You Against Me

Mikey was stu

‘That was cool,’ Mikey said as she joined him on the pavement. ‘I thought you said you weren’t brave?’

‘I’ll be in trouble later, wait and see.’ She smiled at him. ‘You know, however hard I try to be good, it always goes wrong.’

They threaded hands as they crossed the bridge. It was fantastic to touch her.

‘I can’t be long,’ she said. ‘Serious, I shouldn’t be. I promised myself I’d revise today.’

He didn’t fancy explaining why she actually wouldn’t be going back, but he managed to persuade her to step over the railings and walk with him down the grassy slope to the river. It looked dark, lots of green stuff swishing about in it and trees hanging overhead. The slope was dappled with shadow and patches of sun.

‘Let’s sit here for a bit,’ he said.

It was hidden from the school, hidden from the road. At least if the cops came, they wouldn’t see her down here.

‘So,’ she said. ‘What’s happened now?’

He reached for her hand again and clasped it, like he could take care of her in a small way, even though he was about to hurt her masses.

‘You’re not going to like it.’

‘Just tell me.’

He shook his head, couldn’t believe he was about to say this, was sure the whole town took a pause – all the cars and TVs, all the people, everything still and listening. ‘I told Karyn what you said yesterday about not being a witness for your brother.’

The light left Ellie’s face. ‘Why did you do that?’

‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. Jacko told her we were seeing each other and she went mad and I got mad back and it just came out.’

‘Oh.’

‘And that’s not all. I’m sorry, but she knows you lied in your police statement.’

Ellie covered her face with her hands and collapsed backwards onto the grass. ‘Oh,’ she said again, but quieter this time.

He wanted to touch her, to take her hands from her face and kiss her. But he didn’t know if that was the right thing to do, so instead he lay down next to her and told her the whole story, from the moment he got home last night, to the moment he took the call from his mum half an hour ago. He tried to make it less dramatic, tried to find spaces in it where it didn’t sound important, but when he got to the bit about the cops wanting to haul Ellie in, there was no hiding.

‘They might come to the school,’ he said. ‘That’s why I had to find you. My mum wasn’t sure if they’d go to your house or come straight here.’

Ellie lay completely still, only her belly moving up and down.

He said, ‘Why aren’t you saying anything?’

From behind her hands she whispered, ‘You tricked me after all.’

‘I didn’t tell Karyn on purpose!’

‘You and me at the cottage – I absolutely fell for it.’

‘No, Ellie, this isn’t part of some plan to get information out of you. Yesterday was real. You have to believe me.’

‘I have  to?’ She sat up. She looked different, harder. ‘Do you know how it feels to have no one you can trust?’

‘I didn’t trick you.’

‘So you say. Let’s look at the evidence, shall we? At the begi

‘You’re paranoid. I could just as easily say you’ve been tricking me.’

‘What! How did I trick you? That makes no sense.’

‘Maybe you wanted  me to tell Karyn. Maybe you didn’t have the guts to tell the truth to the cops yourself, and now you can tell Mummy and Daddy that the scary boy from the housing estate forced it out of you.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous!’

‘I might be wrong.’

‘Yeah, you might be!’ She stood up. ‘I have to go.’ She took a couple of steps up the slope, then turned back to him. ‘I actually thought you liked me – isn’t that mad?’

‘I do  like you. Blame me if you want, tell me I’m a total tosser, but don’t tell me I don’t like you. I really  like you, Ellie.’

She smiled, a small glimmer of warmth. ‘Liar.’

‘Truth.’

She sank to the grass. ‘Are they going to arrest me?’

‘I don’t know. They probably just want to talk to you.’

She buried her face in her knees. He went and sat next to her, stroked her hair, wanted her to know he was sorry.

‘Don’t.’

‘Please, Ellie.’

‘No.’ She pushed him away. ‘I’m thinking. Leave me alone.’

Above them, the trees were begi

‘I’ve got Jacko’s car,’ he said. ‘I could drive us somewhere.’

She didn’t say anything.

‘We could disappear.’ It was a brilliant idea. The shit would hit the fan later – with Karyn, Mum, just about everyone in fact, and Jacko would be pissed off about the car – but it would make today easier. ‘We could hide out at your grandparents’ place.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous.’

‘I’ve got money. We can buy food, loads of it, and go and live there for a while.’

‘No.’

‘Think about it, Ellie – just until the worst is over.’

‘Are you insane?’ She took her hands away from her face. ‘It isn’t going to be over, don’t you get it? Someone’s family’s going to be ruined – yours or mine, that’s the choice. We can’t run away. This is real life, Mikey!’

She sounded like she was talking to a kid, or someone stupid from another planet. He hated that.

She lay back on the grass and covered her face with her arm. He got out his tobacco, made a rollie and lay next to her. They were quiet for ages. He wondered if she was coming up with some clever plan, or maybe she was considering the ru

When he’d finished smoking, he nudged her with his elbow, very gently. ‘How you doing?’

‘My bones hurt.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘And everything’s gone very bright and light, like I’m floating.’

‘Maybe you’re in shock.’

He leaned over and kissed her neck.

‘Don’t,’ she said.

‘Don’t what?’

‘Don’t do that.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because we only met six times and now it’s over.’

‘Seven, and it’s not over.’

She looked at him desperately. ‘I don’t want it to end.’

‘Neither do I.’ He took her hand. ‘I’m sorry I told Karyn. I completely fucked up. But it doesn’t have to end.’

She blinked at him. ‘I think it does.’

He leaned over and kissed the tip of her nose. Very softly. Three times. She didn’t stop him. He rolled her onto him and held her there. She gave him her weight, tucked her chin into his neck, so they were warm and tangled. It was su

‘What will they do to me?’ she said eventually.

‘Talk to you, that’s all.’

‘Where?’

‘At the police station.’

‘What will I tell them?’

‘The truth.’

‘I want to speak to my mum.’ She rolled off, picked up her coat and bag. ‘My dad won’t be home from work yet.’

‘I’ll take you.’

‘No, I’ll walk. I need time to get used to the idea.’

‘Ellie, you don’t have to do this by yourself.’

She smiled wearily at him. ‘Go back to work, Mikey, I don’t want you to lose your job as well. I’ll walk along the river, so no one sees me. Don’t worry, I can follow it all the way home.’

He walked with her down to the path. It was cooler closer to the water. There were some ducks. A swan curved its neck down to feed. They stopped to watch.

After a few moments, Ellie took a breath and turned to him. ‘Can I have a hug goodbye?’