After Megan had got home from school she’d got a text from some of her new school friends inviting her to meet them at the skatepark. Suddenly, it seemed, she’d become the cool kid to be associated with and, not wishing to jeopardise her new-found popularity, she’d abandoned her homework and legged it up there. There she’d been mucking around with the group, taking selfies, playing with WhatsApp and Snapchat, when they noticed a ruckus over the far side of the recreation ground, but it seemed to be a couple of lads having a tussle so they’d ignored it. But then the local copper had rocked up and one of the lads had hared off – and Megan had recognised Ashley. She yelled after him but he was so busy legging it he didn’t hear her and she could see that whoever he’d been fighting was still on the ground. She reckoned she knew who it was.

Suddenly, what Ashley had been getting up to seemed more important than currying favour with her new friends so she excused herself and directed her steps to the incident where she saw Zac, clutching his stomach, his face still contorted, lying on the ground with a policewoman crouched down beside him. Megan hung back, in amongst the gaggle of skateboarders who were rubber-necking too. Finally, Zac got to his feet and lurched over to a bench, then after a while the policewoman seemed to be reassured that Zac was all right and disappeared. Zac leaned forwards, his elbows on his knees, and stared at the ground.

Megan pushed her way forward. ‘Zac, Zac, what happened?’

Zac sighed and shook his head, not looking at her.

Megan hunkered down in front of him. ‘What happened?’

Zac raised his eyes. ‘Ash. Ash hit me.’

‘I saw that, but why?’

‘I had a bone to pick with him. We fought. He got in a lucky punch.’ Zac coughed.

‘You fought?’

Zac wiped his mouth. ‘Is my lip bleeding?’

Megan peered at him. ‘I don’t think so,’ she said. ‘But why fight?’

‘He’s been spreading stuff about me around town.’

‘Like the fact that you do drugs?’

‘Ssssh.’

Megan looked around at the open, empty space around them. ‘No one’s listening, Zac.’

Zac nodded. ‘He told his mum.’

‘Ash did? Really?’

‘He must have done, because she blabbed to Mrs Simmonds who told my mum.’

‘And you know this for a fact, do you?’

‘Mum said that Amy and Mrs Simmonds knew so it stands to reason Mrs Simmonds got it off Amy – everyone knows Amy can’t ever keep her mouth shut. So Mum searched my room and found my stash.’

‘Your stash? I thought you were going to quit. You told me, you promised. Why didn’t you chuck it all out?’

‘You’re kidding me right? Throw it away? It’s valuable.’

Megan glared at him. ‘What? So, you lied to me. I lent you the cash because you promised you’d stop.’ She was furious.

‘No... I... I will, but not yet.’

‘You’re a total git, do you know that? You’re contemptible and a liar.’

Zac face crumpled. He looked close to tears.

‘Christ,’ said Megan. She stamped her foot in frustration before she confronted him again. ‘This is an awful mess and the only person who can sort it out is you.’

Zac nodded, his eyes dark with misery.

‘And you can do it. People do. You can clean yourself up, you can get off the habit.’

‘Maybe I don’t want to.’

Megan stood up again. ‘Then maybe you’re even stupider than I thought.’ She strode off, fed-up and angry that Zac didn’t seem prepared even to try.

She was almost out of the gate when she heard feet running behind her.

‘Wait.’

She spun round. ‘Why should I?’

‘OK, I will. I will try.’

‘You’ve got to do more than try, Zac. You’ve got to do it.’

‘OK.’

‘And you need to go home, you need to talk to your mum. You need to get her to help you.’

‘I... I can’t.’

‘Why not? Zac, you don’t have a choice. Besides, she knows you do drugs, how much worse can it get?’

Zac didn’t answer.

‘Then you’re on your own.’ Megan strode off.

*

Lewis and Alfie were in the sitting room playing a game which involved their complete supply of toy cars and a great deal of noise while Bex was in the kitchen busy creaming sugar and butter together in preparation for making a Victoria sandwich. Over the racket from the sitting room, she heard Megan call hello as she came through front door.

‘Hi, Bex,’ she said.

‘How was the skatepark?’

‘Fine, it was fun. Really good.’

‘That’s great.’ Hallelujah, thought Bex. She got busy with her wooden spoon again, thwacking it around the bowl to make the butter and sugar mix pale and floppy.

Megan pulled a chair out and slumped onto it. There was something about Megan’s demeanour which didn’t mesh with her words.

‘What happened about Lily?’ asked Bex.

‘Lily?’

‘Didn’t Mr Smithson want to see her today?’

‘Oh... yes.’

‘And?’

‘Someone said he suspended her.’

‘Good, that should teach her a lesson.’

‘I suppose.’

Bex stopped beating the mix again. ‘So, why aren’t you happy?’

Megan shrugged.

‘Has something else happened?’

Megan shook her head and stared at the table.

Bex pulled out the chair opposite her stepdaughter and sat down. ‘Megan, I’m not stupid and something is bothering you. School is OK now, isn’t it?’

Megan looked at her. ‘School is fine,’ she confirmed.

‘Then there’s something else going on.’

‘It’s just...’

‘Yes?’

‘Bad things seem to happen to people who are around me. Daddy, then Stella, then Lily...’

‘No! No, sweetie, you mustn’t think like that. Daddy’s death was a terrible accident and no one asked Stella to nick our memory book and no one suggested to Lily she ought to pry into your past. The things that happened to those two were nothing to do with you.’

‘Maybe.’ She didn’t sound convinced.

‘They weren’t.’

Megan fell silent again. After a bit she said, ‘I saw Zac at the skatepark.’

‘So?’

‘He and Ashley had a fight.’

‘A fight? What about?’

Megan shrugged and stared at the table.

‘I wouldn’t worry about those two,’ said Bex. ‘Fighting is a boy thing.’

‘I suppose.’

‘And I could be wrong,’ said Bex, ‘but Olivia was talking about her husband wanting to move into a smaller house so things at Zac’s home may not be entirely rosy. If Zac’s miserable he may be on a short fuse, and lashing out is what boys do when they’re like that. Or, some do anyway.’

‘Yeah, I don’t think Zac’s very happy at the moment.’

‘There you go then. But I don’t want you worrying about other people. You’ve had enough to cope with recently without taking on other people’s problems too.’

‘Maybe.’ She still sounded sad and thoughtful.

‘Let’s have a cup of tea.’

‘I’ll do it.’ Megan got up from the table and filled the kettle. While she stood at the counter with her back to Bex, she said, ‘Zac told me he’s on drugs.’

The wooden spoon Bex was using clattered into the bowl, then she said, quite calmly, ‘Really? Silly lad.’

‘Zac told me his mum has found out.’

‘Ah. Poor Olivia.’

‘He’s in a bad place, Bex.’

‘I can imagine. And I don’t expect things are much better for his mum.’

*

Amy arrived home from doing some shopping to find Ashley waiting for her but she was too busy getting her key out of the lock and putting it away in her handbag to pay him much notice.

‘We need to talk, Mum.’

‘Give us a mo, Ash. I’ve not even got me coat off yet or put the kettle on. I’m dying for a cuppa, me.’

It took her a couple of minutes to put away the shopping, hang her jacket up and have a quick wee before she turned her attention to her son. It also gave her a couple of minutes to try and work out how she was going to tell him that, after the morning’s events, things were going to be a bit tight again – worse if Billy stayed with them at weekends and she had another mouth to feed.

‘Now, what’s so urgent...’ The sentence died on her lips when she saw the state of her son’s clothes. Her desire for tea and her need to break the news about their new circumstances evaporated with the rise of irritation at the damage. ‘What the bleedin’ hell have you been up to? That was a new T-shirt. That cost good money, that did.’ And a replacement wasn’t affordable – not now.

‘Sorry, Mum.’

‘Sorry? I’ll give you sorry.’

‘It was Zac – he tore it.’

‘Then he can blooming pay for it. How did it happen?’

‘He went for me. I was at the skatepark and he just went for me.’

‘Really? Just like that?’

Ashley nodded.

‘And you did nothing to start it?’

‘Nothing, I swear. He came off worse though. He fights like a girl.’

‘But why? Something must have rattled his cage.’

‘He thought I’d told tales about him smoking pot because you know that he does and now his mum does too. How did you find out?’

‘More’s the point, how did you know? You’ve not been doing drugs, have you?’

Ashley shook his head vehemently. Then he said, ‘He told me ages ago. I think he thought I’d be impressed.’

‘Were you?’

Ashley shook his head again.

‘Well,’ said Amy, ‘I found out when I came across his stash, hidden in his room when I was giving the place a good clean.’

‘So that’s how you knew.’

‘Yeah. Master Laithwaite isn’t half as clever as he thinks he is. But I never told his mum.’

‘How come?’

‘I was tempted, I can tell you, but...’ Amy shrugged. ‘Well, it was none of my business and I didn’t reckon Mrs L would like me bad-mouthing her precious son. And then, if I’m totally honest, I forgot. I’ve got enough of my own worries to fuss over other people’s.’

‘You forgot?’

Amy nodded. ‘Yeah, it’s not like it’s anything to do with me – or you, for that matter. Anyway, something else happened today and I need to go and see Mrs L. Maybe I’d better apologise for that an’ all.’

‘What else have you got to say sorry about?’

‘Never you mind. None of your business. I’ll pop over after supper.’