Unspoken

Chapter 14

I slammed my hand on the alarm and groaned as I rubbed my eyes.

The night had ended sooner than I expected: Donna realised she couldn't stay drunk round our house all night and so gathered her children and walked home at around 1am. It's only a 20minute walk , but walking two children home whilst you are mostly wasted, coupled with all the dangers out on the streets at 1am and you have a recipe for disaster.

Luckily I got a text from Tammy half an hour later saying they'd got home safely and she was just putting her mum to bed. She was familiar to the chore. Her mum got drunk almost every night for two months and every night Tammy had to clean her up and put her to bed.

At 14 years of age. 14 years old and she had more responsibilities in the house than your average 21 year old.

Tammy's brother, Edward I think his name is, should've been there to help, but after Caity died no one saw him. Donna didn't like her son, tried to keep out of his mischief and trouble. When he went missing, she was too focused on Caity, too focused on the lives of her living children to care where he'd gone.

It's been two months since he was last seen.

The light filtering into my bedroom through the thin curtains was enough to make me throw the duvet over my head and curl into a ball.

Yesterday I had motivation, a purpose, a goal. Today I have none of that. I'm too tired to do anything and would prefer to stay and sleep.

But regardless of how lazy I am, I drag myself to my mirror and begin brushing my hair. It's all knotty and tangled, but my brush tames it down. I think I might straighten it today.

After breakfast, I find the effort to scrape together a decent outfit; a white chiffon blouse and leggings. I find a matching black satchel and small heels. A quick glance in the mirror makes me realise I'm far too dressed up for school, and so I swap the leggings for light blue skinny jeans.

The fresh air hits me and I'm overwhelmed by the freezing winter winds as I take the first few steps from my house. A sharp intake of breath and goosebumps form on my arms. My jumper is laying inside and I have time to go and get it, so I jog back and get my black hoodie.

As I leave the house for the second time, i gradually remember all the things I left at home: my pencil case, lipgloss and headphones.

Great. The walk to school is much less enjoyable this morning because I'm overthinking how my teachers will react When I turn up to their lesson without a pen. That, and my Chemistry lesson I have second period, with Harry.

My lessons today are more fun: history, Chemistry, Art, ICT and English.

I know I'll be seeing Harry, Indi and Tatum today, but I'm not sure who else.

The crisp air makes me shiver under my furry jumper and I clutch my arms for any warmth. I'm about half of the way to school, when about 100m in front of me I see the boy. The boy from yesterday, who I followed most of the way home.

He is wearing a black vest top and a black and red plaid shirt is hanging round his waist. He has no jumper but his muscles probably keep him warm; they are bulking out of his short sleeved t-shirt and are pretty impressive. His tattoos look much more attractive in the morning light and I can see the black sketches clearer now; 4 chevrons. A red beanie hugs his head, but suddenly my view of his beanie is swapped with two eyes and the rest of his face. Shit, eye contact.

He turns back around and keeps walking, but I notice he's at a much more leisurely pace than before. I walk slower too, because i don't want to catch up to him. It's awkward enough that he caught me staring, let alone if I caught up to him and had to either