Chocolate Box Girls: Bittersweet Read Free Page B

shrug.
    ‘I’ll tell you exactly what it means,’ Honey says, and her eyes brim with tears again. ‘It means they’ll get social services involved if I land up in trouble again. Can you believe that? SOCIAL SERVICES! Like I’m some kind of problem teen or something! It’s just TOTALLY unfair – I wasn’t even trying to run away! It’s all Mum and Paddy’s fault – they want rid of me! They’d be GLAD if I was taken into care!’
    Honey is sobbing again now, and I am praying for rescue because I so do not want to be here right now. I spot a clean paint rag on the arm of the sofa and hand it to Honey to wipe her eyes, but she ignores it and burrows in against my shoulder again. Loads of boys I know would love to get up close and personal with HoneyTanberry, but I am not one of them.
    Not any more.
    My mobile rings, and Cherry’s name and picture flash up on the screen. This is not the kind of rescue I was hoping for – I jump back from Honey as if I’ve been stung.
    ‘I don’t bite, you know,’ she says, looking hurt.
    ‘No. I know. It’s just – well – it’s Cherry.’
    ‘Don’t answer,’ Honey begs. ‘Not right now. Just give me five minutes, please? I know you don’t think much of me, Shay, but surely I’m worth that much? For old time’s sake?’
    I hesitate, frowning.
    ‘Call her back later,’ Honey prompts. ‘Please?’
    I let my mobile ring out. I feel bad, but I am not sure how I would explain to Cherry that I am holed up in the storeroom den with my ex-girlfriend, mopping up her tears with my T-shirt. It would sound a whole lot worse than it actually is.
    ‘Thanks, Shay,’ she says in a tiny voice. ‘I can talk to you – I always could. Nobody else understands. And … well, you don’t judge me.’
    I’m not sure about that.
    ‘Look,’ I tell her, exasperated. ‘I can see why you’re upset, Honey, but you need to calm down, get a bit of perspective. This isn’t Charlotte and Paddy’s fault – they must have been worried sick when you went missing!’
    ‘I wasn’t missing!’ Honey sulks.
    ‘So they knew where you were?’
    ‘Well, no … but …’
    ‘Honey, you were grounded,’ I remind her. ‘You vanished without telling anyone where you were going, and you were out all night and most of the next day. You didn’t turn up at school. What were they meant to think?’
    Honey hugs her knees, suddenly looking about ten years old instead of fifteen.
    ‘How come you’re always so smart?’ she whispers. ‘OK. So I messed up … but the point is, I’m in trouble. I have some sort of weird police record now for running away, and the threat of social services hanging over my head. That’s really not fair. And Mum and Paddy hate me, Shay, they really do! I may as
well
be taken into care because they’re threatening me with some kind of boarding-school boot camp anyhow. I mean, just shoot me now. Really. My life sucks.’
    I shrug. ‘You think you’re the only one who’s had a bad day?’
    Honey gives me a sideways look. ‘Yeah,’ she says. ‘Cherry mentioned about that whole Wrecked Rekords thing. Not to me, of course … your little girlfriend doesn’t chat to me much, funnily enough. But … yeah, I heard. Bummer. Your dad’s still being his usual charming self then?’
    ‘You could say that.’
    ‘Basically, we’ve both been dumped on,’ Honey declares. ‘You just got offered the chance of a lifetime, the chance to make your dream happen – and your dad shot the whole thing down in flames. Nice.’
    The anger I have been trying to keep buried all day comes bubbling up to the surface, seeping through my veins like bitter poison. It hurts, like an ache inside, a sickness. No matter how hard I work, I know I will never be able to please my dad or make him proud; Ben seems to do all of that without even trying.
    Somehow, I am always second best. The things I want, the things I am good at, never count for anything.
    ‘My family want rid of me,’ Honey is