Free Defy the Stars by Sophie McKenzie Page A

She put her arms around me and I wept against her shoulder. After a moment she led me into the kitchen and we sat down at the table.
    I stopped crying and blew my nose.
    ‘What’s the matter?’ Mum said, leaning forward in her chair. ‘Did something happen while you were out?’
    I sniffed. I felt better for crying: less scared, more myself. I was upset from the shock of seeing and hearing Cody with that gun. Part of me wanted to tell Mum what I’d witnessed but I
held back.
    By calling the police I’d done everything I could to alert the authorities. And no one had seen me. Cody must have assumed I’d gone back to the public bar. Hopefully he had already
forgotten I was ever there.
    ‘I saw two men in . . . in a fight,’ I said, choosing my words carefully. ‘It . . . it was upsetting. That’s all.’
    Mum took my hand. ‘Did it bring back memories of Flynn getting into fights?’ she said, her voice oozing righteous sympathy.
    I took my hand away, irritation rising again. ‘Why do you always have to bring everything back to Flynn?’ I demanded.
    Mum looked down at the table. ‘I know you still think about him, River.’ Her voice was soft and low, very unlike the way she normally spoke.
    I glanced away, across the kitchen. The cupboard above the sink was open. Inside I could see the coloured bowls we used for eating cereal every morning when I was little. It was weird to think I
had grown up in this house. I still visited regularly, but never for very long. Mum and I just didn’t get on. She had always hated Flynn – and my relationship with him.
    ‘How do you know what I think about?’ I asked.
    Mum bit her lip. ‘Fair enough,’ she said with a sigh. ‘But I do understand. More than you think. I . . .’ She hesitated. ‘I once . . . before I met your dad. There
was someone for me like Flynn.’
    I stared at her. She had to be kidding. ‘You went out with someone
like Flynn
?’
    Mum shrugged. In a way. Adam was older than me, twenty-two. I was your age now, not quite eighteen. He was what we used to call a drop-out . . . had a lot of dodgy friends, lived in a squat,
took drugs . . .’
    ‘That’s not like Flynn at all,’ I said.
    ‘Okay.’ Mum sighed again. ‘I’m not saying
he
was like Flynn. Just that my parents hated him and hated me being with him.’
    ‘Dad doesn’t hate Flynn,’ I said quickly. Dad had always had more time for Flynn than Mum. He’d let him come and live with us at the commune, after all.
    ‘Doesn’t he?’ Mum tilted her head to one side. ‘Maybe he didn’t at first. Your dad has always been more trusting than me. But now?’ She paused. ‘After
seeing you, the way you were last year, after Flynn left . . . so devastated you couldn’t even speak . . . after all that, I can assure you that your Dad is every bit as angry at Flynn as I
am. More, probably, because he knows he should never have agreed to have Flynn come and live at the commune in the first place.’
    We sat in silence. I had never seen Mum talk about Flynn like this before – all calm and reflective. Normally the mention of his name spun her into a fury in seconds.
    ‘I’m sorry if I’ve upset you, River,’ Mum said, gently parting my hand. ‘I know I pushed you away last year, before you moved out. I didn’t mean to.
It’s just . . . I can’t bear to see you make the same mistakes I once made.’
    ‘But you found Dad in the end, didn’t you? I mean, you and Dad loved each other once.’
    ‘Of course.’ Mum smiled. ‘Your father and I loved each other very much. But it was never intense like it was with Adam.’ She looked away, clearly lost in her memories.
‘The thing is, I thought Adam and I were meant to be.
Forever.
But we weren’t. That passed, just like your dad and I passed and you being a child passed. That’s the
thing, River. Nothing lasts. Things you think are written in the stars can change in a heartbeat. All you can do is make the best of the time that