Carmel Harrington - Every Time a Bell Rings

I glance at Dee-Dee sitting on the end of my bed amongst an array of stuffed toys. I haven’t played with her in a long time. She doesn’t talk to me any more, but then again, I don’t really talk to her. I pick her up and hug her, but I don’t feel any comfort the way I used to.

Now that I’ve had a real best friend, I don’t want a doll.

I perch my bum on our windowsill and flick my way through a battered 1983 Bunty annual. It’s years out of date, but even so, I still like reading it. I envy Bunty’s life and sometimes pretend that I’m her.

I’m living in a big house, blonde, pretty, rosy-cheeked and I’m living a normal, carefree life, with my mam, dad and little brother.

I forget about Jim and his mam for a while, as I get immersed into Bunty’s latest escapade on a snowy mountain side.

I’m not sure I could pull off the cute ski gear she’s donning, though. I’m so tall, my legs seem to be too long for everything. Tess goes mad every time I go up a size, she says that it’s impossible to find a new pair of jeans for me that fit, so she has to get out her sewing kit to make some alterations.

A door slams and I look down. Jim’s mam is leaving already. That flew by. She’s got her arm around him as he walks her to the gate. She actually walks straight through the cracked pavement slabs. Another good sign.

I watch them hug for ages and feel weird watching them, like I’m snooping. But I can’t take my eyes off them all the same. It’s a lovely moment and I’m envious again. He’s got one of his goofy smiles plastered over his face and that makes me happy at least.

Relief floods me as I realise that I’m happy to see him smile. Maybe I’m not such a bad person after all. I run downstairs two stairs at a time. I can’t wait to hear all about it.

‘Well, Jimbo, did she like your hair?’ I ask.

And before he says anything back to me, I know. His face looks different. He looks happier than I’ve ever seen him in the past two years. I mean, we’ve laughed a lot. Once we snorted so much that I even peed my pants.

‘She’s taking you home,’ I say.

He looks at me for the longest time. Then he nods. I make a tremendous effort to put a smile on my face, to make him believe that I’m happy for him. It must be working, I must be fooling him, because his goofy grin is back again.

‘She’s rented a two-bed flat in Ranelagh and the landlord has said that I can decorate my bedroom any colour I want.’

Green. He’ll pick green, because that’s his favourite colour.

I hear Tess sigh and the click of her lighter as she ignites another cigarette.

I’m losing him. Tess knows it. Jim just doesn’t know it yet.

‘How long do we have left?’ I ask. I’m surprised that my voice sounds okay, considering the fact that I want to cry.

‘You make it sound so dramatic, Belle,’ Jim laughs at me. ‘I’m just going to live somewhere else, that’s all. Nothing else is going to change. We’ll be best friends forever, you’ll see.’

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.