Page 81 of Better the Devil

There was a grunt from the hall as Harris heaved his heavy schoolbag up onto his shoulder. He was technically wearing his school uniform, but as tenuously as the rules would allow.

The tail of his white shirt hung past the bottom of his dark jumper. His top button was undone, and his tie wouldn’t have troubled the neck of the Incredible Hulk.

He had no jacket with him, despite Sinead having bought him at least two in the past six months. Nobody wore jackets, apparently, except the weird kids and the losers. Harris had fought tooth and nail to avoid winding up among the ranks of either group, and he was damned if a wee bit of rain and the odd sixty-mile-an-hour gust were going to change that.

‘You had enough for breakfast?’ Sinead asked him.

‘Aye, I had the toast you made, and that bacon.’

‘What,thatbacon? My bacon?’ Tyler gasped. ‘You didn’t eat that.’

Harris shrugged. ‘It was fine.’

‘It was bricks,’ Tyler countered. ‘It was six wee black bricks.’

Harris shrugged again, dismissing the discussion entirely. ‘I’d better go, or I’ll be late.’ He started to leave, but then hung back. ‘Good luck, or whatever.’

‘Cheers, mate,’ Tyler said.

Harris awkwardly raised a finger in his sister’s direction. ‘I actually meant her.’

‘Oh.’

Sinead didn’t even bother trying to suppress her grin. ‘Thanks.’ She glanced at the window. ‘You, eh, you walking with Olivia today?’

‘Nah.’

There was something about the way he said it, the way he moved to avoid her gaze, that made Sinead press the issue.

‘How come?’

Harris shrugged yet again. ‘Just not been hanging out with her much. Think she might have a boyfriend or something.’

‘Weren’t you her boyfriend?’ Sinead asked, which drew a scowl of horror from her younger brother.

‘Shut up. No. We were just…’

‘Snogging?’ Tyler asked.

‘Shut up!’ Harris repeated, with even more emphasis.

Sinead handed Cal to Tyler. The boy immediately jabbed a finger up his father’s nose.

‘You OK?’ Sinead asked, crossing to her brother.

‘I’m fine! It’s not a problem!’

Harris blushed, and adjusted his bag on his shoulder.

‘Maybe she doesn’t have a boyfriend. I don’t know. She’s been weird for a few weeks now, since she found out?—’

His mouth snapped shut around the rest of the sentence.

‘Since she found out what?’ Sinead asked.

‘Nothing.’

‘Harris.’