Page 54 of Second Verse

‘Sorry, I didn’t see it,’ she said, checking her phone to find one of his cryptic emoji streams. ‘It’s lovely,’ she said. ‘Thank you.’

He ran off, and Luna ran after him.

Norah glanced back at the phone, intending to lock it. But she paused on the message, something about Freddie’s emoji message catching her attention. Freddie would generally just text from the most used emoji section of whichever parent’s phone he was using. After re-examining the child’s message, a chill went down Norah’s back.

‘What’s wrong?’ Poppy asked.

Norah hadn’t realised how much her face was giving the game away. ‘Oh, nothing.’

But it wasn’t nothing. The message her lovely, innocent child had sent was full of eggplants, hot dogs, and bananas. Norah knew what that meant.

‘What’swrong?’ Poppy asked again.

‘Poppy, could you stay with the kids for a minute? I just need to run home.’

Poppy didn’t ask what was wrong a third time. She just nodded. ‘Go, we’re fine.’

Norah did the five-minute walk in two. She burst into the door and ran upstairs. Max was in the shower. He’d been showering a lot lately, at strange times. Norah had not thought anything of it until today. Norah had also not wondered why he was suddenly disappearing for shifts at the drop of a hat. But she’d been handed the last piece of the puzzle.

Max turned at her entry into the bathroom. ‘Hey, what do you doing back so—’

Norah put her phone screen against the shower door. ‘Youfucker,’ she said.

Max looked at the message, and he was confused for a second. Then clarity washed over his features. He knew what the message revealed. He was cooked.

Twenty Years Ago

Norah took a deep breath as she walked down the hall toward Mrs Simmons's classroom. The weight of her finished graphic novel in her backpack was heavy in every way. It was all that had kept her sane this year. It was more than just a schoolassignment; it was a piece of her soul. Her tattered, fucked up soul.

She knocked lightly on the door before pushing it open. Mrs Simmons looked up from her desk, a warm smile spreading across her face.

‘Ahh, the big project,’ she said. ‘Must feel good to turn it over.’

‘It’s kind of scary, actually,’ Norah admitted. ‘Feels like I don’t want to let go of it.’

‘Yeah, that makes sense. You’ve worked hard on this. Harder than most.’

‘Have I?’ Norah asked, surprised. Mrs Simmons had never paid her much attention.

‘I’ve kept out of your way because that seemed like the best way to handle your way of working, but I’ve been keeping an eye on you,’ Mrs Simmons explained. ‘I know your year has been rough.’

You don’t know the half of it,Norah thought sadly.But at least my main character didn’t murder anyone.The protagonist had walked right up to the line before she’d realised it wasn’t what she wanted, throwing away the source of her power and becoming a normal girl again, albeit a disappointed one.

‘Did it help?’ Mrs Simmons asked. ‘Working on this?’

Norah nodded. ‘I think so.’

Mrs Simmons nodded. ‘Well, from what I’ve seen of it, you can expect a good grade.’

Norah was surprised. ‘Oh, well... Thanks.’

‘You earned it.’ She placed the graphic novel into a pile with everyone else’s work. ‘You’ve got a conditional offer for Edinburgh, right?’

Norah nodded. ‘Yeah, but I gotta nail everything.’

Mrs Simmons waived her concern off as trivial. ‘It’s a good school. You’ll learn a lot.’

‘If I get in,’ Norah said, feeling shy suddenly.

---