Read Online You Against Me by Jenny Downham - Free Book Online

of a lot longer, which meant she could be anywhere. With anyone. He fumbled for his mobile, but the only missed calls were from Jacko and Sienna. He scrolled through the contacts.
    ‘Don’t worry,’ he said. ‘We’ll call her, shall we?’
    Holly snuggled closer to listen. The phone rang four times, then the message clicked in. Their mother’s voice apologizing for not being available.
    ‘Maybe she’s dead,’ Holly said, her voice quivering.
    ‘She’s not.’
    ‘She might be. You don’t know.’
    ‘I know everything, and she’s not dead, OK?’
    He left a message, told her to ring and let me know where you are and when you’re coming back . Told her to do it soon, please .
    ‘That should do it,’ Holly said, like he could sort the world out that easily.
    He turned to her, could just make out the shine of her eyes on the pillow beside him. ‘In five minutes,’ he said, ‘we’ll get up. Until then, you’re only allowed to think about nice things.’
    ‘OK.’ She craned her head to see the clock. ‘Can I think about football?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘I’ll do the alphabet game. I’m going to start with Ossie Ardiles, then Dimitar Berbatov, then Clemence, then Defoe.’
    ‘Great. Can you do it inside your head though?’
    She lay there, her whole body flexing with thought. He could almost hear the calculations. And while she did that, he listened to his messages. Sienna sounding sulky: What happened to you last night? You wanna come round and make it up to me, ‘cos I know it’s your morning off? Jacko sounding urgent: New plan! Let me know when you’re awake and I’ll come and pick you up .
    Mikey sank back into the pillow and wondered if his life could actually get any worse – Karyn assaulted, the bloke who did it still unpunished, Mum missing and now pressure from women and mates. He closed his eyes and tried to distract himself by thinking about London. He’d work in a hotel. He’d wear a full set of chef’s whites and have proper equipment – ramekin dishes, loose-based flan tins and specialist knives. He’d probably have other things too, things he didn’t even know existed.
    Holly got stuck. He could feel it in her body, as if breathing was suddenly difficult to do. She turned to him. ‘Maybe Mum got hit by a car.’
    ‘She didn’t.’
    ‘Or she went in a boat and it sank.’
    ‘She didn’t do that either.’
    ‘Or a plane fell on her head.’
    He told her to stop talking rubbish and get ready for school, she was already late. Then he took his phone to the bathroom and tried Mum again. Still no answer. He texted Jacko. He texted Sienna. Same message to both: Totally up for it . Whichever one got back to him first, that’s what he’d do. Runnings with Jacko. Between the sheets with Sienna. Let fate decide. He was sick of being in charge.
    He stared in the mirror as he pissed. He looked angry. He washed his face with cold water, then brushed his teeth. The toothpaste had nearly run out and he added that to the list in his head.
    When he came out of the bathroom, Holly was on the landing eating a packet of crisps. She was still in her pyjamas.
    ‘What are you doing?’
    ‘My clothes are in the bedroom and Karyn won’t let me in. I knocked, but she won’t answer.’ Holly stuffed another crisp in her mouth. ‘She’s probably dead too.’
    ‘Oh for God’s sake!’ Mikey rapped on the door.
    He checked the time. School started at nine, which meant they only had five minutes to get there. They wrote your name down in a book if you were late.
    He turned to Holly. ‘How much do you need the stuff that’s in there?’
    ‘A lot.’
    He did a comedy knock to cheer himself up. Tappity tap, tap, tap . Then a police knock. Wham, wham , with a closed fist. He tried to sound like he meant it, but Karyn wasn’t shifting.
    ‘You could kick it down,’ Holly said. ‘You’re allowed to do that in emergencies.’
    He smiled at her. She smiled back. He’d forgotten how beautiful her