Ben Read Online Free Page A

me for one of my friends or I him for one of his.
    And then one day a stranger arrived.
    I noticed him because he looked different. Not wild or over the top like I could be, just not like the rest. He wore dark Farah trousers and a Fred Perry top, while all the others were in unmarked ‘man at C&A’ gear bought by their mums. He was tall, about six foot, and skinny, so whatever he wore would have looked good. And didn’t he know it. I could tell he was cocky without speaking to him. The problem was I really wanted to, because he also had something else the others didn’t.
    A Yorkshire accent!
    His name was Simon Ward. He was a year above me, in the fifth year, and his parents had just retired to Chapel St Leonards from Sheffield. And I was right: with all his designer labels and big-city experiences, he thought he was the bees’ knees. I couldn’t stand him for it. I’d spent enough of my life hanging out with little kids; I didn’t need to spend my free time with teenagers who acted like it.
    Fortunately, there were many other distractions. Beer was the latest one. And dancing. The clubs on the caravan sites had discos every night so those of us who looked old enough started sneaking into those. My favourite was the one in the Kings Oak caravan park. The bouncer on the door was a friend of my dad’s so when he let us in he said, ‘I’ll keep an eye out for you.’ I knew then that no harm could come my way: if any boy or bloke tried it on, he was only a few yards away.
    Unfortunately, there were things Dad’s pal couldn’t control. Like, for example, the amount I drank. Normally I preferred dancing to drinking, but, on one occasion, I was sitting at the bar chatting to someone, letting them buy me a lager or wine, and by the time it came to leave I’d forgotten how to walk. That was when I needed my own friends: they were the ones who called thecab and poured me into it. But even as I got in, I knew Dad’s mate was feet away. I was safe. Daft, but safe.
    I just wish Mum and Dad saw it that way. Waking them up as you try to get your key into the lock is no way to prove you’re okay. It was only the fact Stephen and Danny were still asleep that stopped Dad shouting the place down. But even quietly, and in the state I was in, I heard the words.
    ‘You’re grounded.’
    I argued, of course. Probably only made matters worse. And the next morning I felt terrible. But from the booze, not the punishment, because I had a plan …
    It was a couple of days later, at breakfast, when I asked if I could go out that night. Mum shook her head. Dad jabbed his fork in my direction.
    ‘Have you forgotten our agreement, young lady?’
    I shrugged.
    ‘You’re grounded until further notice.’
    I didn’t push it. I went to school, stayed for the whole day, came home, prepared tea, ate with my family, then retired to my room in a sulk. Or so it appeared. I just wanted an excuse to leave the table. An hour later, I was in my best make-up and dressed to the nines listening at the door. One by one, I heard my brothers, my father and then my mother head off to bed. They all called out ‘goodnight’ to me, but no one came in when I didn’t answer. They must have assumed I was asleep. In fact, I was already by the window, throwing my handbag out onto the grass and beginning to climb out after it. The advantage of living in a bungalow!
    And so life went on. Sometimes I stayed at school and sometimes I didn’t. Sometimes I stayed in at night and other times Ijust pretended to. I didn’t think I was doing any harm. I certainly wasn’t getting into trouble with boys. We were all too young to be serious. I, particularly, wasn’t in the mood to be pinned down. I’d always dreamed of a family of my own but there would be plenty of time for that. Right then, after years of being a surrogate mum, I just wanted to stretch my wings for a while and be as carefree as I could for as long as possible. But, as each day passed, that became