© Jojo B 2016

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*N.E.V* The Seven Deadly Simpson Brothers

6

(Picture is Walter)

I woke up on Monday morning with a text from Hayley asking if I wanted a ride to school.

At first, when I heard my phone ping, I thought it was just spam because I didn't receive messages from anyone very often, but then I remembered that we had exchanged numbers and I had saved hers onto my phone. I was about to automatically reply a 'no thank you' but then I stopped to actually think about it.

Yeah that would be nice thanks, I sent back.

Hayley replied instantly, Great! Send me your address. I'll be there hopefully in half an hour.

I didn't want her to know where I lived, so I told her I would meet her at a destination a few minutes from the degraded block of flats that I called my home, in a more 'presentable' area.

Getting out of my bumpy bed, I stretched my aching body and went to the mouldy bathroom for a shower. Coming out, and feeling a lot fresher, I changed into a pair of blue jeans and a jumper before walking the tiny distance to the cramped kitchen. I poured myself some cereal that I'd bought just the day before. Seeing the slightly crushed box of Cheerios made me remember the vile touches Diego Santiago had given me. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block out the childhood memories that no doubt followed.

Walter Simpson made his way into my head and I opened my eyes again, feeling a small sense of security. Silly, considering that I wasn't even with him, and that he belonged to a gang just as dangerous as the Santiagos. I poured myself a bowl, ate it and washed up in less than five minutes.

I put on my shoes and wrapped my scarf around my neck before pulling on my coat. Grabbing my schoolbag, I let myself out of my flat and locked the door behind me. I walked to the spot I'd asked Hayley to pick me up at, all the while thinking about how kind she was going out of her way to help me and get to know me better.

Five minutes later Hayley herself pulled up in a small red car and rolled down her window, grinning at me.

"Good morning," she said to me.

"Morning," I smiled back, still standing on the curb.

"Get in then," Hayley gestured.

I blushed slightly at my hesitation and walked round to get into the passenger's side. Hayley's car was old and cosy. It smelt of the pine freshener she had hanging up on the rear-view mirror and she had the radio playing quietly in the background.

"Thanks Hayley," I said to her as I buckled my seatbelt. "I really appreciate this."

"No need to thank me," she replied, putting the car into gear once I'd finished with my seatbelt. "Sorry I was late, were you standing there long?"

"No," I said, enjoying the warmth of the vehicle. "I was just a couple minutes early."

"Oh okay," she said. "So how was your weekend?"

I instantly remembered going to the Simpson household, something I doubt many 'ordinary' people did, and meeting three of Walter's attractive brothers. It also brought back the cutting remarks Eli Simpson had made about me. I didn't know why he had been so horrible, it made me feel like I had done something wrong.

"Coral?" Hayley's voice made me snap back.

"Sorry," I blinked and smiled apologetically. "It was...eventful."

I didn't even know why I wanted to tell Hayley about what had happened, perhaps it was because I didn't have any real friends to talk to. Either way, it was best to not go into details.

"Eventful how?" she raised her eyebrows as she kept her eyes on the road.

"Well," I paused. "I didn't do much."

Hayley creased her brows in confusion, before catching the 'sarcasm'.

She laughed, "Lazy days in?"

"Yep," I smiled. "Well I had work on the Saturday, but was completely free on Sunday. What about you?"

"I was stuck babysitting," she pulled an upset face. "They may be my cousins but they sure do love to get on my nerves."

I grinned, "Do you have a lot of family then?"

"I don't have any siblings, but I've got plenty of cousins," Hayley replied. "Most of them live on the other side of London, others live further out."

We spent time talking about her relatives and it was nice to know more about her. I liked hearing the funny stories about her family gatherings; it took my mind off my own background. When Hayley asked me about my family, I surprised myself by telling her the truth, well as much of it as I could.

"My mother died when I was three," I said. "I don't really remember her."

"I'm sorry to hear that," she said sympathetically.

I didn't mention my father and Hayley thankfully didn't ask. She was so considerate.

"It's nothing," I said, realising we had arrived at school. "Thanks again for the ride."

"Stop saying thanks," she grinned, turning the engine off.

When she didn't immediately get out of the car, I too remained seated, wanting to ask her something.

"Hayley," I started quietly.

"Yeah?" she turned to look at me with a small frown on her face. "What is it?"

"Why are you being so nice to me?" I asked her, looking down at my lap, unable to hold her eye contact for more than a second.

I saw her face relax into a smile out of the corner of my eye, "Coral, do you really have to ask?"

I didn't answer because I wasn't quite sure what to say.

"Okay," she turned halfway in her seat to face me. "Honestly, I think you're a very nice person who needs to be more confident in herself, you know? I don't like seeing you on your own all the time and so you could do with a friend."

I looked at her as a smile slowly started to spread on my face, "You're such a good person Hayley, thanks."

"Stop saying thanks," she groaned again, leaning forwards to hug me. "It's no problem. You're a sweet girl and I'd love to get to know you better."

I hugged her back, feeling so happy that I'd finally made a friend after all these years.

"Come on," Hayley said after we'd pulled away. "Let's get to class."

***

I was sitting alone in the lunch hall, still feeling good about this morning. Having a friend would probably take some pressure off me, as I wouldn't have to deal with everything on my own anymore. Having someone to talk to could do much to relieve me, but it would be a while until I opened up to Hayley about a lot of things. And she also had her other group of friends to whom she wanted to introduce me to. I had declined, but I had also promised I'd give it a shot another day.

I jumped when someone in dark clothing pulled back the chair opposite me and sat themselves down. Walter was wearing his black leather jacket again and his greeny-brown eyes took in my state.

"You look better today," he said.

I wanted to ask him who gave him the permission to sit down, but I could never speak to him like that. Besides, I didn't mind that much.

"How are you today?" I asked him, trying to squeeze down the rising nerves. Everyone, and I mean everyone, was staring.

Hayley had gone home as she only had a half day; otherwise I would have sat with her or even forced myself to sit with her table of friends. Being alone with Walter made me an even bigger focus of attention, and attention was the last thing I wanted.

"Do you wanna go outside?" he asked me in his deep voice. "You look uncomfortable."

I swallowed. Was it that obvious?

"Yep," he grinned a heart-stopping grin at me.

I dropped my jaw, mortified that I'd said that out loud. Walter wasn't angry in the slightest; he looked amused more than anything.

"Okay sure," I said, standing up on shaking legs.

We walked out of the lunch hall together and I hoped Walter didn't notice how nervous I was by my trembling. He led me out to the athletics track and he sat down on one of the benches that over looked it. I sat down next to him before he could tell me to, and made sure that there was almost half a meter between us. If Walter noticed, he didn't say anything.

He leant forwards with his elbows on his knees and his hands running though his thick black hair, "I wanted to say sorry again about yesterd – "

"You don't have to apologise," I interrupted him, gaining a sudden surge of confidence. "It wasn't your fault, it was your brother's."

I didn't know where it had come from, but once I was saying how I truly felt and not holding back...I couldn't stop.

"I have nothing against him really," I muttered. "It's not like I'm going to see him ever again, so what's the point riling myself up about it? He's just a rude person, what else can I say?"

Walter had sat up and was looking at me with a mixture of surprise and admiration on his face.

"So you do have a voice," he said afterwards, making me blush. "No, don't be shy. I like it."

He liked it? Wow, just a couple of days ago I would have never imagined Walter Simpson telling me that he liked anything about me, a girl he still barely knew. Well, it gave me a little more confidence, just like Hayley had said I needed, which made being myself a lot easier.

"You never answered the question," I said to him, smiling at my lap.

"What question?" Walter sounded confused.

"How are you today?" I said, my smile widening.

"Oh," Walter chuckled and I had to stop myself from widening my eyes. His laughter was so sexy. "I'm fine, but all this school stuff...I forgot how much it sucked."

"Well, it has been a while," I stretched my legs out, looking at my shoes.

"How do you do it? The work, I mean," he asked me. "It's damn hard and the teachers move on so fast."

"I have nothing else to do," I let slip before realising how lame that sounded. "Apart from work, that is."

Walter seemed to be thinking, probably about all the things that he had to do in his daily life.

"Where do you work?" he asked me.

"A pub," I replied.

"Which one?" he looked down at me with a half-smile. "Or do you not want me to know?"

My cheeks warmed slightly and I looked away, "It's called The Dartfish."

"The dead fish?"

"No!" I couldn't help but laugh a little. "The Dart-fish. Not dead fish. Walter, they don't even sound similar."

He chuckled again and I smiled widely to myself. This was easier than I'd ever initially anticipated. He wasn't as bad-tempered and violent as I'd thought, well not all the time anyway. Not towards me.

"Lunch is over," I checked my watch. "What do you have next?"

"I don't even know," Walter rubbed the back of his neck. "I lost my timetable on the first day. I've been rolling up to class after class until I find the right one...usually when the period is almost over."

I shook my head at him, "Ask for a new one."

"Or, I could just go to class with you," Walter said, looking at me through his lashes. "I mean, I'm sure we have at least one class together."

"I take Textiles, Maths and English," I told him. "Do you take any of those?"

"Maths and English," he said.

"Oh?" I raised my eyebrows. "I have Maths now, so I guess we could go together."

Walter nodded, standing up. We walked in a comfortable silence back to the main school building, and I couldn't stop thinking about how strange these past few days had been.

"Help me," Walter blurted all of a sudden.

"With what?" I frowned, looking up at him in concern.

"Maths and English," Walter ducked his head, almost out of shyness. "I'm really behind."

He didn't strike me as a person who actually gave a damn about that, but it wouldn't hurt. If it wasn't too early to say, I thought Walter was kind of a nice guy.

"Yeah," I said, trying to think of time to fit that into my schedule of work and school. "I could give you some tutoring, to help you catch up and all."

Walter smiled widely at me, making my stomach flip.

"Thanks Coral," he said as we walked slowly back to school. "Could we meet up tonight?"

"I have work tonight," I declined quickly. "But I'm free on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays."

"Tomorrow then," he suggested.

"That's fine," I said back. "I can't do my place though."

"How come?" He murmured casually.

"Visitors," I lied.

"My place then," he shrugged and I nodded in agreement.

We had reached the school and continued walking down the hallways to class. It turned out that Walter didn't even have the same Maths teacher as me anyway, and he went to a different class. Maybe in English we'd have more luck.

It was only after school had ended, and in my haste straight to the pub, that I realised what I had agreed to. To my dismay, I would be going back to the Simpson residence, and back to where his all too intimidating brothers were.

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Thoughts on the chapter?

J

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