Casting Shadows Read Free

don’t tell her about Flynn.’ I gripped his arm. ‘Please. She’ll be so mad.’
    ‘River.’ Dad rolled his eyes. ‘I don’t think you appreciate how . . . how let down I feel. You promised us you wouldn’t have anything to do with that boy. That was
the condition of letting you stay with your mother during term time, remember?’
    I nodded.
    ‘And now, to find out you’re still involved with him all these months later. It’s . . . I don’t know what to say, what to think.’
    ‘We did break up,’ I said, anxiety clutching at my throat. ‘And I told Flynn I wouldn’t go back out with him unless he did something about his temper and he
has
.
Like I told you, he’s been seeing a counsellor. And he’s got a job – three jobs, actually.
And
he worked really hard for his exams.’
    Dad stared at me. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. I wanted to tell him how much I loved Flynn, how being apart from him before had nearly killed me. But I couldn’t say it. I
looked away, my face burning.
    Behind me, I could hear Dad unlocking the car door. I scurried round to the other side and slid into the passenger seat.
    We drove off in silence.

3
    A few hours later I was sitting alone, on the bed in the little storeroom off Dad’s living room in his and Gemma’s commune apartment. It was where I usually slept
when I stayed with them – unless my brother, Stone, came too. Then one of us had to sleep on the couch in the living room. I checked my phone again. The signal was always weak here but at
least there
was
a signal. After we’d left Mum’s and begun the long drive up to the commune, I’d texted Flynn and told him what had happened and he’d messaged back
to say he’d call me at ten thirty.
    I felt so lonely, so miserable without him.
    I sighed and lay back on the bed. Dad had, of course, told Mum about Flynn. And Mum had, predictably, gone ballistic.
    Ten more minutes passed. Flynn would be calling soon. I decided to go down to the kitchen, maybe get a drink. I had shut myself away as soon as we arrived, so I hadn’t seen anyone who
lived here yet. I was hoping to avoid the other residents. I took off my shoes and trotted down the stone steps, my socks silent but slippery against their smoothness. As I padded along the
corridor to the kitchen, I heard Dad’s voice.
    ‘I couldn’t believe the way she was . . . the way she . . . God, she was really kissing him.’ He let out a big sigh.
    ‘She’s sixteen, love.’ That was Gemma. ‘Seventeen in a few months. She’s not a baby.’
    ‘I know,’ Dad groaned. ‘It’s just it’s hard, thinking about . . . you know . . .’
    I shrank back against the stone wall of the corridor, my heart racing.
    ‘Isn’t the important thing how River feels? And also
how
it happens?’ Gemma said gently. ‘From what you said it sounds as if he was very respectful to
you.’
    Dad said something in a low voice that I couldn’t catch.
    ‘Okay,’ Gemma said, ‘but there were reasons why he attacked his dad. And lots of teenage boys get a bit out of control. He’s never hurt
River.
And everyone
deserves a second chance, don’t they?’
    Yes.
I nodded, out in the corridor. My heart surged with affection for Gemma.
    And then my phone rang. The sound filled the corridor. Chairs scraped back across the stone floor in the kitchen as I fled back towards the stairs. I answered the call as I panted up them, two
at a time.
    ‘River?’ Flynn sounded concerned. ‘You okay?’
    ‘Yeah.’ I tore into the little bedroom and collapsed onto the bed.
    We talked for a few minutes. I kept my eyes on the door, but Dad and Gemma hadn’t followed me. I could tell Flynn was upset that Dad was being so heavy about us seeing each other. He was
trying hard to keep things light, to reassure me, but the tightness in his voice was unmistakeable. And I felt the same way.
    We said we loved each other and rang off. I still felt troubled. I put my head in my hands. A rap on the