Young, Gifted and Dead
Page 25
And so those of us left alive staggered on under the shadow of our grief to the end of term.
On the day before we packed our bags and left for our family Christmases, Jack and I took a walk along Hereward Ridge. It was calm and sunny on the shortest day of the year.
‘You know one of my favourite things about you?’ I asked as we went along hand in hand.
‘My intellect?’ he suggested.
‘Nope.’
‘My love of numbers?’
‘Nope.’
‘I give up.’
‘I love it that you’re taller than me, that I have to stand on my toes to kiss you. Plus I’ve always loved your quads.’
‘Hm.’
‘I know – shallow.’
‘But cool,’ he decided as we wandered between trees. ‘You want to guess what’s top of my I-love-Alyssa list?’
‘My knowledge of Shakespeare?’
‘Wrong.’
‘My fascinating family history?’
He shook his head.
‘My incredible memory?’
‘Definitely not that.’
‘OK, I give up.’
‘It’s a contest between your eyes and your hair. Some days I love your eyes better, some days it’s your hair.’
‘Shal-low!’
‘But cool.’ He kissed me on his favourite spot on the top of my head.
We came out of the trees and looked down towards the abbey. I spotted a brown dog chasing a stick. I saw Jayden lope down the hill to meet Bolt, pick up the stick and throw it again.
Then Ursula came through a gothic archway and ran to catch up. Jayden put his arm round her shoulders and they walked by the river.
Stick man and stick dog plus new stick girl. I hoped Lily would have drawn a smiley face in her diary. I reckon she would.
First published 2013 by Macmillan Children’s Books
This electronic edition published 2013 by Macmillan Children’s Books
a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
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ISBN 978-1-4472-4139-3
Copyright © Lucy Carver 2013
The right of Lucy Carver to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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