Authors: Eleanor Wood
Gemini Rising (20 page)
I had a hard time taking this in. None of it seemed real. The day before Shimmi’s funeral, without telling my mum or anyone else, I took the bus to the twins’ house. I had to see this for myself – or at the very least know that I tried.
It felt like a lifetime ago that I was last there. I knocked on the door and waited, but I wasn’t surprised when nobody came.
As I walked out through the front gate and headed for home I looked up, half expecting to see them both there – silhouetted in double behind the glass, watching me go. The windows were dark and empty. There was nobody there.
When we get home from the funeral, Mum and I take a minute to sit in the car together, just the two of us, appreciating the silence before we go inside.
I wouldn’t say that I’m precisely ‘happy’ to have the rest of the day off school. Although I overheard the A Group making plans amid their grief to spend the afternoon in The Crown, I would a million times rather that this could be a normal school day. But I am unbelievably relieved not to have to go straight back to school.
Daisy was allowed to take the day off as well, and Pete is working from home for the day to stay with her. I know once we’re inside, although they will be as considerate as they can, that life will have to start going back to normal. I will change out of my black clothes and I will have to start trying my best to get back into normality. I’m actually sort of glad, although this in itself feels sad in its own way, that we have to be ordinary and get on with it. That life has to go on, I suppose.
Pete and Daisy are very pleased with themselves to have spent much of the morning making a home-made pizza and cake for our lunch – which explains why the kitchen looks like a bomb has gone off and Daisy has butter in her hair, despite Pete’s best Nigella impressions. Daisy has been helping with the cooking while simultaneously feeding Daniel the guinea pig with her free hand – a hygiene situation that Mum would never have tolerated.
I have to laugh. My family, all of them in their annoying and demanding and lovely glory, are one of the things getting me through this. The other things that have helped are text messages today from Nathalie and Jago, who both get exactly how horrible this is. Nathalie is out of hospital; physically she’s well again, and she’s doing so much better all round. She has sort of acknowledged that she was just having a really, really bad day that spiralled out of control, but at the same time I’ve admitted my part in it. We’re OK. It feels really nice to know this, and when I go back to school next week we’ll probably eat our lunch together in the cricket pavilion.
As for Jago… Well, he did what he said he would. I could trust him after all. As it turned out, him staying and having it out with Gareth was what saved me in the end. After getting through that night, despite everything else that’s happened, we’ve been pretty much inseparable ever since. We speak on the phone every day and have been meeting whenever we can.
My mum was understandably a bit freaked out that I suddenly have a potential new boyfriend, on top of everything. Luckily, she and I have both come to terms with quite how sensible I really am. While every other parent in town seems to have tightened the reins as a reflex action to what happened to Shimmi, my mum has conversely relaxed her attitude a bit. She knows, when it comes to it, that I’m capable of doing the right thing.
Plus, Jago’s coming over for dinner this Saturday night, after we go to the cinema together – we all keep making jokes like it’s a big, scary deal, but we’re fine with it and I actually think it might be quite fun. Underneath the floppy hair and Jim Morrison posturing, I’ve found that Jago’s a genuinely nice guy. I think my mum and Pete are going to like him.
‘Is the cake supposed to be black at the edges?’ Daisy asks, making a face as Pete takes it out of the oven.
‘Do you know what, Daisy Chainsaw?’ I reply. ‘It really isn’t. But who cares? It looks awesome – thanks, both of you.’
Then, just as we’re sitting down to eat at the kitchen table, I remember one last thing. Now I’ve got it into my head, it’s bothering me. I don’t have much left of the twins, no tangible objects to act as proof. I already did the right thing – finally – and posted my bracelet back to the shop in a brown envelope. There’s only one more thing left. I run upstairs and find what I’m looking for, down in the bottom of my laundry basket.
It’s Elyse’s jumper, the black cobwebby one she gave me that night down by the river. The one I wore non-stop for days afterwards, and even slept in. I grab it and run down the stairs and out of the front door. I know it’s bad to throw perfectly good clothes away, but I can’t have this around me; I want it gone. I throw it into the outside dustbin, shoving it down under some wet rubbish bags, and then turn back to go inside.
I feel better already. I don’t need it any more. Besides, it never really suited me anyway.
CARINA
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ISBN: 978-1-472-01708-6
Gemini Rising
Copyright © Eleanor Wood 2013
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All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author and all the incidents are pure invention.
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CARINA
™
is a trademark of Harlequin Enterprises Limited, used under licence.
