Free SOMEONE DIFFERENT by Kate Hanney Page B

was pissed or something and she didn’t really know what she was doing. Crazy, wasn’t it? It hardly made sense to me, so Billy’d have no chance.
    Anyway, I looked down at her again and was tempted to leave her. Then I remembered what she’d said about her mum and dad and what they’d do if she wasn’t at home in the morning, and I reached over and shook her arm gently.
    ‘Anna, you’ve gotta wake up.’
    She breathed in a big breath, then turned over.
    ‘Anna,’ I said louder.
    Her eyes opened gradually. ‘Mmm?’
    ‘C’mon. We need to get you home.’
    She sat up. ‘What time is it?’
    ‘Midnight.’
    ‘Oh, Jay, I’m so sorry. I –’
    ‘It’s OK, it’s not a problem, it’s just we need to get a move on.’
    She picked her top and jacket up off the floor.
    ‘Leave the hoodie on as well,’ I said. ‘It’s freezin’ out.’
    She smiled. ‘Thank you.’
    I put my trainers on, picked my phone up then looked at her. ‘Anna, how exactly did ya get here?’
    She glanced at the carpet, then back at me. ‘I read the referral form in the office and found your address the other day, then tonight, I ordered a taxi from the pub at the end of the lane.’ She bit into her lip and dropped her eyes again. ‘The thing is though, I don’t think I’ve brought enough money for the taxi home.’
    I put my arm round her shoulder. ‘Don’t worry, we’ll sort it. How much was it to get here?’
    ‘Almost eighteen pounds.’
    ‘An’ have ya got anythin’ left?’
    She felt in her jacket pocked and brought out a couple of pounds in change.
    I sighed. I had even less. We were about fifteen quid short.
    Anna looked at me, and her eyes seemed even bigger than ever. Oh, why the hell hadn’t I got it? Why couldn’t I just hand over a twenty and say, ‘There ya go, babes, get diallin’?’
    As we went downstairs, I still had no idea where I was going to get the money from. Anna rubbed her arms and scanned the house; you didn’t have to be a genius to work out what she was thinking.
    I wondered about waking my dad up and asking him for it. But there were two problems with that: first, the thought of Anna meeting my dad made me squirm, and second, he’d probably tell me to get lost anyway.
    His coat was hanging on the kitchen door handle, and I looked at it; there might be enough in there. But could I risk that again? No, not unless I really had to.
    Then I got an idea. ‘Anna, if I lend the money off somebody, can ya definitely pay it back? I’d pay it for ya myself, but they’ll want it quick, and I haven’t ...’
    ‘Yes, of course. I could leave it for you on Monday, is that soon enough?’
    ‘Yeah, probably.’ I put my jacket on, then glared down at the little black box in the hall that monitored my tag. I’d never broken my curfew before, not once. And the judge’d made a big deal, hadn’t he, about what’d happen if we didn’t stick to all the conditions? Did he really mean it?
    Anna came and stood next to me. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she said. ‘I never meant to cause you all this trouble.’
    I smiled. ‘Don’t be daft. Come on.’ And I put my arm round her, and we stepped out into freezing air outside.
    ***
     
    ‘Yeah?’
    Patsy spoke, then poked her face round the door. She looked at me, then Anna, then wiped her nose on the back of her sleeve. ‘What d’ya want?’
    ‘Patsy, can ya lend me some money, just for a couple of days?’
    She scowled. ‘I dunno, Jay ... ya know after last time an’ all.’
    ‘You’ll get it back. I promise; Monday night.’
    ‘How much?’
    ‘Twenty.’
    ‘Actually, it is possible you could lend us forty pounds, please?’
    Me and Patsy stared at Anna.
    ‘If you could,’ she went on, looking directly at Patsy, ‘I’ll pay you back fifty.’
    Patsy’s eyebrows shot up, then narrowed again steadily. ‘Ya would, would ya? And where ya gonna get that from, sweetie?’
    ‘I have it already, at home. I just don’t have it with me at the