm not embarrassed about my family as I love them all to bits, I hated to see other people watch what we bought, which wasn't a lot and mainly consisted of green and white items.

   Henry was the manager at a call centre, which meant he had flexible hours to nip out and pick me up from school and also meant that he earned about eight quid an hour, Mollie signed on every week so she got about twenty quid a month and Kain got thirty quid from a bursary at college and Henry collected family allowance and child tax credits for me, Chloe and Kain as he was still in college, which meant that we got about a two hundred quid a week, which when you pay the bills, top up the gas and leccy meters and pay for petrol, we had about seventy-five quid for food, which for five people, isn't a lot if you haven't guessed. 

   We put the essentials like, bread, milk, toiletries, eggs, cheese, butter into the trolley and then got what food we could like frozen chips, sausages, chicken nuggets and some smart price noodles and pasta. 

   Obviously I hated living like this, but I was also so used to it, that I didn't mind it anymore. It was only when I attended Forest Green that I started to become aware of petty things like other people seeing what we bought because some asshole shouted in lesson that he saw me and Henry, or my boyfriend as he called him, buying all the crappy stuff and then started to call me poor. I soon put him in his place, by slamming his head onto a desk and causing his nose to bleed, but it still made me feel a little more self-conscious when I was out and about. 

   "Is that it?" I asked him as he paid for the shopping and he just glared at me before pushing the trolley out of the supermarket and to the car. Once all the shopping was in the boot, I put the trolley back in place, retrieved the pound and got back into the passenger seat, passing him the quid. 

   "Why do you always have to be so bratty?" He snapped as he put his seatbelt on. "Honestly Leigh-Anne, can you just be polite for a change?" 

      I furrowed my eyebrows together in confusion. "What the hell did I do?" I yelled back. 

      "Asking 'Is that it?' back there! You knew it was, so why ask?" 

      I took a few deep breaths to try and calm down. "Can you not just go a day without arguing with me?" I replied. "Christ! Am I not allowed to ask a question now?"

      He put the car into drive, "not if it's stupid. Now shut up." He ended as he put the radio on and it wasn't some normal song neither, it was a shitty eighties song that I didn't even know. I mean, I knew Queen, Bon Jovi and Rick Astley but my knowledge of eighties music stopped them mostly.

 

*******

      

 

   Once we were back home, I didn't waste no time in getting out of the car and running in through the front door. I said hi to Kain who was sat in the living room and went straight upstairs where Chloe was sat on her bed texting on her phone. 

   "Hey." I greeted as I sat across from her on her bed. 

       "Have a nice day at school?" She smirked and I knocked her phone out of her hands jokingly. 

       "What do you think?" I muttered as I leant backwards. The mattress was lumpy as hell, but it was still more comfortable that sitting in the crap plastic chairs in school. 

       "Yeah?" She laughed sarcastically before getting off her bed. 

       I sat up myself and sighed. I was about to tell her about Matt and everyone else when Mollie came in and sat on my bed. "Have a nice day?" She asked and I nodded my head.

       "Sure, I met some new friends." I told them both and they just nodded their eyes trained on me, like they were waiting for something important. "Matt, James, Nathan..." I started and when I looked up they were both staring at me with smiles that made me laugh. 

   Slags.

      "They fit?" Mollie asked almost instantly and I continued to laugh.

      "And Holly." I finished which made their smiles drop again.

      "That's no fun." Chloe grumbled. 

      "So, had a good day off school?" I changed the subject and Chloe nodded her head with a smug smile. 

      Chloe never went to school. Henry thought she did, but what she actually did was go out of the door at eight o'clock, wait til he sets off with me and then comes back home. Everybody knew but Henry and to be honest, it wasn't my place to tell him, as annoying as it got. We all grabbed letters that were from Forest Green before Henry saw them so he was none the wiser. 

   "It was lush." She replied and I looked at her like she was crazy.

      "Did you just say it was lush?" I asked slowly. 

      She nodded her head. "I did. Me and Molly have been watching Gavin and Stacey all day." She laughed and I threw a pillow at her.

      "Why did you do that! You know I wanted to watch them with you!" I cried. For Christmas, Jason bought us the box set and I hadn't found the time to watch them all yet. "You two can go and lick a vagina, ass holes." I muttered before going over to Chloe and grabbing the pillow that I just threw at her from under her head. 

   "And you call me for saying lush!" She chuckled. "Go lick a vagina?"

      "Well if I said go and suck a dick, you probably would." I deadpanned.

      "Okay then Miss Innocent." She said sarcastically and I rolled my eyes still annoyed with them. I was looking forward to spending the day watching it with them but now I'll have to watch it on my own. 

   Chloe sat up suddenly and went over to our wardrobe throwing some light blue jeans and a white tank top at me. "Get changed, we're going shopping." She commanded and I groaned.

      "Do I have to? I'm too tired." I whined.

      Molly wandered over to me and whipped my black pumps off. "Come on, chop chop." She spoke as she grabbed hold of my hand and hauled me off my ass. "I'm coming and I want you to tell me more about these boys you met." She wiggled her eyebrows and I laughed before changing out of the uniform and changing into the clothes she threw at me.

   As we made our way out of the door, I grabbed my grey jacket off the door handle and shoved it on. It was September in England - not the best weather. Plus we were walking into the centre which was a good half an hour walk. 

   At the bottom of the stairs, Henry was stood and he didn't look too happy but then I didn't actually care what he thought so I pushed past him and straight into the kitchen to grab a few chocolate biscuits which we got with the spare quid before Kain got his grubby hands all over them.

   I could feel Henry staring at me but I tried to not make eye contact with him as it would probably make me laugh and then cause a huge argument and if we wanted to go into the centre we had to be quick, it was already half four.

   After he realised I was ignoring him, he let out a huge huff. "And where do you think you're going?"

   "Into town with Chloe and Molly."

      "I don't think so, you need to have an early night." He spoke in his rough voice. 

      "Are you my dad?" I spat. "No you're not, so just piss off. I went to your precious school." 

   "I'm the closest thing you have to one!" He yelled. "Now I suggest you go upstairs." 

      I scoffed and made my way into the hallway where Chloe and Molly were stood with the front door open. "Bye, bye Henry!" I called with a cackle as we ran down the road.

   The adrenalin was starting to wear away as we slowed down to a walk and with my heavy pants, I realised one thing: I was very unhealthy. 

   "Wow, I need to run more." Chloe spoke through heavy breathing and I laughed as I leant against a wall to catch my own breath. 

   After a few minutes, I started to walk again slowly and ahead of us was Molly who was talking to somebody on her phone. "Who's she talking to?" I whispered to Chloe but she just shrugged her shoulders in response while looking at her with the same look of confusion.

   "Right she'll be there as soon as, bye Matty." Molly ended the phone and my hands went straight to my pockets to find my own but as I realised that it wasn't there, I looked up at Molly in horror.

   "Please tell me..." I trailed off when she held my phone up in her hand - a cheeky grin on her face. "For fuck sake Molly! I need my credit!"

   "Calm down, he rang you." She laughed as she passed it me back. "And I have to say, he does have a sexy voice." 

   I scowled at her and checked my balance just to be sure - which you never could with her. She just loved getting into your business and it annoyed the hell out of me. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "And what did he say?"

   "He asked if you wanted to go round to his house and I said you'd go." She told me and the urge to hit her became so overwhelming. 

   "I don't want to go! I was looking forward to doing vodka shots with you lot." I whined. I knew that being friends with Matt was important for when I went to school but I prefer vodka over school...

   "I'll bring some home with me." Chloe encouraged. "Just go and see Matt, you never know you might get some action." She winked at me and I rolled my eyes but I wouldn't actually mind that. Matt wasn't 'anging and it has been about a month since I last had sex...

   "I think that smile on your face confirms your decision." Molly smirked. "Now he gave me his address and he lives on York Avenue, which even I have to admit is a fancy area. Sounds like you bagged yourself a winner now." She giggled.

   "York Avenue? Isn't that back there?" I asked as I turned around and glanced up the street we were currently on. 

   "I know a shortcut." She simply said so I carried on following her. The amount of shortcuts and back ways around here was mad. I swear to God, you could make it across town in about fifteen minutes instead of about half an hour if you took the back ways. The problem was that there were so many paths that you could end up lost which I did a few months back when I tried to go that way rat-assed after a house party and after ringing Jenny, she had to come and find me.

   After walking for about ten minutes, I wasn't surprised when we ended up on the avenue we intended to land on. We all looked up at the houses in awe, the houses probably had four to five bedrooms each with two bathrooms and were all fancy inside with wallpaper on all the walls and expensive looking technology everywhere.

   In our house you were lucky to find a room with all four walls wallpapered or painted. It was seriously bad and we didn't have carpets in the hallway or in the lads bedroom. But then, until I went to Forest Green I thought all this was completely natural and everybody was too lazy or poor to get everything done.

   "What number does he live at?"

      "Five."

         "Other end of the avenue then." I deadpanned. "This avenue ends at number fifty-three." I deadpanned.

   "Right, well seeing as we're going in the opposite direction, we're gonna leave you here."

      My eyes bulged. "Please don't leave me! What am I going to say?" I cried. "Oh crap, I'm not ready for this." I spoke to no one in particular. I felt way out of my depth. Everyone else who I had shagged or got with were like me: Lived on a council estate. Well scratch that, most of them but the one who wasn't I didn't actually do it at his house nor mine so I couldn't be sure.

   "Just calm down, say hello and act like you don't want to rip his clothes off." Chloe shrugged while she tried to hide a smile.

   "Reassuring." I spat sarcastically. 

      Molly gave me a shove forward. "You'll be fine. You're a Harris girl!" I sighed at her but carried on walking anyway.

   "Get me a cute dress!" I called out to them. Five finger discount or not, I wanted a dress.

      "Will do! See you later!" Molly called back and I waved before facing forward and strolling down the stupidly long avenue.

4: Lesson Four: If You're A Lad, Don't Admit To Liking Mean Girls

Chapter Four

 

   While I walked down the avenue I kept chanting, 'he's fit' and 'I'm a Harris girl' over and over again as some sort of  incentives to keep me going because the closer I got, the bigger the urge to run back to Mollie and Chloe grew.

   When I got there, I couldn't help but look at his house with a mixture of envy and awe. There was a paved driveway that led into a garage and the grass was cut immaculately with a rose bush with no roses (due to it being winter) sitting comfortably under the bay window. The window and doors were a maroon and the number on the door was in gold.

   I knew the houses on this avenue were posh, but the two reasons I had for being down this road before were because I was either throwing eggs at the windows or just staring at them and wishing I lived in them with my own little family, but the latter was mainly when I was drunk and depressed.

   In the window, they had cushions in the bay window and brown curtains - we had blinds which were a tell-tale sign of a council house - and there was a ginger cat curled up asleep. I also noticed that there was no car in the driveway which only made me hope that, that meant his parents were out of the house because this meeting was going to be awkward as it was. 

   I literally saw 'getting with him' as the only alternative to passing the time. I mean he wasn't boring, in fact from what I could tell from today he had a good sense of humour but I've never had proper guy friends.

    I'm either shagging them or one of my sisters are. Yes were slags, whores, sluts you name it. What makes us different is that we also have morals, as shocking as that is. We won't date a lad if he's already got a girlfriend and we ALWAYS use a condom. That rule applying to me especially.

   After counting to ten, I knocked on the door and a dog's loud barks from behind the door made me curse loudly. The cat awoke in the window as well, a sour look on its face which made me smile a little. If they've called it Ginger I'm going to be so disappointed.

   A girl shouting at the dog from behind the door made me look back towards the front door and after a few more seconds, it was swung open, but instead of looking at me, the girl seemed to be having a stare off with the chocolate Labrador that was stood in front of a door further down the hallway with a guilty look on its face which made me 'aww' at how cute it looked.

   The girl finally turned around and gave me a quick once over, which I did with her. She had short, brown hair in a pixie cut, she had huge brown eyes that seemed to sparkle and she was wearing a bright yellow tank top and some grey sweats, but the tank top just showed off her tan even more. To put it straight, the girl was gorgeous and just standing next to her made me feel ugly as hell and I didn't even think I was THAT ugly.

   "Please tell me your Matt's new friend!" She spoke up and my eyes widened at her unusual greeting.

   "Uh-yeah?"

      She let out a huge sigh before beckoning me inside with her hand, so I did as she asked. She carried on walking up the laminate hallway, so I slipped my shoes off, not even I was that ignorant, and ran after her.

   She went into the first door to her left but just before I went it, I petted the dog on the head which it loved.

   The room was the living room and it seemed to have the theme of green, brown, white and black colours. The sofa was a black, leather, corner settee that was facing a huge LCD television on the wall. The wallpaper was a green/brown nature design on the wall with the tv while the other three were white. 

   It was so well kept and clean.

      The girl went back to watching the television, but I still didn't know who it was. Matt mentioned he had a sister earlier but he said she was in year eleven, this girl looked about eighteen..."Are you Brad's girlfriend?" I asked as I stood at the doorway feeling more than awkward.

   The girl looked back at me, saw that I was being deadly serious and started to laugh, which made me feel even more uncomfortable. "No, I'm their sister but how come you know about Brad and not me?" She questioned. "Oh, and you can sit down you know?"

   I smiled at her as I sat next to her, "Erm-I knew Matt had a brother and sister, but he said you were only sixteen." I frowned.

   "I am only sixteen." She confirmed.

      "Bullshit. You look about eighteen." I laughed a little in shock. "Wait, you're actually sixteen?"

   She nodded her head with a smile, "Yeah, I saw you in school today actually. You rocked the uniform." 

   "Thanks, it is kinda sucky isn't it?"

      "Oh yeah, I hate it. I have this form tutor called Mrs Bishop and she always shouts at me and my friend Daisy for not wearing our blazers. Do you have her?"

   I shook my head, not recognising the name. "I don't think so. What does she teach?"

      "Sex-ed." 

      "I'm so glad I got the maths teacher..." I chuckled. "And I'm glad he isn't an ass." I told her but as the subject came up, I couldn't help but think back to finally finding out who would have fathered my kid if I did decide to keep it. To be honest, I didn't know whether to be flattered or not because I knew that if Henry or the school found out I was toast but he was gorgeous and I was quite proud to say I hit that. 

   Story for the grandkids and all that.

      "Mr Hughes is a sound guy, he gives out chewing gum to those who smoke so their breath doesn't smell."

   "That's nice, do you smoke?"

      She shook her head vehmently. "God no! If I even went near a fag my dad would kill me! Do you?"

   "I have smoked before but I don't do it regularly, it's mainly when I'm drunk." I admitted with a sheepish smile. "Anyway, where is Matt?" I changed the subject swiftly, not wanting it to dip into an awkward silence again - that IS the worse case scenario.

   "Oh, he's in the kitchen cooking dinner." She shrugged.

      "Oh yeah, why were you relieved when I knocked on the door?" I questioned as I remembered the look of relief she gave me.

   Just as she was about to answer, the car jumped up onto the settee and sat on my lap, so I started to stroke which only made the dog jealous as it looked at the cat from its bed under the window. "That's Freddie." She informed me as the cat started to puss as I stroked it behind the ears. "And he's been talking about you none stop since I got home from school."

   I smiled at the thought and ignored the guilt that had settled in my stomach, I couldn't use Matt like I did everyone else. He was a decent lad and I didn't want to ruin that for him. I may as well try and stay friends with him and leave it there, keep it simple and it'll be a new for me. 

   "Really?"

      She nodded her head, "Oh yeah. I haven't been listening to most of it, but is it true you threw a chair at Miss Heath?"

   I chuckled under my breath not wanting to move too much because I didn't want the cat to go, he was keeping me warm. "Yeah, she locked me in the classroom." 

   "I have to admit, when Matt told me I already knew I would like you." She laughed. "Now, do you want to come in the kitchen, he was the one who invited you." 

   I jumped up instantly, giving the cat a small apology before following Bex into the kitchen. "Oh, is your real name Bex?" I should hope it was a nickname because if it was real it was horrendous.

   She shook her head, "Nah, I'm called Rebecca but I hate the name and only my parents can get away with calling me it, so don't."

   "I won't. Hey that rhymed." I giggled as the door opened to reveal Matt in some low-slung jeans which showed his bright pink boxers and a black t-shirt on. 

   "Oi Matt, pull your pants up!" Bex shouted at him which made him jump and turn around instantly - and also pull his pants up, which just fell back into their original place. Not like I was complaining, he had a nice ass.

  "You trying to scare the shit out of me?" He cried at her before his eyes landed on me. "Oh Leigh-Anne, how long you been here?"

   "A good fifteen -twenty minutes." I shrugged and Matt glared at Bex. 

      "Has she said anything?"

      I shook my head innocently and he kept up his glaring match with Bex before he gave up and turned back to the pans that were bubbling over. "Just sit down Leigh, I won't be a minute." He invited so I sat down at the glass table. "And Bex, piss off until tea comes." He told her but his voice held no malice so I knew he was only joking.

   "If you weren't near hot pans right now, I'd pour water over you." She retorted. "So I'd mark yourself lucky." I wasn't sure if she was messing around or not but she sounded like she was the angel of the family who could get away with anything but was actually worse than the rest so I put it down to her being serious. 

   She was about to sit down at the table with me when 'Blurred Lines' started blaring out of her joggers. "Oh it's Daisy." She smiled. "I'll speak tomorrow at school Leigh." She said goodbye before answering the phone and walking out of the room.

   As soon as she went out of the room, Matt let out a loud groan. "Are you okay?" I asked a little carefully, not quite sure where it came from.

   He turned back around and smiled, "Yeah, I just hate Daisy that's all."

      "Really? Why?"

         "I'm not tooting my own horn here or anything, but whenever she's in the same room as me, she flirts with me to the point that I just want to stab her with my fork sometimes. When I used to date Mandy, she still did it even when she was in the room and it pissed me off." He informed me.

   "Ew, not even I would do that."

      He laughed, "Anyway, we didn't get to talk much today, so why don't you tell me more about yourself, starting with the girl who answered your phone?"

   I groaned as I remembered Molly had talked to him and I didn't know how long they were on the phone for because I was concentrating on running away from Henry so she could have told him anything. "My second eldest sister Molly, she didn't say anything did she?"

   "Just that you were running from Henry and had to wait for me to talk to you." He laughed. "How many siblings do you have?"

   "Six. Jenny's twenty-seven; Jason's twenty-six; Henry's twenty-three; Molly's nineteen; Kain's eighteen and Chloe's sixteen." 

   "Wow, you have a lot of siblings, how does your mum cope?" He chuckled as he started cutting up a green pepper on the counter that was facing me.

   I didn't feel comfortable telling him that my mum was never around for some reason, so I just shrugged my shoulders so I wasn't technically lying to him. "Why were you running away from Henry?"

   "Oh, he's an asshole." I wasn't afraid of expressing my hatred for him. 

      "Why?" He looked genuinely curious as well but I knew I couldn't tell him the real reason because it would reveal the mum secret to him and I couldn't be arsed with the questions. 

  "Just his personality. Anyway, what you making?"

      "A stir-fry but I'm making pasta with cheese for Bex because she's a fussy fucker. You do like stir-fry don't you?"

   My eyes widened, "I'm having tea?"

      "I asked your sister down the phone...you don't mind do you?"

      I shook my head immediately. "God no, it's quite nice actually...but I've never had a stir-fry."

   His mouth popped open, "Close your gob a fly might settle in." I laughed.

      "You've never had a stir-fry before? Christ what do you eat?" He joked and I continued laughing along with him. 

   "What's in one?"

      "Well everyone makes them differently, but I make mine with green peppers, chicken strips, Dolmio sauce and a few fresh herbs."

   "Wow fancy. My cooking skills stop at the microwave."

      "Like Bex then. Brad and I cook alternate days except for the weekend and Bex washes up, we have quite a nice set-up." He said as he threw the peppers into the pan.

   "Where are your parents?" There was no chance in hell they had a house like this with all the expensive stuff on just one income.

   "They work a lot, so we don't let them worry about stuff like this. My mum's a script writer for Coronation Street and my dad's a lawyer and they both work in the city so sometimes they can't get back and end up staying in a hotel for the night." 

   "Ahh..." I trailed off not knowing what to say. I never watched Coronation Street much so I couldn't start talking about that...

   Once it was done, he kept it on a low heat for his brother who still wasn't in yet and Bex went straight back upstairs so we ate our food in the living room while choosing something to watch on television. 

   Matt settled on Mean Girls, which made me give him a questioning look before I took my first bite. "Mean Girls?"

   "You like the film don't you?"

      "Yeah, I can quote it all almost, but do you like it?"

      "What? No!" He denied too quickly which made me snort a laugh.

      "You so do!" 

      "Just eat your food." He told me with a smile before turning to the screen which was at the bit where Lindsey Lohan first sits with the Plastics at dinner. 

   "It's my favourite quote." I mumbled before taking a bite. The tastes exploded in my mouth and I couldn't stop the small moan from leaving my lips at how good it was. I had never tasted anything this good.

   "Like it?" 

      "Oh yeah," I moaned dirtily which made him laugh. "It's actually gorgeous." I turned back to the screen, "So if you're from Africa...why are you white?" I quoted word-for-word with a proud smile on my face.

   "Oh my God Karen, you can't just ask people why they're white." Matt finished off the quote and I had to put my plate down from laughing so hard. I friggin' knew he loved this film!

5: Lesson Five: Only The Oldest And Coolest Kids Sit At The Back

Chapter Five

Only the Oldest and Coolest Kids Sit At the Back

 

 

   "Miss Harper, could I please borrow Leigh-Anne for a few minutes?" Some man I had never seen before asked as he popped his head around the door.

   As soon as he said my name, everybody looked at me and I just gave them all a cheeky wave like I was some famous royal which made the man roll his eyes but the other students laughed which made me feel good, my goal in life was to help students find shit subjects somewhat interesting. I liked to make people laugh - when I was actually in. Standing up and making my way towards the door, I started thanking the heavens that I was able to get out of physics, the bane of my existence.

  Miss Harper had a sort of split personality, when she talked about physics, everyone fell asleep but when she talked about anything else, she was hilarious. It made the lessons either super boring or very entertaining and today it was crap. We were doing something about centri- something force and I honestly couldn't be bothered with it.

   Once I had stepped out of the room, I turned to the man who had a grim look on his face. "What's up?" I spoke up first cheerily.

   "Leigh-Anne your attendance is worrying the school and we want to know why your attendance is only sixty percent with you only being here for a month and a bit." He asked and my mind completely blanked. At my older school they never bothered with attendance. I didn't even think it would be a problem here...wow they really were strict like Matt told me. Ah well.

   "I don't know." I replied not wanting to say the real reason, which was going shopping with Jenny or getting rat-assed with Chloe and Molly because for some reason I didn't think it would help my case.

   "Right well, we let you into this school after your brothers begged us and I think it's only fair that you help us out by actually trying because if you don't, we'll be sending a letter home." He threatened and I almost scoffed at him. Like that was going to do anything! As long as Henry didn't see it, I'd be fine. It would probably just go straight in the bin without being opened.

   I was about to start bullshitting my way with some excuse when the door opened from behind me and Nathan wandered out with a smirk on his face but as he brushed past me, I felt him place a piece of paper in my hand before carrying on down the corridor. I discreetly placed it in the pocket of my cardigan - which I was wearing because my jumper had a hole in it and I wasn't wearing their chunky blazer. The man, whose name I still did not know, looked oblivious thankfully.

   I turned back to him, "Well, I'll try more." I told him but I think even he knew I was lying through my teeth. I made it an effort to come in three times a week because Matt, Holly, Nathan and James were hilarious and it was nice to get away from home sometimes.

   "If you don't, I'll bring your guardian in, which I believe is Henry Harris, as well as the letter being sent home and if that doesn't work, you could be kicked out, we pride ourselves in attendance at this school, so please respect our wishes." After he finished babbling on, he stepped around me and made an effort to open the door, but I blocked his pathway.

   "I need to go to the toilet before I go back to lesson, she won't mind." I told him with a sickly-sweet smile. "I'll go back to lesson straight after."

   He gave me a wary look before nodding his head, "Okay then, I trust you. Hopefully you'll listen to what I said and I'll see you later." He then turned around and wandered back down the corridor.

   I fist-pumped mentally that he had gone and turned around so he couldn't see me. Opening up the note, I read over it: 'Come To The Library Now'.

   I did as he said and made my way up there, checking to see if that man was there and when he wasn't, I went to the top corner of the room where he was sat with Matt and Holly.

   "What are you two doing up here?" I questioned as I sat down next to Holly.

   "What a charming introduction." Matt said sarcastically and I stuck my tongue out at him jokingly before turning back to everyone.

   "But seriously..."

      "Well, at dinner Matt and I have detention with Mr Yorke for talking and we need to make preparations for the weekend." Nathan spoke up and I frowned.

   "How come I didn't get detention if you did in I.T.?"

      "You weren't in." Matt deadpanned which made me laugh uncomfortably.

   "Oh yeah.." I trailed off. "Now, what party?"

      "Kiernan Groom is throwing a house party for the half term tonight and we're all going." He announced and I doubt I had a say in the matter - not like I was complaining. I loved house parties, it just sucked when they got raided by the police which is what had happened the past three times I had attended one.

   "What about the police?" I pushed. I didn't fancy walking the streets at half two in the morning in heels.

   Holly laughed, "Just wait til you see his place. He lives in them proper posh houses behind the cricket club - the police will not be a problem. You can't hear nothing from the main road."

   "I always wondered who owned them..." I chuckled but stopped abruptly when I saw the librarian stare at me with hatred. She was a short woman with ginger, curly hair and round glasses and she was called Mrs. Reed - and no I'm not joking. The head of the dinner ladies is called Mrs. Hitchen. The school must like hiring people who have names related to their area of expertise, not that being a grumpy ass who finds smiling a daily feat is an area of expertise because I swear I've never actually seen her move from her chair...

   "Yeah, well it'll be good. Bex and Daisy are coming with us and Nathan is going to meet us at the party so are you going to get ready with Holly at her's then we'll order a taxi and bring it round to Holly's at eight and then we all go up together?" Matt almost whispered, so he must have also been aware of Mrs. Reed's icy glare and I nodded my head.

   "Sounds like a good plan, but have any of you got any credit? I need to ring Henry and tell him so he doesn't come to pick me up."

   "I'll lend you mine at dinner, I think we need to set off back to lesson before everyone gets suspicious." She laughed and I agreed. It's going to look so fishy when Nathan and I walk back into physics together but to be honest, I couldn't give a crap what anybody thought. It might even make the class too distracted to learn and make Miss Harper give us one of her funny stories because she was a 'people-watcher'.

  She once told us a story about how she was in the drive-thru at McDonalds one time and some woman was walking with her child and she was about to slip and pushed the kid in front of her to keep her balance, which she did but the child face-planted the floor. I have to admit, I did laugh - a lot. Poor child.

   "You coming Nathan?" I offered as I stood up and he nodded his head. "I'll see you at dinner Holly and see you in English, Matt." I quipped. As we both went to wander out of the room, I placed all my empty wrappers in the bin at the front, which were days old but she didn't know that and she almost had a heart attack.

   You weren't allowed to eat in the library apparently.

     

**************

  

   Double English was one of my best subjects surprisingly. The teacher Miss White was amazing, she was so good at the lesson and managed to teach us as well as let us have a laugh. Gasp, this school actually has good teachers? Trust me, I was just as shocked as you were.

   At dinner, Penguin (a dinner lady) shouted at me for taking my bag into the dining room although apart from that the rest of the day had passed fairly quickly and incident free and I couldn't wait for tonight. Henry agreed to let me stay at Holly's but it's not like I would have listened to him anyway. The rest of my week off was going to be pure bliss, I was going to sleep in every morning and just watch Gavin and Stacey.

   The bell rang and just as everybody was about to start packing their stuff away, the teacher held her hand up and so we all stood still and listened. "Now, it's not a proper homework but could you please read up until Chapter Fifteen in Of Mice and Men please."

   Now, she may be nice but there no chance I was going to do that.

      I waited by the door for Matt, hopping from one foot to the other in anticipation, I couldn't wait to get to this party tonight, it's going to be so fun, I just had this bubbly feeling in the pit of my stomach and his house was huge so I didn't have to deal with all the people Matt and co. had told me to stay away from which was always a benefit.

   "I'm just going to the toilet, will you hold my bag?" He asked as we both started walking out of the lesson but before I could actually answer him, he passed me his orange and yellow bag which almost knocked the wind out of me, it was surprisingly heavy! He then left me in the hallway as he took off in a sprint.

   I decided waiting for him outside of the toilet was the best bet, so I slowly made my way downwards in a shuffling movement like everybody else, reminding me of the scene in Happy Feet when the daddy penguins have the egg between their feet. My imagery was cut short when an arm swung around my arm, their hand accidentally hitting me in the face and causing me to jump. "James, I'm going to kill you!" I cried with a laugh as I turned around but instead of James it was Johnny Ashworth. Another bane of my existence. And every other girl's in this school.

   "Not James, Johnny." He announced and I just took his arm off my shoulder with a look of disgust at him.

   "Go away Johnny." I spoke though gritted teeth. I honestly hated the guy and that was rare for me. It took a lot for me to hate someone I hardly knew, but this guy really knew how to push my buttons. I added him on Facebook and for two weeks he kept sending me creepy inboxes asking me to go out with him and all that crap. I blocked him last week but since then he's been stalking me at school and it's been pissing me off to no end.

   "Come on, I know you like me." He purred into my ear and I tried to stand away from him but ended up standing on someone's foot accidentally. After muttering an apology, I glared at Johnny.

   "Just fuck off." I spat. "I don't want anything to do with you."

      He looked taken aback for a few minutes but the creepy, unnatural smile was back on his spotty face and just as he was about to say something else, I spotted Bex at the end of the corridor and without thinking, I ran through the crowds and threw my bag at her to get her attention because I knew getting through these crowds would be impossible.

   "Ow!" She screeched just after the bag hit her head and I winced a little not meaning to get her right on the back of the head. She turned around and when she saw Matt's bag sat behind her, she looked into the crowd and spotted me.

   "I'm so sorry!" I cried as I ran towards her now that the crowd had been parted a little.

      Her frown turned to a laugh and I sighed in pure relief before picking Matt's bag back up and linking arms with her. "Sorry, I spotted you and freaked. I needed to get away from Johnny bloody Ashworth before I vomited."

   A look of understanding crossed her face, "I know how you feel. The guys a year below me and he still insisted on sending me creepy messages." She fake shuddered and I laughed.

   We stepped outside into the cloudy sky and I pulled my black cardigan tighter around my body to try and keep the horrendous wind away. "Are you going to the party tonight?" I asked her as we made our way to the school bus - the place I said I would meet Holly and hopefully Matt will be finished on the toilet before the bus leaves without him, which it has done before because some teacher made him stay behind. And it's the last thing we want because he spent the next day complaining about it.

   I gave him my quid before sitting down towards the back next to Bex. "Yeah, I wouldn't miss it for the world." She laughed. "What you wearing?"

   I didn't have a clue. I didn't even know I was going to a party until they told me in the library during physics. "Don't have a clue." I shrugged. "What about you?"

   And with that, Bex went off on a tangent, telling me about her outfit, accessories, shoes, what alcohol she was bringing... but she stopped when Daisy got on the bus. I moved away so they could talk together and moved onto the back seat.

   "Leigh-Anne!" Holly shrieked from the front of the bus before practically throwing the quid at the bus driver and running towards me. "I am so freaking excited!" Her eyes were alight in happiness and Bex, Daisy and I started laughing. Holly had always been a little... enthusiastic.

   She came and sat down next to me, putting her bag on the seat next to her and she looked like she had just won the lottery... all we were going to was a house party, it wasn't much to get excited over. "You're the happiest person ever." I chuckled.

   "Where's Matt?" She eyed up his bag and changing the subject abruptly.

       "Toilet, he's gonna join us on here." I shrugged but as I looked down the aisle of the coach, I saw Sam getting on. I didn't even know he caught the school bus home.

   "Sam! Down here!" I yelled and he looked up at me startled. We had become good friends since our incident on my first day - I told him I would help look after him and I have. Every now and again he'll even hang around with Matt and the rest.

   He looked reluctant but when he saw that I wasn't going to back down until he was sat in the vacant seats in front of me, he shuffled his way towards us. "Hey Leigh, have a good day?" He spoke in his meek voice.

   "Yeah, a bit boring but then I had physics." I chuckled. "How about you?"

      "Yeah it was fine." He let out a little sigh.

       Lyndon and his friends bounded their way towards us after that. The back of the bus was for the older kids and it was the best part of the bus, I didn't know why but it was. We normally had an upper deck and lower deck so we could separate but today they obviously hadn't. "Why's Smelly Sam here?" Lyndon frowned as he pointed to him – singling him out to everyone which made me angry.

   Sam just hung his head in shame and I looked at Holly in horror. "You gonna say something?" She whispered and I nodded my head, I bloody hated bullies. They were the worst of the worst.

   "You gonna say that again?" I challenged him.

      "Oh look its Miss ‘I'm Too Good for School’," He taunted but all it did was make me laugh sarcastically. Not even his mates dared laugh when I glared at them.

   "Do you know how pathetic you sound? My niece could have thought up a better insult and she's two." I deadpanned. "Sam hasn't done anything to you, so why do you like to belittle people? Does it make you feel manly? Because I can tell you now, no one around here thinks you're good looking, you just look and sound like a prat." I dissed which earned me a few ‘oohs’ and ‘burn’.

   "Shut up, you don't know what you're chatting."

      "Are you being serious? Just piss off Lyndon, no one likes you."

      "Think that'll stop me from sitting down?" He spat sarcastically and I just rolled my eyes.

      "Probably not but it also doesn't mean you can tell other people where they can sit. If Sam wants to sit there he can."

   He just grumbled a few swear words before turning around and slumping in the chair. "Don't listen to him Sam, we all like you."

   "Thanks Leigh." He said gratefully and I just shrugged my shoulders in response. If I saw anybody being bullied or picked on I would step in because I honestly couldn't be bothered with them. But I really like Sam, he’s a cool kid and I want him to enjoy high school – like everybody should.

   The bus driver turned the engine on and I groaned. Matt still wasn’t here and if he doesn’t hurry up he’s going to miss the bus – again. I strained my neck to look out the window and the steps were empty which made me worried. “Bus driver!” I yelled down the bus and I stood up so he could see me.

   He turned around, an irritated look on his face. “What?” He grumbled.

      “Can you wait for my friend? He’ll only be a few minutes?” I asked him as politely as I could, but seeing as I was shouting over everybody it probably didn’t sound like it.

   “No. He has a minute and then I’m going.” He told me before turning back around – his way of telling me that he wasn’t going to carry on talking to me. Asshole.

   “Prick,” I muttered under my breath. “Has anyone got any texts to tell him to hurry up?” I looked around the back row and Holly instantly got her phone out of her blazer pocket and started typing away.

   The driver closed the doors and started the engine and I cursed under my breath. “He’s coming!” Holly suddenly shouted, making me literally jump out of my skin.

   I jumped up as soon as I saw him running down the school steps and ran down the coach aisle. “Please wait for him.” I begged and with a grunt he opened the door.

   Matt ran up the two steps that led to the coach driver, “thanks for waiting,” He spoke between breaths before turning to me. “Mr. Hughes wanted to talk to me about the maths homework,” He gave an explanation as to why he was late.

   I shrugged my shoulders and we both turned around and went back up the aisle, removing my bag for him to sit down. “You were lucky he waited for you, he was gonna set off.” I told him with a pointed look. “So I think I deserve a thank you.” I laughed.

   He laughed back and looked around me to see Sam, “Hey man.”

      “Hello,” he replied in a mumble and Matt just gave him another smile before turning back to me and Holly.

   The coach finally set off and as soon as it did, Holly pressed play on her phone and ‘Domino by Jessie J’ started to blast out, which made me smile like a kid on crack.

   “I’m feeling sexy and free, like glitters rainin’ on me! I’m like a sack of pure gold, I think I’m about to explode!” We both sang together – gaining amused smiles off Sam and Matt.

   “Will you shut up?” Lyndon cried as he turned around in his seat and glared at us.

      “Well I could but I’m not.” I laughed, albeit a little childishly but to be completely honest, I didn’t care. I was having fun and it was the half term – no school for a week. Why shouldn’t I celebrate?

6: Lesson Six: NEVER Sleep With The Best Friend Of The Guy You Like

Chapter Six

   Lesson Six: NEVER Sleep With The Best Friend Of The Guy You Fancy 

 

   The bus driver had yelled at us for singing as we stepped off of the bus, but to be honest I think it only made us laugh even more. We didn’t actually care for whatever he wanted to say. There were two good things about that bus ride, one I managed to get the cocky git Lyndon to shut his mouth and Sam got off the bus before us so Lyndon couldn’t bully him once I got off.

   When the bus went past us both, I couldn’t help the laugh when Matt gave us a tossing off hand gesture. So I gave him the finger in return which made him laugh before the bus went off into the distance.

   “Honestly, I haven’t met anyone as brainy but childish as him before,” I laughed as we wandered up the street where she lived. She didn’t live far from the bus stop which was good because I just wanted to get to hers now. I had never been before and I just wanted to see what her house was going to be like.

   Her house wasn’t as posh as Matt’s, which made me feel a little better. At least I didn’t have to almost stand on my tip toes or act like I was standing on glass in here. It was fancier than my house but it seemed to have the same amount of bedrooms and her parents would have to park on the street as they didn’t have their own drive.

   “My parents are at work,” Holly informed me as she opened up the front door and gesturing for me to come inside.

   “Where is your younger sister?” Holly had a six year old sister named Louise who according to Holly is the bane of her existence now that she has learnt to talk back. It cracks me up when she comes into school some days with the wackiest of stories about her.

   “I persuaded my mum to make her stay at my gran’s house until they finish work and by the time they get here we’ll be gone.” She smiled.

   I felt a little more relieved at that as well. When you walked in, the stairs were there behind the door so I took off after Holly and clambered up the surprisingly steep stairs.

   Before I even managed to look in her room, her bedroom door was covered in photos of her friends and bands she liked. It should have given me an insight into what her bedroom would be like, but once the door opened, I still didn’t expect it.

   Covering the walls from floor to ceiling were photos. Lot’s and lot’s of them. I could see One Direction, Eminem, Rihanna and various other posters and on the opposite wall were shit loads of photos of Matt, Nathan and the rest.

   “Could you fit anymore photos on there?” I laughed as I gestured with my hands around the room. Her double bed was pressed up against the wall that was covered in her messy handwriting and facing a small, flat screen television on a set of drawers, which on that set of drawers were alcohol bottles (empty) and a ton of beer mats.

   She just laughed as she kicked her black, dolly shoes off and laid back on her bed with a slight bounce.

   “I’m being serious here.” I was overwhelmed by it all. I wandered over to the wall of all her friends and my eyes spotted on of me and her in our school uniform laughing. “When was that taken?” I pointed towards it.

   “Last week. Nathan is my photographer seeing as he has the best phone camera. He likes to help me out with my wall so he takes them at the best of times. It is actually one of my favourite ones.”

   As I turned back to the wall, I started to notice even more of me on the wall and it made me really happy. I had only known her for just over a month and I had seen five…six photos of me.

   “Do you want to get changed into some sweats? Because I can imagine staying in the tacky school uniform for more than required can be annoying.” She offered as she wandered over to her wardrobe and throw some grey sweatpants and a simple, red, tank top at me before I even gave her an answer, not like it would be no because the uniform was tacky and uncomfortable.

   “Thanks.”

      “Not a problem,” she smiled before we both got changed quickly.

      “So, we don’t have to get ready until about six o’clock and it is only four, so do you wanna watch a movie?” She wondered as she flicked through her DVD’s that were stacked in her drawer under her television.

   I joined her and looked through them all. “What are you in the mood for?” I asked her.

      “Well, I want to watch the Notebook but I’m not in the mood for a sob fest, but I want to watch a sickly, romance film so how about Sweet Home Alabama?”

   “I’ve never watched it before,” I admitted with a sheepish grin on my face. I don’t really watch movies, I hadn’t even watched The Notebook before, but I had heard so much about it that I knew she would be even more gob smacked about that one.

   “Well, now you have no choice in the matter.” She giggled as she picked it up and placed it in the DVD player. “Are you hungry?”

   I shrugged my shoulders. I didn’t want to be cheeky.

      “I’ll ask again, are you hungry?” She repeated with an eyebrow rose and a hand on her hip. Begrudgingly I nodded my head.

   “Good, I’m going to order us a pizza, do you like Pepperoni?” I nodded my head. “Good, I’ll get us some chips and a bottle of coke as well.”

   “Thanks,” I told her honestly and she just rolled her eyes and ran out of the room.

 

******

 

   “That is a really good movie and the main guy is really, really hot!” I commented as the end credits with the photos of their future came up and the song, which I did know and should have expected came on.

   “Tell me about it,” she laughed. “Josh Lucas is just a beautiful piece of meat I would love to get my hands on.” I started laughing with her as I ate the last chip in the box.

   “What time is it now?”

      “Nearly six,” Holly replied. “Do you want to get ready now?”

      The words seemed to signal a huge beacon in my head screaming. “Shit! What am I going to wear?” I looked down at the sweats I were wearing and frowned. I couldn’t wear these and my school uniform would even be appropriate on Halloween and then I still wouldn’t wear it as it is so cliché and is only there for sluts, not including me, to wear.

   Holly smirked, “I already had that figured out.”

      “So, what am I wearing?”

      “We are the same dress size, assuming you are size eight…” I nodded my head in confirmation. “Good, most of the clothes in there should fit you then.”

   “Well, what are you wearing?”

      She pulled out a dark blue, navy style dress that made my jaw drop open. It was gorgeous! It was sleeveless and would probably just cover her ass. It had a sweetheart neckline and it had blue and white horizontal stripes on the bodice and the bottom half was navy blue. On the bodice was also some navy blue bows. It would cling to her body and really show off her curves.

   “You are going to knock all the lads out with that!” I cried with a hint of envy. It was no secret Holly was beautiful, remaining completely heterosexual on the matter.

   “What are you going to wear?”

      I felt a little uncomfortable going towards her wardrobe and flicking through her dresses until I stalled on a deep, burgundy lace dress. I pulled it out and showed it to her. “That is perfect! You have to wear that!”

   I laughed as I held it up against my body in her full length mirror and liked what I saw. It was my size and hopefully I would do it justice. The dress was cute, more on the classy side but I didn’t care, I loved it.

   “My mum got me the dress for my fifteenth birthday but I never liked the colour much.” She admitted as she bung the dress up on the back of the wardrobe door, so I copied her action once I was satisfied it would suit me.

   “Why are we dressing up for a house party?” I asked with curiosity. I normal wore denim shorts or some jeans. Never really tried or pushed the boat out. House parties were there to solely get absolutely wankered.

   “I love getting dressed up and most of the other girls dress like this. If we were guaranteed to get kicked out I don’t try but at Kiernan’s we never do and like I said, it’s nice.”

   “I love getting all fancy as well,” I admitted.

      Holly placed some music on and we both proceeded to get ready. I curled my hair and she placed hers up in a messy but stylish bun and we did our make-up and by the time eight o’clock rolled by we were just about ready and roaring to go.

   The taxi pulled up and we clambered in as best as we could considering we were both wearing ridiculously high heels that I knew would be coming off before the night is out and hopefully not lost like a few of them have been in the past. When I am drunk I am seriously not aware of my actions at all, hence the fact that I got knocked up by Mr. Hughes.

   It is nice having a face on the person who would have fathered my potential child and if the child did have his eyes, it would have been even better because they would have been gorgeous but to be honest, I didn’t really like thinking about what could have been. I made the choice and it was still the correct one, imagine me now. I would have a two year old child running around the place. I’m fifteen years old, I don’t need that shit.

   About ten minutes into the journey, Daisy, Matt and Bex all climbed into the taxi and Holly groaned. “Seriously Bex?” She whined and I laughed.

   “What?”

      “You need to get a boyfriend quickly so some of us girls can actually catch some lad’s attention,” Holly laughed and Bex just rolled her eyes. Bex was beautiful but it is our running joke now, whining about Bex. She was pretty but even I knew that Holly knew that she could get virtually anybody she wants if she tried.

   I turned to Matt who was sat next to me and gave him a smile. I couldn’t see much in the darkness of the taxi but from what I could gather, Matt was wearing a polo shirt and some dark blue jeans and he looked mighty fine. He looked like Bex a lot, but what made him just that little bit more attractive was the dimples he got in his cheeks when he smiled.

   “How you been? Giving anybody else the tossing off sign?” I laughed and he grinned.

      “Nope, just you,” he said popping the p.

      I felt kind of special in a messed up way when he said that. Yeah, that was a bit weird. The sign was a bit derogatory, and I felt special because he had only given it me…in a sign of friendship. I let out a sigh. “Taxi man, can you turn this song up?” It was Avicii – Wake Me Up and I was in love with it. I loved a lot of songs, but this was just in a different class.

   He did as I asked and we all started to do an encore from the bus and start singing loudly and terribly on the way to Kiernan’s.

   We finally got there and each of us climbed out of the taxi and Matt paid him. “Thanks for putting up with our singing,” I chuckled as I followed Matt out after he gave him the money.

   “Have a good time,” he responded before I closed the door shut and he drove off.

      Even from outside you could hear the music. I had a huge smile on my face as I climbed up the stairs and we all wandered in.

   The place was absolutely packed, like you had to push through people packed. The music was blaring out of the speakers that were against the back wall and you couldn’t hear yourself think. You could smell alcohol no matter where you stood and it only made my smile get bigger. Alcohol was my forte.

   I grabbed Matt’s hand and yanked him through the crowd with me to the kitchen were bottle after bottle of spirits and box after box of lager sat on the counters. I quickly grabbed a bottle of Sambucca and two cans of Stella, the latter of which I thrust in Matt’s chest. “Do you like Sambucca?”

   “What is it?”

      “Do you like aniseed?” He nodded his head in response. “Well you will like this.”

      I opened the bottle and took a huge swig, the taste burning its way tastefully down my throat. “Here, have a try,” I thrust it in his chest and took the cans off him.

   I had a high tolerance of alcohol, I could almost inhale a bottle of vodka so I planned on starting early and trying to get as pissed as I could just because I could and I haven’t been drink with Matt or Holly or the rest and it’ll be interesting to see what type of drunk they are.

   He took a sip, “That is surprisingly nice.” He commented before taking a longer gulp which made me smile in proudness, almost like a father would at seeing his son score a goal for his local team. I really need to set my priorities straight.

   I gave him a can and we both opened ours at the same time, I clinked his against mine and we both chorused a, “Cheers,” together.

   “Let’s go find Nathan and James,” he suggested and I nodded my head.

      This was one of the first times I was able to get drunk without worrying about Henry getting in the way and ruining everything. I mean, it was rare for me to actually care about what he thought but he could still find me and pour the vodka down the sink and now he couldn’t.

   Once we found them, we joined the hoards of people dancing to Roar by Katy Perry and we were all having a laugh. I was letting go tonight.

   After an hour passed, it came to just Matt and I, not that I was complaining. I had my arm around his neck and his hands were on my hips and we were just staring into each other’s eyes. I felt like nobody else was around me and although I knew he was just my friend, I had a sneaky suspicion that I was starting to like him more than just a friend.

   His hands on my hips were sending sparks around my body and I just didn’t feel awkward at all, in fact, I felt more comfortable than I had been in a long while.

   “Leigh-Anne-“ Matt started and I couldn’t help the smile as he said my name.

      However, he was cut off before he could finish what he was saying by none other than his ex-girlfriend. “Matt, hey,” she greeted.

   Matt dropped his hands from off my hips so I took my hands away from his neck and drank the last few drops of the litre bottle of Sambucca.

   “I’m going to go and get another drink,” I told him as I help up the empty bottle. I seriously thought we were going to get somewhere then before she turned up. I knew Matt didn’t feel much for her anymore, whenever he saw her in the corridors he would just cuss her but now he had a few drinks in his system and I didn’t know what he was going to say to her but I think his cuss words were more denial than real.

   Plus, Matt would never think of me like that. I was just a friend. He and his family were way too good for me. Someone who has been knocked-up and gets drunk all the time and lives in a council house that has more litter in the front garden than there is currently in the kitchen. I wasn’t a snob and loved my family and was proud of my roots, no matter how poor they were but since I started being friends with Matt I didn’t want them to see my house and think of me as something different.

  My background didn’t change who I was but it could change their opinion and I really liked them and didn’t want them to shun me at school. I felt that at Forest Green and it wasn’t very nice to experience. But I had Chloe with me then so it wasn’t too bad.

   I grabbed a bottle of vodka, my usual drink and started to drink the contents, one gulp after another until someone took hold of it and removed it from my lips. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I screamed.

   James was stood there with a smirk on his face. “You drank more than half of it, I think that is enough,” he laughed.

   I looked at the bottle and sure enough I had drunk more than half. You know, as I looked at James I saw him in a different light. “You look quite fit,” I complimented him as I gave him the once over.

   “Thanks,” he chuckled but before he could say anything else, I had my arms wrapped around his neck and I was kissing him heavily… and he was responding.

   He grabbed a hold of my waist and sat me upon the kitchen counter without breaking the kiss and we started to get really deep into it. He was a really good kisser and I had never thought of him like this, it really was the alcohol talking but now were making out I was glad.

   “Bedroom,” he whispered as he broke apart for a few seconds and starting pecking kisses on my neck.

   “Definitely,” I replied with a low moan and he took hold of my hand and I jumped off the counter, pulling my dress back down a little.

   We didn’t make it to the bedroom and settled for the downstairs toilet instead where we had sex in the bathtub. Twice. Scratch that, once in the bathtub and once on the toilet. Classy as always.

   The sex was pretty standard and at the time, I didn’t think about the repercussions. James wasn’t Matt hot but he was cute and I wasn’t going to get anywhere with Matt so why not James?

   It was only afterwards, when he was asleep whilst holding me to his chest..in the bathtub where I would have frozen to death if it wasn’t for me being in his arms that I thought about what I had just done. I had just had sex with Matt’s best friend. And after this it is going to be so awkward as I didn’t plan on going anywhere else with James…not that there was much else to explore.

   After having a small kip, I woke up way less drunk and snuck out of his arms and placed my dress and heels on and sorted my hair out so it didn’t look like I had just had sex. Once I was satisfied, I contemplated waking James up but decided against it and slipped out of the room.

   The house was still full and the music was still blaring out but I felt like I couldn’t face anyone. I felt so ashamed. And I had never felt like this before after sex which was even more confusing. Sure, I was starting to feel for Matt a little more than I should but it wasn’t much and I knew it couldn’t go anywhere, just like with James.

   Wow, I am fucked up.

      “Leigh-Anne!” I turned to see Nathan calling my name. I let out a big breath and walked over to him at the foot of the stairs.

   “What?”

      “Where have you been? Matt, Holly and I have been looking for you everywhere. We’re about to play a few games upstairs away from all this, do you want to join? Oh and have you seen James?”

   Even the mention of his name made me recoil but instead I just shook my head, “No I haven’t sorry. Whereabouts upstairs are they?”

   “Second door on your right. Are you okay?” He looked concerned.

      I gave him my biggest smile, “Yeah, why do you ask?”

      “No reason. I’ll see you up there.”

      I nodded my head and walked past him upstairs and once I stood outside of the room, I let out a big breath and turned the round, brass handle opening the door slowly.

   Sat inside were Matt, Holly, Bex, Daisy, Mandy and about five or six I hadn’t seen before. They all looked towards me as I shuffled inside and sat between Bex and Holly. Seeing Mandy, sat next to Matt no less, here only fueled my anger more but I knew I couldn’t mess this night up more than I already had. I was sober, or near enough now and I had to be more careful.

   I would have to talk to James in the morning and beg him to stay quiet.

      “You okay?” Holly whispered as I slipped the heels off and placed them just behind me. The room wasn’t quiet which I was thankful for. Everyone was talking and you couldn’t escape the music from downstairs as much as you tried.

   I nodded my head in response to her question, “Yeah, where did you go?”

      She smirked, “I am going to have to tell you all about it tomorrow,” she giggled and she looked genuinely happy, which made me smile as well as I was happy that she was happy.

   Nathan came through the door not long after alone. “I couldn’t find James. He has probably hooked up with someone else, so we may as well start without him but I’ve told a few people to send his ass up here as soon as they see him.” He laughed before taking a seat next to Holly.  

   Nathan placed an empty bottle of whatever in the middle of the floor and spun it. It went round a few times before it landed on Matt and although I wasn’t in the mood for much right now, I placed a smirk on my face to act like the friend I was and wondered what horrible dare Nathan would come up with.

   “Truth or dare?” The question was mandatory but all boys picked dare so they could prove their manliness. It was especially funny when they were drunk, like now.

   “Dare.”

      “I dare you to kiss Leigh-Anne,” he said instantly and my eyes shot to Nathan’s in shock.

      I slowly turned my eyes to meet Matt’s and gulped. If this was an hour ago, I would have been jumping at the chance but now I just felt like I had somehow betrayed him and really didn’t want him to find out about James.

   He looked hurt at my reaction but regardless he crawled over and went to kiss me but as he went to place his hand at the back of my head, I pushed it down and just gave him a quick peck on the lips. It probably didn’t even count as kissing as my lips didn’t even get wet but I didn’t care.

   Nathan and Holly were sat there with confused looks on their faces and Matt looked like I had just told him his parents had just murdered him. “Sorry,” I mimed to him but he just ignored me and sat back in his seat looking humiliated.

   After the tension in the room finally started to lift, Matt spun the bottle and it landed on Nathan and after that the game just kept going and going. There was a bit of drinking involved but nothing much. However, I was still roped into agreeing to dancing and singing on the kitchen island later on to Wannabe by Spice Girls with the rest of the girls, which I wasn’t too sure about.

7: Lesson Seven: When Things Seem Too Good To Be True, They Probably Are

Chapter Seven

   Lesson Seven: When Things Seem Too Good To Be True, They Probably Are

 

   Bex passed me the bottle of whiskey and I took it willingly. I had already been drunk tonight, and sobered up and staying sober just wasn’t working for me. Since the sort of kiss, Matt hasn’t looked me in the face at all, which I don’t blame him for and I just couldn’t be bothered. I knew that I couldn’t say anything about James and with that mindset I was getting drunk again.

   I took a few large gulps before passing it to Holly next to me who passed it straight to Nathan which I’m not judging her for considering she spat out the last mouthful she had.

   “So, whose turn is it next?” Mandy slurred and I had to ball my fists and count to ten to stop myself from punching her. She hasn’t even done anything wrong. She was like the school’s sweetheart. She got good grades, behaved and did all the sports and extra-curricular clubs. All she has done is break Matt’s heart but judging by the laughing they were both doing tonight, they were probably going to give it another go, not that I had a say. He didn’t like me like that and I had just fucked James twice in the bathroom downstairs. And I am assuming he is still down there because he hasn’t shown his face yet.

   Yet being the important word there.

      “I say you girls go and do the Wannabe dance before everyone goes.” Nathan chirped and I gave him the glare of death. That was a dare given to Bex about half an hour ago or whatever and us girls agreed to do it with her but I was holding my fingers crossed that he had forgotten it.

   “Do you really?” Holly smirked and placed a cheeky kiss on his cheek which when she turned back had everyone staring at them both. You would probably think that it was just a kiss as a friend but Holly and Nathan have NEVER done that before, or they haven’t as far as I am aware. I was still staring at Holly as her face began to redden which made me inwardly aww.

   “I really do,” he coughed once everyone was over their shared moment.

      I glanced at Bex and she nodded her head reluctantly so I stood up with her. “Come on girls, we can do this!” Bex chanted and they gave a cheer back.

   I went to step through the door when I was yanked back which caused me to let out a squeal in surprise. I swiftly switched around and saw Holly stood there. “What happened earlier?” She whispered while swaying on her feet.

   I frowned, “What do you mean?”

      She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “It’s as clear as day you fancy the pants off Matt! Nathan gave you a proper chance, what the hell happened?”

   I gulped visibly, “I don’t like Matt.” I lied.

      “Yeah you do, you can’t lie to me. What happened? When you stepped into the room you looked like a complete different person to the person with her arms around Matt’s neck and looking like a boyfriend and girlfriend instead of friends.”

   “What about you and Nathan?” I changed the subject.

      “That isn’t going to work. What happened?” She pushed.

      One, two, three, four…I counted to ten in my head and looked back up at Holly a little more calmer, who was still looking at me expectantly. “I slept with James.” I admitted in a hushed tone. The words felt like sandpaper in my throat as I told her and I felt so ashamed.

   Her eyes widened in shock. “You what?” She hissed.

      “I slept with James.” I repeated with more force.

      “Why the hell did you do that?”

      I gulped, “I saw Matt with Mandy,” I sighed. “And before you make up even more bullshit, I know that he still loves her!”

   Holly’s eyes bulged and I had to take a step back to not feel as under pressure, “He certainly does not love her,” she responded in a calm tone. “He likes you.”

   I shook my head, “No he doesn’t, and the way he looks at Mandy is nothing like how he looks at me,” I slumped to the ground and leant against the door and she joined me.

   We just sat there in silence for a while, just trying to think over my stupid, rash decisions.

      The room was huge, like I knew Kiernan had money but damn! The ceilings were high and the walls were covered in a burgundy red with a black, fluffy carpet which I bet if it were anyone else would be a pain in the butt to clean all the bits out. There was an expensive computer on a dark brown desk in the corner and a sofa that had been pushed up against the wall for us to play dares. There was even a bleedin’ fireplace! We didn’t even have a fireplace in the whole house, just a load of radiators that were too expensive to put on.

   “Please don’t tell anyone else,” I breathed to fill the tense atmosphere. I had never been this close to friends before and arguing with them felt horrible. Having friends is a foreign experience for me, for the past couple of years it has just been Chloe and I and on occasion Molly.

   These four people are the sole reason as to why I even go to school when I actually do and if this all falls through then at least it’s a good reason to quit school, right? I know I can’t technically quit, but I also don’t have to attend.

   “I won’t,” she replied, “but it is only because I miss having a friend that’s a girl and you are hilarious,” she chuckled and I let out a short, humourless laugh.

   “Thanks,” I said sarcastically with a grin.

      “Don’t worry about it,” Holly laughed as well. “But, I promise not to tell Matt or anyone else about what happened.”

   I didn’t know how to express my thanks. Saying ‘thanks’ seemed not enough. I glanced over the room again before turning to her and wrapping my arms around her tightly, “I really do mean it,” I spoke before letting her go and climbing to my feet. I wasn’t usually one to give out hugs willy-nilly, so I knew she knew that I meant it.

   She clambered to her feet as well, “Don’t fret over anything, the only chance Matt is going to find out is if you or James tell him,” she reassured and I nodded my head. I just needed to get to James before James got to Matt and tell him to keep his gob shut.

   Pulling my red dress back down, I opened the door and let out a breath of relief that nobody was listening in. “Let’s go and dance to Wannabe!” Holly yelled while grabbing hold of my hand as we tottered down the stairs carefully in our heels.

   At the bottom of the stairs Matt stood with a scowl on his face and gave me the cold shoulder as we descended the stairs which made me feel even worse. Would I be able to do this? Like, lying had been my forte for years, as soon as I learnt to string a bunch of words together I was lying, but looking in his warm, brown eyes I didn’t feel like I would have the strength to do it.

  Ah, screw it! Just enjoy yourself for tonight and explain to him everything in the morning. Yeah, let’s do that. It will be so much easier than explaining everything when drunk and then having to go through it again in the morning to make sure he had heard me correct.

   Pushing past Matt and Holly, I stormed into the kitchen and grabbed the first bottle of anything I found and took a nice, long swig. I had probably already drunk my annual alcohol limit tonight but I couldn’t give two shits. If I was to do this Wannabe thing then I need to be able to forget this ever happened.

   Taking another mouthful, I was stopped again. “I swear to God,” I growled before turning to face Matt who had a concerned look on his face, something which was far from the cold look he gave me not even five minutes ago which meant that Holly had spoken to him.

   “Don’t you think you’ve had enough for tonight?” He frowned and took the bottle out of my hand and I gave him a deadpanned look

      “Are you dancing to Wannabe on a kitchen island?” I asked rhetorically before prizing the bottle back out of his hands and taking another a drink. “Want a sip?”

   “I think I’m going to have to,” he muttered as he took the bottle back and took a long gob full which was actually quite impressive considering it was whiskey.

   “I’m sorry about earlier,” I slurred, the alcohol already kicking in. I was going to apologise tomorrow when I was completely sober and could actually think straight but now also seemed like a good time.

   “Don’t mention it,” he waved off and I frowned.

      I poked him in the chest with a finger and took another sip, “No, it is not okay. I wanted to kiss you but I couldn’t,” I admitted brashly not even thinking about my words.

   Matt’s face blanked, “What did you say?” He asked really, really slowly and I didn’t even hear him, just saw him open his mouth and mutter a few words. I was about to ask what he said when I was yelled at.

      “Oi! Bag-thrower!” Bex yelled from the kitchen island, creating a nickname from when I threw Matt’s bag at her accidentally earlier. She also seemed to find it funny as she was holding her stomach as she was clutched over and no sound was coming out of her mouth.

   I waved enthusiastically at Matt before just about making it over to the island. I slipped my heels off and clambered – with help from a very helpful citizen and stood next to Bex and Holly. Daisy and Mandy were stood on Bex’s side which is a very good thing because if I was next to Mandy I would have ‘accidentally’ shoved her off.

   “Nathan! Hit it!” Bex yelled with an arm in the air after she recovered from laughing and also gained the attention of the whole house.

   It didn’t help that there were five of us.

      “I’m blonde so I’m baby spice!” I cried before anyone else could claim the best one.

   “I’m posh spice!” Bex claimed.

      “I’m sporty spice!” said Holly.

      “I’ll be scary then,” Mandy added which meant Daisy was ginger spice.

      The music blared out of the huge speakers, “Yo, I’ll tell you what you want what you really, really want!

   “So tell me what you want, what you really, really want!” We all sang really badly while doing some sort of dance moves to the lyrics like we were all having a fit throughout the whole song.

   I could see people with their phones out, how they managed to stay sober enough to keep their phone still I do not know but my eyes were mainly on Matt, who was staring back at me with a grin on his face which confirmed that I was making a complete and utter fool out of myself.

   But alas, I was too drunk to care.

      The song finally finished and after bowing to our performers, I went to get off but before I could break a bone, Matt had pushed himself through the crowd and placed his hands on my hips which burned from his touch.

   I glanced down at him with a sloppy grin and placed my hands on his shoulders as he carefully placed me on my feet. I didn’t take my eyes from his and I could just feel how much I cared for him.

   “I slept with James,” I whispered once I was back to looking back up at him, which wasn’t as much as normal considering I was in my heels.

   “What?” He breathed with a smile on his face which indicated he hadn’t heard me.

      I shook my head, I can’t tell him now! “I really like you,” I changed my words and placed a small kiss on his lips which held more emotion than any kiss I had ever given and it wasn’t even a kiss with tongue, just a small chaste kiss.

   “I like you too,” he smiled before placing his lips back down on mine. His tongue licked against my bottom lip for entrance which I eagerly gave him and with everything I had, I showed him how much I cared for him.

    Everything with James and the stress it was bound to give me and prevent me from furthering any sort of relationship with Matt disappeared along with the rest of the room, like it was just us two, like before on the dancefloor although this time it felt like I could fly.

 

**************

 

   It had been just over half an hour since the kiss between Matt and I and I felt like I was on cloud nine. But I knew I had to go and sort out the business between James and I before he went and opened his mouth not realising I didn’t want anyone to know.

   Slipping into the bathroom, James was still asleep in the bathtub which made me smile.

   Bending over, I started to shake him, “James!” I hissed, not that anyone would be able to hear me because the party was still in full swing and it was nearing two a.m.

   Groggily, he opened his eyes and grinned once he saw me, “Well hello,” he greeted.

      “Sit up,” I ordered and he did as he was told immediately.

      “Wow, feisty.”

      I rolled my eyes, “Right, how do you feel about what we have done?”

      “I feel good, I just had really good sex twice, how the hell do you think I would feel?” He started rubbing his neck, “But my neck sure does feel horrible.”

   “So, you don’t think of me as being your girlfriend?” I reiterated.

      He frowned, “Why? Don’t you want to be?”

      Sadly, I shook my head. “No, I wasn’t even thinking when I slept with you. I’m not denying that it wasn’t good but I don’t think of you as that,” I admitted.

   He climbed out of the bath and changed into his clothes before sitting on the edge, which was directly across from me as I was sat on the toilet, but it was better. Talking about how I had just basically used him to get back at Matt while he was laid almost naked in the bath didn’t scream out, serious talk!

   “Oh, that doesn’t help your ego,” he laughed uncomfortably.

      “I am sorry,” I spoke straight away.

      “I take it you want me to keep my mouth shut?” His blue eyes were looking up at me and I nodded my head.

   “Holly knows but I don’t want anyone else to find out sorry,” I confirmed. “I’m not ashamed of you because let me be honest, you are far from ugly. I just think it’ll be easier in the group.”

   “I’m not ugly, eh?” He chuckled and I shook my head. His blonde hair and blue eyes really made him a good-looking lad. He was hilarious as well and a great friend, he just wasn’t Matt.

   I gave him a hug before letting go before anything else could happen, “Are you ready to go and join the party now? You’ve been in here for the best part of three hours.”

   “I’ve what?” He cried.

      “You have also missed all us girls dancing to Wannabe by the Spice Girls on the kitchen island.”

   He groaned, “Oh why has God punished me?” I wept dramatically while I just pushed him to the side playfully before we emerged from the bathroom laughing our asses off and when I saw Holly, I gave her a thumbs up to confirm it went well.

   “Thank you for this,” I told him earnestly.

        “It is no problem at all.”

8: Lesson Eight: Waking Up To A Handsome Boy Should Be Celebrated

Chapter Eight

 

   My eyes fluttered open and before I could spell ‘ouch’ a killer headache invaded all my senses. My throat was dry and felt like sandpaper and I could taste the Sambucca from last night and was about one shot away from being sick.

   My arm felt numb and yet it was tingly at the same time, if that makes sense? If I didn’t feel like death would be a warm welcome right now I would use what little energy I did have to sneak a glance at the person who was weighing me down and making my stomach churn even more.

   Trying to recall where I am now was still a blur but I could remember…shit! The bathroom, the kissing and James. Bloody hell! How could I have slept with James? I am literally the world’s worst person.

   How could I sleep with Matt’s best friend? Jesus Christ! I was holding back way too many secrets from the guy I literally fancied the pants off right now.

   Turning my neck, a loud snap made me wince. Counting to three, I opened my eyes and saw Matt lay there, which was a bit of a surprise. His blue eyes were clasped shut and his hair was covering his forehead. He looked so angelic and peaceful and just seeing him made my heart start racing a few beats faster.

   He was gorgeous, sure he was not perfect but for me he was. Being this close to him, I could feel his warm breath fanning across my face. He was also shirtless and half laying on me. There was heat radiating from him everywhere, like he was an extra blanket and I could have lain there all day. My arm was hurting a little from the position it was in but just being this close to him made it worth it.

   Turning on my side so I was facing him, I pulled my knees up so that they were leaning against his, sending sensations all over my body and closed my eyes once again. I was wearing clothes that were not the dress, so that gave me an indication that we did not sleep together which I was thankful for. Matt deserved better than me.

   But just as fast as I was at putting myself down, I remember the kiss we shared and how much I enjoyed it. Just being in Matt’s arms was amazing, his arms were strong and he had a heart that was pure.

   Just walking away from him was not an option and I truly believe we have crossed the friend barrier now and I wasn’t sure if I should feel good about that or not.

   Curling into him felt so amazing and safe, but as the saying goes, all good things have to come to an end. And unfortunately I was not an exception.

   Just as I was about to fall back asleep, there was a loud bang which made not only my eyes widen but also Matt’s who woke up with a shock and fell off the bed with a bump, bashing his head on the side of the bedside table as he went down

   Her infectious laughter from the door made me laugh just on principle that Holly had the best laugh I had ever heard and it was impossible not to, my eyes were watering and I felt a stitch in my side.

   Clambering back into the bed with a frown on his face, I still could not stop laughing. My sides were hurting like hell but it was just so funny. His face when he fell was etched into my mind and kept replaying over and over again, the way his eyes widened and then the groan when he landed on the floor. Oh I know I am so mean but that was just hilarious!

   “I’m glad I could be the source of your amusement.” He frowned as he pulled the covers from under me and lay back down gingerly nursing his head but kept his eyes open.

   Seeing him pull the covers back over him was a tad bit disappointing considering he was shirtless and although he didn’t look like Zac Efron…which reminds me to go and watch his new film soon…anyway, he was hot and his chest was developing perfectly, playing football did that to you. I mean, have you seen Cristiano Ronaldo? Right, I need to stop comparing Matt to my other boyfriends. Ha.

   The laughter soon died out and Matt was still laid there with the face on. “Why are you even here?”

   Holly looked offended at his sharp words. “Why is she in here?” Holly pointed towards me. Her voice was still humorous and was only said to make Matt blush, which he did. And it was extremely cute.

   To be fair, I was wondering the same question. Whenever I share a bed with a lad it is usually because I’ve slept with them, without trying to sound like a slag or anything. I mean, I never really stop out at anyone’s house anyway. Like I said, before I went to St. Christopher’s it was just Chloe and I and whoever she wanted to cling on to that week.

   “Yeah? Was I not meant to sleep at Holly’s?” I frowned, looking between the two.

      Matt gave me an awkward look, “You don’t remember?”

      I shook my head, “I remember most of the night but with this stupid hangover I don’t think I want to remember anything. I’ve not felt this bad since New Year’s Eve. What was I even drinking last night?”

   Holly laughed and came and sat at the end of the bed. “You were on anything you could get your hands on.”

   “Oh God!” I cringed and lay back down on the bed with a thump. I gave up. I truly gave up. I should not be allowed to be near the stuff. “I’m going sober.”

   “Alright then, tell us how it goes.” Holly giggled and I could even hear Matt breathe a laugh next to me.

   “Thanks for the support.” I frowned but they knew I was joking. Jenny’s best friend is getting married next week so I’ll probably have a few glasses of wine there as well.

   “Don’t mention it. And getting back on track, I was here because your phone was buzzing like crazy on the coffee table downstairs.” She threw the shitty phone at me, landing a surprising blow to my stomach and it was then that I had to stop the sick from escaping from my throat.

   Throwing the covers back I high-tailed it to the bathroom across the hall and let all of last night escape straight into the toilet, my stomach felt like I was being pumped and I kept dry-heaving, not sure when something else was going to let loose.

   I felt like crap and that was an understatement.

      I felt someone walk in behind me and then Matt’s breath was soothingly on the back of my neck as he kept my hair away from me and rubbing small circles on my back. “Are you okay?”

   I nodded my head; words were failing me at the moment.

   “Gutted Matthew! There is always one who is sick!” A boy chuckled and I felt the heat rush to my cheeks in embarrassment.

   “Piss off Brad! And stop calling me that!” Matt cried from behind me and I finally pulled my head back from inside the toilet and snuck a glance at Matt’s brother who looked exactly like him, except he had shorter hair. I hadn’t met him yet, only seen him in a few photos on the walls around the house. It is just typical that this is the time he decides to show up.

   “Thank you,” I muttered to him before going to the sink and splashing my face with water and rinsing the cup on the side and taking a couple of gulps of water. “Have you got any aspirin?”

   “In the cupboard,” Brad told me and I just gave him an unsure look before prizing the cupboard open slowly, not really sure what to expect. “You can trust me you know.” He smirked.

   With that I opened the cupboard fully and saw the packet next to the toothpaste, which was Colgate, not that I should have expected anything less and took two of the tablets and knocking them back with another glass of water.

   “What did you say about my phone Holly?” I frowned as I went back into Matt’s bedroom with Matt and Brad following me.

   She looked up from reading a magazine, “It was buzzing downstairs like crazy, wasn’t it Brad?”

   He nodded his head, not that I didn’t believe her and picked the phone off the bed and saw that I had fifteen missed calls and twenty messages and they were all from the same person: Henry.

   With a heavy sigh, I sent him a text back telling him that I was fine. “Who is it?” Matt asked as he was putting a t-shirt on over his beautiful body, the muscles in his arms flexing with the movement and taking my eyes off of him seeming like an impossible feat.

   “Are you checking out my brother?” Brad brought me out of my moment of pure bliss, his eyebrow arched. I wasn’t embarrassed, his brother was handsome and I was not going to give him that pleasure. Matt was looking at me with a smirk and even Holly had glanced away from the article about another bogus story about Jennifer Aniston being pregnant.

   “So what if I was?”

      He looked like I had just slapped him with a fish and it made me smile. “I feel like I’m being objectified.” Matt frowned, the smirk still in place.

   “It is for a good cause,” I giggled as I patted him on the shoulder softly and he smiled back, his dimples showing.

   “I like her.” Brad chuckled before leaving us three alone and I couldn’t stop the proud smile on my face. I was good friends with Bex and Brad liked me, I felt like I had just been given acceptance by his family and it felt good. I hadn’t met his parents yet but I wasn’t too bothered about meeting them anytime soon. The later I meet them the better to be honest.

   Matt always spoke about Brad and I can see why, he had a somewhat strong personality but apart from being in your face he was kinda funny.

   “That is your brother?” I pointed towards the door and Matt nodded his head.

      “You haven’t met him yet?” Holly spoke up shocked and I shook my head.

       “No, I’ve only been to this house on about five other occasions and he has been out every single time.” I shrugged. “Have you got a spare bobble?”

   She pulled on off her wrist and I painstakingly pulled my hair into a messy bun on top of my head, the knots in my hair hurting somewhat. It also felt a little sticky which was just absolutely perfect. “Do you want to shower?” Matt offered, noticing my discomfort and I shook my head.

   “I’ll just wait till I get home,” I replied. I would feel uncomfortable having a shower here; I would just wait till I get home because at least I would get a change of clothes there. “Whose pyjamas am I wearing anyway?”

   I was in a tank top with Betty Boop on the front and bright red bottoms.

      “Oh Bex’s, but she is still asleep.” Holly answered me. “I did the same.” And it was then that I realised she was wearing SpongeBob one’s.

   My next thought was cut off by my phone buzzing in my hand. The caller ID was Henry and it was probably best that I didn’t ignore it so I pressed the green button, yes my phone was that old that it didn’t even have a qwerty keyboard and went into the bathroom so that they wouldn’t hear the probable argument.

   The bathroom still smelt like sick so I searched around for an air freshener and doused the room with it. “Henry?” I answered whilst still spraying everywhere.

   “I’ve been ringing you all morning!” He yelled – nice, not even a hello, how are you?

      “And I’ve been asleep!” I argued back. “What is wrong now?”

      “I went to pick you up from Holly’s and her parents told me that you were not there, apparently you went to a party.” He wasn’t even asking if it was true or not, he stated it. He believed her parents over me and I suppose he should but still.

   “It was hardly a party,” I shrugged off; it was the best and worst night of my life, not that I would tell him that. My abundance of lies had to come into play now. “I went round to Bex’s for a sleepover. She asked Holly and I last night so we agreed.”

   “Who the hell is Bex?” He spat her name like she was a poison.

      “What does it matter? All you need to know is that she is my friend and I slept at her house last night.”

   “Where does she live?” He snapped.

      “Why?” I shrieked. “You aren’t picking me up!”

      “Oh yes I am. Address now. Or I’ll ask Holly’s parents.” He sounded like an over-bearing father and I suppose after my actual mother abandoned me and Jenny and Jason moved out he had to take that place. Didn’t mean I liked it much though.

   I told him the address quickly and hung up on him, it was raining outside so I suppose it was better than walking. And it meant I got to have a shower quicker and I could spend the day nursing this terrible hangover. The aspirin had failed to kick in as of yet.

   I wandered back into his bedroom, although the bathroom smelt better I think I may have sprayed a little too much as it was starting to get at the back of my throat. I was immune to hairspray but that was a totally different matter.

   “Everything okay?” Matt asked almost immediately, his face the picture of worry.

      “It was fine, Henry is coming to pick me up.” I shrugged.

      “What now?” His tone was disappointment and it made me smirk.

      “Why you gonna miss me?” I teased him but I did notice that he didn’t deny it and it made my ego soar a little.

   Remembering all of last night gave me a headache but the fact that I slept with James was at the forefront of my mind, along with my kiss with Matt.

   Fifteen minutes of idle chatter later, I received a text from Henry telling me he was out front so I said goodbye to everyone, making sure to only hug Matt as I felt way to guilty carrying anything forward with him at the moment and wandered out of the front door to see him sat there, a deep frown on his face.

   Climbing in the front, I noticed Chloe sat in the back which lowered the tension somewhat. “Why are you here?”

   “Charming,” She muttered. “And Jenny wants help with some baby clothing if you want to come?” She wondered and I nodded my head before buckling in my seatbelt and turning the radio up a little.

9: Lesson Nine: Sisters Are Always There For Each Other

Chapter Nine

 

   Just pulling into a parking space outside of Jenny’s flat, my phone started buzzing again. “You need to take it off silent.” Henry grumbled.

   “When you’re at school, it is hard to get out of the habit,” I mumbled before opening up the text and seeing James’ number.

   Leigh, if you want to keep your friendship with Matt I would tell him about us, a few people saw us kissing last night and the rumours are already starting.

   I read the text a few more times, not sure what to make of it. My hands were starting to get a little sweaty and my mind was starting to go into overdrive at all the possibilities that could come out of me telling Matt. Is James lying? Will he abandon me? How long do I have before he finds out? Do other people know about the kiss we shared? Will people be calling me a slut?

   My legs were shaking but neither Chloe nor Henry noticed or if they did they didn’t say anything.

   Henry scoffed, “Like you go to school. The school rang me up today and they are not happy with you.” His tone was authoritarian and I just about managed to process his words.

   “What a shame.” I snapped before unbuckling my belt and getting out of the car straight away, Chloe was following me with a smirk on her face and we just went straight into Jenny’s flat, making sure to slam the door in a gesture that basically told Henry to fuck off.

   “Whoa!” Jenny yelled from her living room. “What the hell is going on?”

      Her short, light brown hair was up in a ponytail at the back of her head and she looked stressed. She was only twelve weeks, she didn’t have a bump and from what she told me the other day, her morning sickness had stopped.

   My only conclusion was that the stress was caused by the huge amounts of baby clothes that had littered the two-seater sofa.

   “Nothing,” I grumbled and just slumped against the wall as Chloe sat on the edge of the sofa, careful to not touch the abundance of clothes which meant she also saw how stressed Jenny was.

   “Henry was going on again,” Chloe answered Jenny’s question. “And Leigh slammed the door.”

   I glared at Chloe as Jenny glared at me. It was like broken triangle. “Hardly.”

      Jenny always hated how Henry restricted me but then she also hated how I enticed him and it was a never-ending cycle of arguments that I really wanted to avoid. When I visited Jenny I wanted to a have a laugh and although I met up with her at least once a week whenever somebody else was there it ended up on this conversation.

   “What did he say?” She sighed as she folded up another white baby grow.

      My phone felt like it was burning a hole from my pocket as the text from James played at the forefront of my mind but I was trying to push it away and concentrate on Jenny.

   “Nothing, just some bullshit about school,” I passed off. “I have more pressing matters on my mind. Henry’s little squabbles mean next to nothing to me.”

   Jenny rolled her eyes and started talking to Chloe so I ignored them and pulled my phone out and stared at the offending text on my phone. I was a little scared about the prospect of telling Matt but then I already knew this thing between us was never going to last too long and so I should just get it over and done with now before any major damage happened, shouldn’t I?

   “Hey, can I ask your advice?”

      Both their heads turned to me almost at the same time and Jenny placed the bib in her hands down on the sofa before coming to sit on the ground next to me and gestured with her hand for Chloe to copy.

   “I take it you are out of the bad mood now then?” Jenny mused and I just sighed.

      “Okay, so I have a friend and she is crushing on this boy in our year but last night I caught her kissing his best friend and when I asked her about it she said it was a mistake and thinks she should tell the boy as she was caught kissing the other boy and she doesn’t want him to find out from anybody but her so what should she do?” I rambled.

   “Right, you will have to start again,” Chloe stated, “because I did not catch one word of that.”

   I groaned and put my phone down on the ground next to me, I can answer that later. This is going to be taking a lot longer than I thought.

   “My friend fancies this boy and she slept with his best friend drunk and she knows a lot of people know and she wants to tell the boy she fancies before anybody else does but she is scared, what should she do?”

   Jenny gave me a knowing smile like she knew that I was actually talking about myself but she didn’t say anything about it. “I would tell him, I have been in more than a few sticky situations because I have lied and it is just easier.”

   “But he’ll be crushed.” I argued.

      “But you can get your friendship back and he knows he can at least trust you somewhat because you told him. The longer you leave things the worse it just going to get.”

   I turned to Chloe, “Have you got any advice?”

      She pursed her lips, “Why the hell is your friend crushing on some boy? If she kissed the best friend she obviously doesn’t care about the boy as much as she thought.” Wow, her words hit me hard. Did I care for Matt as much as I thought? I mean the kiss was perfect but do I need him?

   Think about all the negatives about dating him, you would have to go to school more often, your life would be more complicated and you would have to tell him and let him in and just like mum, Jenny and Jason he would only leave in the end and I don’t think I could handle more people leaving me.

   “You’re both right,” I concluded. “I’ll tell her what you both said.”

      The both gave me satisfied smiles before getting to our feet. “Now you both came here to help with the abundance of baby clothes so hurry up and get folding. Whites are on the table, blues are on the settee and other colours are on the chair. Bibs go on the settee arm and anything else goes on the windowsill.”

   “Where in God’s name did you get all this stuff from anyway?” I asked as I eyed the two bin bag full of clothes by the door wearily.

   “Do you know Melanie Brown?”

      “The name rings a bell,” Chloe spoke our thoughts.

      “My best friend Melanie Brown…” Jenny trailed off but I shook my head. I knew the name but couldn’t quite find a face.

   “No sorry.”

      “Well anyway, she had a baby boy last year and she doesn’t plan on having anymore kids so she has passed all his clothes onto me.”

   The name was still ringing around my mind, “What does she look like?”

      “For Christ’s sake Leigh! You have her on Facebook.” Jenny sighed and I frowned even more. I did?

   And then it hit me. “I remember!” I chanted and felt a huge sense of relief settled over me. I hated it when you couldn’t quite think of the person, like when you see someone in a film and try to remember where you last saw them. “She’s the one that slept with the pervert who lives across from the primary school.”

   Jenny gave me a deadpanned look. “One, he isn’t a pervert and two, yes she did.”

      “How is he not a pervert? He stares out of the window whenever the kids are coming and going to the school.”

   “And have you seen him actually do that?” She caught me there, I hadn’t but the rumour was as old as me!

   I just stuck my tongue out at her and started folding up the clothes. “Why have you accepted blue clothes? You don’t actually know that you are having a boy yet.”

   She placed her hand on her almost nonexistent bump and smiled. “I have a gut feeling that peanut will be a boy.”

   “Really? You actually get that?” Chloe asked and Jenny nodded her head. I was going to nod my head myself but knew I shouldn’t. Before I had my abortion I knew I was pregnant for a week and just in that week I felt like I had a baby boy in my stomach. Now I didn’t have a maternal bone in my body but I could feel it.

   Having the abortion was something I have to live with and although I knew it was the right decision I still feel a sense of guilt and a smidgen of longing and regret whenever talk about babies comes up.

   “Oh yeah but Tina sent some of Ivy’s old clothes over as well just in case.”

      “Where are you going to live when the baby is born?” I asked. She lived in a one-bedroomed flat and when the baby became old enough to have its own room, where was it going to go?

   “My name is on the council list and when the baby is born I will be pushed straight to the top and then hopefully it won’t be long after that.” She shrugged.

   “Good. Have you got any names picked out?”

      “I like Noah and Mason but they’re too popular and I want a proper boys name like Peter but not as old,” she smiled.

   “How about Owen?” Chloe suggested but she shook her head.

      “Harry?”

      “He’ll be called Potter.”

      “Paul?”

      “Too biblical.”

      “Zack?”

      “Melanie’s son is called that.”

      “Lewis?”

      “Never liked the name.”

      “Well I give up,” I sighed. “Besides, you have another six months to decide.”

      “True,” she agreed.

      “Okay, so we come over to help you and you don’t even offer us a brew?” I smirked with my eyebrow raised and she just rolled her eyes playfully.

   “Well you know where the kitchen is, I’ll have tea with four sugars, I have a sweet tooth today,” she returned the smirk and I laughed before turning to Chloe who told me what she wanted and then I went and made them.

   I loved spending time with my sister’s, I just with Molly was here now so all four of us could have been here and just have a girly day.

 

Hey, I have a Facebook page if you want to here is the link: www.facebook.com/jemmanoble1995 :)