As I'm walking home, the sound of Martine McCutcheon's cover of On The Radio gets louder and louder the closer I get to my house. Then it clicks... This is one of Mom's break-up songs! Craig must've done summet.
I jog up to my front door and burst in to see Haylee getting Mom's foot ointment ready, Mrs Paracha cooking something on the stove and Missy and Naz fussing with Mom on the sofa. "What's happened?"
"Craig left and took tely." Mom grumbles.
"What, the tely we paid for?" I ask rhetorically. "He leave a note?" Mom and Missy shake their heads. "What kind of bloke, ups and leaves without even a note?"
"A slimeball." Missy comments brushing Mom's hair.
"Not even a poxy text, Izzy." Mom states, and I shake my head, walking round the back of the sofa and kissing the top of Mom's head.
"It's gonna be okay. Not like this ain't happened before."
"Snakes don't send text." Mrs Paracha speaks up, handing my mom some cake. "They're too busy crawling through dirt with other snakes..."
Mrs Paracha continues to ramble, and it makes me think of the other family. Is she saying all this cos she can relate about Mr Paracha? Does Mrs Paracha envy Mr Paracha's second life? Is she hurting? Does she wish she didn't know? Or did she already have an idea about it due to the fact he's always going off to Pakistan, and now she's relieved she wasn't crazy after all?
I'm brought back to reality when someone knocks on the door. We all hold our breaths at the thought of Craig turning up or something, then we hear it. "Simone~ I know you're in there."
"Shit!" I hiss, and we all start moving around and hiding at the unexpected voice.
Mrs Paracha and Naz hide in the hallway, whilst Razia, Mom and Haylee hide behind the sofa, and Missy crouches at the window. I stand in the kitchen, debating if I should go with my gut and let her in or hide with my twin sister and pray she gets bored and jogs on.
"I can hear them sappy tunes right down Blackymore Street." She says, coming to the window.
"I knew I weren't going crazy." I mutter, thinking back to when I thought I had a screw loose on my way home when I was hearing music but not seeing a speaker.
"You never got another loan!" Missy hisses.
"Where'd you think massive tely came from?" Mom asks rhetorically. "Craig wanted HD."
"Craig's gone!" I whisper shout.
"So's bloody TV!" Mrs Paracha points out.
"Girls, is that you? Missy? Izzy? Are you two in there?" She asks, catching on to our voices. "Come on, loves, you know me, I'm just gonna keep coming back till I get dealt with."
I huff and swing the door open, "What'd you want, Linda?"
"Come on, Izzy, love. I think I've got a way we can sort this out." Linda grips my arms, but I'm quick to rip them from her grasp. Why does everyone like grabbing me today?!
No words are exchanged, just wary glances from me and Missy when Linda walks further into the house and stops in front of the sofa, knowing Mom's hiding spot.
"Leave my girls out of it, Linda, it's my debt." Mom speaks up from behind the sofa.
"Well, it's either the twins or a late payment fee plus a week's worth of interest." Everyone slowly comes out into the open at Linda's demands.
For fuck sakes!
♡♥︎♡
Me and Missy and lazily laying on the sofa, as Haylee recounts her very eventful day from her position on the floor in front of us when my phone starts vibrating repeatedly:
1 message from Jordy 😋💕.
2 messages from Jordy 😋💕.
3 messages from Jordy 😋💕.
4 messages from Jordy 😋💕.
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I Like Me Better When I'm With You | Ackley Bridge
Teen FictionIsabella Booth is Missy Booth's twin and Cory Wilson's best friend. Cory and Izzy have been friends for as long as they can remember but last year Izzy and Missy dropped out of school. Cory and Izzy still stayed close and Izzy back at the new school...
