Page 7 of Meant to Be

“Nothing. You're pretty that's all.” She blushes again and looks away from me.

“Oh, thanks. Well... I better go. See you soon Jaxon.”

I smile as she lifts her hand in a wave and turns around to walk away.

“Shelby, wait.” She turns back to face me. “Could I have your number?” She pats the pockets of her blazer.

“My phone’s inside. Pass me yours, and I'll put it in.” I pass my phone over and watch her tap away on the numbers. “There you go.” I ring the number once.

“There, you should have mine now.”

She smiles again, “I need to get going. Speak to you soon and thanks again for walking me.”

Shelby opens her front door and walks into the house, once the doors shut I walk back the way I came.

As I'm nearing my house my phone rings. I pull it from my pocket and swipe across the screen.

“H, what's up dude?”

“So how did it go?”

“What you mean?” I frown

“With Shelby?”

“We swapped numbers.”

“Cool, but you do realise she's only sixteen.”

“Phew, that's a relief I thought you were gonna say she was only fifteen or something.”

“Yeah, it was her birthday a few days ago. I'm coming to yours.” The phone clicks off, so I slide it back into my pocket and make my way home again.

Harry’s outside the house when I get there.

“Why didn’t you knock on the door or just go in?”

“There’s no-one here, the door's locked.”

“What? Mum never leaves the house; she has to be here.”

I put the key in the door and step inside. The house is quiet, looking around now - it’s too quiet. I run up the stairs taking two at a time, opening the door to her bedroom - nothing. I check the bathroom, but it’s locked.

Knocking lightly, “Mum, you in there?”

“MUM.” I bang my shoulder against the door, but it’s locked. I stand back and kick the door with my foot, it swings open banging against the bath. She’s in the corner, passed out. An empty bottle of vodka sits at the side of her. I put her arm around my neck and try to pull her up, but she’s dead weight.

“Harry. Come up here.” I hear him running up the stairs.

“Oh man. Again?”

“Yep. Don’t worry I’m used to it now. Get the other side of her and help me pull her up.”

Harry puts her other arm around his neck, and together we pull her up and walk her to the bedroom. Dragging her to the side of the bed, we force her down to the mattress to lie down. Standing at the side, I watch her as Harry sits. I straighten her up until her head is on a pillow. Grabbing her a glass of water and two pills from the bathroom cabinet, I place them on the bedside table for when she wakes, god knows she’ll need it.

Mum and Dad have had an alcohol problem for as long as I can remember. When he left, I thought she’d dry out, but no such luck. As a matter of fact, I think she's gotten worse. She can't cope with anything, she’s never made an effort to either. She always blames him for making her this way but never attempts to straighten herself out. It’s kind of funny when she’s the one telling me I should do something with myself and not be a waste of space. She doesn’t have to worry because I’ll never be like those two. I’ll make sure of that. I hate that she thinks more about him and alcohol than me, her own flesh and blood, her only child…well, screw them! I can look after myself

“Are you just gonna leave her there?” Harry breaks into my thoughts.

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