Hey Niki

The week went fast and I was counting down the days until I could see my mother. Mikey had gone back to his on the Friday which meant that it was just Tomos and I on the walk back after school. I had taught him how to play a short game of chess on the Wednesday, but on the Thursday he got Tomos to ask me whether I would continue to teach him that night. I said yes mostly because I had already done my homework and the book I was reading was almost finished with.

My uncle drove us to school on the Monday. It was raining and to make the day even worse, Alexandria wasn't in. She told me on the Friday that she wouldn't be in because her sister was having an operation on Sunday and both her parents work so she had to sit in with her for the day. She'd be in on Tuesday, though. When I told Tomos that she wasn't in he offered for me to sit with them at lunch now that I knew Mikey, but I declined and told him that I would be fine. I don't know why I'm so adamant about not hanging around with him during school. I wasn't embarrassed about hanging around with someone younger than me, or even embarrassed about him being my cousin. I'll never be embarrassed about my family.

The morning went quickly. I didn't have any classes with Alexandria so it didn't make a difference with her not being in during the lessons; it was only at lunch. In my forth lesson I found out that Mikey was in it. Now that I knew him from last week I noticed that he sat at the back of the room. I knew that he was the same age as Tomos, but he was in my class for this lesson. He's probably quite smart then. I waved at him at when I noticed him and then went to my seat. I wasn't going to be rude and ignore him. Especially not after teaching him how to play chess.

After the lesson he caught up with me. "Hey, Niki. I saw you alone at lunch but Tom said that you didn't want to hang round with us." I looked at him. "I thought that it would be nice to invite you over so that you weren't alone seeing as you taught me how to play chess."

I smiled. "He told me that some of his friends would do that if they knew I was his cousin," I told him.

"Oh . . . well, he was right. Some of us are like that."

"Like you," I said and laughed. He nodded and looked slightly embarrassed. "It was nice and all, Mikey. Honestly. But I don't need my cousin's friends to hang round with at school, no matter whether they want me to or not."

He nodded. I was slightly thankful that my next class wasn't too far from my previous class because this talk was slowing me down and if it was far from my previous class then I knew I'd be late -or be close to late. "Does that just count in school?" he asked. I raised my eyebrow. "We're coming round after school today. I just thought it would be nice and everything. That's all." He was sweet, I couldn't deny that.

"I guess not. I've got to get to my next class now. I'll see you later, Mikey," I told him before I walked away.

My next lesson went by quickly as did the rest. I did my work and got my homework. It wasn't raining during my last lesson but it looked like it was going to start. It wouldn't matter to me whether it did or not seeing as we get picked up. I guess I only really found it mattered last week because we walked. I liked the fact that I'm going to be walking tomorrow and Thursday. I think a bit of fresh air will be good for me. It's not like Alexandria and I will hang out outside; we prefer staying in.

Tomos was outside before I was after the bell went. "You didn't go to your last lesson, did you?" I asked him when I reached him. He shrugged. "I won't tell your dad, Tom. You know I won't. I'm not a snitch like that."

"I know, Niki. I also know I shouldn't have but sometimes the teacher just . . . well, you know," he said. I nodded.

"Sometimes I want to just skip some of my lessons. I don't, though. My mum let me once or twice, back before any of this happened. She'd let me have the day off and we would spend it together, but they weren't often and I worked twice as hard the following day at school," I told him.

He laughed. "Now that's something that I find hard to believe. I could never imagine you having the day off, Niki. You're too . . . you know, into school."

"Even people like me like having days off, Tom. It's not something that never happens." He nodded. We stood around for a few more minutes, waiting for my uncle to come and get us. He was probably running late in work. Tomos cursed several times as the time went on, but I couldn't blame my uncle for being late. He works for his family so if he's late, he's late for his family. It's probably because I'm not his child, but rather his niece, that I see it that way. If I were his child, I'd probably be like Tomos. It wouldn't be a terrible thing to be like him, but I was glad I wasn't like him.

After five more minutes, Tomos decided to break the silence. "My friend Mikey thinks you're cute," he told me.

I smiled. "He's in one of my classes. I think he's pretty sweet."

He laughed but didn't say anything. I was about to ask him what he laughed about but my uncle pulled up to the kerb and I figured I shouldn't continue the conversation in his presence. "Sorry I'm late. I just had to help a friend out with something," he explained. I nodded and Tomos just ignored him. The drive back was quiet. There was no radio playing and my uncle didn't tap on the steering wheel like he normally did. I knew that something must be up with my uncle but didn't question it. It probably didn't concern me and even if it did, he'd tell me when he thought it was right.

When we got back to the house I wanted to ask Tomos about what he meant when he laughed but my aunt told us to hurry up because she had made dinner. It was quiet at the table, not even my aunt and uncle talked. I don't know whether Tomos figured that something must be up, but he probably did because they're his parents. I know that doesn't mean anything when it comes to realising something, but I figured that it probably did with him. He didn't say anything, though, not even after dinner.

I did my homework and finished my book before his friends turned up. I heard them all go into his room so I figured that it was quite a big group of friends. I planned to just stay in the room but a knock on the door made me realise that I probably wouldn't be left alone. I got off my bed and opened the door. I wasn't surprised that it was Mikey. "Hey," I greeted.

"You said that it didn't count outside of school, right?" I thought back to the conversation we had between classes and realised what he meant.

"I did say that. I just didn't expect you to actually hold me to it," I told him. He rubbed the back of his neck. "So, um, what are you guys doing then?"

He looked down the hall and I figured that he was thinking. He looked back at me. "We're watching a film. Tom's got a new one that we all want to watch. Are you coming?" he asked.

I knew that Tomos wouldn't mind. After all, I did say to Mikey that it didn't count outside of school so I couldn't really go back on my word. That's not what I'm like. "Sure," I told him. I left my room and closed the door behind me before following him down to my cousin's room. There were five other guys in the room and they were either on the bed or on the chairs that Tomos had. I hadn't actually been in his room since living here. It was different to the last time I had been here. He looked up from where he was and looked between Mikey and me. I shrugged and he laughed.