Page 5 of The Two Halves of My Heart

“Boys. Go and fetch your bikes, okay? We can have the picnic when you’re back.”

They tore off, racing to get back as fast as they could. But it gave me the time I needed to let the tears fall and for Vivien to wrap me in her arms and comfort me just like my own mummy would.

After I’d calmed down, she fetched a first-aid kit and cleaned up my knee and my hands. We were just getting the plasters out when the boys come crashing back in.

“Can we have the cake now?” Maddison asked, smiling big and wide at me.

“I think that’s up to Grace, don’t you?” Vivien looked at me, and I nodded, happy to have the distraction.

“Can we take a slice for my mum?” I didn’t want her to miss out.

“Of course, sweetie. Do you want me to invite her over? We have more than enough?”

“Yes, please.” I knew she’d be upset that I’d got hurt, but I loved playing with the boys. They were my best friends—my only friends, and I didn’t want anything to stop what we had. I knew I’d defend our friendship with everything in me, regardless of how new, or young, we were now. A few scabs wouldn’t stop that.

The summer holidays stretched forever. We weren’t going anywhere for a proper holiday. Mum had explained that with the house move, we couldn’t afford it this year. I knew she was worried about something else. It lingered over her like a shadow that wouldn’t clear, but she never talked to me about it. And I was too busy having fun and enjoying my life to worry too hard.

In the middle of the break, the boys and their family went away for a week. I was miserable and glum for the whole time.

During the few months of the school term, I hadn’t made many other friends in class. Maddison ensured I didn’t need anyone else, and I saw Oliver during our playtime. So when they weren’t about, I realised how lonely it would be without them.

None of my toys were interesting, and I’d already designed a new dragon to show Oliver on his return. The stories of dragon riders and wizards helped to take my mind off missing them, but it was still hard.

For that week, I stayed inside and hoped that all the rainy days would come now, so when the boys were back, we could get back to playing and exploring. Mum had started to relax and let me go farther from the house, as long as both the boys were with me.

Those had been the best days so far. We’d visited the farm next to them and met the horses in the stable. There was an abandoned stable block a little way on from where I’d come off my bike. For the boys, it was their new fort that they had to defend from invaders, but a magic garden surrounded it in my mind. Fairies and butterflies visited and kept me company if I wanted to sit for a moment, or they helped to hide me under grasses so the boys couldn’t find me.

I missed them terribly.

Finally, they came home, and to my surprise and delight, Mum let me walk over the green and to their house all on my own. It was only just out of view, really, and I’d done the trip a hundred times. Taking the journey on my own for the very first time gave me an added little thrill. My mummy trusted me, and I had to make sure I did it right.

They were already pulling on their trainers as I ran up the drive to call on them.

“Grace!” they both cheered at once.

You could tell they’d been away in the sun. Maddison’s dark-blond hair was now bright and straw-like from the sun, while Oliver’s brown had turned lighter.

“Let’s go to the fort. We can tell you all about our holiday.”

“Be back for tea, please. Grace, you’re welcome to stay if you like?”

“I’ll have to ask my mum.”

“That’s fine. Shall I see her while you play?” Vivien always made it easy to go and have fun with her sons. I think she liked me distracting them from annoying each other.

For the rest of the school holiday, we were once again inseparable. Even on the occasional rainy day, we found games to play and activities to explore. Sometimes we just needed to be in each other’s company. It didn’t matter what we were doing, as long as it was together.

No one ever wants to go back to school, but I dreaded it. September would mean everything changed back to boring days in classrooms.

But, I couldn’t stop time. The new school term began, but to my delight, nothing changed between the boys and me. We all walked to school together, still escorted by my mum though, and repeated the journey home at the end of the day. Maddison was my shadow in class, and we all played together at break times.

Maddison had shot up—like a bean, my mum described—over the summer. He was the tallest in the class now, and his friends all crowded around him, wanting to play with him. Sometimes I felt bad, like I was keeping him from his friends, but then he’d give me that big smile he seemed to save for me, and I didn’t feel so guilty any more.

Oliver, although older, was now smaller than Maddison. He didn’t have as many school friends, and I knew that if I wasn’t desperate to play with him, he might not have that many others to spend his time with. We were alike in a way that Maddison didn’t know or feel. Outsiders, in our own way.

The first sense of fear hit me when I realised that Oliver would be moving to secondary school next year. He wouldn’t be here with us anymore. He’d be off on his own. I knew that I’d still have Maddison, but only for as long as he wanted to spend his time with me. His popularity always made me nervous, and I secretly hoped that the other kids weren’t more interesting or likeable.

But that was nearly a whole year away. I wouldn’t worry about that yet.

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