He does have feelings for me!
‘Why don’t you like Marcus? You don’t even know him.’
‘I just don’t trust him. Listen, I’m not telling you who you can and can’t see. It’s up to you. Just be careful, okay?’
‘I will, I promise. And for the record, I’d rather spend time with you over Marcus any day.’
He smiled and took her hand in his, squeezing it gently.
‘That’s good to know, Chambers. Good to know.’
Charley woke with a start, cradling her head in her hands as she came to. She felt awful. She’d been feeling poorly for a few days, but this was the worst she’d felt by a long stretch. She laid her head back on the pillows and reached for her phone: two missed calls, one from Abbie and the other from Aiden.
She hadn’t seen either of them for days, since even her mum had said she was too ill to go to school. She’d tried to protest, which only ended up confusing Linda even more. Charley hated school.
But, for once she didn’t want to be cooped up inside. Staring at the same four walls was driving her mad. She wanted to speak to Abbie and she was also dying to see Aiden. Of course she wanted to find out if he’d discovered anything about her – condition – but she was more anxious just to see him, to hang out with someone who made her feel normal.
I miss him, she thought to herself, although she would never dare say the words out loud. That would make them seem too real.
‘You feeling any better yet?’ Jess asked enthusiastically as she burst into Charley’s room. She was in the door for less than a minute before Charley retched into a bucket by her bedside.
‘No,’ – Charley heaved, shooing her sister away – ‘I feel terrible.’
‘You look it.’
‘Thanks.’
‘You’re welcome,’ Jess smiled.
‘Why are you so annoyingly upbeat this morning?’
‘Dunno, I guess you look so bad that it’s making me feel better.’
‘Funny. What do you want?’ Charley’s patience was wearing thin – she wasn’t in the mood for games.
‘There’s a boy at the door for you. He’s kinda cute.’
‘What?’ Charley sat up, pushing the sweat-soaked hair from her face. She really needed a shower.
‘Not really my type, but still, he’s not bad.’
‘Why didn’t you say?’ She pushed herself from the bed and began shoving on clothes.
‘You can’t go out like that, you stink.’
‘Thanks for the sisterly advice, Jess. Always appreciated.’ She wrapped her hair in a tight bun and hurried down the stairs, ignoring her sister’s unhelpful comments.
Tugging open the door, her smile faded a little faster than it should’ve done.
‘Marcus . . .’
‘Hey, Charley. I just wanted to see how you were doing.’
Charley forced a smile. ‘I’m okay, thanks.’ She paused for a second and then said, ‘Actually, I’m not. You can probably tell.’ She tried her hardest to disguise the disappointment in her voice.
‘I won’t lie, you don’t look too healthy. Take it you aren’t going to school?’
‘No, although I wish I was. This house is driving me insane.’
‘Come for a walk with me then, I’m skipping first period anyway.’ His eyes gleamed, making the muscles in Charley’s tummy tighten. Once again, she noticed how good-looking he was.
‘Skipping class again?’ Charley grinned.
Marcus returned her smile. ‘I like to live dangerously.’
‘A walk does sound good.’ She stood for another few seconds before shoving on her shoes and stepping out the door. ‘Let’s go.’
‘You sure you don’t need a coat or something?’ he said, pointing to her rather baggy T-shirt and dark grey jogging bottoms. ‘It’s kinda cold.’
‘Are you kidding? I’m melting. Trust me, cold is good.’
After about half an hour, Charley began to feel much better. Her headache had disappeared and she no longer felt queasy; a relief she couldn’t describe. The hot flushes and constant sweats had stopped as well, and she was finally feeling cool.
‘You’re shivering,’ Marcus said, noticing goose bumps on her arms.
‘Maybe you were right,’ she laughed, ‘it’s pretty cold.’
‘Here, take this.’ He wriggled out of his coat, draping it over her shoulders. It made her think of when Aiden had done the same.
‘Thanks.’
‘It’s cool, I’ve got a jumper.’
‘I don’t just mean for the jacket. Thanks for coming to see if I was okay. For the walk and, well, the company. I guess I needed it.’
‘Anytime. I like hanging out with you. You aren’t like most of the other girls at school.’
‘Is that a good thing?’
‘You have no idea.’
Their eyes met for a moment and Charley, not looking where she was going, caught her foot on a loose tree root. She lost her balance and began falling forward, flinging her hands out to cushion the fall. But Marcus grabbed her before she hit the ground, one arm quickly wrapping around her waist, the other resting on her hip, turning her to face him.
‘Careful where you walk,’ he smiled, pulling her up.
‘Thanks,’ she giggled, ‘again. I have a lot to thank you for today.’
‘Nonsense. I’m happy to help.’
‘Shouldn’t you be thinking about getting to school? You’ll miss second period if you wait much longer.’
‘I’d skip all day if it meant spending time with you.’ His smile faded and his face all of a sudden bore a serious expression. ‘I really like you, Charley.’
Once again, she withdrew. ‘I like you too, Marcus. I like hanging out with you. You’re . . .’ Charley faltered. She still wasn’t sure how she felt about Marcus. Was that really all he was – a friend? Her mind flashed to Aiden. At least Marcus had bothered to check on her to see if she was all right.
‘I’m drop dead gorgeous and fantastic company,’ Marcus grinned smugly.
Charley giggled. ‘Your company’s not half bad. Hey, you wanna go to the bridge again?’ she asked, suddenly getting excited.
‘I don’t think that’s such a good idea. You’re not well.’
‘I feel so much better, really.’ It was true – since leaving the house, she felt almost back to normal.
‘No, I’d feel terrible if anything happened, if you got worse–’
‘Marcus, I promise, I’m fine.’
‘You don’t give up, do you?’
‘Nope.’ For a moment, she thought he was going to give in.
‘Sorry, Charley, we can’t. You should really get back to bed, and I should get to school.’ He started walking in the opposite direction. ‘Besides, what would Aiden think?’
‘What? I don’t know, and I don’t care.’ She knew it was a lie, and so did Marcus.
‘I’m sorry, Charley.’ Before she knew it, he was just about out of sight.
‘Bye then,’ she mumbled.
The bell for second period rang just as Marcus walked through the front doors. There were already a few students bustling about the main hall, some at their lockers, others making their way to the next class. Marcus sighed as he climbed the steps to his own locker, opening it and at the same time reaching for his jacket pocket. But as his hand met his jumper’s cotton fabric, he realised he’d left his jacket with Charley, his rushed departure causing him to forget all about it.
‘No, no, no,’ he said, cursing as he slammed the locker door shut.
‘What’s wrong with you?’ He turned to see Aiden next to him, looking on with a perplexed expression.
‘Nothing, doesn’t matter.’
‘All right. Sorry I asked.’ Aiden turned to go, wondering why he’d bothered to speak to him in the firs
t place.
‘No, I’m sorry,’ Marcus said, realising he had the perfect opportunity to make Aiden jealous. ‘I left something with Charley, something I need. It’s fine though, I can drop by and get it.’
Aiden’s face fell as he muttered, ‘You were with Charley?’
‘Yeah, this morning. We went for a walk. Think she was glad of the company.’
‘How was she?’ Aiden hated that he had to ask Marcus, of all people, how Charley was doing. He hated himself more though, for not going to check on her.
‘She looked terrible when I first showed up. Think the fresh air did her some good – she was trying to convince me to spend the day with her.’
‘Right.’ The sly grin which was plastered across Marcus’s face riled Aiden. Who did he think he was?
‘I’d better go,’ Marcus smirked, ‘I’ll tell Charley you were asking for her, shall I?’
‘You do that.’ The boys exchanged a hostile look before heading in opposite directions.
Aiden hated Marcus with an absolute passion, but Marcus hated him more.
As Charley pushed open her front door, a wave of nausea washed over her. She immediately felt out of breath and her limbs began to ache.
‘What’s wrong with you?’ Jess asked as she peered over the back of the sofa. ‘You look worse than you did before.’
‘I was fine a minute ago,’ Charley stammered, clutching the door frame for support. ‘Why aren’t you at school?’
Jess shrugged. ‘I have a sore stomach.’
‘You didn’t mention that earlier.’
‘Sorry, Mum,’ Jess said sarcastically, turning around to avoid Charley’s stare.
‘Speaking of Mum, did you tell her?’
‘Tell her what?’
‘That you weren’t going to school.’
‘Charley, quit bugging me. And don’t tell her, okay? Or Dad. You know what they’re like.’
‘Jess, you can’t ask me to lie to them.’
‘Why not? You do, all the time.’
‘I don’t–’
‘Leave it, Charley, please. I really don’t feel like a lecture.’
‘Fine. I’m going back to bed.’
She stood for another minute or so before leaving the room, glancing back at Jess who was now glued to the telly. Her sister really was changing, and fast.
She climbed the stairs, stopping halfway to catch her breath again. She felt horrendous. She reached for her pocket, wanting to call the doctor to try and arrange an appointment – as much as she hated doctors, she was going to have to go see one. All she wanted to do was feel better. But as she reached down, she noticed Marcus’s coat, still wrapped around her shoulders. She hadn’t even realised she was still wearing it. Shrugging it off, she made her way up the rest of the stairs and into her room, throwing the jacket down on her bed.
‘Crap,’ she muttered, as the contents of his pocket fell out across the duvet. Nothing exciting: a Snickers wrapper, some loose change and a photo, landing face down, writing scribbled across the back.
‘Charley?’ Jess called, her footsteps suddenly sounding on the stairs. ‘She’s in her room, second door on the left.’
‘Thanks.’ A second voice, deeper. Male.
Before he had time to knock, Charley pulled open the door.
‘Marcus,’ she smiled.
‘Hey, Charley. Sorry to bother you again. I left my
. . .’ His voice tailed off as he saw his belongings scattered across the bed sheet.
‘Jacket?’ Charley said, finishing his sentence for him.
‘Why were you going through my stuff?’
‘Oh, I wasn’t . . . I flung your coat and the stuff fell out. I was just going to . . .’ She stopped talking as Marcus pushed past her, shoving his things back inside the pockets.
‘Did you look at any of it?’
‘What?’
‘Did you look at it?’ His tone was no longer kind and Charley found herself taking a step back.
‘No.’
‘Okay, good.’ He pushed a hand through his hair and sighed. ‘I’m sorry, Charley. I’m just big on privacy. I didn’t mean to snap at you.’
‘It’s fine.’
‘No,’ Marcus shook his head, ‘it’s not. Let me make it up to you.’
‘I’m tired, Marcus. I think you should go.’ Now it was Charley’s turn to be blunt.
‘All right, some other time, yeah?’
‘We’ll see,’ she replied, holding the door open.
‘Charley–’
‘Goodbye, Marcus.’
‘Okay,’ he murmured, ‘I get it. I’m going.’
He walked from the room, turning back once he reached the stairs, but Charley didn’t see – the door was already closed.
‘Chambers, wait up.’ She didn’t need to turn round. She recognised him from his voice alone. That and the fact that no one else called her Chambers.
‘Free to talk now, are we?’ Charley huffed, pushing open the doors from the science department.
‘Don’t be like that. I’m sorry I didn’t come see you.’
‘It’s fine, Aiden.’
‘No, it’s not. I know I should’ve swung by. I did call though – Abbie gave me your number.’
‘You did, that’s true. And I didn’t even have the decency to phone you back.’
‘I don’t mind about that. I just don’t want you being mad at me.’
‘I’m not mad. Well, at least not anymore.’ She slowed her pace and glanced up at him. He looked tired.
‘That’s a relief. What with Marcus taking the time to call round, I know I didn’t win myself any brownie points.’
Charley stiffened at the mention of his name, which Aiden noticed immediately.
‘He told me he was with you. Everything go okay?’
‘I don’t know. I’m not sure what to think of him to be honest. One minute he’s really nice, the next he’s storming into my room and grabbing his stuff, face like thunder.’
‘He did what?’
‘Accused me of rifling through his pockets, invading his privacy. I swear, the stuff fell out of his coat. I didn’t even look at it.’
‘I knew there was something off about him, the son of a–’
‘I’m not saying he’s a bad guy,’ Charley quickly interrupted, ‘he just took me by surprise. I didn’t expect him to lose it like that.’
‘Even so, Chambers, he had no right. In your own house of all places. You don’t have to defend him.’
‘I guess not. Can we talk about something else? I don’t really want to spend all day thinking about Marcus.’
‘Gladly,’ Aiden scoffed as they walked through the main doors, out into the courtyard. It had been a long day and Charley was more than ready to get as far away from school as she could.
‘Did you manage to find anything about, you know
. . .’
‘I’ve not had much of a chance so far. Sorry, I’ve been dealing with family . . . issues, shall we say.’
‘Everything all right?’
‘As all right as it ever is. Don’t worry about it. How are you feeling now anyway?’
‘Don’t change the subject,’ Charley grinned, batting him softly with the back of her hand. ‘You sure everything’s okay?’
‘Everything’s fine, I promise. How are you feeling?’ he repeated.
She’d only been back at school a day but if she was honest, she felt better there than she did at home. Her constant headaches had finally subsided and she was no longer being sick.
‘I’m good. Well, better at least.’
‘It is a bit of a coincidence.’
‘What? Me having some strange episode, wrecking the house, then throwing up for a week.’
‘That’s one way of put
ting it,’ he laughed, finding her hand and squeezing it. Charley was sure she stopped breathing – just for a second.
‘So where are you taking me?’ she asked. ‘I could do with a distraction, and you’re my number one choice.’
‘Oh, is that so? I don’t know if I can match the bridge jumping scenario. Are you sure I’ll suffice?’
‘Hmm, I’m pretty sure you’ll do.’ She grinned at him cheekily and he gently wrestled her into his arms.
‘Come on then, Chambers. Let’s see if I can live up to your expectations.’
Charley let out a deep breath as they finally reached the top of the hill. They’d been climbing for ages, and she was exhausted.
Once she managed to catch her breath and finally straighten up, she saw why Aiden had suggested they come here. The view was spectacular. The sun was glistening, its rays pouring down across the fields and trees before them. She could vaguely see the houses she knew so well, but they were like toys now, tiny speckles scattered far below.
‘Aiden, this is amazing.’
‘Nice, eh?’
‘It’s beautiful.’
‘You never climbed a hill before?’ he joked, and then became serious as she slowly shook her head. ‘Really?’
‘Nope. At least, I don’t think I have. Maybe my parents took me when I was younger, but–’
‘If you can’t remember, it doesn’t count.’ He wandered across to a large rock, waving Charley over and offering her a seat.
‘Thanks,’ she smiled, sitting down, hoping he would do the same. He did.
‘No problem.’ Their eyes met for a second and Charley thought he was about to . . .
‘Look,’ he said, gesturing into the distance.
Okay, maybe not.
‘Look at wh–? Wow.’
Charley gaped at the huge rainbow which was now stretching across the sky. She’d never seen one like it, the colours so bright she could have sworn somebody had painted them against a pale blue background.
‘It hasn’t even been raining.’
‘Who needs rain when you have magic?’ he smiled.
‘You did this? Aiden, it’s–’ He didn’t let her finish.
Charley Chambers Page 6