Page 36 of Silver Tears

“Yes.”

“No!” I reply, glaring back at him. “I don’t want to be indebted to you or anyone.”

“Okay, then let me put it this way, Mills. I’ll top-up the electric and if you refuse, I’ll dial Damon’s number and tell him all about Charlie and your mum.”

“You wouldn’t dare?”

He cocks a brow. “Wouldn’t I? Just stop being so proud and stubborn and let me do this for you.”

I open my mouth to protest further, and he wags his finger at me. “No arguments, Mills.”

We pull up at the house, and I instruct Seb to wait in the car. I don't want him coming inside the house and seeing the state of it. He’s used to mansions and grandeur, not a council house with pots and mess everywhere.

“Charlie!” I shout as I enter inside. I stagger back when he slams into me, wrapping his arms around my waist and hugging me tight.

“You came!”

I lean down and brush his messy hair out of his eyes. “You know I’ll always come when you need me, Chops. Come on. Let’s give that hair a quick brush.” I take his hand and lead him upstairs to the bathroom.

“I already brushed my teeth,” he tells me proudly, opening his mouth and showing me his teeth.

“Well done. Come on, let’s hurry. We’re going to be late.” I grab the brush and give his hair a good comb. “Have you got your lunch?”

He shakes his head and looks down at his feet. “Mum hasn’t been food shopping. I had a biscuit for breakfast.”

“Okay, well, we’ll grab you something on the way to school. Guess whose car we’re going to school in?”

Charlie scrunches his brow, thinking. “Ryan’s?”

“God, no!” I scoff. “Seb’s out front and he drives a really cool car.”

“Seb’s here!” Charlie jumps up and down excitedly. “I love Seb.” I pop my head into mum’s bedroom while Charlie runs to the window to double check that Seb really is outside. She’s out for the count, snoring. Still dressed in yesterday’s clothes. I shake her, but she just groans and rolls over onto her other side.

It’s true. Charlie hadn’t shut up about Seb since he met him at the café. He’s constantly asking me about him, which has been nothing short of annoying, given he’s the last person I want to talk about.

He practically skips out to the car, waving frantically at Seb, who winds down the window and greets him warmly.

“Hey, Charlie boy. How’s it going?”

Charlie high fives him before he climbs into the back of the car. I make him sit on a cushion, as we don’t have a car seat. It’s not ideal, but it will have to do.

“He doesn’t have any lunch,” I announce. Wishing I had access to a credit card until I can get my next wages.

Seb pulls up outside Gina’s café and runs inside. He comes back out with a brown sandwich bag filled with a plain cheese sandwich, a bag of crisps, and a carton of orange. Looks like I’ll owe him even more money now.

We make the short drive to Charlie’s school and we’re only five minutes late. Charlie chats non-stop to Seb all the way there. I can’t help but smile at the two of them laughing and being silly together. When we pull up at school, Charlie insists Seb walks with us into the playground and Seb happily obliges him. He skips off happily to class, waving at us.

We call back at the house, and I top up the meter with Seb’s money. It doesn’t sit right with me, but what other choice do I have right now?

“Thank you,” I tell him. As we make the mad dash back to the Bay to make our next classes.

“You’re welcome. Twenty pounds means nothing to me, Mills. Stop stressing over it.”

We make it to school on time just as the first period bell goes. We rush out of the car and head inside. Seb reaches out and grabs my hand. “Girlfriend, remember?” he says, winking as we walk together into school.

People stare again. It looks like it is going to take a while for the gossip to die down. We pass by Tam and her friends, and she eyeballs me before staring longingly at Seb. He must see her looking as he wraps his arm over my shoulder and kisses the top of my head. “Cruel,” I mutter to him under my breath, and he chuckles.

“Got to be cruel to be kind, precious.” Seb walks me to my class. When we get there, I go to walk away, and he tugs me back by my jacket and locks his lips onto mine. “This morning was fun, Mills. Bunking off, you’re such a bad girl,” he teases, winking at me, before he turns and heads down the hallway to his class.

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