Mia Evian has to piece together the mystery of Zack Maddox, the bad boy whose life she saved, while simultaneously keeping her own crumbling life together before Zack ends up in trouble again - or worse yet, dead.
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After visiting his house, I've decided against getting to know Preston on personal terms. It's not anything he's specifically done, and it's not even necessarily a bad something, but a something that makes me scared of what I might find if I dig deeper. That's exactly why I need to get this over with as quickly as I possibly can.
'Is this it?' Aiden questions, bouncing beside me as we stop at the end of a driveway.
I notice the house's front door is open, and nod. 'Yep, definitely it.'
I had a maths lesson with Preston this afternoon, and he left a half finished assignment behind, which is due by the end of the Christmas holidays. Considering said holidays start today, unless I personally hand him the work, he's got no chance of passing physics. I better get some good karma for doing this.
With Preston's incomplete work in my grasp, I trudge down the empty driveway, followed by Aiden. As I approach the open door, I'm not sure whether to knock or just stroll in as the latter seems to be Preston's desired approach. I decide to knock, and as we stand and wait, we hear an indistinguishable One Direction song echoing from upstairs. I furrow my eyebrows. This is a flashing red light of why I've chosen to avoid getting to know this kid on personal terms.
'D'you think he'll let me use the toilet?' Aiden asks as I hear a door open upstairs. 'You know I've had pee anxiety since the incident when I was eight, and before you say anything, I know it was a long time ago and I should be over it. It's not as easy as that though, Mia, and I really need to go. If I pee myself in front of Zack Maddox, I will literally have to disembody myself right then and there.'
Footsteps barrel down the stairs until Preston is standing in front of us with a one-sided smirk on his face, and a lit cigarette tucked behind his ear. He seriously needs to start storing those things in safer places. I hand him his work before he has the chance to begin any small talk, and I'm about to take my opportunity to leave when Aiden opens his mouth.
'Can I use your toilet?' There's a hint of panic in his voice. 'Uh, please, I don't want to pee myself,' he jokes, but begins stuttering. 'Not that I've ever done that before, like, not even on a waltzer in a fairground when I was eight or anything. That would be mad, right? Imagine that, kinda hard to having not done--'
'Down the hallway, turn left, and it's straight ahead.' An amused glint dances in Preston's eyes as he laughs.
The second Aiden enters the house and runs for the toilet, I want to chase after him and flush myself down said toilet because that sounds far less risky than having to be alone with Preston. It's irrational because I see him every week for our maths lessons, but there's a massive difference between Preston the maths tutor, and Preston the boy who made me tie his hands together with a shoelace. Then there's the peculiar case of Zack Maddox, of course.
I relax a little when Preston doesn't say anything to me and takes a drag from the cigarette behind his ear. As he places the paper I gave him down onto the stairs, it's hard not to notice the irritating, bouncy sounds of One Direction pulsating through the house. Why is he even listening to such crap?
