Off Limits (3 page)

“Yes, pretty
much,” Luke grimaced, putting down the glass. “I’ll drive you home.”

It worked out better
this way, I supposed. It was none of my business, really. I should stay out of
their relationship. All Phoebe wanted was for us to get along, not to become
slowly more and more engrossed in her boyfriend. The fact I was lying to her
for him didn’t bode well.

I needed to sort
my priorities out.

In the room, I
offered Luke’s mum a small smile and she expressed the pleasantry that it was
nice to meet me.

“Nice to meet you
too,” I trailed off awkwardly. Going by what Luke had told me about his dad,
calling her Mrs. Foster would have probably been a mistake.

“It’s Angela.”

“Nice to meet you,
Angela,” I repeated, smiling as Luke hugged his mother and explained he’d be
back later. It was a little bit cute that he didn’t care about showing her
affection in front of me.

“Catch you later,
mum.”

I practically sank
into Luke’s car seat. “How is this so much comfier than mine? Can we switch
cars?”

“You’ve got no
chance. This thing is my pride and joy. We can’t really afford it at all, but
it worked out cheaper than the bus to and from school every day would have
been. My mum stopped driving so I could have a car since she can walk to work.”
He played with the dials on the front. “Besides, the heating kind of sucks.
It’s unbearable in the summer when it takes half an hour for the air-con to get
going.”

“Yeah, I shouldn’t
be able to afford mine, either, but my mum sets aside the child support for me
to have it. My dad doesn’t work, that’s another reason it’s been so rough for
him to move out.”

Aside from being
in maths that one year, Luke and I had never needed to have a real conversation
before. I wouldn’t have said we’d bonded over what happened to our parents, but
I certainly felt more comfortable talking to him about it than Phoebe. Her
family was just so perfect all the time that she couldn’t possibly understand.
That much was obvious when she insisted I should forgive my mum.

“Yeah, that
sucks.”

It would have
sucked less if he’d been able to swallow his pride and just get a job that was
below his qualifications.

We didn’t really
talk much more, other than to jab a few insults around and explore more of what
made our parents’ divorce so shitty. Mine was nothing compared to Luke’s. He’d
had it beyond difficult and it made me feel bad for sounding so over the top
about how miserable I was. I probably couldn’t have coped in his position.

“I’ll pick you up
for school at like half eight,” Luke instructed when we were back outside my
house. “Please don’t be late. I’m quite sure it can’t take you that long to get
ready considering the end result, anyway.”

I fake laughed and
gave him the finger as I hopped out of the car. “Thanks for the lift though,
seriously. I really didn’t want to have to drive that.”

“It’s no problem.
See you tomorrow.”

Back in my own
house, I was forced to deal with my mother. She turned off the TV the moment I
walked into the house – we didn’t have a nice little hallway, so I couldn’t
sneak upstairs without someone seeing me. My front door opened straight into
the living room.

“Sit down,” she
ordered, fixing me with a withering glare. “We need to talk.”

“I really don’t
want to talk,” I denied, taking the seat anyway. Maybe we just needed to have
it out with each other and we could move on with limited contact. “There’s
nothing to talk about.”

“Who was that
boy?”

“That was Phoebe’s
boyfriend, Luke. I’m just teaching him German.”

“Luke, Luke?”

“Yes.”

“Your relationship
has drastically improved since the last time you talked to me about him, then?”
She raised a sceptical eyebrow. “Are you sure you’re not trying to hide that
you’re really in the relationship?”

“Do you want me to
go on Facebook and show you their relationship status, or will you actually
believe what I’m saying? I definitely don’t like Luke.”

She sighed, “I
really don’t want to fall out with you, I just don’t want you having a boy
upstairs that… that you’re intimate with. That’s the rule and it always has
been.”

She’d never met my
boyfriends and she had no idea how intimate I’d been with any of them. I hid my
birth control pill well. “You don’t have anything to worry about. You know I
hate Luke, I’m making sure he doesn’t fail for Phoebe’s benefit and even that
was through blackmail.”

“Well, that’s
okay, then, but we still need to talk – about your father.”

I sat in silence,
really weighing up whether I wanted to do this or not.

“I know that
you’re angry with me, but you have to understand-”

“No, I don’t have
to understand,” I stood up and ran a hand through my hair. “I don’t have to
understand at all. Goodnight, mum.”

Maybe one day, but
right now I didn’t want to hear excuses. My dad had left less than six hours
ago and I wasn’t ready to forgive the bitch that had kicked her out quite yet.

Chapter Three

I cursed when my
tights caught on a floor tack stuck in the stairs. I’d ruined so many pairs of
tights this way and given myself plenty of cuts, too. I almost regretted never
starting a tally when I was younger. Still, I was running late and so I’d have
to hope the ladder didn’t get too big. If I was sent home for bad uniform, then
I’d be mightily pissed off.

The wings on my
eyeliner were less than even and I was quite sure I’d stained my blouse with
toothpaste, but that was what happened when you drank on a school night.
Especially when you drank on a school night because of something miserable
happening. My head was pounding and I just wanted to go back to bed.

Dealing with Luke
was the last thing I wanted right now.

I’d given myself
enough time for breakfast, though. Sacrificing my appearance for a bacon
sandwich would have been completely worth it.

My mum was
bustling around the kitchen herself and I was beyond tempted to ask her to make
me one. My mum made the
best
bacon sandwiches I’d ever had. It was her
appearance that really stopped me. “Going somewhere?” I asked bitterly, taking
in the over the top necklace and attempt to curl her thinning hair.

“Just in to town
to pick up some stuff.”

“You really don’t
have to lie to me. Believe it or not, I’m actually not an idiot.”

She was going to
meet her fella and she had the audacity to lie to me about it. I could at least
have respected her if she’d admitted that she was going to meet the guy who’d
caused my dad to leave. “I’m going on a date with Graham. We’re going to a
lunchtime performance at the theatre.”

“Well, I really
hope you enjoy yourself whilst my dad’s trying to find somewhere to live.”

I stalked out of
the room with my backpack and an apple, unable to converse with her any longer.
Slamming the front door, I took a seat on the kerb.

And now I had to
sit and wait here for fifteen minutes before Luke got here. I was surprised my
mum hadn’t asked about the lack of car, but I probably hadn’t given her a
chance.

Sitting by myself
hadn’t chilled me out. If anything, it had made everything even worse. My anger
had festered into a god-awful mood and I really wanted to kick something. It
was all so horribly unfair.

Luke fixed me with
a questionable look when he pulled up. “I’m not late.”

“Yes, I was early.
I didn’t want to be in the house with her anymore.”

“Ah, fair enough,”
and that was the end of that conversation. I turned the music up to full blast
and didn’t care that it made my pounding headache a thousand times worse. At
least I wouldn’t really fall out with Luke this way.

Luke didn’t try to
talk to me, either. Silence was the most effective.

At school, Luke
noticed my tights. “You’re going to get sent home for uniform, I’d bet you
anything.” The ladder had already climbed to the back of my knee.

“Whatever. It’s
not like my mum will be in, she’s going to the theatre.” I pulled out my
mocking posh voice. “If I ever see them together, I’ll probably flip.”

Luke rubbed the
back of his head, grateful when a football came whizzing towards him. He caught
it with ease, kicking it back to the red-headed guy walking our way. “Are you
playing in the match tonight?” Jamie asked, narrowly swerving the ball out of
the path of a car.

“Nope, can’t do it
tonight. Next week, though, for sure.”

“Damn, that sucks.
It’s a lost game, anyway, we’re playing the top of the league. Oh, hey Carmen.”

I gave him a small
wave whilst retrieving my backpack from the car and allowing Luke to lock the
door.

“I hate playing
the games that are a guaranteed loss. It always seems so pointless.”

“What are you
doing together, anyway? Managed to get over being at each other’s throats all
day long?”

I smirked, “I
realised Luke isn’t the same self-obsessed, idiotic jerk I always knew.”

Luke wrapped an
arm around my shoulder, dragging him into my side. “Yeah, and I realised Carmen
isn’t the same moody, sarcastic bitch that I always thought she was.”

“Ah, I’ll take
that as a no, then.”

“Phoebe’s making
me teach him German because he sucks so bad at it,” I explained, taking a step
away from Luke before I got too comfortable.

“Ah, well, I guess
that sucks for all parties, then. Oh, shit, got to go and hand in an assignment
before the bell rings. I was already late handing it in. Catch you later, mate.
Good to see you, Carmen,” he flashed me a toothy grin before jogging off in the
other direction.

Luke blinked. “I
didn’t realise you had some kind of man-eater charm I’m apparently immune to.”

My cheeks burned,
much to my distaste. “I definitely don’t. He was just being friendly.”

“Yeah, right. He’s
my best friend, I think I know.”

“Wait,” my face
lost all colour in an instant and the meagre contents of my stomach swirled
unpleasantly. “Please tell me that’s not the same car.”

I didn’t even want
to point at it, but Luke followed my line of sight and his own teasing smile
faded. “I think it is. It’s at least very similar. I mean, it’s probably just
very similar, right?”

Maybe my paranoia
hadn’t been so unfounded after all.

“We should take
its number plate,” Luke managed a rational thought whilst I panicked. “Read it
to me.”

I did, barely able
to see the numbers considering the distance. I still couldn’t see whoever was
inside, but it was definitely a guy. Or, a girl with really short hair and a
big build.

“It’s the same
car, I’m sure it is.” There was no way this was a coincidence. A rundown blue Ford
following us last night and then one turning up outside school. “He really
wants something with us. What are we supposed to do?”

Luke was fidgeting
and really trying not to turn around to outright stare at the car. “I really
don’t know. I should go over there and demand to know what the fuck he’s
doing.”

“Should we go to
the police?”

“He really hasn’t
done anything yet, we don’t even know if it’s the same car.”

Our conversation
was interrupted by Phoebe, but she had no idea as to the tension. “Hi guys.
Best friends already, I can see?”

I was in the mood
to only grunt a response and give some excuse about how I needed to hand some
work in before school started. Jamie’s appearance had been useful, at least.