Chapter 1
The end of dinner break bell echoed through the school. Teenagers laughed and talked as their footsteps thudded on the corridor’s wooden floor as they passed the headmistress’s office. The dark-haired figure of sixteen-year-old Bonnie O’Neil stood in front of the headmistress’s desk, scowling at the boy beside her. Her classmate Craig Scott was holding a tissue on his nose to stop the blood dripping onto the floor. Mrs Becket, the slender headmistress with auburn hair tied up in a tight bun and wearing a grey dress suit, slowly stood, placed her hands on the light wood desk, and leaned forward. “What have you got to say for yourself, Bonnie?” she asked.
“Craig wanted a kiss, and I told him no,” Bonnie huffed, crossing her arms. “Then he said I was a lesbian like my mom, so I punched him on the nose,” she proudly stated. “My mom isn’t a lesbian; she’s bisexual.”
“Oh my,” Mrs Becket said quietly, shaking her head in frustration. “Bonnie, I want you to apologise to Craig, then you.”
“He started it, so he can apologise first,” Bonnie interrupted, turning to face Craig. “So are you going to apologise?” she asked, placing her hands on her hips and staring at him with brows raised.
“Sorry,” Craig mumbled, looking sheepishly at Bonnie.
“And I’m sorry too,” Bonnie said, sweetly smiling as she stepped towards the desk and flipped him the middle finger from behind her back.
“You can go now, Craig,” Mrs Becket said, looking at Bonnie, “and you can stay here with me.”
“What!” Bonnie gasped. “What have I done now?” she asked, watching Craig flip the middle finger back at her as he left the office.
“Please sit,” Mrs Becket said, pointing at the chair opposite her. “You’re not in any trouble.”
“That makes a change,” Bonnie said sarcastically, plonking onto the wooden chair.
Mrs Becket sat at her desk, gazing at Bonnie. The boisterous young girl was one of the brightest pupils to attend Harrisea’s Northfield High School in a long time. Not many children who lived on the Northfield housing estate where Bonnie lived had much of a chance in life. The area was run down and rife with drugs, crime, and teenage pregnancies. Truancy was high among the children who lived there. Until a few months ago, Bonnie’s attendance had been over 90%, but since her mother became sick, it had dropped to 74%. “You remind me so much of your mother,” she said with a gentle smile, thinking of the larger-than-life Margaret ‘mad Maggie’ O’Neil. Maggie had lived in the Northfield estate all of her life and was known to be a bit of a hell-raiser. When Bonnie was born, Maggie calmed a little, focused on being the best mom she could be, and had always encouraged her daughter to do well in school. Maggie wanted the best for Bonnie; she wanted her daughter to get out of Northfield estate to live a better life than she had.
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Bonnie smiled.
“I have some news for you,” Mrs Becket said, swallowing the emotional lump in her throat as she straightened the paperwork in front of her. “As of Monday, you’ll be able to leave school at dinner time and finish your schoolwork from home.”
“Really!” Bonnie gasped, staring wide-eyed at the headmistress, whom she’d become close to.
“Yes,” Mrs Becket nodded, “I went to visit your mother this morning to let her know the good news, and she has assured me that you will keep up with your studies.”
“I promise I will,” Bonnie said, nodding eagerly. “I won’t let my mom or you down.”
“We know you won’t,” Mrs Becket smiled, standing up and taking a black soft leather case off a shelf. She placed it on the desk in front of Bonnie. “I’ve recently bought myself a new laptop, so I thought my prize pupil would like my old one to help her with her studies for her exams.”
Bonnie unzipped the case and gasped when she raised the top. Inside the case was a silver coloured laptop. “Oh my god,” she said, standing up and holding her arms out to Mrs Becket, “thank you.”
“It’s my pleasure,” Mrs Becket beamed, hugging Bonnie, then stepping back. “I know you’re going to help take care of your mom, and you’ll have your studies to do as well, but make sure you take time to rest, and if there’s anything you need, let me know, and I’ll see what I can do for you.”
“I will, and thank you again,” Bonnie beamed, feeling the greatest sense of relief. Now she could study for her exams from home, help take care of her mom and get her well again.
***
Twenty three year old Bonnie O’Neil scrolled down her computer screen; she’d just been reading her hometown news online. Her dearest friend, Mrs Becket, who was still the headmistress at the high school she used to attend, had set up a fundraising page. Because of government cutbacks, there was no money to repair the school. The fundraising page was set up to pay for roof repairs and re-plastering the three classrooms that were out of use due to rain damage. Bonnie clicked the donate button at the bottom of the screen and entered 1,000 pounds. She typed “love from Bonnie xx” in the message box, then filled in her bank details from memory. As she clicked pay, her office door knocked and opened. The 6 ft 5 in, slightly overweight office boy with shoulder-length dark hair and a short, messy beard entered.
“Hi, Joel,” Bonnie smiled, standing and walking across her office to make a drink. “What can I do for you?” she asked, pressing the button on the coffee machine. “Do you want a coffee?”
Joel Harrison’s heart raced as he gazed at the petite figure of Bonnie. Standing at 5ft4, with long dark hair and big brown eyes, she was the kind girl who always made time for coffee and to talk with him. “Please, and I’ve brought you these,” he quietly said, placing a small box of pens on her desk and noticing, thank you for your donation, on her computer screen. “What charity have you donated to?” he curiously asked.
“The high school I used to attend,” Bonnie answered, placing two black coffees on her desk. “They’re trying to make it sound posh by calling it an academy now,” she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes as she sat down. “They need sixty thousand pounds to fix the roof and re-plaster three classrooms that have been damaged from the rain leaking in. So I’ve just donated a thousand pounds.”
“That’s generous of you,” Joel smiled, sliding his wallet out of the back pocket in his trousers.
“I don’t mind helping,” Bonnie said, gently smiling and reaching for her coffee. “That school stood by me when I needed them the most, especially the headmistress, Mrs Becket; she was my guardian angel.”
“I’d like to help too,” Joel said, sliding his credit card out of his wallet.
“Really,” Bonnie beamed, refreshing the website page and shuffling off her chair.
“Yes,” Joel answered, eagerly nodding as he moved off his chair. He put his wallet and mobile on the desk and sat on Bonnie’s chair.
Bonnie stepped aside to give Joel privacy while he entered his bank card details. Joel’s phone pinged; he picked it up and unlocked it. “That’s my bank asking for verification,” he nervously laughed as he logged into his online bank to verify the transaction. “There you go,” Joel smiled, standing. “I’ve made my donation,” he proudly stated, returning to his chair.
“Thank you,” Bonnie said, taking a sip of her coffee, “that’s very kind of you.”
“It’s my pleasure,” Joel said, shyly smiling and reaching for his coffee.
“Have you seen the email from Mr Matthews about the meeting after work?” Bonnie asked, crossing her legs as she relaxed back in her seat.
“Yes, I have,” Joel answered.
“Do you have any idea what it’s about?” Bonnie asked curiously.
“I haven’t got a clue.” Joel shrugged and turned to the door that had just opened. His heart sank when the stocky figure of Shane, Bonnie’s boyfriend, entered, dressed in black combat trousers and a pale blue shirt; he was covered in spots of white paint and dust.
“Hi,” Bonnie smiled, sitting up straight.
“Have you got a spare minute?” Shane asked, running his fingers through his neatly cut blond hair and looking at Joel. “In private,” he growled.
Joel placed his mug on the desk and stood. “I’ll see you later, Bonnie,” he mumbled, looking at the floor as he rushed out of the office.
Shane noticed Bonnie slowly shaking her head and staring at him. “What’s wrong with you?” he asked, sitting on the chair opposite her.
“There was no need to be like that with Joel,” Bonnie sighed.
“Yes, there is,” Shane huffed. “He’s always sniffing around you.”
“No, he isn’t,” Bonnie said, rolling her eyes. “Do I moan at you when you’re talking to my female co-workers?” she asked, not giving him a chance to answer. “No, I don’t, so don’t get snarky when I’m talking with Joel.”
Shane chewed the inside of his mouth as he stared at Bonnie for what seemed like forever; he didn’t like how she always stuck up for Joel. “Ok,” he said, standing up and turning to leave.
“Aren’t you going to tell me what you came to see me about?” Bonnie asked.
“It doesn’t matter now,” Shane huffed.
“Please don’t be off with me,” Bonnie said, slumping in her chair.
Shane paused in the doorway and turned to face her. “I was just letting you know that I’ll be joining you in the meeting after work.”
“Ok,” Bonnie sighed, flopping back on her chair, feeling stressed. “I’ll see you in an hour,” she said, rubbing her creased forehead and watching Shane leave the office, hoping he would be in a better mood when work was over. They were going away for the long bank holiday weekend and had booked a hotel in Liverpool.
Taking the box of pens off the desk that Joel had brought for her, she gently smiled as she placed them in her desk drawer. Joel had been working at Diamond Spar for the past six months, and she’d become very protective of the shy, softly spoken man. She didn’t like how co-workers teased and made fun of Joel, and she never understood why Shane disliked him so much until one day, when they were arguing. Shane accused her of fancying Joel and said her co-workers thought that too. That accusation had stunned her; she’d been dating Shane for the past four months and hadn’t even looked at another man. And it didn’t bother her what her co-workers were saying. If they couldn’t say it to her face, she wasn’t going to worry about it.
Bonnie’s thoughts turned to when she first met Shane; he was polite, charming and funny. Whenever she was on a break, Shane would join her in the canteen, asking her for a date. At first, Bonnie wasn’t interested, but Shane was persistent, and her co-workers kept telling her what a great guy he was. Eventually, she agreed to go on a date. When they began dating, she thought he was married because most weekends he drove three hundred miles to go home. After talking through her suspicions with her friend, they’d come to the conclusion that Shane was single. Whenever Shane returned to Norfolk to take care of his mom, after he’d settled her for the night, he would phone Bonnie and sometimes talk for hours into the early morning hours. Bonnie and her friend thought he couldn’t do that if he were married. When she told Shane about her suspicions about him being married, he got upset and made her feel guilty for thinking he’d stoop so low as to be a cheater. He then explained that he went home to help look after his mother, who had dementia and cancer. Bonnie understood his trips home because she knew what it was like to care for a sick relative. Her mom had died of cancer when she had just turned seventeen.
Joel stepped onto the lift. Gentle music played as he turned to press the up button. He saw Shane walking towards the lift. They made eye contact. Joel quickly pressed the button to close the doors. He didn’t like Shane and certainly didn’t want to share the same space with him. Joel’s heart ached as his thoughts turned to Bonnie. He was really into her and believed she was too good for Shane. Many times, he’d witnessed Shane flirting with the female staff, which he thought was disrespectful to Bonnie. Joel prayed that Bonnie would wake up and realise that Shane wasn’t good for her. He knew he could give Bonnie the life she deserved, and wished he could find the strength to fight for her. But deep down, he knew, even if Bonnie weren’t dating Shane, she wouldn’t be interested in him.
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