You Come First

2

Its been over 2 weeks and we're on our second to last day of school.

I haven't seen much of Liam , he hasn't been turning up to any of our classes , well that would mean 2. English and Religion. Whenever he sees me anywhere near him he runs off. When I go round to his , he isn't home and Noel says he has "no clue " where Liam spends his days. I call that bullshit.

" Come on Sally your cousins excited to see ya . You are coming" My dad locks the lock to his and my mothers suitcase before going over to mine and doing the same.

It's my cousins birthday next week, I hate it over in Leeds, not because of my cousin but because of my dads brother and his wife. Fucking cunts man. When I was younger and went over there over the summer she thought she could act like an evil step mother to us, making me and Ally do all the house work and making us go to bed at 9. Its clear we hate eachother, especially now that I am older and she knows she can't say a thing to me. I've been taking Liam with me every year to make it at least bearable. This year was not going to be different.

To make things worse , my parents took 2 weeks off work just to stay there.

" Forget it. Liams not turned up Im not going without him. Mam tell him" I cross my arms and look at my mum.

She looks at my dad hopelessly. "Tell ya what, you stay home. Go over to Liams and then join us when you can yeah?"

" Fucking hell Sally you cant do anything without that lad" my dad rolls his eyes.

I throw my arms in the air " Cant help it . Im sorry and thanks mam" I give her a quick hug and sigh. " Ill get there as soon as possible".

A few minutes later my parents were gone and the house felt empty. I hated being alone especially now that Liam was no longer a part of me and I couldn't understand why. I feel more lonely than ever.

" Where is he then or have ya no clue then?" I say moodily as Noel swings the door open.

" Nice to see ya too kid" he sighs and shuts the door after I walk in.  "He's out. Should be back soon. What do you wanna do?"

We both walk over to their sofa and throw ourselves on it.

" Forget it Noel. You wont lie to me again, we wont be doing anything like getting high in a park to distract me from the fact Liams being off wi me" I glare at him and cross my legs. " I'm waiting right here for him. I know me and him are closer than me and you but that's only because me and him are fucking... well we were fucking. Anyway," I sigh " but I still expect you to tell me everything even if he is ya brother. Ya meant to be my best mate too "

For the past 2 weeks Noel has been trying his best to drag me away from their mums house incase Liam came back.

" I know Sal. I'm sorry" he rubs his eyes in discomfort showing that he is more than tired of the whole situation .

" Well stop hiding shit from me!" I'm done with this shit. " He was supposed to be gonna Leeds wi' me today yano? It's even on ya calendar" I point to the small calendar on their coffee table.

" I know I've seen it lass" he shakes his head " just chill here let him tell ya, its not my place to."

" Why  are you shitting me up like that for ? Is it bad?" I ask him worryingly.

" No" he says bluntly. Another lie. But I decide to let it go.

3 hours later my arse starts to hurt from sitting on the sofa and watching Jerry springer. Something neither me or Noel are in to. 4 hours later Peggy is off to work for her night shift and 5 hours later we finally hear giggles coming from the door.

Noel takes a deep breath in and stands up. I look at him weirdly. What's going on?

I stand up too just as Liam and a blonde girl from our year walks in. Liams kicking off his shoes , she does the same then he wraps his arm around her. I recognise her. It's a girl called Paige.

Their smiles dissapear off their faces and Liam stops in his tracks as soon as he sees me. I felt a stabbing pain in my chest.

"Sal.." his eyes looked lost. " what are you doing here?" He looked from me to Noel and back at me.

" So this is why you've been avoiding me" I start to tear up and my anger is visible through in the tone of my voice "you couldn't simply fucking tell me you had a bird " I look at her "no offence to you Paige because I like ya" I say through my teeth.

Its true . She did nothing wrong to me, we get along in Maths. I just couldnt believe Liam would hide things from me.

" It's not like that I've been busy Sal." He lies and that angers me even more.

" It's Leeds today Liam. I waited all day. My parents went without me" I shake my head at him" I hope ya happy . You know I didn't want to go without ya"

" Should I come back later?" Paige looks at me and Liam worryingly.

" No shurrup babe" he rubs her arm."Sally I dont know what to tell ya.  Its not a big deal. Go without me"

He can't even give me a time of the day to explain things to me. He continues making me feel like I am just somebody he once knew. As if we haven't shared 4 years of friendship.

He knows Leeds is a big deal to me, he knows all my secrets. He knows about how my uncle got me drunk at 11 and touched me in places a child should never be touched. He knows how much I get scared sleeping there alone in the spare room even though my parents are just behind the wall. He knows all of that. So why? Why is he treating me like I am nothing ? Like I mean nothing?

I nodded my head as tears fall down my cheek " It's fine everything's clear to me now"

I storm out of the door.

" Well fucking done man" I hear Noel scold Liam. " You know its more than a big deal!"

" For fucks sake!" Liam rushes out of the house and tries catching up with me " wait man! Just wait! I didn't mean that" He shouts after me.

I cross my arms and choke on my tears as I face him one last time " Fuck off I never wanna see ya again! I fucking hate ya you fucking prick!"

He's taken aback with my words "Fine fuck ya then!" Is his first best response. He walks back in the house and slams the door.

I cant believe this is happening. I cant believe someone who was my bestest friend in the whole wide world would hide things from me and treat me the way he did.

I ring my mum up and tell her I can't make it to Leeds because me and Liam had a fall out. I never told her about my uncle, or about how his wife made my life hell and knew everything but never put a stop to it. I could never hurt my father and tell him what his brother gets up to. And what would it do to Ally? She wouldn't believe me. She sees her dad as the best man in the world, he never hurt her. She thinks too much of him. She'd hate me. I can't allow that to happen.

I cried myself to sleep that night.