Page 105 of Take My Hand

“And when I need to know what size bra to buy you for Christmas,” Dad quipped.

I slapped at his arm. “Dad!”

Zak laughed, but Maya bit back her smile. We were quite the happy little circle around the dining table.

“The point is,” I stressed, “it’s not usual for her to ask something like that.”

As soon as the message went, I quickly got a thank you back, but I couldn’t shake the worry that something was wrong.

“Maybe I’ll call Ana and say it’s about school or something.”

Zak nodded, leaned in, and kissed my cheek. “Good idea.”

I loved that he wasn’t embarrassed or too scared to show me affection in front of my dad, despite claiming Dad petrified him. He was respectful of him. He was respectful of me.

When Zak and Dad then started to discuss football, Maya and I rolled our eyes and my concern about Ana was forgotten..

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Maddy

Walking through the school gates, Zak’s fingers curled around mine as I looked out for my friends. Emma, Liv and Liam were waiting in what had become our usual spot before classes, on the bench under the Library window.

“No Ana,” I whispered, glancing up at Zak.

He didn’t reply verbally, but he tugged on my hand giving me a silent sign of support.

“I should have called her,” I echoed the thoughts running around in my head. “I should have tried to find out why her mum messaged me.”

“Maybe the others will know,” Zak said as we approached our friends.

“Hiya.” Liv held her hands out for me. “Come and sit next to me. We need to talk Harry Mayhew.”

As I was pulled onto the bench between her and Emma, Zak bumped fists with Liam, who immediately struck up a conversation with him.

“Before we do.” I patted their thighs. “We need to talk about Ana.”

“Did you get the weird message from her mum as well?” Emma asked.

My gaze whipped to hers. “Yes. What did you make of it?”

She shrugged. “No idea really.”

“Did you call Ana afterwards?”

Emma’s eyes flicked to Liam so quickly I almost missed it. “No. You?”

I shook my head. “I wish I had, though. I feel bad now.”

“Have you seen her this morning?” Emma asked.

“She’ll be here soon,” Liv said with a sigh. “You know how she likes the drama.”

I blinked my eyes slowly, and Emma almost choked. There was only one drama queen amongst us, and she was sitting on the bench, and it wasn’t me or Emma.

“I think Maddy is worried because of the mood Ana has been in.” Zak shifted his bag on his shoulder and shoved his hands under his armpits. “And we usually see her on the way in, but there was no sign this morning.”

Liv thrust her hand into the pocket of her pink wool coat and pulled out her phone. “I’ll call her now and then can we talk about Harry?”

---