Free Cruel Summer by James Dawson

it’s all just high-school stuff. It was nothing then. It’s even less now.’
    The muscles in Greg’s jaw tightened. They fought like cat and dog, but Ryan knew that under all the bravado and teasing he truly loved his sister. ‘Alisha was heartbroken.’
    ‘I’ve said I’m sorry about sixteen million times, Greg. P.S. you are looking hot.’
    Greg was caught completely off guard and blushed rose pink. Ryan hid a smile at Roxanne’s audacity. He snuck a glance at Erin and saw the first hint of negativity on her face. Her right
eyebrow twitched.
    ‘Well, thanks, but that’s not the point, Rox,’ Greg muttered.
    Roxanne sighed, throwing her head back. ‘Can we not do the big post-mortem? I’m here now. I left my hostel at, like, six. I thought you all knew I was coming or I would have never
ever, ever come!’
    Greg threw Katie a deathly look.
    ‘I totally forgot. It’s my fault,’ she said, still looking flustered.
    ‘Brilliant.’ He shoved an entire croissant into his mouth.
    ‘Oh, Greg,’ Roxanne giggled. ‘I’m meant to be meeting a friend in Paris in a couple of days – I’ll be out of your hair before you know it. Am I OK to crash
for a night or two?’
    ‘Of course,’ said Katie, who seemed to be grovelling.
    ‘I’ll go in with Ryan,’ Ben said quietly. ‘Rox can take the sofa-bed.’
    ‘I, for one, am fine with those sleeping arrangements.’ Ryan gave a cheeky wink, knowing Ben would get the joke. He and Ben had gone top-and-tail since first school. Ben took up a
lot of room, but at least he didn’t snore. Ryan’s joke went some way to lighten the mood.
    Roxanne smiled. ‘Do you think I should go talk to Alisha?’
    ‘No!’ Ryan, Katie and Greg all exclaimed, Greg almost choking on his breakfast.
    ‘I’ll go.’ Katie held up her hand to stop Roxanne from leaving the table. ‘You know Alisha – she needs to let off steam. It’ll be fine.’ Katie headed
for the bedrooms and Erin followed.
    Ryan stayed where he was, eager to hear about Roxanne’s World Exploits Tour, but secretly wishing he could be a fly on that bedroom wall. Alisha had never claimed her revenge over Callum.
Ryan suspected she was far from finished.

 
     
     
     
    SCENE 11 – ALISHA
     
     
     
     
    A lisha pulled her suitcase out from under the bed. She flung open the lid and started throwing clothes from the wardrobe into the case. Wire
hangers pinged off the rail and clattered to the tiles.
    And then she stopped.
    This was insane. She was acting like a crazy soap-opera person.
    She plonked onto the bed with a thud, bouncing up and down a couple of times. Her rage-filled mood swings were getting fewer and further between, but when they hit it was like a hurricane in her
head. On the news you saw those swirling, vivid weather fronts sweep over an island. It felt like that but, as with any tropical storm, they always blew over eventually.
    Roxanne, though. She was
such
a bitch. Normally that would be a terrible thing to say but, in this case, Alisha felt, it was merely stating legitimate fact.
    There was a timid tap on the bedroom door.
    ‘Who is it?’
    ‘It’s Katie and Erin,’ Katie called.
    Alisha paused. She didn’t want them to see her looking demented, but a quick self-scan indicated the storm had passed. ‘OK, come in.’
    Katie entered the room looking a lot like a lion tamer entering a circus ring. ‘Are you OK?’
    ‘No.’ Alisha flopped back on the bed.
    ‘Alisha, I’m so sorry. When I spoke to Rox on Facebook I never thought for a second she’d actually turn up.’
    ‘You invited her?’ Ooh, the cyclone was circling again.
    ‘She was in Morocco. I thought we were safe. I guess I felt guilty because I knew she’d find out about the trip somehow and feel left out.’
    ‘Oh, my God, is that bitch for real?’ Erin asked, checking they were out of earshot. Alisha couldn’t stifle a laugh – she hadn’t expected that from Erin at all.
    Katie sighed. ‘I understand this is