Page 24

I send Neon a message as soon as I get in, but it’s still marked unread the next morning – the signal is always patchy up at the farm.

I rush to school to warn him that someone is looking for him, not even bothering to eat breakfast first. When I arrive, he’s in the courtyard with Tilly, Jamie and Elsie, all huddled together and watching something on a phone.

The sight stirs up a mix of feelings. There’s a bit of jealousy – Neon lived inside my head for so long, a friend just for me, and it’s strange to see him hanging out with Tilly and the others on his own.

But there’s also happiness that Tilly and I are on speaking terms again, and nerves about how Jamie and Elsie will react if I go and join them.

Tilly must have talked to them about me in the past, and I’m sure not all of it was good.

Still, that was a long time ago, and things are different now. I’m different now. So I take a deep breath, squash down the feelings and put on what I hope is a normal smile as I walk through the school gates.

“Laurie!” Neon throws his arms round me in a hug, and it instantly soothes my nerves. “We’re watching the lion video. Did you see it?”

Jamie passes me the phone. The screen shows a blurred image of a playground, a faded slide and a set of swings.

It’s twilight in the shot, but I recognise the place as the park down the road.

When I press play, someone off-camera lets out a muffled scream.

A second later, a lion – huge, male, with an enormous fiery mane – stalks into the shot. My jaw drops.

“Whoa!” I lean in closer for a better look. The lion walks round the play park in leisurely loops, sniffing at the ground and apparently ignoring the person filming. “Where did you find this?”

“Russell sent it to me,” Jamie says. “He got it from someone in fifth year. It’s obviously AI, but it’s really convincing, isn’t it?”

Tilly, Neon and I exchange a look. We all know it’s not AI, but I understand why Jamie thinks so.

The lion looks too perfect: its amber eyes are bright even in the dim light, and its mane is flame-coloured rather than the ginger or sandy tones of the real animal.

It saunters dangerously close to the person filming, who seems to fall over, because the camera angle swings past the trees and up to the darkening sky.

By the time they get up and find the shot again, the animal has disappeared.

“Super convincing,” Tilly says, nodding.

Neon puts his hand on my arm. “Off-topic, but we really need to decide what to sing for the open-mic night. We’ve only got a few more days to practise.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” I hand the phone back to Jamie and give her a nervous smile. There’s a TARDIS pin on the collar of her jacket, the same one Tilly has on her bag. “I heard you’re going to do stand-up! That’s amazing.”

“Well, I’m going to try.” She laughs and slides her phone into her pocket. “I’m so sorry about the shop, though. That sucks.”

“I really hope your mums can work something out,” Elsie tells me, pushing her dark hair behind her ears. “Every Book & Cranny is the best bookshop for miles.”

“It really is. I told Jamie and Elsie that you recommended Shadows of the Sea ,” Tilly says, smiling at me. “Good taste.”

I’m not sure what to say. I always assumed that Jamie and Elsie hated me, but they’re being so nice. Maybe it’s because of Neon – they like him, so they’re putting up with me because I’m his friend. Or maybe they’re just kind people. I guess that’s why Tilly likes them so much.

The bell rings and we say goodbye and head to our separate registration classes.

Once Tilly and the others have turned the corner, I tell Neon about the faceless figures lingering outside my house.

As I talk, the colour drains from his cheeks.

There’s an expression I’ve never seen on him before: fear.

“Oh, man.” He runs his hands over his face. “I knew they’d be furious, but I honestly didn’t think they’d come all the way here to find me.”

I lower my voice as a gaggle of first-year girls pushes past us. “But who are those people?”

“They’re not people. They’re Blanks,” he says dully.

“They patrol the border between the Realm and the real world. They’re what stops us from leaving.

Most of the time anyway. There are some cases where we slip through, like I did.

Maybe they’d have let it slide if it was only me, but they can’t let a unicorn, a pink rabbit and a lion wander around too. ”

I pause at the door to our registration classroom. Hannah waves at us from her desk in the corner. I raise my hand but can’t bring myself to smile back.

“So they’re here to take you away?” My stomach flips in time with the words.

Neon keeps his gaze fixed on the ground, his eyes shiny. “Probably. Either that or they’ll want to erase me altogether.”

“What? They can’t do that!” I shake my head in horror. “Couldn’t I just make you up again?”

“Maybe,” he says, shrugging. “Or they could wipe me from your memory too. From everyone’s. They’ve got the power to do that. They’re the opposite of imagination, creativity, curiosity. They’re the absence of it. That’s why we call them Blanks – because they’re nothing.”

Something clicks into place: the trouble I had designing our open-mic night posters, Mutti’s writer’s block, the way nobody could come up with the riffs Mr Ross asked us to create in Music yesterday…

It’s because of these things, these Blanks.

They’re draining the creativity and imagination out of everyone they come across.

The idea sends shivers all over my skin. But the idea of Neon being erased forever – that’s beyond horrible. The future with him here is so much more complicated than he realises, but, now that it’s a real option, I don’t want to let go of it. He’s my best friend. I can’t lose another one of those.

“We should find another place for you to sleep,” I whisper. “This is a small town. It won’t take them long to work out you’re staying at Tilly’s.”

Neon nods and follows me into the classroom. “You’re right. Hopefully the lion will be enough to keep them off our backs for a while, but they’ll come after me soon. Aurora too.”

While Miss Fraser takes attendance and reads out a few updates from the headteacher’s daily bulletin, I rack my brain for places that Neon could stay without getting caught.

I’ve already ruled out most of the people I know.

He could sleep in the back room of the bookshop, but it would be uncomfortable and almost impossible to get him in and out without my mums or Gio noticing.

I could see if Joel or Tilly have any money that we could put together to pay for a room in one of the local B&Bs, but that would only be a temporary solution.

Neon is unusually quiet as we walk towards our first class. Some of the others notice too – Hari swings an arm round Neon’s neck and gives him an energetic head rub, asking him what’s up. While they wander ahead, Caitlin and Hannah catch up with me.

“Is everything OK with Neon?” Hannah asks. “He seems pretty down this morning.”

Caitlin slides her arm through mine. “Did you guys have a fight? We’ve hardly seen you the past few days – we’re so behind.”

“No, nothing like that. He’s…” I grapple for an excuse but I can’t find one. It’s like the part of my brain that comes up with ideas is on pause. “He’s having a bad day.”

“You know what would probably make him feel better? Kissing you .” Caitlin grins and jostles my arm. “Come on. Tell me you’ve done it already.”

This again. I almost sigh but I don’t want to deal with the attitude Caitlin would give me. “Not yet. Still waiting for the right moment.”

“Laurie!” Caitlin drops my arm so she can throw her hands into the air. “Oh my God, you’re hopeless.”

“Don’t say that!” Hannah ignores the dirty look Caitlin shoots her way and gives me an encouraging smile. “It’s totally fine to take things slow, Laurie.”

I nod, grateful to Hannah for sticking up for me, but a familiar feeling creeps in all the same.

Maybe it is strange that I haven’t kissed anyone yet.

Neon and I have had more important things to worry about lately, and we haven’t had much time alone, either.

But maybe it’s weird that I’m not thinking about it more. Maybe that’s not normal.

My worries fade into the background when I see Neon waiting for me outside our History classroom.

He looks so sad and anxious, so unlike his usual sunshine self.

Keeping him away from the Blanks has to be our main priority.

I can worry about kissing him, or not kissing him, once we’ve found a new place for him to stay.

That’s when an idea finally comes to me. We’ve clearly reached the point where we need an adult’s help – a real adult, not Joel this time. But it has to be the sort of adult who will take us seriously. The sort of person who is likely to listen to what we need, and not go running to my mums.

And that’s probably the sort of person who believes in unicorns.