My Way

Five: Cassie

I locked the door and hid the keys, just in case. If Dad wanted to go to the pub, he'd have to get through me first.

And there he was: the man himself. Slumped in the armchair in our living room, a can of lager in his hand. A copy of The Sun sat on his lap and the TV was on full blast. 

He was asleep. Snoring softly, his pot-belly rose and fell. 

"Good evening kiddo," I said. "How was your day? Fine, thank you. I made lots of friends and everything is wonderful!" 

Dad snored. 

Rolling my eyes, I stalked to the kitchen. I poured myself a bowl of cereal and sat upstairs, going over my revision notes and dripping milk on my textbooks. The cereal went soggy and I was soon left with a bowl what looked like Oliver Twist's gruel. 

Please sir - I do not want more. 

I lay on my bed and thought of Prince. I thought of the hollowness of his eyes and the cords in neck as they strained. I sat up. Rubbed my face, reminding myself that he was alive. I hoped King was taking care of him - but then, I doubted King could take care of anyone. 

And what was Cara talking about? How would pretending to be the school slut help my reputation? 

I closed my eyes. I couldn't be bothered to get changed, or to brush my teeth. 

Downstairs, I heard Dad coughing. I heard him walk to the kitchen, where he snapped open another pint. 

I heard him drop back into the chair. 

I tried to sleep. 

But all I could think of was King, red-faced and shouting. 

-

I didn't want to go to school the next morning. My skin had an oily sheen and I'd slept in too late to shower. 

Instead, I shimmied into a spare pair of trousers and washed my face until it burned. 

I ran to school, almost slipping in the mud. 

Charlotte and Cara were there at the door. 

"Cutting it a little close there, aren't you?" said Cara. That voice - like resin. It washed over me. Cara was the only person who could make me feel awake. Charlotte offered me an awkward wave.

"Are you okay?" she asked. "You don't look well".

"Yeah," said Cara. "You look like shit". 

"Thanks for sugar coating it," I said. "Can we just get inside?" But as I looked, Chloe was inside, filling up her water bottle. I glanced between her and Cara. 

"It's okay," said Charlotte. "Chloe isn't posting any more of those videos. We told her about you and King. She's really jealous". I folded my arms. If they expected me to be grateful, then they were in for a surprise. I never wanted to see King Novak again for as long as I lived. 

"You do realise," I whispered. "That doesn't change anything. Everyone still thinks I'm a train-wreck and now Chloe has all the more reason to hate me." And I wasn't sorry I'd pushed them away. When Mum died, I needed space and they were always around. My world titled and shifted but theirs stayed upright. 

I glanced at Cara, who all of a sudden couldn't look at me. 

"I'm heading to class," I snapped and left them there. I passed Chloe on the way to my form room. She looked away. Good. 

I wasn't in the mood. 

All I needed was to get through this day, revise, and get home. All I wanted was to curl up with a hot water bottle and watch re-runs of Coronation Street. It was Mum's favourite show. 

Our form room was one of the Health & Social classrooms. There were displays on the wall about lifestyle - about mental illness and substance misuse. Once again, my thoughts turned to Prince. I hoped he was alright. I hoped to God King was actually looking after him and not making things worse. 

I took a seat at the back of the room, waiting for everyone else to filter in. Our form tutor, a stout man with a pig-nose smiled at me. 

"You alright, Cassie? How's your father?" 

A drunk. A layabout. Living off the state. 

"He's fine," I said. 

"Good, good..." My form tutor trailed off. He was staring at something behind me. I looked at the other students dotted around the room - people I'd known for almost five years. They were all staring at the same thing. 

I turned around. 

King was standing there, a rucksack in his hands and a stony glare. 

He walked towards me. 

"Is this seat taken?"