Bad Blood

5.

It was drawing close to the start of big school. The six week holidays would soon be over and the days of lazing around at the park, at the tree stump or in the fields would soon be over. And worse still, we were no longer in the same class. Dans parents and my Gran had thought it best to separate us during school to give us a chance of making more friends. But why would we want more friends when we had each other? Couldn't they see we needed each other?

There had been hell when we found out. We'd planned on running away, our bags were packed and we were waiting at the station to catch a train anywhere. We had put together all the money we had, all £45.60 of it. That was when he had come up with an idea.

'I'm going to get a job at the weekends, and I'll save every penny, we'll buy a house and then no one can tell us what to do.' At just ten, he had planned out our whole lives. We had even got an Argos catalogue and circled all the things we'd have, down to bed covers and the vacuum cleaner. At the time we didn't realize that ten year olds couldn't get a mortgage. We were so naive.

'We'll never come back.' He promised me. The train to Cardiff pulled in and just as we were boarding it, a police officer stopped us, asking where our parents were. 'We are meeting them there.' Dan lied. I immediately began to cry. I'd never been in trouble and I knew it was illegal to lie to the police. I blurted out everything, how we were running away so we could be together forever.

We were escorted home, to Dans house, where his Mum went mental at us. I'd never seen her so angry. Isla always been this beacon of calm and love to me. But she reduced both Dan and I to tears.

'You two both need to grow up. Hanging around in parks all day and climbing trees. It has to stop. There is a world out there that doesn't just involve the two of you. In ten years time I doubt you will even speak to each other, you need to start making friends and choosing your own paths. I say all this with love for you both, Grace, you are as good as a daughter to me, but guys...' She seemed so lost for words, so upset, so desperate. That in turn had upset me. We hid away in Dans room for the rest of the evening, him trying to assure me and calm me down.

'Maybe she's right. Maybe we do need to try and spend time apart?' He'd been hugging me as we watched a film, my tired, wracked breathing interrupting the peace occasionally.

'No.' He shook his head. 'No. We are going to prove them all wrong.'

So instead we settled on going along with our parents plans, as long as we met up every break and passed notes to each other whenever we could. We had come up with our own secret code. We would still see each other at the weekends and most nights. Just not every night.

I found the transition to a larger school, without Dan by my side, difficult. And he did too. Because we had been so close for so long I now found it hard to make new friends, just as Isla had predicted. Especially when a lot of the other children had already made their minds up about each of us. Even those who'd come from other primary schools. It had never occurred to me before that mine and Dans friendship had been anything but normal. But children can be cruel.

'You can't be friends with us because you've got germs from hanging around with that boy.' The girls had said, leaving me to sit alone in most of my classes. I could only imagine the abuse Dan received from his fellow boys. He didn't talk about it.

'It doesn't even matter.' I told him as we walked home on that first day. 'We have each other.' He agreed. We walked the rest of the way in silence. I was certainly contemplating what the next day would bring. We went back to his that night. His parents had been paying for piano lessons a few times a week and he in turn had been teaching me as best he could. I was no where near as good as him, but I liked sitting next to him at the grand piano and listening to him play. He began playing a melody I'd never heard before and singing along with it.

'You've got a really nice voice you know.' I told him. He shrugged, unsure how to respond to a compliment. 'You should sing more.'

'I don't know. It's not like I wanna be a famous singer or anything. I'd rather be behind the scenes, like working at a record company or maybe even do journalism, then I could tour around the world and not have to stand up in front of people.'

'That is such a good idea!' I gasped. 'Why don't we do that? We could be like, a writing team or something, following stories and breaking news, blowing the lids off secrets!'

Our teachers had laughed and told us we'd soon change our minds, or at least one of us would. But I was certainly determined. It was all planned out; we would go to the same college, then off to university and then we would find a house in central London and live together and work together as a writing team.

We had made a pact. It was all part of mine and Dans dreams. But no where in those dreams had we ever mentioned being together, as a couple. Actually, the idea made me feel funny. I didn't want to kiss him or hold his hand. That would be so weird. We were practically siblings. Instead, it was me who helped Dan when he got a crush on a girl in his class.

'She doesn't even know I exist.' He had sighed with a heavy heart after weeks of staring at her from afar. Michelle was in his form group and I knew her type immediately. She was the popular one, the most beautiful girl in our school. She was forever surrounded by girls who wanted to be her and boys who wanted to date her. Trust Dan to fall for someone so hard to reach. But I was determined for him to win her over. We were each sat at the foot of the stump, our school bags open and homework on our knees.

'Sure she does! You just need to tell her you like her!' I urged. 'Write her a poem or something or invite her to your house.'

'I don't know...' He was so painfully shy around anyone but me. I didn't know how else I could get him to speak up and make himself heard.

'I could bring her here?' He suggested. I glared at him.

'No. Only we're allowed here.' I warned him. 'I know what you can do!' I exclaimed suddenly. I delved into my bag and pulled out a flyer and handed it to him.

'Talent show.' He read. 'No way.'

'Do it! Sing a song and she will definitely notice you!' I had every confidence in the world in his singing ability. All we had to do was choose a song.