Chapter 4

Back to my story. Elize was at sixth form college, studying for her A-levels. She had a small circle of nerd friends, all girls, all good-looking, and none of whom would publicly give me the time of day. To them I was just Elize’s little brother, part of the furniture.

Elize had her nerd friends over for a study group. My parents were both out. I was doing chores in the garden to earn extra allowance and stay out of the nerd squad’s way. Suddenly there was a loud scream from inside the house. I dashed indoors and raced upstairs to Elize’s bedroom, their habitual study location.

I banged on the door. “is anyone hurt?” I called out.

Elize opened the door. Peering inside, the other girls looked as though they wished they were somewhere else, except for Justine, who looked absolutely distraught. Justine was a shy, mousy sort of girl and yet I thought she was very attractive. She had a pretty face and there was something about her warm, brown eyes that set her apart from the other girls. She’d smiled and said ‘hi’ a few times but that was about the limit of our interactions: we’d never had a real conversation.

“It’s Justine,” said Elize. “She was bringing her coursework project here for us to check over but now she can’t find it.”

“I’ve spent the best part of a year on this project. There isn’t time for me to do it all again and it makes up a significant part of my final grade,” sobbed Justine. “I absolutely must find it. I’m sure I had it with me when I left home this morning.”

A guilty thrill coursed through me. I had a way to make Justine notice me, but it would involve taking advantage of her misfortune.

“Can you describe it to me?” I asked.

Justine described the large blue folder it was filed in, the approximate inch in thickness, the hundred or so pages.

“What’s the first thing it says on the front page?”

“What is this? Twenty questions?” snarked a girl named Cathy.

Justine answered anyway; it was the title of her project. I was about to dash off to my room to use the artefact when I realised I had no idea where Justine lived. And that meant I didn’t know which map to use.

“Where do you live?” I asked.

“This is no time for stalking,” objected a girl named Shona.

Justine told me her address anyway. It was a good thing too, because it was a lot further from the town centre than I would have imagined.

“I should ring my mum,” Justine added. “I’ll ask her to search my room and check any other obvious places like the kitchen table. But I’m sure I had it with me when I left home this morning.”

I retired to my room, got out a district map and dangled the artefact above it. Then I closed my eyes and concentrated on the description Justine had given me. I felt a pull and let my hand descend until the artefact hit the map. The pointer had landed on the town centre, but the definition was too poor to narrow it down. I got a street map of the town centre and repeated the process. The pointer landed on a building on a street corner. I knew the location. I vaguely remembered an office block there but I had absolutely no idea who occupied it. I inked a cross on the map where the artefact had landed, then put the artefact back in its holder.

Elize’s door was still open. Justine was just finishing a phone call to her mum, having had it confirmed that her coursework project wasn’t at home. Deflated, she sat down and resumed crying.

“I think I might know where to find your coursework project,” I said, “but it’s going to cost you.”

“You bastard,” snarled Cathy. “You stole it, didn’t you! I’m going to rip your eyes out.” She made a step towards me but Elize put herself in the way.

“Not good, bro,” she said. “You got some ‘splainin’ to do.”

“I think it’s in this building here,” I said, indicating the cross on the map.

“But that doesn’t make any sense,” wailed Justine. “I never went anywhere near there.”

“I think it’s worth checking out,” I said. “But you’ll have to come with me to verify it’s yours if we find it.”

“Forget it,” said Shona. “He can’t get a girl the normal way so he’s trying to capitalise on your misfortune.”

“I don’t know what’s got into him, but my brother’s not like that,” insisted Elize.

“Oh yes?” asked Shona. “Then what’s the price?”

“I was hoping for a kiss,” I ruefully admitted.

Both Shona and Cathy glared daggers at me, but Shona had a gleam of triumph in her eyes.

“Look, what have you got to lose?” I asked Justine. “If it pans out, you win. If it doesn’t pan out, you’ll have had the distraction of a nice half-hour walk in the fresh air, and perhaps the change of scenery will job your memory.”

Justine looked up at me with hope in her eyes. “Okay. It seems too far-fetched to be true but I trust Elize and Elize trusts you.”

I noticed the look of horror on Elize’s face. She made to protest but I shook my head.

“Family conference,” Elize called out, then she grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and marched me out of her bedroom, closing the door behind us.

“What the hell are you playing at?” she whispered fiercely.

“I honestly believe we’ll find Justine’s coursework project in that building,” I said, looking her straight in the eyes in the hope that would reinforce my sincerity.

For long moments Elize matched my stare, then she backed down. “Fine!” she spat. “But if Justine ends up getting hurt even more, don’t bother to come home or I promise you won’t wake up tomorrow morning.”

Elize opened her door again. “Justine, do you want me to come with you?” she asked.

“No, it’s okay, I’ve wasted enough of our study time already. I’ll just get my jacket.”