by Sarah Bailey
“Admit it, Rhys, you don’t mind me being around you.”
“Whatever,” I muttered.
If I didn’t want him near me, I’d have fought harder against him, wouldn’t I?
“It’s okay. I don’t mind you being stubborn. I told you, I can talk enough for the both of us.”
“No kidding.”
He talked my ear off daily when we weren’t in lesson. It was like having a radio blaring in my ear twenty-four-seven. Entirely irritating and yet… the more he talked, the less I seemed to mind him being there. I wouldn’t tell him that though.
“Did you tell your mum I invited you over?”
“No.”
Mum needed me. She’d always need me. So I couldn’t go around his.
“Are you going to?”
“No.”
I peered at him but he didn’t seem ruffled. Why did this boy seem to think no would somehow turn into yes eventually?
“I’d like to meet your mum.”
I opened my mouth to speak but no sound came out. He couldn’t possibly mean that.
“I’ll introduce you to my parents when they get back.”
What is happening?
“Why would you do that?”
His eyes twinkled.
“You’re my friend, Rhys, whether or not I’m yours.”
Now I knew he was crazy. I barely spoke and I didn’t encourage his advances. How could he consider me a friend?
“You’re never going to give up.”
“Nope. You’re stuck with me.”
Great. Just what I wanted. A boy who won’t leave me in peace ever again.
“Don’t know why you bother.”
I wasn’t special. Aaron was charming and confident enough he could be friends with anyone he wanted. All the girls in our class stared at him like he was a god. He should hang out with them not me. They would appreciate his company.
He cocked his head to the side. His eyes grew stormy again, the grey more defined than the blue.
“You don’t see what I do.”
“Oh, and what’s that?”
Curiosity got the better of me. I needed to understand why he didn’t just drop this.
“A boy who’s crying out for someone to see him. Not the wall he puts up, but the real Rhys inside. The one who cares about his mum more than himself. The one who’s hurting more and more with each passing day. I see you, Rhys, and I still want to be your friend.”
I blinked. How could a fellow seven-year-old have the ability to see right through me and express it so well?
Who is this boy and where did he come from?
“You know nothing about me.”
He smiled and shook his head a little.
“I know you’ll keep trying to push me away and I won’t stop pushing you until you let me in.”
I didn’t like where this was going. I didn’t like him seeing me full stop.
“You’ll be waiting a long time.”
“That’s okay with me.”
He was still smiling. I didn’t understand it. How could he be happy? I hadn’t given him anything.
“You’re crazy.”
His grin widened.
“Probably, but one day you’re going to tell me I’m your only friend and that will make it all worth it.”
This boy was clearly mad. I wouldn’t be saying that. I didn’t want friends especially not him. He got under my skin in a way I hated. It was an itch I kept having to scratch. I wanted him to disappear so I wouldn’t have to feel this way. Yet he was just there, making me feel everything and nothing at the same time.
“You should let Tamara drop you off at your house then we can meet your mum. I’m sure she’d like to see who’s giving you lifts to school.”
I didn’t need him to any longer. Mum’s black eye was gone. She could take me. But I didn’t want to make her walk all that way with me. It was too much. At least when Aunt Bibi had been around, she’d taken me. We weren’t better off without her. I think it upset Mum a lot with her sister being gone. Her little sister had been her only family other than me and my dad. I’d hardly call him that. He didn’t treat her well nor me.
I wanted to say no but I knew Mum wanted to know who Aaron was. She wanted to meet Tamara. It would make her feel better about allowing a stranger to take care of her son.
“Fine,” I mumbled.
I hoped my dad wouldn’t be at home when we got there. And I would make my mum come outside. Didn’t want Aaron seeing in our house or how I lived.
“Really?”
Why does he sound so happy about it?
“Yeah, don’t make me change my mind, okay?”
“You got it.”
And yet Aaron had a stupid smile on his face for the rest of the day. Like he’d won a small victory. So when it came around to home time, he was practically bouncing off the walls. I thought he was mad but it made me want to smile, seeing him so excited. I didn’t. I only smiled with Mum.
I directed Tamara to the house when we got to the estate. She turned off the engine when we were outside.
“Wait here, I’ll get her,” I said before jumping out.
I could see the curtains twitching next door. Nat Jacob was a nosey old lady who gossiped about everyone on our street. I hated her as she was mean about Mum and her disabilities.
I let myself in the front door.
“Mum? You here?” I called.
I didn’t get any answer so I walked further in.
“Mum?”
When I reached the kitchen, I found her on the floor, struggling to get back up.
“Oh god, Mum.”
I was by her side the next moment. She looked pained.
“Rhys love, you’re back.”
“What happened?”
“I tripped over my own feet, can you imagine?”
She tried to smile but it came out as a wince.
“Mum, where does it hurt?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. My ankle just got a little twisted.”
I looked down at her feet. One of them had started to swell.
“That’s not nothing.”
I didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t walk on it even if I did get her up. I felt another presence behind me. Looking back, I found Aaron staring at both of us from the doorway. I told him to wait.
Why is he here?
“Can I help?”
I blinked and then looked back at Mum who was staring at Aaron.
“She fell over. I think her ankle got twisted.”
Next thing I knew, he was by my side and helping me get my mum up off the floor. With both of us, it didn’t take too much effort. I was too weak to lift her by myself. Aaron got her onto one of the kitchen table chairs and knelt down, checking on her ankle. It didn’t look as bad now we could see it properly. Just a little swollen.
He stood up and glanced at me. I shifted on my feet as Mum stared between us.
“This is Aaron,” I muttered. “This is my mum, Stephanie.”
“You’re Aaron? Rhys has told me a lot about you.”
I felt my face growing hot, especially when Aaron grinned wide and stuck his hand out. Mum shook it, giving me a look.
“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs King.”
“Oh, you can call me Steph, love. I’m glad you’re getting my boy out of his own head.”
That made my face grow hotter. Aaron’s smile was radiant.
Why is she encouraging him?
I was going down with this sinking ship. And I couldn’t find it in me to plug the holes so I wouldn’t drown.
“That’s okay, he’s worth the effort.”
These two were conspiring against me. I’d told Mum on several occasions I didn’t like Aaron even though, despite myself, I did. He was hard not to like. Especially when he smiled like that and the way his blue-grey eyes twinkled whenever he was amused or saying something cheeky.
“
Can I get you anything, Mum? Do you think you need to see a doctor?”
She smiled at me indulgently.
“No, Rhys, I’ll be fine but you’ll have to help me with dinner, yeah?”
“Of course.”
There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do for my mum.
“I would ask you to stay, Aaron, but I’m sure your au pair is waiting for you.”
He gave a little shrug.
“Maybe another time or maybe Rhys will finally take me up on my offer to come over.”
My mum gave me a stern look.
“You didn’t tell me Aaron asked you. Why would you turn that down?”
I scowled, unable to help myself. She was ruining everything right now.
“You need me.”
She shook her head.
“You can go around Aaron’s any time you like, Rhys, you just need to tell me before you go to school.”
“What about tomorrow?” Aaron piped up.
My mum clapped her hands together.
“That’s a wonderful idea.”
Great. Now I can’t get out of it.
“Tamara will drop him home afterwards. He can have dinner with us. I promise he won’t be back late.”
My mum nodded and gave him a bright smile.
“I’m sure Rhys will love that.”
Is she talking for me now? Don’t I get a say in this?
Apparently not.
“Great. Well, I better go. I’ll see you tomorrow, Rhys.”
“Say thank you to Tamara for me, I’m very grateful for her ferrying Rhys around.”
Aaron smiled and nodded before giving me a wink and disappearing. Mum turned to me, her expression falling.
“Rhys love, we’ve talked about this. You don’t need to be here to help me, do you understand? That’s your father’s role.”
“He’s never here!”
She shook her head.
“You’re seven. Looking after your mum is not your responsibility.”
I didn’t argue with her any further. She always won when I tried.
“You’re going to go have fun with Aaron tomorrow, you hear me? No more of this ‘I don’t want friends’ business. He seems like a very nice boy and it’s rude of you to keep saying no to his hospitality.”
I hung my head.
“Yes, Mum.”
“Good boy. Now, have you got homework?”
I nodded and sat at the kitchen table, getting it out of my school bag. I didn’t like upsetting my mum so I’d go tomorrow. I had no way out of it. If I made Tamara bring me home, Mum would only tell me off. I guess I was about to see just how rich Aaron and his parents were. And the thought of it intimidated me no end.
Chapter Six
Aaron practically vibrated with excitement all day at school. A part of me couldn’t help but be swept away in all of it even if I refused to acknowledge the fact. I still didn’t want to like him. Didn’t want to be friends with the incredibly charismatic boy next to me whose smile lit the world on fire and he danced amongst its flames. Didn’t understand how he could like me, the quiet kid who never asked for anything from anyone else. Who liked his solitude. Only Aaron didn’t get that. Or maybe he did and he just didn’t care about bulldozing over it and getting his way. And his way was having me over after school.
When Tamara pulled up at their house, I couldn’t stop staring. It was huge. Aaron hopped out of the car and cocked his head to the side as he waited for me. I climbed out, my eyes still on the building.
“It’s not our only house,” he confided in me as Tamara unlocked the front door. “My parents have a couple in London and several around the world.”
Inside the house, the walls were all white, which helped with the natural light streaming in through the glass windows everywhere. All the furnishings were soft and looked expensive. I barely registered Aaron telling me about the no-shoes policy in the house, too busy looking around. It was so immaculate. I’d never seen anything like it.
“Rhys?”
My eyes snapped to his and my face grew hot. I hadn’t been paying any attention to what he’d been saying to me.
“Sorry, what?”
“Shoes.”
I quickly slipped them off, setting them next to his on the shoe rack by the front door. He shook his head and smiled.
“I’ll bring you two a snack up in a bit,” Tamara told us before she walked away down the hallway.
“Come on,” Aaron told me, racing towards the staircase.
I followed him more slowly, wary about being here in the first place. My eyes were drawn to the walls and how clean everything was. Nothing like my own house, which was a small two-bedroom mid-terrace.
When we reached his room, which had blue walls, he threw his bag down by the door and jumped on his bed. At home, I had a tiny room with a single bed. Aaron’s was huge with blue sheets to match the walls. I carefully placed my bag down next to his and stood awkwardly.
When Aaron noticed I hadn’t moved, he beckoned me over with a wave of his hand. I walked over and sat at the very edge of the mattress. It was incredibly soft and I wondered what it’d be like to sleep in a bed like this.
“You like books, don’t you?”
He settled down next to me, his eyes wide and his smile wider.
“Yeah.”
He waved at a bookcase in the corner.
“Do you want to look?”
I shrugged even though curiosity burnt through me. I didn’t just like books. I loved them.
“Go on. I know you want to.”
At his encouragement, I slid off the bed and walked over to his bookshelf. It was full of books I’d always wished I could read. Fantasies about faraway worlds with magic. I wanted to run my fingers over the spines but I was too scared of marking them even though my hands weren’t dirty.
“You can borrow whatever ones you like.”
I blinked and found him next to me, looking over the titles.
“I don’t read much.”
“You should. Books are like an escape into a world that isn’t our own and even when bad things happen, you know it’ll end up okay.”
The words just slipped out. In the real world, things weren’t okay. They were horrific and brutal. Just like the stabbing that occurred on the estate two days ago when I was at school.
“Do you want to escape from the world?”
“Sometimes.”
His eyes grew sad and somehow it cut me. Sad didn’t look good on Aaron. He wore his happiness and bright outlook on life on his sleeve.
“Maybe you can think of here as your escape. We don’t have to be in the real world. Can just be you and me.”
I swear I stopped breathing at his words. It was almost as if he saw into my soul. Saw what I was hiding. The desire not to be in this world any longer as it hurt too much.
“I only came because Mum told me I had to.”
He eyed me for a moment before selecting a book from the shelf. It was the one I’d been pining after.
“Here, why don’t we read this together?”
How did he know?
“What do you mean?”
He walked over to his bed and sat down. I followed him, nerves spiking in my chest.
“Well, you don’t like talking so I’ll read it to you.”
“I can read fine by myself.”
He gave me a wink.
“Oh, I know, but I can’t. You can help me when I stumble over the big words. Think of it as doing me a favour.”
Again. How did he know?
I swear this boy paid far too much attention to my every move and for the life of me, I couldn’t understand why.
Huffing a little, I sat down next to him and he opened the book. He looked at me from under his blonde eyelashes.
“You can pretend you’re not going to enjoy this. I won’t be offended.”
I gave him a hard stare. He really did get on my n
erves with all his insisting and forcing when it came to me.
You’re not exactly putting up much of a fight, you know.
As if I could try. He’d ignore me and do it anyway. Easier to give in. Besides, I would get annoyed if he said words wrong. How would he learn if I didn’t tell him?
So I settled in, letting Aaron read to me and interrupting him every so often. He kept giving me these super-indulgent smiles like Mum did. As if he thought it was cute how I got worked up about things being just right.
When Tamara came up with these cakes Aaron had called lamingtons and milk, we ate them on his bed. They were pretty tasty. And after we were done, Aaron showed me around his room properly. Then he made me sit at his desk and taught me how to play a shooting game I was pretty sure no seven-year-old should be playing. It had been rather violent, but I enjoyed it, nevertheless.
Despite my determination not to have fun, I enjoyed Aaron’s company the most. He was so vibrant. So full of life and laughter. And he had infinite patience with me. Even when I snapped at him, he took it on the shoulder. Never once giving me any crap back. It made it very hard to stay annoyed at him. To push him away further. Aaron was digging his way behind my walls and somehow, I was letting him.
Tamara made us roast chicken, potatoes and vegetables for dinner. I couldn’t remember the last time I had a decent meal that wasn’t at school. It wasn’t my mum’s fault. We just didn’t have much and my dad wasting away his money on alcohol made it worse.
Just before it came time to leave, Aaron and I were back in his room as he asked Tamara if we could run and get something quickly.
“Okay, pick a book to take home. Then you can tell me if you liked it when you’re done as long as you promise to come over again so you can help me with reading.”
I shuffled my feet on the carpet. It didn’t feel right to borrow one of his books. They were all in such pristine condition.
“Rhys, please… for me.”
A part of me wanted to snap at him again. Tell him I’d never do anything for him. Except it was a lie. A big part of me wanted to please him. When I did that, he smiled and his eyes lit up. I’d found myself longing for those times more and more. And it got on my nerves.
“Okay,” I muttered before I went over to the shelf and picked up a book I’d never had a chance to read before. One about a boy with magical powers that could get him killed if anyone found out about them. And when Aaron smiled that smile of his, his blue-grey eyes twinkling, my heart thudded in my chest and warmth spread through me.