He's After Me

Chapter THIRTY-SEVEN



And then, just as I’m slowly coming to terms with the fact that Jem has vanished from my life for ever, he quietly lets me know he’s still around. When I get to the bus stop one morning with Livi, I notice the shelter is boasting a JAWS tag inside a red heart. It looks just like the chocolate heart he slipped into my bag all those months ago – and I’m so taken by surprise, I gasp.

‘What’s up?’ says Livi and I say, ‘Nothing,’ and she lapses back into the soulful silence that is becoming her default mood. Since Jem disappeared she’s retreated into a world of her own – when she’s not out with her giddy mates. I hope Ferret’s not back on the scene now Jem’s not here to set a good example. How ironic is that? That’s something that Dad didn’t see, the positive effect Jem had on my little sister. I think she misses him nearly as much as I do.

The next day there’s a heart with a tag inside it on the pavement outside college. It’s surrounded by a crowd of admiring students, who recognize the signature.

The day after that, one appears on the Art block.

Soon I’m looking for them – and he doesn’t disappoint. One appears at the end of my street, another on our back door, a third on the wall of the corner shop. The message is loud and clear. Jem Smith is still around, Anna Williams, and he wants you to know he still loves you.

It’s like my heart has lit up again. How did I think I could switch off what we had together? Every night, when I go to bed, I think of him out there, tagging. For me. Sometimes I think I’ll go mad, I miss him so much.

One night I go to the cinema with Zoe. By the time I get home, the house is in darkness. Mum and Livi must be fast asleep. I sink down on to the sofa, lost in gloom. The film, about lost love, really got to me. Suddenly I can’t stand it any longer. I go on Facebook and lurk on Jem’s page. Then I hear a noise outside in the hall and quickly I minimize the site, get to my feet and peer cautiously around the door in the darkness. My sister is tip-toeing upstairs. She freezes in horror when she sees me.

‘Don’t do that! I thought you were Mum!’

‘Where’ve you been?’

‘Shhh!’ She glances upstairs apprehensively. ‘She’ll hear you!’

The penny drops. ‘You’ve been with that loser, Ferret, haven’t you?’

She licks her lips nervously then gives me a twisted, little smile. ‘So? What if I have?’

‘Livi! You are going to get yourself into trouble!’

‘What? Like you, you mean?’

I glare at her, torn between the urge to slap her and wanting to sit her down and explain for the umpteenth time why she shouldn’t throw herself away on someone like Ferret. She doesn’t give me the chance to do either. She disappears upstairs and I wander into the kitchen crossly to make myself a coffee.

I take it upstairs with me to bed and flick through a magazine while I drink it. I must have nodded off because I wake up with a start with the light still on. Then I remember I’d left the computer on Facebook and I nip downstairs to turn it off. I maximize the screen before I switch it off.

Jem has sent me a message.

I miss you, Anna.

What is this, telepathy? One click and I see that he’s still online. My heart is racing; my fingers are even faster.

I miss you too.

Back comes the reply and then, before I know it, we are chatting.

I didn’t steal anything from your father’s flat.

No?

You know I didn’t. I borrowed some cash, that’s all. I was going to put it back.

What about the rest of the stuff?

What, Jude’s knickers?

Stop it!

I’m sorry.

What about my dad’s watch? And the jewellery?

I didn’t take it.

Where is it then?

You’re not going to like this.

What?

I think it was an insurance job.

My dad’s not a criminal.

Neither am I.

Leave it there, Anna. It’s too painful raking it all up again. But I stare at the screen. If Jem is telling the truth and he didn’t take those things … Well, I didn’t take them and Dad didn’t take them, that’s for sure. So that means there’s only one person left to blame for this whole sorry mess.

Jude. She’s trying to fiddle the insurance.

The thing is, who do I trust? Jude or Jem?

My fingers type:

I need to see you.