For me the next few days were an odd mixture of learning to speak my truth and keeping up appearances. I spent every afternoon with Henry and we talked a lot – about the good, the bad and the ugly. I had even made it through a chicken dinner with Henry and his mother without freaking out. 

Don't get me wrong. It was still a terribly uncomfortable situation for me, one I was in no hurry to repeat, but I had made it through, and I was feeling quite proud of myself. I wasn't too proud about the fact that I kept lying about my whereabouts to my parents, though. Deep inside my soul I despised myself for not being strong enough to throw their bigotry right back into their faces by not only doing the right thing, but also by speaking out. At least, I didn't visit my bench so often anymore. But every night before I went to bed, I opened my bedside drawer and checked that my pills were still there. Ironic as that sounds, knowing they were there gave me a sense of security.

A few days after I had been to Henry's house for the first time, Henry arrived at school in the morning with his left arm heavily bandaged. Despite his misgivings, I had started to socialise with Henry at school. Just here and there. People knew we were acquainted but nothing more. When I saw his arm, I went straight over to where he was standing with his friends. When I had asked him why he did not care about being seen with them at school, he had said that he wasn't worried about them because, unlike me, they were big lads and could take care of themselves. No sexism intended, of course. They were big lads in a good and capable way, whereas I was a big girl in a bad and incapable way. Truth, not insult. Besides, they had been friends for years and nothing had ever happened. I, on the other hand, was a new friend and female. Henry was sure that those two little details would put a target on my back. But even after the incident with Henry in which I had actively involved myself, none of the bullies had started to take any kind of interest in me. I was still simply a non-entity. So I wasn't really worried about being seen with Henry in public.

"What happened?" I cried.

Henry turned to me and put his good arm reassuringly over my shoulder.

"Got into a little fight. Nothing broken. Don't worry about it."

I knew that none of Henry's friends knew about his stepfather, and I wasn't about to let this particular cat out of the bag, although I had to bite my tongue pretty hard not to ask.

"We'll talk later, Cat," Henry said, removing his arm from my shoulder. Cat dismissed. But this time I knew he was just trying to protect me.

"Okay, later," I answered before I sauntered back over to my little circle of new friends.

A short while later, my phone buzzed.

Meet my place after school?

I answered quickly.

Can't. Mum doing Home Office today. Need to show my face first. Be there soon as.

Okay :)

* * * * *

After a particularly tense lunch with my mother, I left for Henry's place. My mother had been delighted when I told her that I would be meeting up with Patricia – No nickname's, please, there is always enough time to use a person's full name! – to work on a report for a school project.

"What is the project about?" my mother had asked.

"White supremacist ideology and modern racism," I had countered.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that our schools are addressing this problem these days and are educating the young people in this respect."

I nearly choked on my lettuce leaf.

"It's a pity that they clearly failed this mission in your time!" I injected as much venom into my voice as I could muster – and I found that I was able to muster quite a lot. But my mother didn't rise to the bait. She didn't even blush or avert her eyes in shame.

"Society has come far since then, that's for sure," she stated in all earnestness.

"If you call painting rainbow colours all over the real issues, then I'm tempted to agree with you, mother." I rose and left the room, my Spartan lunch uneaten. I grabbed my jacket and left, shouting "Off to Trish's now!" before slamming the door.

* * * * *

Henry opened the door before I had even had the chance to knock.

"Come in, come in," he sang cheerfully.

I looked at his bandaged wrist.

"You are happy today," I said carefully.

"I am happy, Cat. My mum and I had a really good chat last night after... well, you know. Anyway, mum's decided enough is enough. Derek hadn't meant to hurt me; he was after my mum. I tried to protect her without using unnecessary force. You know me. I absolutely detest violence, and I didn't want to stoop down to Derek's level. The guy was drunk anyway. It's not that I could have taught him a lesson or anything. It wasn't even a bad fight. We've seen much worse, mum and I. But for the first time in her life, my mum stood up for herself. She fought back. She called the police. Derek is banned from our house now for ten days. Mum says she is only going to allow him to come back if he is willing to do something about his issues. And by something she means institutionalisation until he has conquered his demons – whatever they may be. Derek has texted her earlier that he is now looking for a place in a rehab facility. It's not easy to find a place at such short notice, but he is not giving up, and he has promised not to come near us again until he has turned his life around."

I jumped up off Henry's bed, on which I had been sitting, and squeezed Henry until his face turned blue.

"That's brilliant. That's such a weight off my mind. I've been so scared the last few weeks, scared that something terrible would happen to you, scared that I could have prevented it but..."

"It's okay. All's well that ends well."

Henry squeezed me.

All of a sudden, I realised that I was hugging a boy without even thinking about my figure, without feeling uncomfortable. I felt exhilarated. And terrified at the same time.

"Or is it?" I asked gently. I looked at Henry's wrist.

"It's just a sprain. Be as good as new in a few days. You'll see."

"You probably haven't even seen a doctor about it, so forgive me if I'm a little doubtful. But it's not really your wrist I'm worried about. The things you've been through... You had to see a shrink a couple of years ago just to get you through. So what about what is inside you?"

"I can deal. Honestly and truthfully. Cross my heart and hope to die! I've walked the valley of tears and found a way out. I won't be going back, I can assure you. I told you I was interested in mental health. Not only do I want to work in that field later on, I also learned how to take care of myself."

"So, it's true what my father always says. Shrinks are all mental themselves. They became shrinks initially because they wanted to cure themselves. No offense."

Henry smiled.

"None taken. And maybe there is some truth in that. It certainly applies to me to some extent. Although right now I would say that I know that having been through a crisis myself and having come out the other side safely might qualify me to help others achieve the same thing – more than people who only know about these things from their textbook studies."

"You might have a valid point there, mate."

I paused. Would I want to be some sort of shrink, too? Would my struggles give me an edge over other shrinks? Somehow I doubted it. Maybe because unlike Henry I had not yet managed to reach the other side. I envied Henry. He seemed to have slain his demons in spite of a home life that was terrifying and in spite of being the punching bag for a bunch of boys who fancied themselves some sort of white gangsta rappers.

Henry sensed my change in mood.

"Do not get all philosophical on me now, Cat. Let's just enjoy the day."

I gave my heart a push. This wasn't about me.

"Okay. Let's celebrate. Let's go to Frankie's for a celebratory pizza, then the park. I've still got a bottle of wine that I nicked from my mother's stash. We need to let our hair down a bit, don't you think?"

I wasn't really a drinker nor was Henry as far as I knew, but I felt we needed to be a little reckless.

"You know why we shouldn't go out together."

"Are you ashamed to be seen with me?" I fluttered my eyelids.

Henry laughed.

"Katherine Shelley, are you flirting with me?" Despite his teasing tone, I thought I was able to hear something else in his voice. But I couldn't really put my finger on it. Insecurity maybe?

"You're a good-looking man, Henry, and I'm the fatty. We are some sort of reverse Beauty and the Beast."

Jesus, I really hadn't meant to say that. Way to go and kill a celebration. I was well aware of the fact that we hadn't really talked about my outburst a few days ago. Now was not really the time to address the elephant that had been in Henry's room with us since that day. And no, for once, I was not the elephant.

"You are not fat, Cat, by anybody's standards. I don't know why..."

"Forget about it, please. Please! Let's just go and have a good time. This is about you today. Please, Henry. Let's go to Frankie's."

Henry sighed loudly.

"I know you are afraid for me but it's really unnecessary. Nobody pays me any attention. Those five thugs have a problem with you, not with me. It's about time we stopped them from dictating what we can and what we can't do."

"And what about your parents? What if somebody sees us together and reports back to your mother?"

"I honestly couldn't care less, Henry. I might not have stood up for you or for our friendship forcefully enough so far, but I won't let a bunch of adolescent academically-challenged idiots nor a couple of middle-aged middle-class hypocrites tell me whom to be friends with. Forgive me if that didn't sound totally PC."

Henry threw his head back and started laughing. A real deep belly laugh which warmed my heart. It felt good to see him like that.

He grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the door. Yes, finally we were going somewhere.