I Like Me Better When I'm With You | Ackley Bridge

20|'Us?...It Could Be'

I wake up, get dressed, and go downstairs to see Missy and Mom cuddled on the sofa with the telly on. I clap my hands, "Come on, you two. Up and out. Missy school, Mom whatever you do when we're not here."

Mom came back a few nights ago, sober ish, wanting to help us get Haylee back. I'm still cautious around her, but if she gets Haylee back, I don't care about what she's done.

"Urgh, can we have a day off?" Missy asks.

"Nope." I shake my head. "It's open day. We need to show the town that we're an evolved school with a future and that we're a success story and blah, blah, blah, blah."

"Good thing you're not doing a speech." Missy jokes as toast pops out the toaster. 

"Who wants what?" I ask, putting a slice on each plate. "We've got strawberry jam, that Haylee wrote her name on, which we'll replace cos its almost gone, chocolate spread or butter. Mom?"

"Jam, please, love." Mom smiles tiredly. 

"Alright, Missy?" I look at my twin.

"Butter, please." She requests before running upstairs to get dressed.

"Right, Mom, because it's an open day, we'll probably be out of school early... so, um, you won't be alone for too long." I hand her the toast. "Ring, if you need anything. Missy, hurry up! Don't burn the house down, yeah?"

"I could, I could come down school, see how everything's going." Mom offers.

"Yeah, not gonna happen." I shake my head. "After last time, that's a big no, no. And Mrs Carter would probably have a heart attack if you showed up to her 'perfect' day. Missy, hurry up!"

"I'm coming!" Missy shouts back.

"But I'm clean now." Mom argues.

"Yeah, well..." I trail off, and Missy jogs in. "Ready?"

Missy nods and holds her mouth open for me to put her toast in. "Let's go."

"Bye, Mom." "Yeah, see ya."

♡♥︎♡

"Right, I'm art department, and you're tours, yeah?" I check with Missy as we approach the main entrance of school.

"Yep." She nods.

"So, if you need me, I'll be in..." I trail off waiting for her to finish my sentence.

"Sports hall?" She asks, hoping she got it right.

"Canteen." I correct. "You need to know this, M."

"I'll figure it out as I go." She shrugs, and I shake my head with a smile.

"Go on, go find Naz." I gently shove her in the tour guide direction. 

"Love ya!" She blows me a kiss, and I 'catch' it.

♡♥︎♡

I'm in my art classroom to collect the work Mrs Kossal picked for me to go up on the presentation. "Ah, Miss Booth, I've been expecting you."

"No offence, Miss, but you delivered that horribly." I tell her, and she raises an eyebrow at me. "Look, let me demonstrate. Um..."

I look around the class for anything cat-related and see a purple cat painting leaning up against the wall.

I grab the painting and sit in Mrs. Kossal's spiny chair - that she never uses - turning it around so my backs to her. "Like this."

I spin the chair around slowly, fake stroking the cat painting and smirk, "I've been expecting you."