The Boy With The Hopeless Dreams

Chapter Eight

It was mid-morning on Saturday and I awoke to the sound of my phone vibrating. I figured it would be from Sam.

"Up for seeing me? S. x"

I wished I could but I'd agreed to look after Mac that day because Mum was going to see Auntie Sarah: she said she'd needed adult time, whatever that meant. I was about to hit send when I realised that Sam could come to mine and we could take Mac out together. I had a feeling he'd be amazing with kids, especially her.

So, twenty minutes later, Mac, Sam and I were sitting on the sofa watching Mac's favourite cartoon. I was right about Sam, by the way. He and Mac got on so well. When I opened the door and Mac asked who he was, Sam bent down to her level, held out his hand for her to shake and introduced himself.

At first, Mac was nervous and hiding behind my leg but after a few minutes she was talking to Sam and climbing on his lap. There was such an endearing look in his eyes it nearly broke my heart.

"How old is your brother?" I asked. He looked away from the TV screen and straight at me. His eyes...

"Thirteen," he said. His strong jaw set and he once again became absorbed in the mindless cartoons. Why would he never tell me anything? Becoming restless, I switched off the TV, much to Mac's and Sam's disappointment, and announced that we were going to the park. Mac squealed. Sam mimicked her (not unkindly). I laughed.

We wrapped Mac up in her raincoat and put our own coats on before heading out into the watery afternoon sun. The pavements were sparkling because of the rain that had just fallen and puddles made my Converse soggy.

Mac, however, loved the puddles and jumped in all of them, reminding me of the 'Vicar of Dibley' episode. The memory of that made me laugh so much and I earned a weird look from Sam. I went bright red but at that, Sam started laughing too and soon all three of us had collapsed into giggles, tears rolling down our cheeks.

The laughter still hadn't completely died when we had reached the park. Mac went skipping off to the swings and sat down, demanding to be pushed. Sam ran over and pushed her happily, making her giggle. They were like that for a while, but when Mac had learned to swing herself she sent Sam away and he came wandering back to the bench where I was sat, my bum getting colder by the second.

"Banbury, your sister is cuter than you," Sam stated. I pretended to look affronted and clutched my heart, dramatically.

"Samuel, with that information, I no longer have the will to live. I shall take a rope and-" I stopped. Oh gosh. "No. Sam, I'm so sorry! I didn't..."

"No, no, it's okay, don't worry about it," he replied, sadly. I'd really put my foot in it this time...

"No, please. Let me make it up to you. I'll buy you an ice cream!" I improvised, noticing the battered van that had just pulled in. He smiled and let out a breath of laughter.

"Go on, then. A 99, please."

I called out to Mac, asking which one she wanted.

The man in the van was cheery and asked if I wanted free sprinkles on the three 99's, placing a Flake in them for free as well. When I was heading back, I noticed Sam talking to a dark figure that I recognised all too well: Harvey. He didn't see me coming but Sam did and begged him to leave in vain.

"'Ello, dear," Harvey growled. "You're Amy's friend, yes?" I gave a sharp nod. "Well, it appears we 'ave another mutual friend in good Sam, here."

"What are you doing here?" I snapped. He gave a horrible leer and replied,

"I've just come for a walk. I hear you and my darling Amy aren't on the best terms. And I also hear that it's my fault... She says you was trying to get her to ditch me, eh?" He suddenly got very close to my face and spat at me, "Don't you ever, ever get in between me and her again, ya hear?"

I flinched and fell backwards into Sam. He placed his hand on Harvey's shoulder and tried to force him away.

"Leave it, Harvey," he warned. "Your issues are with me and the boss: not Lily."

The boss? Who was that? Harvey snickered and looked at Sam, venom in his eyes.

"Don't tell me what to do; you're just a delivery boy." He walked away all the same, leaving me stunned and Sam fuming mad.

"Delivery boy? Sam, who's 'the boss'? How on Earth do you know Harvey?" I enquired. He shook his head.

"Doesn't matter, sweetheart," he kissed the side of my head, trying to avoid the question. I pulled away.

"How do you know Harvey?" I said with more persistence. He passed his hand through his curly hair and scratched the back of his head, looking guilty. I gripped his hand and forced him to look at me.

"I...I run errands and he's one of the people I deliver to," he said, all too quickly for it to be true.

"Are you sure?"

His eyes held mine.

"Yes."

No. No, no, no. I didn't believe what he was telling me was the whole truth.

Mac started crying in the distance. I jumped off the bench, cursing myself for not paying attention to her. She'd fallen off the swing and scraped both knees. Blood was seeping through her pink tights and her hands were badly grazed. My poor little sister was hurting because I was too wrapped up in my own problems.

I kissed her hands and picked her up. I whispered shushing noises into her ear but she carried on sobbing. It made tears come to my eyes for the second time that day for a completely different reason. I didn't know what to do; I couldn't take care of my own sister.

She only stopped crying when Sam came over and took her into his own arms. He carried her all the way home, making her laugh and smile. But that didn't make me forgive him for lying.

Well, maybe it did. A bit.

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Again, it's not very long, but it's Christmas so cut me some slack.

Not too please with it either.

Thanks for my 170 reads :')

Also, the "Vicar of Dibley" mention is something you HAVE to check out.  Search Vicar of Dibley puddle on YouTube and you'll find it. It's brilliant.

Don't forget to vote/comment/fan!

Thanks!

Meg x