George and Nicole Harper had never had an easy life. From one set of divorced parents to another, these half siblings have had it tough.
Ever since their mother, Naomi, split from George's father and forced them to move from England back to her hom...
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Nick sat slumped over a bowl of cereal the next morning, eyes narrowed in concentration. Something was up. She knew it. Something was up with George. He was absolutely, definitely up to something. But she couldn't work out what it was. Was it just grief? He hadn't spoken to her since he got beaten up. Was it pride? It had to be something. He wouldn't ignore her for no reason.
Although it was a Friday morning, Nick wasn't getting ready to go to school. Instead of throwing on an old hoodie that she hadn't bothered washing in days and a faded pair of jeans, Nick put on her smartest black clothes. She finished her breakfast but stayed sat at the table. George hadn't been home yet. And Nick wanted to be ready and waiting for him when he came through the door.
George trudged in, head down to avoid Nick's burning gaze. He knew she'd be waiting for him. He'd crashed at Mike's that night, all of them too excited about their recent revelation to go home. Part of George knew he should go home but they'd stayed up until the early hours of the night spitballing, throwing ideas out there as to how to get Will back and that was just too important to miss. He knew Nick would be angry but it would bare her wrath for the sake of his friend.
"Where have you been?" She asked him, strangely quiet. She sat at the kitchen table, arms folded across her chest. She was dressed all in black. George sighed. He had almost forgotten: it was Will's funeral today. George didn't answer her. He stood in the kitchen doorway, not sure what to do with himself. He should go to the funeral. It was his friend's funeral but he knew Will was not dead. It all seemed too crazy but it was true.
"Where you planning on coming back at all or did you just need a change of clothes?" Nick asked, understandably annoyed. George still didn't answer, "Are you planning on going to the funeral at least?" She asked distastefully, still glaring at him with her arms tightly folded, "It's in less than an hour. You need to get dressed. I don't even care if you wash but you need to be there. He was your friend, George. You need to be there." And with that, Nick rose from the kitchen table and turned her back on him to wash her cereal bowl.
George hung his head as he walked down the corridor and headed straight for his room. He had forgotten there even was a funeral. Will was his friend and he forgot about his funeral. Finding out if he was still alive was more important and finding how to get to him was even more important.
George changed and ran into the kitchen to grab a slice of bread. Nick was still there, no doubt waiting for him to reemerge from his room and ambush him to make sure he was going to the funeral. There was no chance of avoiding her or it. The others would understand. They'd probably be forced to go too by their parents. If this is what they had to do then so be it. But George knew they'd meet up after and go straight back to their plan to rescue Will.
Nick sighed, deeply breathing out through her nose.
"Is this how you're coping?" She asked, getting straight to the point. Nick had always been like that. "Is this just your way of grieving?"
