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pulling me in.
    ‘For being so freakin’ perfect,’ he whispered.

5
    Flynn and I spent the afternoon at his flat, making out then doing homework in Flynn’s tiny bedroom. It was ironic – considering what a rebel everyone thought Flynn
was – that since I’d met him, I’d spent more time on my GCSEs than I ever did before. Flynn worked hard himself – determined to get the A levels to get to university to
study for a law degree. In between drama research and French translation I tried to make Flynn talk about his school suspension again, but he kept changing the subject so I gave up.
    Grace called towards the end of the afternoon. ‘Hey, d’you two want to come over to James’s tonight?’ She sounded excited. ‘His parents are going away for some
last-minute anniversary thing and we’ve got the house to ourselves.
All night.
’
    I hesitated. Spending the evening with Grace and James would be brilliant but there was no way Mum would be happy about me staying away overnight with Flynn. Plus, Emmi was bound to be there,
which meant Alex would be too – and last week’s swimming pool fight was still fresh in my mind.
    ‘I don’t know,’ I said.
    ‘Oh, but Riv, it’ll be awesome.’ Grace sounded deflated.
    ‘Let me talk to her.’ That was Emmi in the background. A second later she was on the line. ‘River, what’s the problem?’
    Flynn had stopped writing his essay and was watching me from across the room, his head tilted slightly to one side.
    ‘Mum won’t let me stay out all night.’ I glanced at Flynn. ‘And the last time your boyfriend saw my boyfriend out of school he nearly drowned him . . .’
    Emmi lowered her voice. ‘Alex and I won’t be there, we’re going to a concert. And Grace will be totally crushed if you don’t come. She was really looking forward to
it.’
    I thought rapidly. If Emmi and Alex weren’t going to be there, then only Mum stood in my way. Then another thought struck me. Emmi’s parents were way more liberal than mine, but they
had a big thing about concerts and festivals. From what I could gather, they appeared to believe that any hapless teenager turning up to watch live music was likely to be offered crack along with
their hand stamp.
    ‘What are you saying to your parents?’
    Emmi sighed again. ‘I don’t know. I was hoping Louise would cover for me, but she’s not around.’
    Louise was Emmi’s cool older sister, back at home after uni, and generally tolerant of Emmi’s social life. Across the room Flynn was still watching me, his eyes raised.
    ‘I’ve got an idea,’ I said to Emmi. ‘Why don’t you tell your mum you’re at mine? If you do that and I say I’m staying at yours we can spend the night
wherever we want.’
    ‘Awesome,’ Emmi said.
    I came off the phone. Flynn was frowning. ‘You’re going to lie to your mum?’ He sounded worried. ‘Are you sure, Riv?’
    ‘She’s not giving me a choice.’ That was true, wasn’t it? Mum totally hated Flynn. There was no way she would agree to us spending the night together. In fact, she would
completely freak. Lying really was my only option.
    Flynn said nothing.
    I called Mum and told her I was going to stay over at Emmi’s but that I was looking forward to coming back for lunch on Sunday with her. This last bit wasn’t really true of course,
but Mum seemed pleased. And Flynn’s mum was delighted when she got home and he told her we were going to Caitlin’s first Holy Communion.
    ‘That’s wonderful,’ she said, her whole face lighting up. ‘Thank you.’
    ‘It’s River you should thank,’ Flynn said, shooting me one of his quick, rare smiles.
    His mum squeezed my hand. ‘Bless you, River, you’ve no idea how much it’ll mean to Caitlin to have you both there.’
    I shrugged, feeling embarrassed. ‘I didn’t say much,’ I muttered. ‘Not really.’
    ‘He wouldn’t be doing it for anyone else,’ Flynn’s mum said.
    The day drifted lazily and happily into