Dangerous Affection

Chapter Thirty-Two

Maisie

Maisie curled up in the foetal position and pulled the quilt over her head.

Finally she was back home in bed, in her pyjamas with the door closed. Alone. For the first time that day, she felt like she could actually breathe.

She decided she’d rather have a day at school filled with maths, science and religious studies lessons than go out with Piper and her mum again.

They hated her, and the worst thing was, Dad just couldn’t see it.

‘I don’t like Piper calling me Bigfoot,’ she’d managed to whisper to him as they threw a few practice balls down the alley.

‘She’s only joking, poppet,’ he’d laughed. ‘Try and relax a bit.’

But Piper wasn’t joking. When their parents were busy whispering or staring at each other creepily like they were the only two people in the place, Piper trained her stare on Maisie. When those pretty cornflower-blue eyes narrowed, they looked as sly as a snake’s.

‘You’re going to lose at bowling, clumsy clod Bigfoot,’ she’d hissed. Maisie had almost expected to see a forked tongue flick out of her mouth.

At school, Maisie wasn’t a pushover. If someone upset her, she could give back as good as she got. But it was different being out with them all like this.

She could tell her dad wanted it to go really well. He kept asking if everyone was all right, and his voice sounded like when he spoke to the newspaper editors on the phone. His nice, friendly home voice seemed to have disappeared.

To get her back for the Bigfoot comments, she thought about asking Piper if she’d had her feet bound like the girls had done in China a long time ago. Maisie had learned about it in a history lesson at school and it had played on her mind for ages afterwards.

It would’ve served her right for calling Maisie’s feet big. But just as she was about to say it, Joanne came up fussing around Piper, asking if she was OK.

Somehow Piper was really good at choosing to be nasty when nobody was around to hear her.

Halfway through the game, Maisie remembered the bag of Haribo that Gran had slipped into her bag. She took them out and offered them around.

‘Yuck, no thanks.’ Piper wrinkled her nose. ‘They’re full of E numbers.’

Maisie offered the bag to Joanne.

‘No thanks, sweetie.’ Joanne shook her head. ‘We try not to eat stuff like that. No good for your teeth… or your thighs, for that matter.’ She winked at Shaun and they had a little laugh together.

Her dad had taken a handful, but Maisie put the bag back without having any herself.

Later on, back at Joanne’s posh apartment, they’d played badminton on the lawn. It was a rubbish game because there was a bit too much breeze and it kept blowing the shuttlecock everywhere.

But Piper and Shaun had loved it. They collapsed in giggles when Piper was forced to clamber into the circles of bedding plants dotted around the grass to get the shuttlecock back. It wasn’t even funny.

Then, when her dad made another silly umpiring decision, Maisie heard Piper say, ‘Do it properly, Shaun. Like you did when we played last time!’

Maisie stuck stock still, like a sheet of ice had formed around her limbs.

She’d assumed that this was the first time Piper had met her dad, but it seemed that wasn’t the case. They all already knew each other and that was why Maisie felt like a stranger.

Joanne had made a nice tea, at least. Maisie was starving; she was used to having a few snacks throughout the day.

‘You’re an amazing cook, Jo,’ her dad said, helping himself to more lasagne with gusto. ‘I could definitely get used to eating like this.’

‘Oh, just a little something I rustled up earlier,’ Joanne said, and smiled to herself like she’d told a joke.

‘Can I have a bit more, please?’ Maisie asked.

Joanne and Piper looked up from their own food and watched as her dad placed another big scoop on her plate.

‘Goodness, someone must be hungry,’ Joanne remarked.

Maisie wasn’t sure her mum could make meals like this. It felt sort of disloyal to show she was enjoying it, and for that reason, she left a bit on her plate.

Even she had to admit dessert was delicious, though. Peaches and a very sweet cream to go with it.

She reached for the spoon to take a little more cream.

‘Here’s a teaspoon.’ Joanne took the larger spoon from her and gave her the small one. ‘It’s very rich, sweetie. Best not to overindulge.’

Piper coughed, and when Maisie looked over at her, she puffed air into her cheeks so her face looked fat.

Maisie glanced at her dad for support, but he didn’t seem to notice.

Maisie curled up tighter now, under the covers, and grasped her knees closer to her.

It didn’t sound much to tell someone, all the bits of the day that were playing on her mind. And it wasn’t really what had been said. It was more the horrible feeling that filled her stomach that she was unsure how to deal with.

It was a feeling she hadn’t really felt before. Not a pain, not a sadness… something else.

Something that made her just want to stay home with her mum and her gran and all the things around her that felt familiar and safe.