wednesday 2nd september
on the way to college
He didn't take out his headphones or even turn them down as he approached the school. His eyes just drifted towards the ground. He really didn't want to be there. He wanted to just be asleep and sleep until his messed-up brain sorted itself out and his mother and father sorted out their problems and his father got clean again and his mother actually returned to giving a shit about him. And maybe then he could face Bella and tell her boyfriend where to shove it.
But not while everything else was still in pieces. Everything was continuing to get worse. He wasn't even sure if his mother had been at home at all the night before. He had hardly seen his father in three days. He'd found himself on the bridge again during the week and had had to drag his sorry ass home and drink until he passed out. He couldn't remember the last time he'd spoken to Bella. She had been his best friend, the one person he would have considered confiding in, but her bloody boyfriend had changed that. He was screwing her over, Jamie knew it. But he couldn't do anything.
He glanced up through his hair briefly to catch sight of a familiar figure hovering around the gates. His heart plummeted into his stomach, and he could feel his breath catching again. Why hadn't he left ten minutes earlier? He would have missed her. Maybe she wouldn't notice him. He kept his head down and headphones in, saying a silent prayer to whatever deity ruled these things that Bella wouldn't see him.