All the Things That Could Go Wrong

by Stewart Foster

  Then it goes quiet and I hear Mum say something about Mr Francis and I don’t want to hear them talk about me being in trouble again and that I don’t care about anything. I do care about some things. I care about Ben and Shooting Star.

  I reach under my bed and get the cardboard tube that Ben sent his drawing in. I slide the paper out and flatten it on the floor with my hands. It’s huge and has lots of details like the one the architect did for the back extension except it’s more interesting than that.

  I smile when I read ‘pirate flag’. I wish it was Saturday tomorrow so I could work on her, but most of all I wish the next six weeks would pass quickly so Ben can come home. I’ll tell him that.

  I reach up onto my bed and grab my notebook and pencil. Then I read Ben’s letter again so I can answer all the things he wrote. But when I read it again it sounds like he’s having a brilliant time and not missing me like I miss him. Sometimes I wonder if he feels bad about what he’s done. But he never writes anything about what happened. It’s like he’s on holiday. I wish I was with him. Maybe he’s just trying to be brave. He wouldn’t have sent me the drawing of Shooting Star if he didn’t miss me.

  Ben doesn’t write very often, but I write to him nearly every day.

  Dear Ben

  I’m okay. I went down the cave last weekend and worked on Shooting Star. I’ve put all the bottles we collected in a corner and I’ve tried to nail the base plank to the frame but it’s really hard without having you to help. I’ll try again this weekend.

  We went to the aquarium yesterday. It wasn’t as good as when we go but I got a boy to steal some dolphins and sharks. I’ll ask Mum if I can send you one. I miss you but I’ve made some new friends. One of them is a girl!! Sophie’s got really short hair and swears a lot and sometimes she gets me into trouble. I think I’m in trouble at school now, but I’ll be all right. The other kids in the class are scared of her but I’m not. I let her do what she wants.

  I’m a big fish, but sometimes I don’t feel like being a big fish, especially without you around.

  Love Dan

  PS. I’ll check on the Observation Tower when I go to work on Shooting Star on Saturday.

  ‘Dan!’ Mum shouts up the stairs. ‘Tea!’

  I roll Ben’s drawing up and slide it back under my bed.

  Alex: The Force Awakens Me

  The cinema foyer is crowded with people. Parents are queuing for tickets while kids run around, pretending they’ve got lightsabers and fighting cardboard cut-outs of Darth Vader. I can’t wait to see the film, but I can’t wait for it to be over either because then I can go home and be safe for the weekend. I managed to avoid Dan and Sophie at school most of the day, but I could hear them sniggering behind me in English and history and I know they told the Georges what they did to me because George W. bumped into me in PE and asked if spit was better to wash my hair with than shampoo.

  ‘Watch out for ground fire!’

  I dodge out of the way of a boy running towards the ticket counter. He was way too close to me. Everyone is too close to me. I wish I’d brought my lightsaber with me so I could swish it around and keep them all away.

  ‘Here you go, mate.’ Dad hands me my ticket, then checks his watch. ‘I’m just going to the toilet. Do you need—’ He remembers I won’t use the toilets. ‘I’ll just be a moment,’ he says to Mum.

  ‘May the force be with you,’ Mum says.

  Dad rolls his eyes, then walks off and leaves me standing with Mum and Lizzie. They’re not going to watch The Force Awakens with us, but Mum thought it would be good for us all to have some ‘family time’. I like it when we’re all together because it feels like we’re a proper family again, but I’m also glad Lizzie isn’t coming with me and Dad because she makes slurping noises with her Coke and fidgets in her seat. The time we went to see Ice Age she pretended she was Scratch and munched on popcorn all the way through. I know Mum really wants us all to be together, but there’s no way I’m going to watch Kung Fu Panda 3 with them.

  Mum asks me if I’m sure I don’t want to go to the loo because Dad loves Star Wars films too and will get annoyed if I have to get up halfway through. I tell her I’m okay, that I went five times before we left so I didn’t have to go here. Then she asks me if I want any drink or sweets, and Lizzie’s telling her all the sweets she wants, but I’m not really listening. The worms in my stomach are wriggling even more because now all I can think about are the germy people coming out of the toilets. I try to block it out. I don’t want the day to be ruined by my worries because I’ve been looking forward to seeing this film for ages. I’ve watched all the rest on DVD. Dad told me that Darth Vader is even more frightening when he’s on a big screen.

  ‘Oh, Alex!’ Mum makes me jump.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Isn’t that—’ She turns me round and points through the crowds, but there’s so many people I can’t tell who she’s pointing at. ‘There. Isn’t that Dan’s mum?’

  What!

  My heart jumps. People are walking straight at me, swerving round me, nearly nudging my elbows.

  ‘I don’t think—’

  Mum points again.

  It can’t be!

  ‘It is.’ She waves.

  ‘Mum, can I get some sweets?’ I pull Lizzie towards the sweet containers stacked against the wall.

  ‘I want Mum to come.’

  She doesn’t do anything when I want her to.

  ‘Hi!’ Mum smiles and waves again.

  It’s okay. So what if it is Dan’s mum? Dan wouldn’t go to the cinema with his—

  ‘Oh look, Alex. Dan’s with her too.’

  Oh no! He would be.

  ‘Mum, please—’

  ‘Hi! Fiona!’

  Dan’s mum walks towards us. All I can see of Dan are his arms swinging as he follows behind her. I look around for Sophie, she’s always with him, but the foyer is as busy as a Tube station and she could be hiding anywhere in the crowd. I look towards the toilets and wish that Dad would come out right now and take me into the film. Dan wouldn’t dare do anything if he was here.

  Dad, hurry up.

  ‘Hi!’

  ‘Hi!’

  Ah! Too late.

  Our mums smile at each other. Dan’s standing right in front of me wearing a Star Wars T-shirt. He glares at me like he’s mad that I’m here. I look at the ground and wish it would open up.

  What’s he doing here?!

  ‘Just the two of you?’ Mum says.

  ‘Yes, Dave’s working so I get to watch Star Wars! Lucky me!’ Dan’s mum pulls a silly face.

  ‘Well, it could be worse. I’ve got Kung Fu Panda 3!’

  They both laugh and look at me and Dan. I try to smile but Dan’s just staring at me. We’re standing like dogs with our owners in the park. We’re probably supposed to say hello to each other and then go running after a ball, but all I want to do is get away from him. I look around the cinema, anywhere but at Dan. If only Darth Vader wasn’t a cardboard cut-out, I’d run over to him and ask to borrow his lightsaber.

  Mum gives me a ten-pound note. She’s so happy bumping into her friend that she hasn’t noticed the worried look on my face.

  ‘Go and get some pick-and-mix,’ she says.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Pick-and-mix.’

  ‘But I don’t want any.’

  ‘I know, but get some for Lizzie.’

  I don’t want to leave Mum, but I’ve got no choice. I might be okay if Dan stays with his mum.

  ‘And you, love.’ Dan’s mum gives him a tenner too.

  I’m in trouble now.

  ‘And get me some chocolate Brazils … How funny.’ She turns to my mum. ‘I was only saying to Dave last night how, until parents’ evening, we’d never bumped into each other before, and then seeing you …’ They keep talking, but their words turn to a buzz in my panic.

  Dad, where are you? He’s been gone so long in the toilets it’s like he’s getting his own back on me. Dan walks off i
n front of me.

  ‘Come on, Alex,’ he says creepily, then smiles like all of a sudden he’s my friend.

  Mum pushes me gently in the back. She doesn’t know what Dan does to me at school and there’s no way she can tell because he looks like any other kid in his T-shirt and jeans. He looks like me. We walk towards the sweet containers stacked high against the wall. Lizzie flips the lid of the white chocolate mice. I tell her to use the tongs, not her hands, because of the germs. Out of the corner of my eye I see Dan grab a handful of red snakes and put them in a bag. He checks Lizzie isn’t looking, then stands by my side. I wait for him to call me a name or elbow me in the ribs. He puts his head close to my ear. He wouldn’t spit on me here, would he?

  He grabs my arm, then whispers, ‘You dare snitch, Sharkey. And just because our mums are talking doesn’t mean we’re friends.’

  I pull my arm away. ‘I won’t,’ I say. ‘And I know we’re not friends.’ We look at each other for a long time. Lizzie taps my arm.

  ‘Alex, can you hold the bag open?’

  I hold the bag open with my gloves on while Lizzie gets the scoop. Dan looks over his shoulder and checks his mum isn’t watching.

  ‘Creeps like you only pretend to like Star Wars,’ he whispers. ‘Bet you don’t even know who Admiral Ackbar is.’

  ‘I do.’

  ‘Okay then, who is he?’

  ‘He’s the commander of the Rebel Alliance who led operations against the Galactic Empire.’

  Dan looks surprised.

  ‘Who told you that? Your dad?’

  ‘No,’ I say. ‘I’ve seen all the films.’

  I wait for him to say something else, but he just reaches out for more sweets. I didn’t know he liked Star Wars too. I wish he didn’t.

  People barge past me to get to the pick-and-mix. Lizzie grabs more mice and drops them in the bag.

  ‘Are you one of Alex’s friends from school?’ she asks.

  ‘Yeah,’ Dan says, smiling.

  ‘Are you watching the film with Alex?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Why not? He knows everything about Star Wars.’ Lizzie looks at me like she’s proud of me, but I just want her to be quiet. ‘He’s got lots of pictures of C-3PO and BB-8 on his bedroom wall and he can do loads of the voices too.’

  ‘Can he?’ Dan looks at me like he’s trying to work out if it’s true.

  ‘Yes,’ says Lizzie. ‘Do C-3PO, Alex.’

  ‘No. I can’t.’

  ‘Oh, go on!’

  ‘No.’

  I push Lizzie aside and look up at the film times on the big screen. The Force Awakens starts in ten minutes and I need to get away from Dan because Lizzie is telling him everything. If I don’t shut her up soon, she’ll tell him I go to sleep with Chewbacca on my bed.

  ‘Lizzie,’ I say. ‘We need to go and pay.’

  We walk towards the cashiers, but Lizzie won’t stop talking.

  ‘Have you got any posters on your wall?’

  ‘Yeah, of course. Loads.’

  ‘So you love Star Wars as much as Alex?’

  ‘Yeah …’ He turns away from Lizzie like he’s as annoyed with her as I am. ‘I need to pay for these,’ he says.

  ‘So do we. Come on, Alex.’ Lizzie trails after him. I look at the clock again. Seven minutes. I’ve just got to survive seven more minutes and I’ll be free of Dan.

  The assistant weighs the sweets, then presses lots of buttons like he doesn’t know what he’s doing.

  Hurry up! Hurry!

  He presses more buttons and Lizzie’s still yapping.

  ‘My brother doesn’t eat sweets,’ she says, ‘because they’re full of germs. But he’s going on The XFactor!’

  No! Shut up!

  ‘Shush!’ I grab hold of Lizzie and try to put my hand over her mouth to stop her words coming out.

  Dan laughs.

  ‘I’m not,’ I say.

  Lizzie wrestles away from me. It’s like she’s doing this on purpose. ‘He is. He plays his guitar all the time and thinks he’s Justin Bieber.’

  ‘Lizzie,’ I say. ‘Shut up.’ She runs back towards Mum. Dan is grinning at me. My chest is thudding and my face feels like it’s burning red. Why did Lizzie have to go and say that? Things are bad enough without everyone at school thinking I’m going on The XFactor.

  I pay for the sweets and leave Dan to pay for his. I just want to get to the film now, but Mum’s still talking to his mum. At least Dad has finally come out of the toilet.

  ‘All done?’ asks Mum. I give her the change.

  ‘And you, love?’ Dan nods to his mum. ‘I was just telling Alex’s mum about your boat. How you were working on it on your own yesterday and we thought maybe Alex could help?’

  What?

  ‘What?’ Dan’s eyes are wide open like he can’t believe it either.

  ‘What do you think? I thought it would be more fun if you had help.’

  ‘No way!’ shouts Dan. ‘I’m not having him there.’ He’s suddenly flipped like he does at school.

  ‘Dan!’

  ‘Get off me!’ He wrestles his arm away. ‘No! He’s not going near it. It’s mine and Ben’s.’ His voice cracks like he’s going to cry.

  ‘It’s okay,’ Dad says. ‘He doesn’t have to do it if he doesn’t want to.’

  ‘No,’ Dan’s mum says. ‘He should. He spent all last weekend at the cave on his own. It would be good for him, and Francesca says Alex doesn’t go out much.’ Then she looks down at me and smiles. ‘You’d like to help, wouldn’t you, Alex?’

  Dan’s staring right at me.

  ‘Erm …’ I open my mouth, but no words come out. I try to think of an excuse, but my mind is blank. I look at Mum and Dad for help, but they’re already nodding their heads. It’s like it’s a conspiracy to get me out of the house. They can’t be serious. Going outside, meeting Dan. He’ll call me Shark Face all the time and hit me with pieces of wood. We’ll be in a dirty dark cavern full of rats and germs and he’ll block the door so there’s no escape. It can’t happen! It’s like all my nightmares rolled into one.

  ‘Dan’s mum says it’s down by the pier, so you don’t have to go far,’ Dad says. Then he looks at Dan. ‘I know it’s your raft,’ he says. ‘But I’m sure you could do with some help and I’ve got some spare tools I could lend you if you like.’

  ‘That’d be nice, Dan,’ his mum says. ‘You’re always saying it’s hard to lift things on your own.’

  Dan opens his eyes wide like he’s saying, ‘Get us out of this or I’ll smash your face,’ to me. I don’t want to do it either. I just want to get away from here. The foyer is beginning to empty, the film must be starting, but Dad’s just standing there, smiling at Dan like he’s made a friend.

  ‘When are you down there next, Dan?’

  ‘Don’t know,’ Dan shrugs. ‘Go when I feel like it.’

  ‘And when will that be?’

  ‘Like, never.’ He glares at me.

  ‘Dan!’

  Dan squirms as his mum rubs his hair. ‘He’s terrible,’ she says. ‘He’s joking all the time. He goes down at the weekends, so he’ll be there tomorrow morning. He’s the only boy I know who gets up earlier on the days he doesn’t go to school.’

  ‘Ah! That’s a shame,’ says Dad. ‘I’m going to struggle to get there because I’m working the night shift tonight.’

  Phew.

  ‘I’d bring him down, but Alex is busy in the morning,’ say Mum.

  Double phew.

  I remember I’m going to see Dr Patrick. I won’t have to help Dan after—

  ‘I’ll tell you what.’ Dad jumps in. ‘It’s a shame for Alex to miss out.’

  It’s really not.

  ‘How about I drop him down for a couple of hours in the afternoon?’

  ‘Is that okay?’ says Mum. ‘It means I can get on and make cakes with Lizzie.’

  Dad nods.

  ‘Great,’ says Dan’s mum. ‘It’s all working out, love.’ She puts her hand on
Dan’s shoulder. I wait for him to kick off again, but it’s like a storm has blown over and he’s given in. I haven’t though.

  ‘But it’s our afternoon together, Dad.’

  ‘That’s okay,’ he says. ‘We’ve got this evening and it’s half-term soon. Me and your mum can juggle things around.’ Dad can’t wait to get rid of me: it’s like he’s already opened our front door and is pushing me down Grand Avenue towards the seafront.

  Dan gives me a look that says, ‘We’re doomed.’

  Dad checks his watch. ‘Ooops!’

  At last!

  ‘We’d better get in or we’re going to miss the start … but listen,’ he says to Dan’s mum. ‘I’ll get those tools from the garage, nothing too dangerous. Don’t want them sticking each other to the walls with staple guns!’

  Dan probably would.

  ‘Oops,’ Mum says. ‘Come on, Lizzie, or we’ll miss Kung Fu Panda.’ She rolls her eyes. ‘Lovely to see you, Fiona. Meet for coffee sometime?’

  ‘Yes,’ Dan’s mum says. Then she looks at Dad.

  No, don’t even think it.

  ‘Maybe we could all sit together.’

  No!

  ‘We can’t,’ blurts Dan. ‘We got booked seats.’

  Phew.

  He starts to walk off and we all follow. Dan’s mum says how nice it was to have met up, then whispers something about Dan’s brother. I didn’t know he had a brother. She says something about four months, but I don’t hear anything else because Dan has pushed open the doors and music is playing loud and there’s a picture of a man running around with a phone on the giant cinema screen.

  ‘We’re right at the back, Dan, row W,’ his mum whispers.

  ‘We’re in row E, Alex,’ Dad says. ‘Twenty-three and twenty-four.’

  Good, at least he’s nearly the whole alphabet behind us.

  We sit down in our seats and I blow out my cheeks. There’s germs all over the place in here and it feels more horrible to think of them creeping around in the dark, but, worse than that, I know that Dan is sitting somewhere behind me and I’ll feel his eyes burning into the back of my head.