Edenham Comprehensive

The rest of September drags on, the days filled with boring lessons, nagging teachers and Tyler's trials. October arrives much slower than Casey would like, but with it comes the promise of half-term, a welcome reprieve from the harsh regime.

On the second weekend of October, Reuben's at her flat in her room, lying on her bed next to her; it's getting too cold to hang out outside in the den.

"Favourite colour?" he asks.

She thinks for a second. "Green. Favourite film?"

"The Shawshank Redemption. Favourite day of the week?"

"Saturday. Favourite food?"

"Chips. Favourite mythical creature?"

"Hippogriffs. Favourite Harry Potter spell?"

He looks blank. "Uh… Wingardium Leviosa?"

She stifles her laughter. "Have you any idea what that even does?"

"Absolutely none," he replies without missing a beat. "It was just the first one I could think of. Favourite Shakespeare play?"

"You know who Shakespeare is?" She feigns astonishment, giggling when he whacks her on the arm. "Macbeth."

"Right. Which one's that one?" he queries.

She rolls her eyes. "The one where the guy gets told by a bunch of witches that he's going to be king. You know, double, double, toil and trouble? It's one of his most famous ones."

"Of course it is," he replies dryly.

They lapse into a comfortable silence. She glances up from her lap and catches him looking at her curiously.

“What is it?” she asks self-consciously. “Is there something on my face?”

“Huh? No,” he replies quickly, looking away. “You’re fine. Casey,” he says carefully, but before he can finish his sentence, her phone starts vibrating, ringing harshly from her front jeans pocket.

She takes it out hastily and glances at the screen, her mouth dropping open as she does so. The phone doesn’t recognise the number – she deleted it long ago – but she does. It’s as familiar to her as her own.

“Tyler,” she says, her mouth dry as she presses the phone to her ear. Reuben visibly tenses. “What do you want?”

“Good morning to you too, Casey,” Tyler replies. “I have a job for you.”

She closes her eyes slowly, dreading what’s going to come next. “What is it?”

“There’s no need for you to sound so horrified,” he says, sounding amused. “It’s not that bad. I just want you to get me some stuff, is all.”

She winces. She does not like the sound of this. She does not like the sound of this at all. “What kind of stuff?”

He starts reeling off a list he’s obviously pre-prepared, and her eyes fly open with shock and alarm.

“Tyler, I can’t get all that,” she whispers, horrified. Her budget is stretched to breaking point as it is; there’s no way she can afford all the stuff he wants.

“Calm down, it’s not that bad,” he replies airily. “You’ve got all weekend.”

She can almost feel his smirk radiating down the phone as he hangs up, and her face visibly darkens. Her phone beeps a few seconds later; she’s got a text. It’s a list of all the things she needs to get, just in case she forgets, it proclaims smugly at the end.

Narrowing her eyes, she shoves her phone back in her pocket and flops down on her bed, propping her pillow up to lean back against it. Reuben shifts a little so they're directly opposite each other, and stretches out his legs to get more comfortable.

“What is it?” he asks warily, not sure he really wants to know the answer.

Sighing, she runs a hand through her hair and fills him in on what Tyler wants her to do. His face grows steadily darker as she explains, and she can feel the anger radiating off him in great waves.

“Who does he think he is?” he fumes once she pauses long enough for him to get a word in. “Who the hell does he think he is?”

She winces, rubbing her forehead in an attempt to rid herself of her sudden headache. “Tyler Westwood, king of Edenham Comprehensive.”

He glares at nothing in particular. “He can’t expect you to get all that. It’s just impossible.”

“I know,” she sighs, “but there isn’t much I can do about it. I’m just going to have to raid my savings and scam some cash off Mum. Unless you know a criminal mastermind who can steal the lot for me.”

A strange, twisted half smile appears on Reuben’s face. “Funny you should say that,” he says carefully, “because I think I know someone who could help you out.”

She frowns. “What do you mean?”

He hesitates momentarily; he still isn’t sure if he can trust her with his secret. But it’s too late now.

“I have this friend...” he begins carefully.

***

Shivering, Casey glances around her. They're round the back of an old warehouse near where Reuben used to live. But she’s been to Harbourne before, though, and this doesn’t look like the Harbourne she knows. It’s dark and grimy and graffitied to within an inch of its life. Almost every house they passed on the way had at least one smashed window, and there was a gang of teenagers on virtually every street, who glared daggers at them as they passed. He's promised there'll be someone here who can help her out but suddenly, she isn't so sure. Something about this place just gives her the creeps.

“What is this place?” she asks, pulling her hoodie tighter around her.

“A warehouse,” is his muttered reply.

She shoots him a look. “I mean, where are we? This isn’t Harbourne, is it?”

“Technically,” he begins, “no. Not exactly. We left Harbourne a little while ago.”

“And I’m guessing this isn’t exactly a safe area to be in when the sun goes down?” she says, peering around them.

“Not exactly.”

“Wonderful.”

“Don’t worry,” he assures her. “You’ll be fine as long as you’re with me.”

Her face scrunches up into a squashed lemon and she makes a derisive sound in her throat. Suffice to say, she’s not particularly impressed. She watches him approach the rusted door, frown with concentration and then knock sharply on it a few times. She waits as patiently as she can manage, but nothing happens.

"Reuben," she whispers, but before she can finish her sentence, the door swings open and a guy, a few years older than them, is standing there, his eyes narrowed with suspicion.

"Lenny!" Reuben exclaims, knocking fists with him. "Long time no see, mate."

Lenny's face eases up into a smile almost instantly. "Hey, Reuben. How's life been treating you?"

"Good, good," Reuben nods. "You?"

"Business is going great, I've been making loads," Lenny replies offhandedly. "Ain't been the same since you left, but we've made do. You still up to your old tricks?"

Reuben grins. "What do you think?"

Lenny gives a low, throaty chuckle. "Never expected anything else." His eyes flick to Casey, hovering a few steps away. "Who's this, your girlfriend?"

"Not likely," Reuben laughs. "This is Casey, my friend. Casey, this is Lenny, an old mate of mine."

"Safe," Lenny nods. "Any mate of Reuben's is a mate of mine."

She smiles a little uncomfortably, but he's already turned his attention back to Reuben.

"So," he says casually, "what can I help you with?"

"I just need a few things," Reuben replies, passing him the list of stuff Tyler has ordered.

Lenny's eyes widen the further he gets down the list. "You're shitting me. You want all this, for free?"

"Come on, Len, I'm asking you as a friend here," Reuben says, his voice layered with persuasion. "You owe me, remember? Besides, I probably got you most of the stuff in there in the first place."

"So why can't you just get all this yourself?" Lenny demands.

"Because I thought I could call in a favour from an old friend instead," Reuben retorts. "Turns out Callum was right about you. You don't give a damn about anyone but yourself. Let's go, Casey."

He turns to leave, but a hand on his arm stops him and wheels him back around.

"Reuben, I always had nothing but respect for your brother, even if we didn't always see eye to eye," Lenny says quietly. "Go in. Get what you need. But don't let it get around. I've got a rep to uphold. I don't want my rivals thinking I'm going soft, yeah?"

Reuben cracks a grin. "Thanks, Lenny."

He gives him a brief smile before clapping him on the back and steering him inside.

"Come on, Casey," Reuben calls, and she follows him inside the warehouse as Lenny shuts them in.

"I can't believe you managed that," she mutters.

He shrugs, glancing at the list. "Me and Lenny go way back. What should we get first?"

"Was he a friend of your brother's?" she presses.

"Let's head over there," he mutters, ignoring her question completely as he ambles towards a shelf, chosen seemingly at random.

Sighing, she trudges after him. It appears she's not going to be getting any information out of Reuben about his past any time soon.

"This shelf is DVDs," he informs her once she's caught up with him.

For the first time, Casey glances around them, taking in the surroundings. The warehouse is filled with shelves upon shelves of all manner of boxes containing, she guesses, anything from jewellery to soap and everything in between.

"It's like a supermarket," she says, still agape with wonder.

Reuben chuckles. "You could say that, I guess."

But something’s niggling at her, something which makes her distinctly uncomfortable. "This stuff... it's all stolen, isn't it?"

His face remains impassive. "What do you think?"

Gulping, she glances down at the floor, somewhat unwilling to think about the implications of this. But she has to. She can’t just let this go.

“So this Lenny bloke,” she says carefully, “is he like some gang lord or something?”

He chuckles again, but this time it sounds forced. “Lenny? He’s about as harmless as they come.”

Casey doesn’t quite agree. He looked pretty intimidating from where she was standing.

“Were you in a gang?” she asks quietly. Reuben’s mouth opens in blatant denial, but she shakes her head firmly. “Please don’t lie to me.”

He shrugs like it’s no big deal. “I suppose, yeah.”

“You suppose?”

He’s starting to look distinctly uncomfortable. “Okay, yes. I was.”

“So how does that make you any different from Tyler?” she demands, her confidence growing. “I mean, you stole stuff from innocent people for your own personal gain, you probably did drugs and God knows what else-”

“Look, I’d really appreciate it if you’d hold off on the accusations,” he cuts in, his eyes blazing with righteous indignation. “You haven’t got a clue what’s going on, okay? For one, I would never do drugs. Ever. And don’t you dare compare me to that lowlife piece of scum ever, ever again. Got it?”

She nods dumbly, quivering from his outburst. He softens slightly, glancing away with guilt.

“Sorry,” he mutters. “It’s not what you think though, really. We were just kids playing at being gangsters because we had nothing better to do. And besides, I’m not in the game any more.”

“But when he asked-”

“Casey,” he says softly, her name like a breath of fresh air on his lips, “trust me. I’ve changed. We’ve all done things we’re not proud of. You should know.”

She casts her eyes to the floor, unable to look him in the eye. “I suppose.”

There’s a long, impermeable silence. Casey’s starting to realise that Reuben’s a lot more complicated then she could ever have imagined.

"Come on," he mutters, after what seems like an age. "Let's get this over with."

***

A few hours later, they're done, Casey's rucksack bursting with everything on Tyler's list. After a quick goodbye to Lenny, they head for the nearest bus stop to take them back home. They get off the bus at the estate and make straight for the den, where Casey tips everything out of the bag, while Reuben crosses each item off the list as they go along.

"Well, that's everything," he says finally, grinning as he puts down the piece of paper.

She shifts a little, glancing round at the stuff that’s nearly filling the room. She looks back at him, suddenly shy, then glances down at her hands, wringing them in her lap. “Thanks for that. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

He smiles back, and leans forward to tuck a strand of flyaway hair behind her ear. “Don’t mention it. I couldn't just let you struggle on your own, could I?”

She grins back at him, still breathing heavily. “Tyler’s going to be surprised when I roll into school with all this stuff.”

He lets out a throaty chuckle. “I don’t know if 'surprised' is the right word. He probably set you an impossible task he knew you couldn’t complete just so he could punish you.”

“Probably?” She laughs harshly. “There isn’t any doubt about it.”

They’re silent for a second; neither of them has anything to say, but neither wants to rupture the easiness of each others’ company.

Eventually, Casey pulls herself to a standing position, smiling down at Reuben. “I’d better get back. Stuff to do, you know?”

“Yeah,” he echoes, slowly getting to his feet. “Me too.”

They share a smile, then turn and leave the den together. Something has changed between them. It’s unnoticeable to the casual observer, but it’s there. A barrier between them has been lifted, and there’s a closeness between them that wasn't there before as they walk, shoulders brushing gently, back to the estate.