I told Will I’d meet him at my old flat, the one place I thought I could finally get a straight answer. But before I could even knock, Melanie was there, blocking the door like she owned the place. “Not anymore,” she said, arms crossed. “Not if I scream the place down.
”
I laughed. “Didn’t you have a number one in the ’80s? ”
She didn’t find it funny. Melanie had always been good at playing the victim, but this time it was different.
She had a plan, and it involved me doing exactly what she said. “Now, you’re going to text Will. You’re going to tell him you never loved him. Then you’re going to message Sam and apologize for bullying him.
After that, you’re going to make a full confession to the police. ”
“Oh, so I’m free to walk out then? ” I asked, keeping my voice steady. “All right then.
Come on then. ”
But I didn’t move. I wasn’t about to let her twist everything. Will and Sam were vulnerable kids, and I was their teacher.
I cared about them. Melanie was the one who had dragged Sam into that alley, who had driven the van, who had laughed when everything went wrong. She was the one who had punched that woman, not me. And now she was trying to pin it all on me.
“You’re still teaching,” I said. “You can still coach. Don’t throw that away. ”
“Not for you, it’s not,” she snapped.
“Maybe if you were harder on them, they wouldn’t be so spoiled rotten. ”
“You didn’t give him anything,” I shot back. “All right, name-calling’s not going to get us anywhere, Lily. What exactly is the plan, Eva?
Bully me into a confession for a crime I didn’t commit? Force me to text two boys I’ve been warned to stay away from? ”
She snorted. “Same, dum de dum.
Yeah, I was a right natural. ”
“Please tell me there’s a video. ”
“Fran’s gone all shy on us. ”
“The bride had all the grace of a Mullingar heifer.
”
I could feel the anger rising. “Second’s away, round two. ”
“Do you have to do this every time? ” I said.
“These last few days have been rough, tearing shreds off each other. ”
Melanie just smirked. “Let’s make it all about you. ”
“If you’d have ignored me, then Will would have lost interest.
”
“Um, Daniel, not grateful enough,” she taunted. “Why are you all so obsessed with me? ”
She loved this. The attention, the drama.
She’d always been like that, even back when we drove to those race meetings together. I remembered one time she had a glass of wine and started swerving all over the road. I thought, “Any minute now we’re going to smash into a wall. ” I didn’t say anything.
I was too scared to. “Drippy dad, Polo weirdo, never had a chance,” she said, like she was reading my mind. “You can change your name,” I said, the bitterness spilling out. “I didn’t do that.
You, Ben, Maggie, it’s all the same. The doctor said I’ll probably never get pregnant again. ”
Melanie laughed. “It’s one less bamper on the streets, isn’t it?
”
That was it. I couldn’t hold it back anymore. I slapped her, hard, across the face. Melanie stumbled back, her hand flying to her cheek.
“You lot are a lipstick Lynch mob, and the police are never going to let you get away with this! ”
“When perverts like you… all your kids… ” I spat back.
“You lot are never off duty,” she hissed. “Then you go and smack her one in the char. ”
“The genius who hatched the plan, or the one who hit her, or the one who was driving the van? Oh, no, wait, that’s me on both counts,” I said, my voice shaking.
Melanie sneered. “You’re the one with the anger management issues. ”
“I told her my whole life story,” I said, thinking about all the times I’d trusted her, all the secrets I’d shared. “Anywhere you two are, I’ll get back to Damon after I’ve been to A&E.
” I touched my nose. It hurt, but it wasn’t broken. “If it was broken, you’d hear crunching bones. ”
“It was three against one,” Melanie said, a smirk playing on her lips.
“Oh, and you do? ” I shot back. She sighed, the mockery fading. “I take it you had enough space.
”
I didn’t answer. I just turned and walked away, my chest burning with a mix of fury and shame. I knew the truth was in there somewhere, buried under all her lies. But for now, I was done.
I wasn’t going to let her break me anymore. Later, I found Will and Sam. They were standing there, looking at me like they didn’t know what to expect. I told them the truth, about everything Melanie had done, about the whole twisted scheme.
Will looked at me with that same hard stare he’d always had, but something was different. He wasn’t accusing me anymore. He was just… listening.
“I saw you with Eva in the laundrette, dragging her into Leanne’s flat,” I said to Will. “All that fresh meat. All lies you said. ”
Will shook his head.
“I still want to see you delete it. ”
“You didn’t fall hard enough to have an honest miscarriage,” he said, and I could see the pain behind his eyes. I stood there, feeling the weight of everything. I’d been so desperate to fit in, to be loved, that I’d let Melanie drag me into the dirt.
And now, with Will and Sam standing in front of me, I finally saw the truth: I’d been the one who had lost the most. Not them. Me. “It’s taken me a long time to realize that,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.
“But you’ve got to have each other’s backs. ”
Will looked at me, and for a moment, I thought he might walk away. But then he nodded, just a small movement, and I knew something had shifted between us. It wasn’t forgiveness, not yet.
But it was a start. I looked at the two of them, these boys I’d failed, these boys I’d tried to protect in my own messed-up way. And I realized that maybe I was the one who needed saving all along. I turned and walked out of the flat, leaving the old life behind me.
There was nothing left to hold on to, and no one left to be. Life would never be the same. But for the first time in a long time, I felt like I could breathe.
I didn’t look back.
