Chapter 5: Something in Common

Clarissa re-joined Grace and Emily for lunch on Wednesday and Thursday but she made a point of walking with me to English Lit and Maths where we sat next to each other and helped each other with the work. This was actually a better arrangement for me than sitting with Kelly (in English) or Billy (in Maths) because Clarissa was much more at my level academically—which, I’ll be honest, surprised me. I mean, I’m not top of the class or anything but I’m way ahead of Kelly and Billy. And Kevin for that matter, but we didn’t share any classes. And while I knew Clarissa wasn’t as dumb as most people assumed, I didn’t realise just how bright she was. It was certainly a new experience for me to be corrected during a maths lesson than be the one doing the correcting.

Honestly, if you’d have said to me on Monday morning that by Thursday afternoon I’d have accepted Clarissa as a friend and would be as comfortable around her as any of my other friends, I’d have called for the men in white coats to come and get you. But, by the end of Thursday afternoon’s English class, we were chatting like we’d been friends forever as we walked back to the lockers in the common room to get our things.

“Do you want a lift home?” she asked as I took my coat out of my locker.

I closed the locker and stared at her. “Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously, I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t mean it.”

“What about Grace and Emily? Don’t you usually take them home?”

“They’ll cope,” she said with a dismissive hand wave.

“They won’t be upset?”

“They might be. But it does them good to be reminded that I’m not their taxi service at least once a week.” She laughed. “Come on, let’s go. You can offer me a drink at your place.”

“Guess I don’t have a choice then.”

“No. You don’t.”

I didn’t live that far from the school, so it felt weird getting a lift, but it was worth it just to ride in Clarissa’s car. She had one of those cute little super-minis with a folding metal roof. It was light blue, which matched her eyes. She laughed when I told her that.

“That is the reason I bought it, but you’re the first person to say anything.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I think most guys would think I’d think it was a chat-up line. But it wasn’t, was it?”

I shook my head. “Just an observation.”

“That’s what I thought.” She pulled up outside my house and put on the parking brake. “So, are you going to invite me in for that drink?”

“I’ve only got Coke or orange juice.”

“Coke’s fine,” she said as she took the keys out of the ignition and looked up at the cloudless sky. “It’s okay to leave the roof down, isn’t it?”

I shrugged. “Anything valuable on show?”

“Just my school bag.”

“Can you put it in the boot?”

“Not with the roof down—there’s hardly any room.”

“Practical car then,” I said with a smirk.

She slapped my arm and grinned. “Well, next time you can just walk then.”

“Hey, I didn’t say I didn’t like it. I just don’t think it’s the sort of thing you could do a road trip around Europe in.”

“True. But if I were going on a trip around Europe I’d swap it for something bigger, wouldn’t I?”

We both laughed at the absurdity of the conversation. As if either of us would be travelling around the world any time soon.

“Better bring your bag in with you.”

“But it’s only school books. No one would want to steal it, would they?

“You never know with some of the folks around here. Better safe than sorry.”

We went inside and I took her through the hallway to the kitchen where I put ice in two tall glasses and filled them with Coke before handing one to her. I gestured to the kitchen table and she pulled out a seat.

“Thanks,” she said and held up the glass before taking a sip. “This is a nice little house.”

Little being the operative word, I thought. Bet your place is huge.

“You live with your sister, right?”

I nodded.

“What happened to your parents, if you don’t mind me asking?”

I took a deep breath and said, “They were killed. In a car accident. I’d just turned fifteen. Vicky was nineteen and became my legal guardian along with my parent’s solicitor. He doesn’t live with us, obviously, he’s just sort of an outside observer, I suppose. He pops in every now and again to check we’re doing okay.”

“I’m sorry.”

I shrugged. “It was three years ago. The anniversary is in November, just a couple of days after my birthday.”

“Man, that’s...”

“Yeah, tell me about it. My sixteenth and seventeenth weren’t exactly happy.”

“I’ll bet. What happened? No, sorry, that’s tactless of me.”

“No, it’s okay. I’ve ... I suppose I’ve come to terms with it. They’d been out for a meal in Westmouth and on the way back, one of the truck drivers coming out of the factory lost control and wiped them out.” I snapped my fingers. “It was really quick apparently. Which is positive, I suppose. At least they didn’t suffer.”

“I remember that. I think the truck driver had been drinking, hadn’t he?”

I nodded.

“He wasn’t one of ours. He was from an agency or something. Daddy was devastated. But he was also really angry. I don’t think he ever used the agency again. I didn’t realise that was your parents. I guess I should have, but I never put the two together. Your parent’s worked at the factory, didn’t they?”