Free Glass Collector by Anna Perera

several others whispering in her ears, Shareen isn’t trying to impress them. She’s the natural leader and the group has no choice but to follow her when she comes to a sudden stop in front of Aaron.
    She’s clearly wondering if he’s a suitable victim for a pushing-around session. Shareen slowly eyes her mates while Aaron scans the group for Rachel. She’s not there. He glances over the fence at the three ponies munching hay and wonders if she’s up at the church.
    “No one’s ever going to marry you , Aaron,” Shareen starts.
    A giggling ripple spreads through the girls.
    Constance, who has a scar on her lip and gray-green eyes, clasps her stomach in preparation for a side-splitting laugh while they move in on him.
    “Not like Shareen,” a gawky girl adds.
    “You’ve never kissed anyone, have you, Aaron? You’re too scared, aren’t you?” Shareen says. “Oooh, never been kissed and nearly sixteen.”
    “I have!” Aaron blushes, surrounded by mischievous faces as the girls shove each other to get closer still.
    “My brother got married at fourteen,” the gawky girl adds.
    With the fence and feeding ponies behind him, there’s nowhere for Aaron to escape to, unless he crashes through the girls’ linked arms. They know he won’t dare do that, because touching them would bring howls of complaints from everyone in the community and, of course, they’d run and tell the priest immediately. Aaron’s their unwilling hostage and if they push or touch him, that’s different because they’re just mucking about, and what would they want from him anyway? Aaron suddenly places his hands behind his back to show them he’s not intimidated in the least, but he swallows too slowly, giving them a reason to continue.
    “Who did you kiss, then?” Shareen asks.
    “I’m not saying.” Aaron adds a vague, sideways grin, as if recalling someone special.
    “I know who it was!”
    Everyone turns to Malia as she wipes her nose with the sleeve of her galabeya.
    “Go on, then, Malia … Tell us,” another girl begs. “It was Rachel.”
    Shareen nods.
    “NO!” Aaron’s horrified by the mention of her name. “Found out. Found out,” they chant.
    “Bet you gave her a Coca-Cola to get her to kiss you.” Shareen widens her eyes. It’s the ultimate trick to goad him into losing his temper, but Aaron knows her too well. She’s worse in a pack and, when he refuses to take the bait, she changes tack, secretly disappointed.
    “Let’s go and ask Rachel.”
    “How stupid,” Aaron fumes. “Go on, then.”
    “We will,” Shareen says, laughing for the first time. “Yeah, well … ’bye.” Aaron tries hard to come up with something else he can say to stop her from embarrassing Rachel. But the truth is written all over his crumpled, anxious face.
    It takes two seconds for Shareen to say what everyone’s thinking.
    “Aaron loves Rachel,” she announces, with an edge of irritation in her voice.
    His feelings for Rachel have been hinted at before and now they’re out in the open there’s little Aaron can do but die a small death and hope for a quick, painless escape, which is sadly thwarted by the sound of their hilarious giggling. Now they think he’s pathetic and in love, the rumours will spread like wildfire through Mokattam and he’ll never be able to give Rachel the bottles of perfume or look her in the eye again. Shareen was put here to drive him crazy and Aaron vows never to forgive her for this. Then another idea twinkles to life from the flicker of irritation that crossed Shareen’s face earlier.
    “Let’s face it …” Aaron picks his ego back up. “Rachel’s the prettiest girl in Mokattam. All the boys are a bit in love with her. Not just me. The other day Jacob said Rachel’s beautiful on the inside too.”
    Outright fury flashes across Shareen’s face faster than a guided missile.
    “Well, no one’s asked Rachel to marry her, have they?” She stoops to pick up a stone, examining it for a