Chapter 61

“Lucy! Get up!” Mum screams from the bottom of the stairs, waking me up from my deep sleep. I just groan as a response, not being able to form words this early in the morning. I hear her footsteps coming up the stairs and I immediately shake out of my sleep and sit up on the bed. “Get out of bed and help me with this parcel you’ve ordered” she demands. I just moan and roll out of bed, hitting my bum on the floor.

“Ow” I groan and she laughs at me.

“Hurry up, he’s waiting” she pulls me off the floor. I grab my dressing gown to put over my pyjamas and drag myself downstairs.

“Oh my god” I moan, seeing the van with a huge amount of boxes inside. Why can’t the fucking delivery person just bring all this in? And who the fuck comes round at 6:30 in the morning to deliver something!?

I tip toe outside and pull all the small boxes into my house. How much have I ordered? The delivery guy uses all his strength to bring in all the big boxes. When they’re finally inside, the delivery person leaves and I stare at the boxes in the hallway.

“You’ll have to take all that up to your room. It’s not cluttering the hallway” Mum frowns.

“Yeah, I’ll do it after school” I yawn. I’m so tired, I might collapse.

I trod up the stairs and do my morning routine before meeting up with Conor, Jack and Lois.

“Conor’s present came this morning” I whisper so only Jack can hear.

“Good!” he responds, flashing a smile.

We get to school and everyone gives Conor his presents seeing as he won’t be in tomorrow. He mainly just gets a card with loads of money in but some of his friends got him a present.

I walk to my final lesson of the day – maths – with Conor. This is one of the few lessons we actually sit together in, mainly because the teacher just happened to put us here, it wasn’t by choice. Unlike science, he actually gets on with his work in this lesson and he’s really good at maths. I happen to just copy all of his answers because he flies through all the questions... He doesn’t mind.

I sit down in my place and listen to the teacher drag on about circumferences and shit. I usually just daydream in this lesson.

“Lucy,” the teacher snaps me out of my thoughts. I shake my head slightly and stare at him to continue his sentence.

“What?” I ask when he doesn’t talk.

“I asked you a question,”

“Right...”

“Are you going to answer it?” he asks as if I’m stupid.

“Twenty four” Conor whispers.

“Twenty four” I repeat to my teacher.

“You think half of twenty six centimetres is twenty four?”

“Really Conor?” I turn to him and he starts laughing his head off, as well as a few other people.

“See me after class Lucy” the teacher nods.

“Why?”

“You clearly don’t understand what you’re doing”

“So you’re giving me extra help because I wasn’t paying attention?” I frown.

“Well... yes” he nods.

“I don’t need extra help!” I gasp and Conor starts laughing again.

“Just pay attention ok?” he shakes his head and I nod, rolling my eyes when he turns away.

“I hate you” I mumble to Conor and I hear him sniggering slightly.

We get a piece of paper given to us with at least twenty questions on and Conor immediately starts getting on with his work, using my pink calculator. I moan and put my head on the table.

“Lucy, how you doing?” I hear a deep voice right not to my ear. I jump slightly and turn to my teacher crouched down next to my table.

“I’m fine” I mumble and pretend to write something. He sighs heavily and walks away.

“Do you even know what we’re doing?” Conor asks me. I don’t reply, I just turn away. “Not this again.” he sighs. “How about I help you?”

I slowly turn to him and nod. I’ll know what I’m doing when I read the worksheet we have but I’m really not in the mood to do any work. When Conor says he’ll help me, he really means that I can just copy all of his answers and hope I catch on to what we’re doing.

I start writing down all of the answers until I get to a point where Conor hasn’t done anymore.

“You haven’t done the last few” I point to the piece of paper.

“I know. You’re not copying all my answers, do some yourself” he pushes my calculator towards me. I roll my eyes and click a few buttons to give me the answer. I smile proudly to myself until Conor ruins the moment by turning my calculator off.

“Really?” I sigh dramatically and start to type in the sum again. I start to write down what the calculator says until he presses the button again. “Conor seriously, fuck off!” I moan.

“Sorry, I won’t do it again” he laughs. I type in the sum for the third time until he turns my calculator off again.

“Fuck off!” I shout and slam the calculator of the desk, drawing all the attention in the class to me. I’m probably glowing red right now with anger and humiliation. He’s so fucking frustrating.

“Everyone, get on with your work” Sir breaks the awkward silence, making everyone get back to what they were doing before I threw a giant strop.

I don’t even look at Conor, I turn my back to him slightly, cross my arms over my chest and don’t do anymore work. The bell goes in 2 minutes so why should I bother anyway.

“Here’s your calculator” Conor says innocently, sliding my calculator towards me. I snatch it off him and put it in my bag. “Jesus christ” he mumbles. He’s really pushing it now...

The bell finally rings and I practically jump up from my seat and start to walk out of class.

“Lucy, wait!” my teacher calls me back. “Everyone else go”

I sigh frustratedly and sit back in my seat. Everyone in the class leaves and sir eventually walks over to me.

“What’s up?” he asks pitifully.

“Nothing” I shrug.

“Well what was going on with you and Conor back then?”

“He kept turning my calculator off and it annoyed me” I whine.

“You should’ve just told me”

“No" I frown.

“Well I’ll make sure it won’t happen again. Did you understand what we were doing in class? You seemed a bit unsure” he frowns.

“Yes, I am fine” I sigh.

“Ok, if you need any extra help-“

“I’ll make sure I come to you” I interrupt him, knowing the end of his sentence.

“Correct, now off you go. Your friends are waiting” he points to the door and I see Jack and Lois pulling faces to me through the little window in the door. I laugh to myself and the teacher starts smiling.

“Thank you” I laugh and walk out of the door. “You’re freaks” I tell them both.

“What did he want?” Jack asks.

“Just asking me what’s wrong and stuff” I roll my eyes and Jack laughs as we leave the school gate.

“Lucyyy” Conor whines.

“What?” I snap.

“I love you!” he chimes and I just roll my eyes. “Why aren’t you talking to me?”

“You know why!”

He starts laughing, “Come on, it was only a joke”

“Good one” I sarcastically laugh. We stay silent for ages while I just concentrate on walking home, thoughts running through my mind about how much of a shit day I’ve had. It’s that delivery guys fault for waking me up so early.

As soon as I get home, I dump my bag on the stairs and start to move all of the boxes into the small office thing we have downstairs. Mum will go mental if she finds them in there when she’s already told me to put them in my room but I think it’s pointless taking them all upstairs when I’ll be bringing them back down tomorrow.

When I’m finally done, I decide go upstairs and catch up on all the homework and schoolwork I’ve not done. I’m so behind in every subject...

I’m onto my last piece of work I need to finish when I hear a knock at the door. Just ignore it Lucy... I can’t have any distractions because once I’m up, I know I won’t be able to get back into this mood to complete anything. The knocks get louder and more frequent as I continue to ignore the annoying noise, but when they start thumping my door, I give in and storm downstairs.

“One second!” I shout frustratedly. I jog to the door and open it to see Conor. “If I’d have known it was you, I would’ve continued to ignore it” I attempt to shut the door but his foot holds it open.

“I brought you McDonalds though, Jack and I have just been” he holds up the brown paper bag. My eyes grow but I shake off the temptation to invite him in and eat the food.

“I’m not hungry” I sigh dramatically, turning away from him slightly.

“You can’t stay mad at me forever Luce, I was only joking” he says casually.

“Well it wasn’t funny”

“Alright then” he nods and I just frown at him in confusion. “Can I come in now?”

I have a little debate in my head about if I should let him in or not, until I finally give in and step aside for him to walk in my house.

“Here” he hands me the bag. I take it and smile slightly. “Now am I forgiven?” he smirks.

“I guess,” I sigh dramatically before running off into the living room, sitting down on a sofa and digging into my burger.

“You look like you haven’t eaten in a thousand years...”

“I haven’t” I scoff.

“Considering I ate with you at the weekend, I think you’re lying” he frowns, sitting next to me on the sofa. I choose to ignore him and keep finishing off my burger and chips. “Guess whose birthday it is tomorrow?”

“Hmm,” I pretend to think. “I’m not sure. Give me a clue”

“Well he’s funny, and kind and extremely good looking-“

“There goes your head explosion” I interrupt his list and he starts laughing.

“You know I’m talking about myself then”

“Who else do you talk about?” I smirk and lick some salt off my finger.

“You ate that quick!” he gasps.

“I’m hungry” I shrug, squashing the bag.

“Haven’t you had your tea? It’s like, half eight” he checks the clock on my wall.

“No, I’ve been doing work”

“Are you being sarcastic?” he says after a long pause.

“Nope” I shake my head. “I’m behind on loads of work”

“Fair enough” he shrugs.

“Speaking of which, I need to finish one more thing” I get off the sofa and walk upstairs, hearing Conor’s footsteps behind me. “Now don’t distract me” I warn him, sitting in front of the piles of worksheets on the floor. He doesn’t say anything, he just sits on my bed and hums to himself quietly.

“What subject is it?” he breaks the silence.

“Maths” I mumble, writing down some shit I don’t understand.

“Need any help?” he teases and I look up at him, raising my eyebrow. He starts laughing and I just roll my eyes and continue with my work.

“Done!” I shout, making him jump slightly. I start laughing and I see him trying to hide his smile.

“Am I allowed to talk now?” he asks.

“If you want” I shrug.

“Come here then” he moves his head slightly, gesturing me to come over to him. I sit up and walk into his open arms, embracing him. We lie on my bed and just talk for a good fifteen minutes until I hear my parents come through the front door. Conor gasps, “Can I go out the window?”

“Why? They won’t mind you being here” I frown.

“I miss sneaking out” he pouts and I roll my eyes as if to say ‘go on then’. “Yess” he cheers to himself, fist pumping the air. I laugh slightly and watch him jump out of the window. I walk over to him and peck his lips before shutting the window and watching him walk away.

“Lucy!” Dad shouts angrily. Shit, what have I done?

I walk downstairs listing everything I've done wrong in my life, until I see him standing outside the office room where I stashed all the boxes. Oh...

“How am I supposed to get to anything with this junk in here!?” he shouts.

“Please don’t tell Mum” I plead him, whispering slightly. “I’m taking it to Jack’s house tomorrow so I thought it was a bit pointless putting everything in my room when it would be back down again tomorrow”

He sighs frustratedly, “Well how am I supposed to get to my folders and stuff”

“Climb?”

“I don’t think that would work out, Lucy. I’m a forty year old man. I can’t climb on boxes” he says slowly, as if I’m stupid.

“I’ll climb for you then!” I smile, walking over to the boxes. “What do you want?”

He sighs, “The black folder and a highlighter”

“Ooo, buisnessy” I mock him.

“I’m warning you, Lucy” he points his finger at me and I put my hands up in defeat.

“Ok, ok...” I climb over the boxes to the other side of the room. “This one?” I ask him, holding up one of the many black folders.

“Yep” he nods.

“Any particular highlighter?” I hold up a selection and he gives me a warning look. “Yellow it is” I put the rest of the highlighters down and climb back over the boxes to get back to him.

“Thanks” he nods.

“And don’t tell Mum” I remind him as he walks away.

“It better be gone by tomorrow then”

“It will!” I smile and run back up to my room. I feel kind of bad for not saying ‘Happy Birthday’ to Conor tonight. I’m barely going to see him tomorrow so I should’ve said it before he left really. I’ll call him in a second.

I get ready to go to sleep and jump in my bed, wrapping myself up to keep warm. I bring my phone under the covers and start to get up Conor’s number, before I hear a faint knock at my window. My eyebrows knit together in confusion. It’s probably the wind...

I shake it off and continue searching for his number until I hear the knock again. It’s not my imagination then. What could they possibly want at this time?

I trod over to the window and open my curtains to see Conor waiting there with his phone in his hand.

“What do you want?” I moan.

“You’re staying at mine” he smiles, taking my hand.

“When?”

“Now, you idiot. Come on” he tugs my hand slightly but I shake it off.

“No I’m not. Conor, leave me alone”

“But it’s my birthday” he whines.

“So?”

“I have no one to sleep with” he pouts.

“Well go in Jack’s room” I suggest and he looks at me as if I have 3 heads.

“You know what I mean” he trails off. “Come on, it’s my sixteenth” he begs. I let out a huge sigh. I hate it when he does this to me.

“I would but what will my parents say? Sneaking out to sleep at yours on a school night...”

“It’ll be fine!”

“No it won’t Conor, let’s be serious” I raise an eyebrow.

“Well go and ask your Mum to cover for you when your Dad asks”

“She’ll only listen to you” I moan and he rolls his eyes. He climbs through my window and walks to my bedroom door. “Where are you going!?” I whisper loudly.

“To talk to your Mum?” he says as if it’s a question.

“You can’t just go out there! I’ll call her up” I suggest and he nods. “Mum! Can you help me with this a second?” I shout down the stairs.

“One minute!” she replies and I hear footsteps coming up the stairs shortly after. “What’s up? Conor!?” she gasps.

“Can Lucy sleep at mine?” Conor gets straight to the point.

“What? No!” she gasps. “It’s a school night and it’s a bit late notice”

“But it’s my birthday tomorrow” he sighs, trying to act innocent.

“So?”

“So she needs to sleep with me” he says as if it’s obvious. I gasp and put my hand over my mouth and my Mum does the exact same. “Not like that! I mean, just... I don’t know. I’m bored” he shrugs. I mentally face palm.

“So you want Lucy to entertain you?” she raises her eyebrow.

“Not in a rude way... But, it’ll be nice if she could stay. It’ll be like a little sleepover” he says in a weird voice, trying to sound slightly feminine. I shake my head at him while laughing a quietly as possible.

“No, your Dad won’t let you Lucy” she shakes her head.

“Exactly. We’re asking you to cover for me” I stop her from walking out of my room.

“Oh, I see how it is” she rolls her eyes.

“Come on Mum, he’s turning sixteen” I sigh. “I’ll be good”

“Damn right you will be” she nods but Conor and I stay silent, and continue to smile at her, full of hope. She lets out a giant sigh, “Fine! But I swear, if your Dad finds out, I’m blaming this whole thing on you two and you know what will happen then”

Yeah, he’ll probably ban Conor from making eye contact with me...

“Thank you, Mum!” I squeal, ignoring the last bit of her rant. Conor just continues to smile at her and laughs slightly at my reaction. Mum rolls her eyes and leaves the room.

“Don’t have too much fun” she warns me from halfway up the stairs. I ignore her and grab my school uniform out of my wardrobe. I pack my stuff and when I’m ready, I climb out of the window with Conor and make my way to his house.

As soon as I enter, Jack’s stops walking up the stairs and just stares at me.

“As if she came!” Jack gasps, high fiving Conor. I roll my eyes and follow them both upstairs. I shouldn’t have walked to Conor’s in my pyjamas, I’m numb.

I run straight to Conor’s bed and he soon follows after me, lying down next to me and putting his arm around my waist.