One More Thing

Chapter Seven: Feelings

We get the bus home earlier than expected. Mae wants to get away from the marketplace as soon as possible.

I can't blame her. It must be horrible seeing the person you like kissing someone else. I hope I never have to go through that.

"You'll find someone better," I say, giving her hand a squeeze. She's staring wistfully out of the bus window.

"Maybe. I don't know. It's just hard to imagine myself liking anyone else when I've been in love with Tom for so long."

Part of me questions the love thing - I don't think Mae has even spoken to Tom before - but I keep my mouth shut out of courtesy.

Anyway, what do I know about love?

"Remember Harvey?" I say.

"Harvey Smith?" Mae laughs, hands in her hair. She looks embarrassed. "Ugh. God knows what I saw in him."

Harvey Smith was the guy Mae liked before Tom. He was also what my dad would call the classroom bum. He was lazy and obnoxious and would fall asleep in most classes. Or at least, the classes he bothered to attend, which were few and far between.

He didn't have the best reputation. He was mostly known for starting fights outside the school gates and sniffing glue in the toilets. And worse.

But luckily for Harvey, he had a pretty face and a tragic past...the only two things you need to win Mae over.

So, when Mae heard rumours about his home life being difficult, she began to feel sorry for him. And, somewhere along the way, that sympathy turned into something more.

He got expelled in the end. I don't know what he's doing now, but I've heard a few different stories from various people. One story has it that he moved to New Zealand to become a life guard. Another story has it that he eloped with a girl to Gretna Green.

I guess we'll never know the true story.

"Exactly," I say. "You'll feel like that about Tom, one day. It just might take some time."

She shrugs, and we get off the bus. Mae pulls out her phone and texts her dad to pick her up from my house.

We linger under the porch while we wait. The rain is heavier now, thrashing onto the roof like a waterfall. The sound echoes into my ears, screening out everything else around me.

When Mae's dad pulls up, Mae runs frantically to the car. She stumbles a couple of times, almost falling over. Those boots definitely weren't designed for running.

Mae's dad, a tall bald man in his late forties, gives me an enthusiastic wave from the car. Mae smiles too, but it doesn't reach her eyes.

I wave back, fumbling in my pocket for my key. Once Mae and her dad are out of sight, I open the door.

I almost scream when I see Jude's face just inches from my own.

"What are you doing here?" I ask him. "I thought you were at work."

He laughs. "I left like half an hour after you guys came in."

His hair is wet, dark strands hanging over his eyes. Beads of water trickle down his face, and it's as if he's just climbed out of a lake like Mr freaking Darcy.

"I didn't see your van on the drive," I say as he shuts the door behind us. The warm air in the hall wraps around me like a blanket and I almost sigh in relief.

"That's because it's my dad's van," he says with a grin. His eyes are goading, teasing. "Did you really think I drove around in that thing?"

"Yep," I shrug, embarrassed.