Page 42 of Seven Letters

She pulled the window down and turned to give Shocko the thumbs-up. He was hiding behind the hedge in the front garden. Riley climbed through the window and stopped to listen. She could hear the annoying ‘Let It Go’ fromFrozenand the smell of baking wafted up the stairs. Her dad and Izzy were busy, so she’d be OK.

She rummaged around her room, pulling things out of drawers and wardrobes. She put all of the things she needed into a backpack. She was fine until she got to the card.

He had written her a card. On the front was a picture of Kristen Stewart. Zach had written, ‘This hot actress reminds me of you. You rock my world, Riley. Z’

A lump rose in her throat. Her heart ached for Sarah. Shocko was right: everything was so incredibly messed up.

She went to put the card into the backpack, but she couldn’t do it. She hid it under her mattress, pushing it right into the middle. Hopefully her mother wouldn’t find it there. The last thing she needed was Mia asking any more questions about Zach.

Riley didn’t tell her mother anything about boys. It was too awkward, plus her mum would just interrogate her aboutanyone she mentioned – was he ‘nice’, was he a ‘good’ boy, was he ‘sensible’ – the kind of stuff that didn’t matter at all. She was obsessed with Riley not having sex, too. She kept telling her stories about ‘friends’ daughters’ who had had unprotected sex with their boyfriends and ruined their lives. Riley knew these ‘friends’ daughters’ were made-up. Her mum was so obvious with her lame tales of warning.

Riley hadn’t had sex with Zach and he hadn’t pushed her. He was nice that way. He said they’d only do it when she felt ready and he’d wait as long as she needed. Riley wasn’t going to have sex until she was at least sixteen. She had told him so and he was cool about it. God, she missed him. He was an amazing kisser and, sure, they’d messed around a bit. He was so hot. He had a six-pack from all his athletics training. He was really good at the high jump. At first, Riley had thought that was a bit dorky – only nerdy guys did the high jump, nerds and Sally Peterson, who was, like, ten feet tall and a freak of nature. Sally didn’t even have to jump: she just stepped over the bar. But then she’d gone to watch Zach practise and had seen him do the backflip over the bar, and it was kind of sexy when he did it.

Five months was a long time to be with someone. She really liked him. She really, really liked him. If she was being totally honest she kind of loved him and thought he loved her too, so why had he gone off with Zoë?

Riley had been racking her brain for days, but the only thing she could think of was that stupid thing she’d said. She’d only been kidding. How could he not see that? But every time Riley thought about it, she felt nauseous. Why had she said it? Her and her stupid big mouth. She hadn’t thought he’d be so sensitive, but the look on his face had told her she’d gone too far.

To hell with him. He’d chosen Zoë and good luck to them. They could do dorky athletics training together. He’d humiliated Riley and broken her heart, so he deserved payback and she needed closure. She picked up her backpack and climbed out of the window, making sure to pull it up behind her.

‘What took you so long? I was about to go.’

‘Sorry, it took me a while to find everything.’

‘What’s this all about?’

‘Revenge,’ Riley said.

‘Cool.’ Shocko grinned.

They hopped onto their bikes and cycled away, zigzagging through the roads around her estate until they came to Zach’s house.

Riley knew Zach’s parents worked until at least seven or eight every night. They ran their own bakery, so the hours were long. She looked up at his bedroom window. She could see him at his desk. He was typing on his laptop.

Riley unzipped the backpack and turned the contents out onto the grass in his front garden. She took out the firelighter she’d bought in the Spar shop down the road and lit it. She threw it onto the pile of things and watched as the flames swept over it all. Up went the sweatshirt he’d given her, the baseball cap he’d bought for her on his trip to London, the socks he’d left at her house, the spare school tie he’d let her keep, the Valentine’s Day bear he’d bought her. It all went up in flames.

She threw a pebble at his window and watched as he looked over. She saw the surprise, confusion, then shock on his face. He disappeared from the window, and seconds later the front door was yanked open. He ran outside. ‘What the hell?’ he shouted.

‘This is everything I have of yours. Burning, like I hope you do, in Hell.’

‘Have you lost your mind?’

‘You’re a bastard.’

‘I’m not the one who mocks people for following their dream, Riley.’

‘I didn’t mock you.’

‘Yes, you did. I was gutted when I lost in the final of that competition and all you could do was laugh and say, “Who cares? High jump is for dorks. Just give it up. It’s so boring to watch.”’

‘I didn’t mean it like that.’

‘Oh, really? What did you mean?’ Zach shouted at her.

‘I meant … I meant it’s not exactly the most important thing in the world whether you jump over a bar or not.’

‘It is to me,’ he hissed, and disappeared inside. He came running back out with a jug full of water and poured it over the fire. The remnants of his gifts to Riley sizzled into a soggy mess.

‘At least I didn’t go out and humiliate you in public.’ Riley poked him in the chest.

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