“I’m not mad at Remy,” she says finally, making me jump. I’d assumed she didn’t even know I was there. “I know you think I am, but I’m not. I’m more angry at myself, really.” Silently, I take her hand, and she smiles thinly at me before she carries one.
“I met Alex when I was fourteen, and he was fifteen. He was a popular jock and I was a nerdy schoolgirl who always had her nose in a book. I fell in love with him almost immediately and he didn’t even know I existed. And then, one day at a party my cousin had dragged me to, we met and we started talking. I got drunk and I lost my virginity to him that same night.
“We started hanging out almost every day, calling each other every night and I’d thought I’d finally found the man I was meant to be with. We’d been together for over a year and a half and then, on Valentine ’s Day, I went to his house to surprise him… and I found him with another girl.
“And if that’s not the worst part; the girl was my older sister.” She sobs bitterly, leaning her head on my shoulder and sniffing.
“I didn’t know you have a sister,” I whisper in shock. Sure, Dana doesn’t mention her family a lot, just the basic facts, like she never knew her dad, her mum died and she lives with her gran, but she’s never mentioned a sister.
“Had, past tense. I haven’t spoken to her since she shagged by boyfriend and she left a week later, after rubbing it in my face that he preferred her to me. I hate her so much, and yet at the same time I thank her, because if it hadn’t have been her he cheated on me, it could have been any other girl. I’m just glad I found out sooner rather than later,” she shrugs, gripping my hand tightly.
“I-I know you probably don’t want to talk about it,” I stammer, trying to get the courage to ask her after she’s poured her heart out to me. “But, what happened at the party?”
“Oh, that,” she laughs bitterly, her upper lip curling up in a snarl. “I didn’t even know he’d be there, and then I walked into the room to see him trying to grope Remy, and the poor girl didn’t even have a clue what he was planning to do.” She scoffs, “I can’t believe I loved a sleazebag like that. I must have been delusional.”
I giggle slightly, smiling at her, “Well, maybe you should try and talk to Remy? She’s pretty put out, you know.”
She sighs, nodding her head and releasing my hand. “You’re right. And I’m starving – I don’t know how girls can go on diets, I need food. And I need my friends, too.” She stands up and looks down at me, grinning happily. “You coming?”
“In a minute,” I say, smiling back at her. “I just want a moment alone.”
She nods, getting it. “Okay, see yah. And Darcy?”
“Hmm?” I raise an eyebrow, looking at her.
“Thank you,” she beams. “You really are a true friend.”
When I get home that afternoon, my dad is in an alcohol-induced semi-coma in a sprawled out position on the couch, snoring like a buzz saw. I grimace at him before padding into the kitchen and grabbing a carton of orange out of the fridge and pouring a half-full glass. I grab my bag and take it all to my room do get a head start on my homework before I have to start making dinner.
After a couple of hours of groaning and thinking until my head is near to exploding, I roll of my bed with a grunt and stretch my arms and legs. I walk downstairs, check on my dad who is still snoring on the couch, before walking into the kitchen and getting dinner ready.
I’m half way done with the spaghetti and the sauce when dad walks in the kitchen. He’s wearing his usual attire of faded baggy jeans and greasy white shirt complete with various stains.
“What are you making?” He grumbles, grabbing a bottle of beer and sitting at the small table in the corner of the room. He groans when I tell him, pushing the plate away straight away once I’ve put it on the table in front of him.
“Dad, you need to eat,” I tell him as I put a cup of coffee on the table as well. “I made you coffee; it’s healthier than alcohol.”
“I don’t need coffee and I don’t need your stupid food, Darcy. Just go to your room and do your homework or something,” he snaps, glaring at me over his bottle, anger spitting from him.
I sigh, don’t bothering to tell him that I’d finished my homework when he was sleeping on the couch, and I take my plate and my own coffee to my room, just wanting to curl up and read. After finishing my dinner, I take the plate downstairs to wash it, only to find that I’m in the house on my own and that my dad must have gone out sometime after I’d gone up to my room. I shrug, deciding it’s not my problem where he is so long as he gets back, and I get to work cleaning.
I’ve been looking after me, dad and the house since mum died, and I’ve only once complained to dad before realising that I should just leave him alone to grieve for his wife without hassling him about money, bills, food, cleaning and even his daughters’ life. I’ve done everything mum would have done if she was here and more.
I clean all the pots, wipe the surfaces and put all the empty cans and bottles surrounding the sofa in the recycling bins out back, before dusting everywhere and getting the vacuum out to hoover. By the time I’ve finished, it’s gone midnight and I’m exhausted.
I sigh, falling back on the still-smelly sofa and I close my eyes as my body sinks into the dent my dad’s sleeping body has made. I feel my body relax, ignoring the aches and pains from over-working like I do almost every night and I feel my eyes start to get heavy. Pretty soon, my brain has stopped thinking, and I’ve fallen asleep.
Eight
I’m woken with the sounds of someone’s fist thumping on the front door; jerking me out of my curled-up position on the sofa and making my eyes snap open. I gasp, looking around in a sleepy-yet awake haze before forcing myself into a standing position to go and answer the door.
I open it to see a man wearing a police uniform and a scowl, his hand gripping my fathers’ shoulder as I gape at them. My dad is wearing a sheepish expression, his eyes bloodshot and bored, a stench of stale alcohol pouring from him and if I wasn’t frozen in shock, I’d have grimaced and recoiled away from him.
“Um, what’s happened?” I ask hoarsely, shaking myself from the daze and staring at my dad’s rumpled clothing and distressed posture.
“He’d been charged for drunk and disorderly; a £200 fine I’m afraid,” the policeman says, pushing my dad into the house with a pitying expression my way. I try not to scowl at him, hating the pity, as I put an arm around my dad and help him into the livingroom where he falls into the imprint he’s made on the sofa and closes his eyes with a groan.
“Uhm, when do I- we, when do we need to pay the fine,” I stumble over my words, turning to face the officer with a worried taunt in the middle of my brow.
He shuffles on his feet, looking back longingly at his car. Funny, how not even a professional can stand to be around our small family any more. That’s got to mean we’re doing something wrong, right?
“Well, you’ll be receiving a letter in the post, it will include all the details. I’m only here to bring him back; we usually let these types spend the night in the cells until sober, but his file said he was living with his teenage daughter, and we figured you might get worried.” He looks at me, then at my dad, before his gaze slides around the house, looking for any signs of neglect or anything to be concerned about. After taking in the clean state of the house, thank God I’d finished cleaning, he breathes a sigh and steps back towards the door.
“Oh! Thank you officer, I can take it from here,” I say, mimicking a line I’d heard of something on TV, before blushing at how lame that sounds in real life.
He nods, obviously relieved. “Right, thank you miss, goodnight,” he nods his head before turning around and practically jogging to his car, hightailing it out of here.
I turn to my dad and watch him snoring for a while, a tightening feeling in my chest as I remember the happy, funny, caring man he used to be before the accident. Why can’t he be like that with just me? Am I really not good enough with her
to keep him happy?
Apparently not, I think bitterly, taking out an old threadbare blanket and draping it over him, a single tear rolling down my face as the smell of alcohol, the think his loves most, invades my senses and taunts me. I gulp, leaning down to press a watery kiss on his grisly chin. “I love you, daddy,” I whisper, before going upstairs to bed.
During History, all Remy would say was how thankful she was that Dana was talking to her. I didn’t bother telling her that she was never mad at her in the first place; I didn’t want to burst her bubble.
Today she was wearing rainbow knee-high socks, a purple and orange tutu and a black leather jacket. Her bright pink hair was in a curly ponytail and she was wearing her usual black boots.
“So will you be coming to the next party then?” she says, grinning wickedly at me. “I heard one of Tyler’s friends is hosting one this weekend…”
“After the drama the last party caused? I don’t think so,” I scoff, leaning over my notebook to copy out the notes.
“But I thought you and Tyler were getting along great at the last one,” she smirks when I look at her sharply. “Um, yeah, I think a few people noticed, you Juliet, you.”
I giggle at how weird she sounds, blushing slightly. “It’s not like that, really. We’re just friends.”
“Ah huh,” she wriggles her eyebrows at me. “With benefits, I presume?”
I snort, covering my mouth with one hand to hide my silent laughter and hitting her playfully with the other. “Then you would presume wrong – he doesn’t like me in that way.”
She pretends to huff, crossing her arms over her chest. “You gotta fight, fight, fight, fight, fight for this love,” she sings under her breath, nudging me with a smirk. I snort again.
“Say you love me, say you need me, don’t let the silence, do the talking…”
I roll my eyes, “I’m officially ignoring you now.”
“I wanna be with you, gotta be with you, need to be with you…”
The bell rings, interrupting her silly song game, and I breathe a sigh of relief, hoping she doesn’t notice my grin as I grab my bag and make a mad dash for the cafeteria, trying to get away from the crazy rainbow singing girl following me.
Dana raises an eyebrow when I reach the table, stopping mid-bite of her pasta salad. She somehow always manages to get here early, every lunch. She said it’s something about a nice teacher who lets her out early. In other words, she walks out before the bell.
She laughs when Remy slides into her usual seat, belting out Rihanna’s ‘we found love in a hopeless place”.
“Oh, so I see she’s found a new game,” Dana snickers, winking at me when my face turns crimson. “Good luck when Joey gets here. He just loves his love songs.”
“Aw, man,” I groan, putting my hand in my head when Remy turns on to “and I will always love you” loudly and off-key, earning a few glares from the popular kids. Everyone else either ignores us, or just watch in amusement.
Joey walks over, his eyes twinkling when Dana tells him what’s going on. “Oooh, sounds like fun!”
“It’s all about you, it’s all about you baby!” He belts out McFly, Remy smiling and joining in with the harmonies.” By now, even Dana is laughing, practically falling off her chair.
“It must be love, love love…” she sings cheerily.
“Dana!” I yelp, looking at her in shock. “You’re supposed to be on my side!”
She tips her head back and laughs, throwing an arm around me. “Aw, come on, girlfriend! Lighten up, yeah? “
Remy jumps up and starts twisting, pulling joey up with her so they can dance hilariously together. “Don’t break my heart, my achy, breaky heart…”
Dana laughs, taking my arm so that I’ll dance with her. I giggle, mimicking her crazy moves as our table dances and sings crazy love songs, until a teacher eventually tells us to shut up and sit down.
“Well…” Joey says dramatically, pursing his lips jokingly at the teachers back.
“How rude,” Remy agrees with a murmur, before flashing a cheeky grin at me. “Oh, and Darcy? I think someone, really liked your little show.”
“What?” My head snaps around to see Tyler watching me from his table, his amber eyes flashing with humour as he smiles. He nods slightly at me, grin spreading wider, as I blush red and turn away, trying my hardest not to hear his gentle laughter, which seems to be louder than every other sound in the cafeteria.
Nine
It’s one of those days. Dad wakes up in a foul mood, slamming ever door and banging everything in his reach to make as much noise as possible. Unfortunately, it’s a Saturday, so I can’t escape.
I roll out of bed with a groan, throwing on sweats and a plain hoodie before running a brush through my knotty hair. When I make my way downstairs, I realise now is probably not the best time to mention the £200 fine. He’s already begun nursing his bottle of whisky like it’s his prized possession.
Oh, wait – it is.
Silently, I shuffle into the kitchen to grab a snack. I pour a glass of water, and find some biscuits behind the door of a cupboard. I sigh, smiling proudly as I hurry back upstairs to hide away in my room.
Once upstairs, I open my latest novel and start to read, blocking out the world. By midday, my mind is numb and my stomach it rumbling. Downstairs, I can’t hear anything, meaning he’s either watching TV, sleeping, or he’s left the house. I’m not really sure which one I’d prefer.
When mum was alive, dad was the happiest man on earth. He love us both, you could see it in his eyes; they had that… spark. His smile was the widest smile you could imagine, and he’d hug us both daily. Now, though, it’s like he’s forgotten I exist.
That’s the problem with love; it can make you the happiest person alive, or it can crush you into nothing.
I’m fixing myself a jam sandwich when the phone starts to ring. I answer it with a sigh, pressing the cold bulk to my ears. “Hello?”
“Darcy? Is that you?” A small, faintly annoyed voice says on the other line.
“Oh, hi Dana,” I mumble. “What’s up?”
There’s a sad sigh on the other line, making me stand taller with concern. “I just… I really need a friend, Darcy. And you’re the first person I thought of. Can we hang?”
She sound like she’s been crying, her voice breaking on the other end. My heart twists slightly and I chew my lip, knowing that my dad isn’t here anyway. He won’t need me, right? “Sure we can. Where do you want to meet?”
“I’ll pick you up at the normal spot? We can go to mine, my Grandma won’t mind.”
I was going to ask her where her parents were, but then I stopped suddenly. I didn’t want to intrude – I knew all-too-well what it was like not having your parents around. It’s like my dad died that night, too.
“Okay,” I say gently, before hanging up. I quickly clean the kitchen counter before running upstairs to change into jeans, making me look slightly ore presentable then before. I finish off my lunch as I lock up the house and walk down the street, where Dana’s already parking up.
“Hey,” she says hoarsely when I get in the passenger seat. I say hey back, and we drive to her house in comfortable silence, the radio switched off for once.
I’ve never seen Dana’s house before. I never expected it to be a semi-detached, with gnomes and flowers blanketing the entire garden, and yellow brick walls. It looks like a house from a kids show.
I’m staring with wide eyes at the house as Dana parks, rolling her eyes at me. “Coming? Or are you going to stay here and look at it all day?”
I shake my head, looking at her with raised eyebrows. “You live here?”
“Yeah…” She snorts, “What did you expect? A cemetery? A gothic mansion? I live with my Grandma, not Dracula.”
I laugh quietly with her, following her through the maze of rainbow flower beds and colourful gnomes. She opens the blue door, which leads straight into the livingroom, with its white floral wallpaper and bare
floorboards.
“Ma? I’m home, and Darcy is with me,” Dana calls, closing the door behind me with a resolute thud.
An elderly woman with sparkling blue eyes and grey hair walks out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a strawberry-patterned apron. “Oh, so this is the Darcy I’ve been hearing all about? Hello dear?”
I blush, saying high back, before she folds me into a vanilla scented hug that reminds me of my old neighbour I used to visit before she left. “Hi,” I repeat once she draws back again, beaming at me.
“It’s nice to finally meet you, Darcy. I’ve heard all about you from Dana and the others. Will you be staying for tea?” She coos, fixing a curling strand of silver hair on her head.
Dana nods, “yeah, she is, Ma. Do you mind if we go to my room now?”
“Of course nod, dear. You have a good time, and I’ll call you down when tea’s ready.”
Dana takes my arm and leads me up the creaky wooden stairs, into a small hallway with three separate doors. She opens the last one and pulls me inside.
Dana’s room is… well, it matches her personality. The walls are black, the carpet is a deep red colour, and pictures of everything and anything cover two of the bigger walls. She falls with a sigh onto her black double bed and drapes an arm over her eyes, breathing heavily.
“God, I sometimes feel like shit when I lie to her,” She admits to me.
“What do you mean?” I perch on the edge of her bed gingerly, not wanting to intrude. Her shoulders start to bounce, and for a moment I watch in confusion, before I realise she’s crying. The girl who I thought was the toughest out of all of us is crying right in front of me… and I don’t have a clue what to do.
“It’s… I mean…” She draws in a shaky breath, moving her arm to look at me fully. “She has so much trust in me, and I love her to bits. Sometimes I feel like I’m letting her down.”
“You’re not letting her down, Dana,” I say gently, putting an arm around her like they do in the movies. “She loves you.”
Then Came You Page 4
