PROLOGUE Red flashing lights from outside the school. The crimson spots are still splaying across my vision. Steve is being carried by a stretcher – I can’t exactly see what expression his face is pulling, there’s just blood. I see a few more students on the floor, paralysed by Steve’s rearranged face. Shit. The collected work of Shakespeare is on the library’s vomit stained carpet beside me. Double shit. When Vinnie arrives to take me home, her mouth is agape, so wide you could shove one of our kebabs in it without her choking. ‘Why, Frankie?’ I stare at the floor. ‘Can you tell me what Steve said to you? He made you angry, didn’t he?’ Daniel analyses me with kind eyes. He’s got that look about him- like he could start …show more content…
Daniel leans his notepad and 4- coloured pen on his crossed legs. I’ve never seen him use all four colours when taking notes. Will I ever see the green? What the hell does each colour represent? When I got home from school on the day of the incident, I sprinted up the Emporium stairs to my room. I sat with my back against the cold door, listening with my heart in my throat to Vinnie pleading over the phone. Principal Vukovic was on the other end of the line. I’m sitting with Daniel twice weekly for the past month because of Vukovic. I clench my fists. Arsehole. Glancing up, Daniel is still looking at me inquisitively, a small crease between his eyebrows forming. ‘How much room do you think you have in there? How long do you think you can bottle up your emotions, Frankie?’ Hesitantly, I ask him, ‘how much room does a person have inside their heart?’ He laughs softly, eyes squinting. Every single time he laughs, my satanic hate flame for Daniel is rekindled. ‘There’s no straight answer for that one, I’m afraid. But if we’re only talking about you, I’d say you don’t have any more space to fill.’ ‘Do you think you can help me, Daniel?’ ‘Only if you let me.’ He grins like a