Do You Know Indigo?

Chapter Ten

Mrs Langford who lived in the flat above, gave me a lift to school on that dreich Thursday morning. Her car smelt of mints.

The drive to school only took a short amount of time but I found I missed the conversation of Beth, Jude and Mandy. It was no offence to Mrs Langford - she was chatty enough - but what she talked about almost sent me back to sleep.

I felt awful for not paying attention to the retelling of her daughter's holiday in the north but it wasn't until I left the car that I realised I'd been rude at all. Was it wrong to place blame for my drowsiness on painkillers?

I thanked her as she stopped the car in front of the school gate. The rain outside fell in horizontal lashings, so I pulled up the hood of my jacket and swung the car door open. My broken arm was against my chest, safe from the rain.

I'd swivelled to thank Mrs Langford once again for her generous lift but was startled when I felt a warm hand take mine. I froze. Paranoia was leaving me breathless frequently as of late. Or was it that Indigo Boy?

It was the reassurance in Mrs Langford's eyes that assured me it was safe to turn. Tom watched me from beneath his russet hair, sopping wet from the bouts of rain.

"Go on love," Mrs Langford murmured, as I sat dumbstruck in her car cabin. A balmy sensation washed me through before the rain could as I steadily speculated the face of my friend. It may have taken a second but I didn't need any more invitation to be brought to my feet. Tom wound around me and closed the car door, giving me no way back.

"Oh how you worry me Christine Evans. How are you feeling?"he asked, his eyes holding my gaze. He placed his arm on my shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. I leant against him, safe. Tom was my constant.

"I'm good, thank you for asking." I sighed in contentment. His face was always more comforting than any other. In his presence I felt at home, allowed to be myself.

"Good, now please try and take care of yourself today." He bent down and gave me a light kiss on the cheek. I was taken aback but grinned despite my surprise. Tom was leaving to soon. He withdrew himself just before approaching my group of friends and said goodbye. I was lucky to even get to share in his smile.

Beth, Jude, Mandy and Sophia stood in a huddle of umbrella's and raincoats, no doubt gossiping about something or other. By the surprised looks on their faces I guessed they weren't expecting to see me. With a frantic stampede of feet and a kind splashing of puddle debris, they were on me.

"You OK?"

"How are you feeling?"

"Need any help?"

"What happened?"

"Are the rumours true?"

I was bombarded with questions from all directions. My head spun and it wasn't even nine in the morning.

"What actually happened?" Beth pressed.

"Well good morning to you lot too," I snorted. Arrays of sympathetic and apologetic looks swept across their faces.

"I was being followed by a car and ran like any normal person would. I ran into the road and found a different car was coming straight at me. I was so surprised that I couldn't dodge out of the way. Fortunately, Kieran was there and pushed me out of the way. Unfortunately, I've now got a broken arm but it's better than being flattened by a car. There, was that summery good enough or do I have to draw you a diagram?" They were open mouthed, apart from Sophia who had probably heard it all from Kieran.

"Was Kieran OK?" Jude asked, glancing from Sophia to me. I nestled myself further into my jacket, it was truly a miserable morning.

"Kieran is fine. He missed the full impact of the car by inches so he's just sore from where he hit the concrete," Sophia murmured.