Free SOMEONE DIFFERENT by Kate Hanney

Most of the paint had flaked off from the wooden frames, and it was the loose panes of glass that made the rattling noise whenever the wind blew.
    Not knowing where else to put them, I folded up my wet clothes and placed them on the floor. The carpet was dark red – except for in the doorway where it had been worn thin and you could see the brown threads underneath, and over by the end of the bed, where a big yellowy stain showed up. I stepped nearer to the scuffed, bare wall and put my hand on the radiator – it felt colder than our fridge.
    A quiet knock sounded at the door then and Jay came back in. He moved a towel off the bed and sat down on top of the duvet. ‘Are ya warm enough?’ he said.
    ‘Yes, I’m fine.’ Without thinking about it, I walked across and sat next to him. As well as the bruise on his face, there were two more on his neck; faint ones, that I suspected weren‘t caused by playing football. ‘I really am sorry for just turning up like this,’ I said. ‘I mean, if you already have plans, if you want me to leave –’
    ‘Don’t be daft.’ He laughed. ‘Believe me, I had no plans. And even if I did, I’d cancel ’em all for you.’
    He pulled a face and laughed again. ‘Jesus Christ, how sad did that sound?’
    I giggled along with him, then he shuffled back a little until his shoulders touched the wall. ‘So, I guess Pepper’s a horse, right?’
    I blinked as it all came back to me. ‘Yes, I’d had him for seven years.’
    ‘Well, there’s no wonder you’re upset then; there’s nothin’ wrong with that, ’specially if it came as a bit of a shock.’ He shrugged hopefully. ‘Maybe they’ll get him back for ya, when they know how much he means to ya?’
    ‘They know.’ I turned my face away. ‘They knew what they were doing all along.’
    I felt his hand on my arm, and he tugged me slowly backwards until my head rested on his chest.
    We lay there without moving for a long time. The calm rhythm of his breathing soon steadied mine again, and the knots in my stomach loosened.
    The TV had some documentary on about how The Arctic Monkeys had risen to fame. I lay with my back to the screen and the volume had been turned down low, but for the first time, I actually listened to the lyrics of A Certain Romance . And by the end of it, I wasn’t quite sure whether to laugh or cry.
    Eventually, Jay squeezed my arm a little. ‘Anna?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘What ya gonna do?’
    I thought about it before I answered him. ‘I’ll go back I suppose, there’s nothing else I can do. At the minute they don’t even know I’m here, but if they find I’m missing in the morning, they’ll go completely mental. They’ll phone the police and everything, and then there’ll be even more problems to face, it’ll be even worse than ever. So ...’
    ‘Go on.’
    I reached over and ran my hand down his other arm. ‘So I’ll go back, and I’ll probably apologise, and everything will be just like before. Except that now, I won’t have Pepper to turn to.’
    ‘I’ll be there though, some nights.’
    My hand found his as I shook my head. ‘She’s even ruined that. She’s arranged for me to have extra tuition with one of our teachers after school. It’ll mean I can only see you on Thursdays from now on.’ I squeezed his hand tighter and shivered.
    ‘D’ya wanna get in bed?’
    I looked at him.
    ‘To keep warm I mean ...’ He blushed and let go of my hand.
    I smiled, then folded back the duvet and wriggled underneath it. You could see the stripy blue mattress through the thin, greyish sheet, and I ran my hand over the bobbled-up material. I admit, just for a second, I did wonder how clean that bed really was. But as I held up the duvet for Jay to follow, and we snuggled down together, it very quickly stopped being important.
    Jay rubbed my back through the hoodie, and after a little while he said, ‘D’ya feel any better?’
    I hugged him. ‘A million times,’ I answered.
    He smiled, then