Forget Me Never

we’d gathered and our testimonies were important, but it was hardly satisfying. Sophie would say the end result was what mattered, but I’d rather wanted my fifteen minutes of fame.
    As we drove home Mum kept looking at me as though she couldn’t believe I was really there. As soon as we got in, Neve barrelled down the stairs shrieking happily. I lifted her into a big hug.
    ‘Where were you?’ she asked.
    ‘Battling gangsters, armed only with a cricket bat,’ I said. ‘I reckon I deserve a Wikipedia page for that. Bit scary, but I’m fine.’
    ‘Did you miss me?’
    ‘Duh,’ I said, giving her a kiss.
    ‘They weren’t gangsters,’ Mum said. ‘If you’re going to brag, at least get your facts straight.’
    The logical thing to do was go to bed. I could feel my eyelids dropping. But I wanted to speak to Mum first. She asked Aunt Meg (who’d been babysitting ever since Mum had reported me missing) to take Neve out so we could have some privacy.
    We sat in the front room on the couch. I could see the DVD of The King’s Speech on top of the television. It seemed ages ago that we’d been sitting here watching it. I’d have to catch up on it sometime.
    I cleared my throat. ‘I know you’re pleased to see me and all, but—’
    ‘Pleased?’ Mum interrupted. ‘ Pleased doesn’t begin to cover it! I thought I’d never see you again, that you might be dead . . .’ She wiped at her eyes. I winced. I hated seeing my mother cry.
    ‘Guess you’re mad at me.’
    ‘I’m mad at you for not telling anyone what you were doing! That was stupid, and dangerous, and you and Sophie are lucky to be alive. And as I understand it, the burglary and Neve going missing at Brent Cross happened because of this too. So yes, I’m not going to lie, I’m pretty mad. But as well as that –’ she squeezed my hand – ‘I’m really proud of you, Reece. And I know your dad would be too.’
    I wished she hadn’t brought Dad into it. The last thing I wanted was to feel teary. ‘I was trying to protect you and Neve, y’know. Because I love you both, and if anything ever happened . . .’
    ‘Oh, God,’ Mum sniffed. ‘You’re setting me off again. I think we’re both too tired to be having this conversation.’
    There was one question I still needed to ask, and I had the strangest feeling Mum knew it was coming.
    ‘D’you blame Sophie for this?’
    ‘She’s very important to you, isn’t she?’
    Crap, she knew. But then even Neve had some idea how I felt about Sophie. I guessed it must be obvious to everyone except Soph.
    ‘She’s my best friend,’ I said carefully. ‘I know you hate her, but it was out of order to ban her from the house. Brent Cross was my fault, not hers.’
    Mum pursed her lips. ‘You make sure that girl appreciates what an amazing friend you are to her. Right now, I don’t think she does.’
    ‘You haven’t answered the question.’
    She sighed. ‘I can’t stop you from doing the things you want to and seeing the people you want to, can I? You’re not my little boy any more.’
    I could see it was all I was going to get. I stood up. In the door to the hallway I paused. ‘Hey . . . Mum? Did my team win the match yesterday? I mean, I totally would have been there, but I was a bit preoccupied.’
    ‘What? I don’t know, Reece! You and your cricket!’
    ‘I’m going to need a new bat,’ I said, going upstairs. Mentioning cricket had reminded me of those tickets McIntyre had given me. There were two of them. The match wasn’t for a little while, but I knew who I was going to take. I wasn’t just going to ask her as a friend either. The big question was whether or not she’d accept . . .

SOPHIE
    ‘Wasn’t meant to fricking rain,’ Reece said, for the hundredth time. ‘This has been one of the driest summers on record. So why, I want to know, is this afternoon the exception?’
    ‘You’re not going to get answers by staring aggressively at that can of Coke,’ I said. I glanced out of the window of the pizza place we were in. Rain droplets were running down the glass, and the pavements were shiny. ‘Lighten up! We only lost an hour’s play. I’d quite happily trade that for the rain dance we saw.’
    We’d just come from the Oval. As it turned out, the tickets McIntyre had given Reece were expensive balcony seats. The expression on his face when he’d seen where we were sitting had almost given me a stitch I was laughing so hard. Most of the day the sun had shone