Page 186 of Save You

“Shall we play Jenga?You know how to play, right, James?”Ember asks suddenly, and her mum puts a game made up of wooden blocks in the middle of the coffee table.I shake my head, looking embarrassed.“No, actually, I’ve never played it.”

Ember’s mouth drops open.“OK.Wow, that’s…” She coughs.“I don’t know how to feel about that.”

I shrug my shoulders.“Sorry.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Ruby jumps in, glaring at Ember in a way that clearly tells her she’d better shut up now.

“No problem,” Helen agrees.“It’s easy-peasy.”

Mr.Bell snorts.“You say that because you always win.”

“Don’t be silly.”She smiles at me and points to the tower she’s built with the bricks.“Everyone takes turns to pull a brick out of the tower and add it to the top.You’re only allowed to use one hand, and there has to be at least one brick left in every row.”

I nod.“OK.”

“And the fun part is,” she continues, with a look at her husband, “there are always lots of winners and only one loser.”

“That’s not true,” Ruby says.“If you add up the last eighteen years, we’re all losers because Mum never knocks the tower down.”

Helen’s only response is to smile to herself, and at this moment I realize that I shouldn’t be deceived by her cheerful manner—she’s a force to be reckoned with.

The game starts.I’m next after Helen and pull one of the little blocks out by the side.Then it’s Mr.Bell’s turn, followed by Ember, and then Ruby.On just my second turn, the tower collapses.I jump in shock as the wooden blocks clatter down all over the place.“Shit,” I mutter.

“No offense, James, but you’re terrible at this,” says Ember.

“You just need a bit of practice,” says Ruby, sounding more confident than I feel.

Next time around, I do better, but even so, it’s me who brings the tower down.And the time after that.But as Ember and Mr.Bell seem happy, I’m fine with it.Round four goes better.I’ve been trying to copy Helen’s technique, and using just your fingertips definitely seems to make the difference.After that, I take my time, even though I can feel everyone’s eyes on me.I’m really trying to pull the brick out as slowly as possible, and this time it works.

In the end, the tower is so wobbly that Ruby shakes her head in despair as her turn comes around.Her cheeks are slightly flushed as she leans in with an air of great concentration to pull out a brick.The stack rocks from side to side as she leans back and we all wait with bated breath.As the wobbling subsides and itseems still to be standing, I breathe a sigh of relief.Ruby hears and looks at me over the tower.I’ll never forget the smile on her face.Seriously, never.It fills my whole body, and for a moment, I’m so caught up in her eyes that I don’t even notice Helen stretch out her hand and…

The tower crashes down.Ember shrieks triumphantly and jumps up, pointing her finger at her mother.“Ha!”

“James made Mum lose,” cries Ruby, clapping her hands.

Even Mr.Bell is laughing quietly, looking at his wife with amusement.

“I think we’re going to have to put that to the test again,” Helen says, looking at me.Then she nods toward the scattered blocks.“Help me build it up again, James.”

This family fascinates me.Their enthusiasm is infectious, and I’m feeling more lighthearted than I’ve done for ages.

“You’re on, Helen,” I reply, far too late, and get up to rebuild the tower.Little by little, brick by brick.Just like Ruby and me.And everything else.

23

Ruby

I’ve never been this nervous on a Monday morning before.The bus to school seems to take twice as long as usual, and I’m far too antsy to enjoy it like I normally do.As we finally cover the last few yards and the bus comes to a stop, I tell myself sternly to get it together.

This is a perfectly ordinary school day.

Nothing has changed.

So, heartbeat, you can calm down a little, if you please.

I’m the last person off the bus.And as I step down, I see him.

James is leaning against the fence by the field, opposite the bus stop.His smile looks almost shy, even if nothing else about his body language does.I remember that one morning over three months ago when he surprised me like this.That time, we’d been at Cyril’s party, and he’d wanted to protect me from prying eyes at school and stop people asking silly questions.