I stood and paced around the carpet.
“I … I don’t understand…” I said. “You? You wished you’d never been born?”
Reg slowly nodded his head and put his hand to his chest, his face flushed.
“I feel a bit strange,” he said. “I haven’t told anyone, you see. I haven’t spoken of this ever since it happened.”
I couldn’t stop staring at him. Was that why his memory was so bad? Because he’d erased himself?
“What happened, Reg?” I said calmly. He looked up at the ceiling as he thought about it.
“My grandfather lived in this bungalow for many years after his travels. Have I ever told you that?”
I shook my head, speechless.
“All the things here belong to him. This armchair, that sofa, the cabinet. It’s hard to start another life when nobody knows who you are. You don’t have any identification, nowhere to live, no friends to ask for help, no family. Nothing.”
I knew that feeling all too well. Reg carried on.
“But then there’s also no painful reminders of happier times. The kind of thing that can catch you unexpectedly like her favourite cup on the shelf or a silver hairclip in the drawer. Seeing something that simple can completely take your breath away with grief.”
Reg swallowed and rubbed his eyebrow.
“When you’re erased there are no photographs, no diaries, no reminders of your previous life. There’s nobody knocking on the door or calling you three times a day to check if you’re OK. I wanted this life where nobody knew who I was. I wanted some peace.”
I stared at Reg as I listened to him talking. He really did think that erasing himself was the answer. It was so sad. But I didn’t want to end up like him. I wanted to go home.
“And it was this egg that made you disappear, wasn’t it?” I said, holding it up. “The things inside make it happen.”
He frowned as he rubbed his forehead.
“I–I don’t know.”
“But you must know. Something is missing inside and you’ve got to help me find something else to replace it,” I shouted. “You’ve got to help me, Reg, please!”
Reg looked back at me, puzzled. I dug my nails into the palms of my hands.
“I … well, I’m not sure…”
I got off the sofa and dropped down on to my knees at his side.
“I don’t want to be erased any more, Reg. Don’t you understand? I want to go home!”
I put my head down and sobbed. I cried and I cried. I felt his hand gently pat me on the head.
“I’m sorry, Maxwell. It all happened such a long time ago,” said Reg.
I dabbed at my eyes with the cuff of my sleeve.
“I just wanted … I just wanted the chance to go back and see everyone and tell them … and tell them how much I love them, you know?”
I looked up at him.
“Haven’t you ever wanted that, Reg? To see your family and friends again?”
Reg shook his head.
“I don’t know. I can’t really remember my old life, Maxwell. It’s all … foggy. I don’t exist there.”
I thought of the life he had now, surrounded by things that didn’t really belong to him, with no friends and no family.
“But you don’t really exist in this world either, do you?” I said. “This world is even emptier than your old one.”
He blinked back at me. This would be how I would become one day too. An erased man with no past and nothing in his present.
“I know it was painful back there, but you had people around you who loved you,” I said. “What about Alice and Jack? They are still there. Why don’t you…”
I stopped as the back door flew open.
“Maxwell? Are you there?”
Charlie Geek burst into the living room and ran towards me. I stood up and he grabbed me by the shoulders. He was grinning.
“Maxwell Beckett, I’m going to get you home!” he said.
As Charlie walked into the room I realized there was someone behind him. It was Bex. She looked at me all sheepishly.
“Maxwell?” she said.
Charlie looked at me.
“I hope it’s OK but … I kind of told her who you are. To get the button back.”
I looked at her as she took a deep breath.
“Is it true?” she said. I nodded. Her mouth opened and it stayed like that, in a little dark circle.
“I live with you, Mum, Dad and a dog called Monster,” I said. “A lovely, chubby, funny beagle who means everything to me. You like history and you like wearing black and grey and you definitely don’t wear orange make-up or shop lift or bunk off school. That’s how I know all that stuff. Because you’re my sister, Bex.”
She blinked a few times and then swallowed.
Charlie paced around the carpet, waving his hands up and down as he talked. He looked exactly like the Charlie back in my real life. Even his hair had lost a bit of its spikiness.
“And she’s got the button! Show him, Bex!” My sister fumbled in her blazer pocket and held it out in her palm. I took it from her and gripped it tightly in my hand.
She looked embarrassed for a moment and then perked up when she saw the cabinet.
“You do realize that if those things in that egg are real, then it’s possibly one of the most important finds in decades,” she said. “It must be worth hundreds of thousands.”
“I suppose so,” I said. “But I don’t care about that. I just want to get home.”
She nodded at me.
“I’m sorry I took it. It was stupid. I just did it on the spur of the moment. It’s only when Charlie explained what was going on that I realized how important it is,” she said. “Even if it does all sound a bit … far-fetched.”
I shrugged.
“That’s OK. I’ve done far worst things to you in my life,” I said. She suddenly held her hand out towards me.
“Well, if you get back I think you should promise to be nicer to your big sister. Do we have a deal?”
I hesitated, then shook her hand.
“Deal,” I said. I turned to Charlie. “Thanks, Charlie. For telling Bex,” I said. “I’m glad you came back.
“You were right about Marcus,” he said, leaning awkwardly on the kitchen counter. “He is a complete idiot. I’m going to steer clear of him from now on.”
I grinned at him.
“Look, can you guys wait in the kitchen for a moment? I just need to have a chat with Reg.” They both looked at me and then at the old man and nodded. They went out to the kitchen and closed the door behind them.
Reg was sitting in his armchair with his arms folded across his tummy. I went over and sat beside him.
“Have you ever wanted to go back, Reg? Back to your real life?” I asked him.
Reg looked at me with sadness in his eyes. And then he shook his head.
“Well, I can’t stay here,” I said. “I’ve got to get home to my family. To my real family. I miss them, Reg. I thought I wasn’t good enough. I thought things would have been better for everyone if I’d just never been born. But … I was wrong. I am important, Reg. They do need me. And I … I want to go home.”
What was going to happen to me? I couldn’t live here for ever. Reg looked at me and smiled.
“I think you’ll find a way home, Maxwell. And do you know why?” he said.
I shook my head.
“Because you feel it in here,” he said, patting his chest.
His eyes filled with tears. It must have been so hard to say that – that the world was better off without him in it. But then I’d felt that myself, hadn’t I? And now it couldn’t be further from the truth. I picked the egg up from the sofa and took it over to the cabinet. I could hear Bex and Charlie talking in the kitchen but I didn’t want them to be here when I tried. I wanted to do this on my own.
I looked at the egg in my hands. This was it. This was my moment to get home. I was important – I could see that now. It was because of me that my
dad had left the job he hated, that Bex was her real, true self who loved history and that Mr Howard and Miss Huxley were in love and together. If I got home I’d have a chance to tell the school how sorry I was for all the trouble I’d caused and for ruining the biggest night of the year. And I’d make it up to Charlie, my best friend in the whole wide world. I’d tell him how sorry I was that I wasn’t always the nicest friend to him and that I would be better from now on. But better than all of those things was the thought of my dog. If I got back then Monster would be alive again.
I took a deep breath and pressed the top of the egg and it slowly opened. I put the button inside with the other pieces and carefully closed it. I then twisted the tiny knob on the top and the musical box inside played its four notes.
“I want to exist again,” I said just as the notes stopped. I looked at my reflection in the glass cabinet door. I didn’t feel a thing. I didn’t feel any different in the slightest. I sighed as I opened the cabinet and put the egg back on the shelf beside the black hat.
Reg was asleep in his armchair when I turned around. He must have nodded off. I stood and watched as his chest gently rose and fell. The bungalow was almost silent. All I could hear was Reg’s gentle snoring.
I went to tell Charlie and Bex that it hadn’t worked, but when I got to the kitchen, they weren’t there.
“Charlie? Bex?” I said.
I hadn’t heard them leave. Where were they? I opened the door and looked down the path but there was no sign of them.
My heart began to pound.
I ran into the lounge, looking around and spotted it straight away. It was back on the mantelpiece where it always should be.
“I don’t believe it!” I shouted. Reg jumped awake.
“What’s that … what’s going on…?” he said, pushing himself up out of his chair. I ran over to him and gave him a hug.
“What’s going on?” he said, laughing nervously. I held on to his hands and did a little jig.
“It’s me, Reg! It’s Maxwell!” I said, trying not to laugh.
I went over to the mantelpiece and picked up the framed drawing that I’d done of Reg. The picture of something in my town that I am most proud of. The one that had won first prize. I gripped it between my hands, grinning as my heart raced in my chest.
“I’m back!” I said.
I left Reg standing in the middle of his lounge, staring at the portrait.
I ran down his path and turned right, past Mrs Banks’s front garden. Mrs Banks was on her bright green lawn, trying to reattach the flamingo’s head back on to its body using parcel tape.
I stared as I gripped hold of her fence.
“IT’S THE HEADLESS FLAMINGO!” I shouted. “YES!”
I did a little air punch as Mrs Banks glared at me. I waved at her.
“Hello, Mrs Banks! It’s me, Maxwell!” Her jaw hung open.
“I’m going to mend your flamingo, Mrs Banks!” I shouted. “And if I can’t mend it, then I’m going to buy you another one with my pocket money. I’ll buy you the best flamingo you’ve ever seen! How about that?”
Mrs Banks appeared to be frozen to the spot as I gave her another big grin before I ran on. There was someone I needed to see first before I went home – Charlie. If it hadn’t been for him I’d have never got back. I sprinted to his house and by the time I got to the front step I was out of breath. As I pressed the doorbell I looked at the corner of the garden – Dirt-Track Mountain was back. I smiled to myself, but Charlie’s mum certainly wasn’t smiling when she opened the door and saw me. She immediately went to shut it again but I put my hand up to stop her.
“I’m sorry I hurt Charlie’s nose, Mrs Kapoor. It really was an accident, but I don’t blame you for not believing me. I haven’t been the best friend to Charlie, have I?”
Mrs Kapoor was about to say something when Charlie appeared behind her wearing a navy suit with a huge plaster across his nose. Of course! The school Centenary Ball! Days had passed for me in the other world, but somehow I must have come back at exactly the same point I left. His hair was its usual, wild state and it looked brilliant.
“Charlie!! You’re back! Hang on, what am I saying? I mean I’m back!” I said, laughing. Charlie and his mum just stared at me.
“And your nose! You’ve got the bandage on. Isn’t that brilliant?” I laughed again, but stopped when nobody joined in. Mrs Kapoor put her arm around Charlie’s shoulder.
“Charlie isn’t going to be hanging around with you, Maxwell. You’re a bad influence and not a true friend. Isn’t that right, Charlie?” she said.
I looked at Charlie, who dropped his eyes and nodded.
“OK, Mrs Kapoor. I understand. But can I just talk to him on my own? Just for a minute?”
She scowled at me.
“One minute,” she said sternly, and she went inside. As soon as she’d gone Charlie started talking.
“You’re in big trouble, Maxwell,” he said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they expel you for what you did at the ball.”
“Expel me?” I said. Of course. I’d turned the electricity off and ruined it for everyone. I hadn’t even thought about the consequences of that. Charlie carried on:
“And Mum was right. I don’t want to hang around with you any more. You’ve done nothing but make me feel bad about myself. Do you realize that? No. Of course you don’t. Because you only ever think about yourself, Maxwell Beckett. Don’t you?”
I went to disagree but he hadn’t finished.
“And I know you’re only friends with me because there isn’t anyone else stupid enough to hang around with you. But to be honest with you, I think I’d rather be on my own now.”
He folded his arms, waiting for me to say something.
“Oh. I see…” I said.
“Do you see though, Maxwell? Do you really? Because all these years you haven’t seen once have you? You only ever see yourself.”
I nodded at him slowly.
“Yes. Yes, you’re right,” I said. “I’ve been a terrible friend.”
Charlie shifted from foot to foot as he stared at the floor. I continued:
“I’ve been horrible. I’ve laughed at you behind your back and I’ve let you down. I don’t expect you to want to be mates with me ever again but I just wanted to say … you’re my best friend, Charlie. You are funny and brilliant and clever and … and I guess I’ve probably been a bit jealous of you. How you never get in trouble and you know so much … stuff. And you always seem to be happy just being you, you know? You don’t care what anyone thinks of you. Not in this world anyway…”
Charlie looked up at me, a puzzled look on his face, but he quickly looked back down.
“I won’t hang around with you any more if that’s what you want. OK? But if you do ever want to be mates again then let me know.”
I waited for him to say something but he didn’t even look at me. I dropped my head and turned away and as I walked down the pathway I heard the front door close behind me.
I left Charlie’s house feeling sick. I wasn’t surprised he was angry with me but I wasn’t prepared for him not wanting to ever be friends with me. His mind was clearly made up and there was no way he was going to change it.
I turned towards my street and put my hands in my pockets. My fingers felt something cold and when I took it out I saw it was a key. The key to the boiler room at school that I’d locked after I’d turned the electricity off. I hadn’t really given much thought to the fact I was going to be in a whole heap of trouble after what I’d done at the ball. What would happen if I got expelled? I’d have to go to a new school, and who would want to be mates with someone like me?
My house was up ahead and when I got to our path I stopped. The gate was missing. The one I’d swung on all those years ago and broken. I gave the gatepost a little pat as I walked past.
Mum opened the door just as I arrived. She looked livid.
“Maxwell! What on earth have you done? Do you realize how dangerous that was?
Turning the electricity off at school? With all of those hundreds of people there?”
Dad appeared behind her and Bex came downstairs in her jeans and grey History Ain’t Dead T-shirt. She was back to normal again.
I stood there for a moment and looked at my family, and then I threw my arms around my mum.
“I love you, Mum, I love you all. I’m so sorry for everything. I’m so sorry for everything that I’ve done wrong.”
Mum slowly wrapped her arms around me and rubbed my back.
“What’s the matter, Maxwell? What’s happened?”
I pulled away from her and then threw myself into my dad’s arms.
“Dad, it’s so good to see you. I’m sorry you’re both so miserable.”
I could see my sister’s face over my dad’s shoulder. She looked worried. I gave her a smile and she smiled back. Even though things were probably about to get a whole lot more complicated, it was so nice to be back with my family.
There was still someone left to see. The kitchen door behind Bex gave a shudder and burst open as my fat, funny, happy beagle thundered towards me.
“Monster!” I said, letting go of Dad and dropping to my knees. My dog threw himself into my open arms, his tongue dangling out of the side of his mouth like it always does.
“I’ve missed you, Monster! I missed you so much,” I said, burying my face in his neck. He smelled absolutely awful and so, so good.
“Maxwell? What’s going on? Are you OK?” said Mum.
I kissed the top of Monster’s head and turned around and looked at my family. They all stared back at me, confused looks on their faces.
“I’m fine, Mum. I’m absolutely fine,” I said.
I suggested that I should go straight to school and own up about turning off the electricity and ruining the whole evening. Not that I needed to own up – it was pretty obvious who had done it. Mum and Dad were both a bit shocked to hear what I wanted to do, but they agreed.
Dad drove us there and parked where the TV truck had stood. Everyone had packed up and gone home now. There were a few people hanging around in the playground, including Mrs Lloyd. I told my parents that I wanted to talk to her alone so they waited for me in the car. As I walked across the playground, Mrs Lloyd spotted me straight away and folded her arms.
The Day I Was Erased Page 17
