Page 26 of A Merry Little Christmas
I still hadn’t heard from him by the time I got home, and by then I was feeling increasingly panicky and heavy-hearted. The night stretched ahead, full of doubt and dread. It was a horrible feeling when someone you’d had such a great rapport with all of a sudden seemed out of reach. With no explanation.
I was almost glad when my alarm went off at six the following morning. I was baking at the café, on an early shift starting at seven, so at least I had work to take my mind off things.
With Christmas almost upon us, the café was super-busy and I was thankful for the distraction. And then, as I walked home at three, finally a text from Caleb pinged through.
He apologised for the delay in replying, again blaming work.
But this didn’t really put my mind at rest. In the old days, he’d always have found time to reply, no matter how hectic his schedule might be. Also, there was no mention in his text of us meeting up. It was just a vague ‘See you soon’ and one kiss.
*****
When I got back to the flat, I barely had time for a cuppa before heading out again, back to the café. Ellie had called a meeting for four o’clock to talk about how our plans for the Christmas market were going.
I popped into the village store for milk on my way over there, forgetting that school would have ended for the day and the store would be busy. Sure enough, it was full of schoolkids buying sweets and drinks, so I lined up behind them with my carton of milk, smiling wistfully as I watched them larking around and laughing. I used to be so full of high spirits myself when I was their age, with Christmas Day so near...
This year, the festive season was just one big question mark for me.
I’d had such high hopes of spending a romantic time with Caleb. But would we even be together by the time Christmas Day dawned?
Ahead of me in the queue was someone I recognised.
Will.
One of the other boys bumped into him from behind and Will turned around and met my eye. My impulse was to smile and call ‘Hi, Will’ but I stopped myself in time. It wouldn’t exactly be cool for him to be speaking to one of his mum’s friends when surrounded by his mates from school!
Instead, I just gave him a small smile and he acknowledged me with a raise of his eyebrows.
Next second, the same boy pretended to bump into him again. He was bigger than Will – taller and chunkier – and the way he jabbed his elbow into Will’s back, making him flinch, made me realise that the first time he’d done it hadn’t been an accident. Will flushed bright red and the bigger boy made a scornful comment which I didn’t quite catch, but which made the other boys crease up with laughter. Will was standingthere awkwardly, his lips pressed together, staring down at the ground, and my heart went out to him.
Schoolkids could be so horrible to one another – and this nasty bully, surrounded by his gang of toadying mates egging him on, was clearly getting a kick out of making Will squirm.
‘Stop it, Lewis!’ ordered one of the girls, who was standing with her friend nearby.
‘Yes. Put a sock in it, you creep!’ said the other girl, glaring at Lewis in disgust.
But this only resulted in whoops and sarcastic shouts of ‘Ooh, get them!’ – and even more raucous laughter.
Will, blushing even more furiously, turned and walked away. I opened my mouth to ask if he was all right, but he passed by without even looking at me, his eyes fixed firmly on the ground.
I glared at the bully’s head, hoping he could feel my disgust. Bullies really were the lowest of the low. I’d experienced some of it myself at school because of my Russian heritage and it had been hard for a while. Poor Will really didn’t deserve it.
Was it a one-off? Did this ‘Lewis’ just pick on random kids when he felt like it. Or did he have it in for Will especially? And if so, did Penny know it was happening?
The schoolkids got served at last, and I bought my milk and went out, crossing the road to walk over the village green to the café.
It was after four now and already dark, but the lights on the Christmas tree were glowing brightly in the freezing air, helping to spread a message of hope and joy during the festive season.
Then I saw them.
Lewis and two of his mates.
Clustered around Will on the green, they were pushing him around and laughing, and as I watched, Lewis dragged off Will’s backpack. He held it upside down and shook the contents all over the snow, then he bent and picked something up, holding italoft and making his mates laugh. I couldn’t see what it was but he was taunting Will with it, mocking him with babyish ‘vroom-vroom’ noises.
Will made a grab for the object but Lewis was taller – bigger all over – and Will didn’t stand a chance. After holding it up, tantalisingly just out of Will’s reach, he let it drop to the ground. Then he stamped on it several times.
I couldn’t stay silent any longer.
Hurrying over, I called out to Will and he turned and saw me. I marched towards his tormentors and the ring-leader, Lewis, must have sensed how angry I was because he drawled, ‘Hey, come on, guys. Let’s leave the stupid plonker to clear up his mess,’ and they scarpered, running off across the green.
