All This Could End Read Online Free

body is white, its head black, and its wings a patchwork of both. The eyes, like those on a stuffed toy, stare at Nina, as if daring her to be the first one to look away.
    Is this all just an interlude? She’s not sure whether what she’s waiting for is real life, her life, that great unknown thing in front of her, or whether she’s just killing time until the next bank robbery. She’s almost certain that this peacefulness, this ease she sometimes feels, will not last.
    Tom refuses to be so daggy as to let his dad drive him to school, and he is reluctant to catch the same bus as Nina. But, as Sophia points out, since he and his sister both look so different, no one will be able to tell they’re related. Nina isn’t sure whether this is a good or a bad thing.
    The bus stop is right outside their apartment building, and she can see Sophia standing on the balcony, resisting the urge to wave. Tom immediately walks towards the back of the bus, very confident in his own coolness, and claims one of the remaining seats. Nina avoids eye contact with him—she doesn’t want to embarrass him.
    The bus isn’t a dedicated school bus, so it’s overflowing with people. As well as students, there are chatty old ladies on their way to the shops, businessmen and women typing away on laptops, and a very intense-looking woman in workout gear. Nina clutches her messenger bag—when you’re a criminal yourself, you are very aware that there are other bad people out there, and you become distrustful of everyone. There are a number of inividuals on the bus who look more than a little bit suspicious. Nina imagines it as one of those crappy chain emails, like: You know you’re a nineties kid when… and: You know you’ve been playing too many video games when… Hers would be: You know you’re a criminal when…
…you think that everyone you meet is a potential mugger.
…you can look at a wad of cash and correctly estimate the amount.
…every time you leave home, you fully expect to find your parents arrested, all the cash torn out of your mattress and a bunch of police dogs inside when you come back.
    She knows it wouldn’t catch on. Definitely a niche audience.
    Nina is sitting on the aisle, next to a lady digging through a massive handbag on her lap. She’s never spent much time on public transport—what with the weird people and the potential to be robbed—she’s either walked or her parents have wanted to drive her. This time Sophia insisted that Nina keep an eye on Tom. Of course Tom has no idea about this.
    Nina avoids looking at the other students. What if they spoke to her? What would she say? What if she just mumbled incoherently and they all thought she was a moron? What if she tried to speak to them and no one spoke to her? Why does she care so much about people and things that will mean nothing in four months’ time? She knows it’s stupid to be so worried about this, but it doesn’t stop her from worrying.
    She worries all the way to the next stop, where four people get on. She glances around the bus, making sure no one’s looking at her. No one is, thank God. She barely notices the first three new passengers but the fourth is wearing the purple uniform too, and he’s walking like he knows that if he wears it with enough confidence, it won’t matter that he’s dressed like the Cadbury chocolate bunny. She can see something drawn on the back of his hand, but he moves before she can figure out what it is.
    His hair is black and short and messy, and his eyes bright, bright blue, unnaturally blue. He’s beautiful, but what is it exactly that makes him so beautiful? She looks away before he notices her looking. He takes the seat across the aisle from her and the bus takes off with a shudder again.
    How old is he? What year is he in? She’s never been good at judging age, so he could be anywhere between fifteen and eighteen. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees him texting, and wonders if he’s popular, if he