"Well, that was intense." Jenny reasons, when they reappear. "So Shane wants to go public. What do you think about that?"
"I don't know, I need to think."
"When's Danny's next party?" Rae asks me with a look that shows she's helping me change the subject and I love her for it.
"I'm not sure, Priya?" I look at her and she blushes.
"His dad's away all weekend, but I'm going over to watch a film Saturday, just the two of us." She looks so happy and I'm glad. The doorbell rings and I run to get it, part of me stupidly hoping it'll be Shane but instead the pizza delivery guy offers me a pile of boxes which I carry through to the living room, dropping down in front of the TV.
The next day we get to s
"Mate." Luke drops into the seat beside mine and slaps me on the shoulder. "I feel like I haven't seen you for weeks. How's it going with Aurora?" "I know mate, yeah it's good." "When're you going to bring her round?" Never if she gets her way. "I'm not sure mate, see how it goes." "How about Saturday night? We'll have some beers, chat, it'll all be pretty chill." He nods at me like that's the decision made. How the hell do I tell Aurora? "Yeah ok." Her reply makes me stop walking and stare at her. She gives a short laugh. "I knew it was coming, let's get it over with."
"So, my mum's away tonight." I mumble against Shane's mouth. I've had a vague plan all week to finally sleep with him and I'm so excited, I'm just hoping he'll want to too. Not that I haven't enjoyed the bits leading up to this, in fact, I'm hoping those experiences with him haven't caused me to overestimate what's coming, because in my head, it's pretty monumental. "Oh yeah?" He speaks to me through kisses, pressed against my car. "Yeah. So you could stay over… we could finally…" "You want to?" He leans back, his eyes flicking over me. "I want to. Do you want to?" I grin, nodding to emphasise how much I want to be with him fully. "Yeah, I really want to." As soon as he says it, relief washes over me. Obviously thi
Last night was incredible, it's the only word for it. She was incredible, I was incredible. It was just... incredible. She pulled on a t-shirt to go to the bathroom later, climbing back into bed still wearing it and falling asleep, her back to me but curled around her now, I don't like it, I want to feel her skin against mine. I tug roughly at her t-shirt, silently demanding it's removal and she raises her arms letting me slide it off her without opening her eyes, then she curls back up, sleep trying to take her from me once again. I trail my fingers over her shoulder, down her back and then along the lines of her tattoo. Her eyes flicker but stay closed, a small smile tugs at her lips, so I know that she's awake. Stroking her breasts with my fingertips,
I hit her! I punched Ruby Jones in the face and made her bleed! Although a part of me is screaming a long awaited war cry, the other part is warning me that I'm in a house full of bullies and I'm more than likely about to get very badly beaten up. Shane's arms are tight around me, wiping the beer from my face and repeatedly asking if I'm ok, but I'm in too much of a panic to form words. Stacey, now looking bored and drunk, stands between me and the front door. I flick my eyes to the kitchen, the back door must be through there, it's not far, I could get there if Shane would just let me go, but his arm is like a vice around me. "She hit me." Ruby screams at Luke, pointing at me, blood all over her hand.
"Are you humming?" Aurora pokes her head around the bathroom door while I'm shaving. "I've never heard you hum before." "I can't get this tune out of my head, it's driving me nuts, I don't even know what it is." "It's Mr Big, To Be With You." She laughs, sitting down on the lid of the toilet seat and watching me. "It's old, my mum loves it." "Never heard of it. But it's been stuck in my head since Friday night." I dry my face and pull her up to kiss me. "So I blame you. Seriously, Mr Big? I really don't think I've ever heard it." "It's actually lovely, come on." She leads me back into her bedroom, bringing the song up on her phone and pressing play. Without thinking, I pull her towards me, dancing with her in her bedroom to the song that's been hounding m
"Were you just talking to Luke Thomas?" Rae asks in awe. "You were actually talking, I could see you talking. And you got his phone number too." "It's been an eventful weekend." I grin, thinking back on everything and imagining their faces when I tell them. "But he wants to come out Friday with us, so I said I'd let him know." "I don't want to get into any fights or anything." Priya grimaces, when she and Jenny join us. "I know. I said that and he's promised to be on his best behaviour." I reply, giggling at the shocked looks that they don't even try to hide. "Ok, start from the beginning." Jenny pulls me to sit on the benches. "Oi, Rory, class." Luke shouts, heading through the doors and circling his nose to remind me t
"What're you doing tonight?" I ask Luke at the end of the last class. "Not a lot, probably have Bill round, you?" He shoves the door open, oblivious to the kids on the other side who gets knocked sideways. "I'm at a loose end, Rory's got her friends round to watch some show they always watch." "You're not welcome?" He raises an eyebrow at me. "She doesn't think it's my sort of show." I grin at him. "It's some weird quiz show." "We do quizzes." We round the corner and see Aurora and her friends. "Oi, Rory, how come we're not invited to your quiz night?" "Do you want to be invited?" She asks, frowning at him. "I wouldn
"Are you going to cook?" Shane comes into the kitchen and wraps his arms around me while I'm investigating the contents of the freezer. "Like, actually cook me a proper meal, like we're an old married couple?" "Do you not want me to?" I turn into his arms and he kisses me. "No, I really do. I like the idea of being old and boring with you." "Oh yeah? You'll still like me when I've got grey hair, wrinkles on top of wrinkles and I do stuff like iron the bedsheets and trim the roses on a Sunday." I say, describing my Great Grandma's routine "While you trim the roses, I'll wash the car and moan about the neighbours' kids being too loud, then I'll take you indoors and love you the same way I did when we first met."
"You look beautiful." I tell Aurora as she opens the front door, she's wearing a beautiful black dress that brushes the floor as she walks and she must have heels on, because she's almost tall enough that I don't have to lean down when I kiss her."You don't look bad yourself." She grins, looking me up and down in the stupid tux I got just for her."Woohoo Rory, get your ass in here." Luke hollers, sticking his head out of the sunroof of the limo we rented, her friends slip passed us to climb inside.As soon as we're in and the car starts to move, he pops the cork on a bottle of champagne while Jenny passes around plastic glasses.Despite complaining how lame the night will be, he definitely seems to be enjoying himself, Ruby sits beside him, clinging to his arm as
"Morning love muffin." Luke's smiling face rests on the pillow beside mine when I wake up. Oh god, what did I do? My gaze drops to his naked chest, a vague memory of standing in my underwear and kissing him flashes into my brain. "How much do you remember? Because, I shit you not, it was fucking amazing." "I don't remember anything." I say, burying my face in the pillow, forcing myself not to crawl away when his arm curls around my waist and he slides in too close. "I thought you might say that. So I've got us breakfast ready for round two this morning." He smacks my bottom and jumps out of bed. "How are you not feeling like death?" I complain, mor
Luke: Rory's at mine. Get here. Fast! It takes me ten minutes to get to his house, walking straight in and seeing her dress on the floor, two glasses on the table and an empty vodka bottle. Luke's on the sofa, his head in his hands, his shirt open all the way down. "I didn't, but shit did she make it hard not to." Luke slurs at me. "She's upstairs. Sort it out will you." She's under his quilt. She looks up at me, but struggles to focus. "Shane?" She gulps. "Are you ok?" "No." Tears run down her cheeks and I'm at her side, wiping them away with my thumbs
Something breaks inside me when I say those words. He looks so hurt and I can't stand to see it. I don't think about what I'm doing, I just start running. The pain in my legs and lungs helps block out the pain in my heart, so I keep running until I can't breathe. Panting heavily, I look around, I don't recognise anything around me. I turn in circles, trying to get my bearings when I notice a car pull up beside me. "Rory?" Luke lowers the window and I scowl, walking away from him. "Rory, get in the car, I'll take you home." "No, thanks I'm fine." He creeps along beside me. "I can see you're not. If I have to, I'll wrestle you in the damn thing, but I'm not leaving you here." I stop, turning to look at him. Everything hurts, I need it to stop hurting.
"Shane, what's going on?" My mother sits down on my bed. "Don't try to fob me off, you've been laying on the bed for days staring at the wall. Is it Aurora? Has she done something?" "We're done, I broke her mum, I broke us and I don't know how to fix it." She pulls me into her arms, cradling my head while I tell her what happened. About the bet, how I feel and how she won't let me explain. "It's fixable." My mum says decisively, stroking my hair back like when I was a child. "It'll just take a little time, tell her how you feel and show her how much she means to you. It'll work out, I'm sure of it." "Thanks." She leaves the room to answer the door. Minutes later, Luke appears dressed up in black jeans and a purple shirt. "Come on mate, we're getting your girl back, s
"Do you…" Danny appears beside me and I shake my head. "Not yet, I can't." I lock myself in the bathroom, breathing shakily, staring at my face in the mirror until I know I'm not going to fall apart. It'll get easier. Forcing a smile, I open the door, walking out, ignoring the concerned looks of my friends and pretending everything is fine. I will not let them break me. ¥ The next day I plan to pretend he doesn't exist, but he's waiting for me outside the doors with his friends. I hold m
Watching her drive away from me physically hurt, as though someone stuck a knife in my chest and sliced my heart in half before ripping it out through the hole. It takes me too long to recover and she's gone. Grabbing my phone, I know before I dial she's not going to answer, but I need to do something. Shane: Where are you? It's not like you think, please let me explain. I send her a message, running home to grab my car. She's not at her house, or any of her friends, so I just keep driving, hoping I'll see her somewhere. By seven, I've been back to her house twice and finally I see her car parked outside Danny's. "She doesn't want to see you mate, I'm sorry." Danny stands in the doorway blocking my path. A few of
Luke's sitting on his wall smoking when we pull up outside his house the next day. "You alright?" Shane says, eyeing him carefully when he chucks his cigarette onto the floor and grinds it with his shoe, breathing out a cloud of smoke before he steps into the car. "Yep, it's done." He says and Shane nods beside me, mouthing 'Ruby' at me as I pull the car onto the road. "Are you ok?" I ask, glancing at him in my rearview mirror, he gives me a massive smile and nods. "Course I am, just let me know when you ditch him and we can run away together, alright babe." He chuckles, patting Shane in the shoulder as if to say he's only kidding. "So no Billy?" Shane asks, making Luke chuckle.
I arrive back to pick her up early, planning to sit in the car and wait, but when a couple of parents start heading inside, I can't help myself hopping out of the car and following them. I hear her voice before I spot her, standing in the front of a group of teens, shouting instructions in a commanding voice and studying them all as they turn in sync with one another. The sound of their feet stomping in time echoes through the hall. She looks amazing, even in the shapeless blue uniform. I don't know why she didn't want me to see her. I watch mesmerized as she calls out instructions, marching alongside the cadets, turning them, marching them back. Correcting the few who make mistakes, she glances at the clock and calls out some more instructions. The cadets fall into a perfect square in front