Page 48 of One Step Behind

‘Hey.’ Sophie smiles and hopes he catches the silent plea in her eyes to actually speak and be normal.

Sophie turns, looking between her friends and Matthew. ‘This is my brother, Matthew.’

‘Hi,’ Flick says with a bored wave.

‘Hi.’ Vicky repeats Flick’s action.

Matthew doesn’t reply. He just stares in the way hedoes. Sophie is used to it, but she knows how odd it is and wishes he would go away.

‘What year are you in?’ Vicky asks him.

No response.

Sophie feels her face turn red and bites at one of her nails. ‘He’s in Year Five. Come on. Let’s go up to my room.’ Sophie nudges Matthew out of the doorway and the three of them run upstairs.

The moment Sophie closes her bedroom door, Flick bursts out laughing. ‘Your brother is a freak. I mean, seriously, hello? What’s his deal?’

‘He’s just shy,’ Sophie says, wishing the heat in her face would do one. She turns on the CD player and presses play. The stupid machine whirs but doesn’t start.

‘He was like this,’ Vicky adds, pulling a wide-eyed face and gawking at Flick until they’re both laughing. Sophie laughs too, ignoring the dread in the pit of her stomach and wishing the first song would hurry up and load.

Sophie smacks the side of the CD player and jabs play again.

‘Such a creep,’ Flick giggles, raising her voice another notch.

A floorboard creaks from the landing outside Sophie’s room, making her friends scream before collapsing into more laughter. ‘Is he going to kill us with a carving knife?’ Vicky hisses.

The beat of the first song bursts into the room, finally drowning out her friends’ voices.

‘What time is your mum coming home?’ Vicky asks.

‘Not till six.’

‘You’re soooo lucky,’ Flick chips in. ‘I never get the house to myself. Almost makes me wish my parents were separated too.’

Sophie grins, but she doesn’t feel lucky. Most of the time she still can’t get her head around the fact that her dad doesn’t live with them any longer. She hardly ever gets to see him. With her nan dying last year and her mum now working so much, it feels like it’s just her and Matthew most of the time. She still misses her nan so much.

‘Got any fags?’ Flick shouts over the music. She leans against the window ledge and looks so expectant that Sophie feels herself die inside.

‘I’ve just run out,’ Sophie lies, regretting it instantly.

‘Do you smoke, then?’ Flick asks. There’s something smug about her smile that makes Sophie feel uneasy.

Sophie shrugs. ‘Not much, but, you know, sometimes.’

‘I’d better get home anyway.’ Flick stands and opens the door, making a show of peeking into the hall first for Matthew.

‘Me too,’ Vicky says, switching off Sophie’s CD player and plunging the house into silence. ‘Hate that song.’

‘I thought you liked it,’ Sophie says. ‘You played it non-stop last summer, remember?’

‘Yeah, well, that was before.’

Before Flick came along, Sophie thinks to herself.

‘Hey.’ Sophie reaches out and grabs Vicky’s arm. From downstairs, she hears Flick open the front door. ‘We are still friends, aren’t we?’

‘Of course we are,’ Vicky laughs before racing down the stairs to catch up with Flick.