melanie.
"How's the eye, Ed?" Jay asks as he walks me home, he picked me up from school in case someone else tried to attack me.
"It's alright. How's being suspended?"
"Mum's thrown me out again so I'm staying with my Nan."
"Isn't she almost competely deaf?" I ask.
"Yeah, which is good 'cause she doesn't ask many questions. " he laughs.
I never really thought of Jay and I being that close, but I guess we were. Both of us are just too stubborn to admit how much we care for one another. Most of the time we act as if we're just friends because there's no one else, but the truth is when he's mot being an asshole (which he is a lot of the time) I'm quite fond of him.
We get to my house and I tell him goodbye.
"Bye Jay, thanks for dropping me off."
"That's alright. I'm unsuspended tomorrow so see you in school." He nods.
"Great. Can't wait." I say. And we part ways. I go to walk up my drive, through my little front garden, the only thing separating my house from the busy main street.
"Melanie?" A voice calls, a kind of familiar one. I spin round. It's Larry and Benji.
I walk back up the drive to meet them.
"Hi lads." I say back.
"Seen Van around?" Larry asks. I shake my head.
"Uh no? Why would I have seen him?"
"We've just been around to his but his mum said he wasn't home, and he lives nearby. So we thought you might have seen him."
"Nope. Sorry." I say. And just at that moment Van swings around the corner.
He looks confused at the three of us standing there looking at him.
"Lads? Melanie?" He asks. Coming close to us.
"Van!" Larry says. "We was looking for you."
"Here I am." He says cheekily.
"You coming to mine?" Larry asks. He shakes his head.
"Melanie is helping me study." He says. I look at him. He meant today?
The two lads laugh at him and think he's joking.
"He's being serious." I laugh at them.
They look confused, Van walks around into my driveway.
"See you then." He says smiling, and nods at me to walk towards my house. I follow him down the concrete path as the boys watch us, confused.
I let him into my house, and shut the door behind us. He starts to laugh.
"The two of them are still standing there, thinking I'm coming back out."
"Are you not?" I ask.
"Nah, this is too funny." He wipes a tear away from his eye.
"Right. So am I actually going to teach you anything?" I say. I realise it's just the two of us, and I feel a bit awkward. Oh god, he's probably thinks I'm going to put out, but I don't plan on it so that's not happening.
"Of course!" He says, sitting down. Everything I've eaten today churns around in my stomach. How does he do that?
"How do I do what?" He asks, and I realise I had said what I thought out loud.
Oh shit.
"Oh nothing." I say, going bright red. You probably couldn't tell because of the state of my face. He pulls out the seat beside him at my kitchen table and pats it as if to say I should sit down there. I roll my eyes and slide into the seat.
I put my bag on my lap and try to find some paper and a pencil. I feel him staring at the side of my face.
"Wow." He says.
"What?" I ask, looking at him.
"Your face is fucked up pretty bad. Bet your mum wasn't too happy." He laughs. I scowl.
"Thanks for the compliment." I scoff. "And yes she was pretty angry." I laugh a bit, thinking back to all the faces my mum pulled when she saw what had happened.
I pull paper and a pen out of my bag.
"Melanie." Van says.
"Yes?"
"Larry's having a get together on Friday, want to come?" He asks.
"Can I bring my mate, Jay?" I ask. Jay would kill me if there was a party and I didn't ask if he could come.
"Uh, your mate, Jay?" He asks me.
"Yeah. You probably know Jay. He's tall, blonde, sells weed." I say, trying to give him a description of Jay that might help him understand.
"Oh! That Jay? Yeah, he can come." Van nods. "There'll be plenty of lads there he can get with." Van says. I turn to him, shocked.
"How did you...?" I begin to ask but he cuts me off.
"I saw him before." He says.
Jay doesn't like it to be known he's gay. He hasn't one hundred percent accepted it. The only reason I know is because I've seen him try it with one of the lads too, he was really drunk.
"Please don't tell anyone, he'd go mad." I say. He nods.
"Secrets safe with me." He winks.
"Right, should we actually do maths?" I ask.
"Do we have to?" He pouts.
"Isn't that what you came here for?" I ask nervously, I don't like where this is going.
He smiles. "You're right. Teach me maths then."
I write a question on the paper.
"How do you do this?" I ask.
He looks at me, completely confused.
"Help?" He asks, looking at it with his brows furrowed together.
"Long division." I say.
"But, there's letters?" He says.
"And? You can still divide it."
"How?"
I show him how to do it in the easiest way I know how.
"How did you...?" He looks at the question when I've finished it.
"I used maths." I say, laughing.
"Very funny, brain box." He says, crossing his arms.
"I wish." I laugh.
"I wish I was too."
van.
As soon as I leave Melanie's house I ring Larry.
"Mate?" He asks when he picks up.
"You're having a party, Friday night." I say.
"Alright." He says, I knew he'd say yes, he likes a party as much as the next lad. "Is Melanie coming?" He asks.
"Of course she is." I smile, even though he can't see me.
