Burning Bright Read Free Page B

it is.’ I paused. ‘The truth is you
don’t trust me.’
    Flynn blinked. He looked genuinely shocked.
    ‘It isn’t that, Riv, honest.’
    ‘Then tell me what happened rather than playing these stupid games – walking out and waiting for me to follow you.’ A gust of icy wind blew through my top. I shivered, wishing
I’d worn a warmer jacket.
    Flynn smiled. He put his hands on my arms, warming them. I was turned on. Really turned on. Just by standing next to him. Just by the feel of his hands.
    This made me even angrier, mostly with myself.
    ‘I know Alex was an idiot earlier but you’re spoiling the whole evening,’ I said, shaking off his hands. ‘And for what? Why? What’s the matter with you?’
    I turned away, intending to march back into the restaurant. Flynn grabbed my arm again.
    ‘You’re right,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry. I was going to tell you what happened, but I didn’t want to have to think about it and get cross all over again.’
He paused. ‘I was actually trying
not
to spoil everything tonight.’
    I sighed, letting his words sink in, feeling my rage ebb away. This was so typical of my life with Flynn. One minute I’d be full of fury. The next, Flynn would do or say something that
stood everything on its head and my anger would evaporate, as if it had never existed.
    I let Flynn pull me round to face him. He slid his hands into mine.
    ‘The fight
was
about a girl, but not the way that sounds,’ he said in a low voice, his eyes burning into mine. ‘You know Café Yazmina?’
    ‘Of course.’ Café Yazmina was one of the places Flynn worked.
    ‘Well, one of Alex’s friends came in with his girlfriend when I was working there on Thursday night and apparently she lost her purse. The next day Alex and his friend accused me of
stealing it. They were totally in my face and I got mad and pushed them away. It’s just so typical. Everyone at school always assumes I’m to blame when anything happens.’
    ‘They thought you stole a purse?’ I frowned. My head had been so full of images of Flynn making out with another girl that I hadn’t stopped to consider he might have got into a
fight over something else. It didn’t fit with what I knew of him – Flynn might be mouthy and aggressive, but I couldn’t imagine him stealing anything.
    ‘It’s just an excuse . . . something to attack me with because I don’t fit in,’ Flynn said.
    He sounded full of fight, but I could see the pain in his eyes.
    ‘Oh, Flynn,’ I said, moving closer to him. ‘They’ve got no proof. Nobody who knows you will listen to rubbish like that, it’s just gossip.’
    Flynn made a face. ‘It’s not the first time I’ve been accused of stealing stuff. You know, things get lost and people at school go behind my back and tell the teachers it was
probably me. After a while everyone starts to believe it, even though there’s no evidence. And I’ve been given millions of detentions for my attitude, whatever that means, and for
fighting too.’ He hesitated. ‘After the fight yesterday they called in my mum and said I’d been in trouble too often. They . . . they gave me a one-day exclusion for
Monday.’
    ‘No,’ I breathed.
    Flynn shrugged. ‘I mean, I couldn’t care less about missing the lessons, but I
have
to get my A levels.’ His mouth trembled. ‘Otherwise staying on at school will
have been a total waste of time.’
    I nodded, understanding straight away. Unlike anyone else I knew, Flynn’s priority was to look after his mum. He was hoping to get to uni and become a lawyer . . . something that would
make people respect him, he’d said, and that paid really well.
    We stood looking at each other for a moment. It struck me I’d been silly to get so upset before. I mean, sure, Flynn could have told me all that stuff earlier, but I understood why he
hadn’t wanted to go into it during the party and, anyway, he’d told me now. His life was so difficult . . . so full of problems I