I lie in bed and think about how I saw no vision when Oliver and I banged heads. Weird. It must have been quite a whack to my head. Lenny meows by the door but gets bored and soon comes to snuggle in with me. We both fall asleep.
CRASH. I wake up with a frightened gasp. What the hell was that noise? It’s midnight. A hushed voice and a drunken giggle follow it.
With a thumping heart, I move the chair and look over at my cat. ‘You stay here,’ I whisper, before opening the door.
The sight in the hallway robs me of breath. Oliver is being helped into the flat by a man with short blond hair. The man looks up and smiles. ‘You must be Nelly. I’m Jamie. Nice to meet you.’
I stare in horror as he struggles into the hallway with Oliver, who spots me and grins. ‘NELLY,’ he shouts, with outstretched arms. ‘GIVE ME A HUG.’
I back away, and my horrified face makes Jamie smile. ‘No need to panic. Ollie has only had two and a half pints,’ he says, chuckling, ‘One sniff of the barmaid’s apron and he’s sozzled. Oliver has never been able to handle his drink. I’ll get him into his room, and then I’ll go.’
‘I… hate… Rory,’ slurs Oliver, falling against the wall.
‘Ollie, come on, mate,’ groans Jamie, helping him up and hurrying him along. Jamie looks over at me. ‘He’ll be fine.’
I watch them struggle along the hallway, and then they disappear into Oliver’s room. An hour later, I hear Jamie leave the flat. As I pull up my duvet, I cuddle Lenny.
This won’t be a regular occurrence, I tell myself. This was a one-off. Oliver probably got carried away with catching up with his friend.
There’s no need to panic, Nelly.
14
There is no noise coming from Oliver’s room when I wake, which is a relief. I plan to forget about the celebratory drink. He must have had fun. Normal people do that when they are not living under a curse.
My head feels a lot better, and to my surprise, there’s only a tiny purple bruise on my forehead. After getting dressed, feeding Lenny and making myself some breakfast, I grab my bag and leave the flat. I call Aunt Polly, who sounds surprisingly upbeat.
‘I’m feeling good, Nelly,’ she says. This makes me smile, and I pray it continues.
I pass a queue of tired commuters at the bus stop. A young woman reading a pink romance book catches my eye. I recognise the cover – it’s Oliver’s. My mind replays Oliver and me banging heads and the strange absence of a vision. I’m not looking where I’m going when a woman rushing for the bus and talking on her phone about French lessons collides with me. A bright flash of white light zips behind my eyes. I hold my breath as the light fades, revealing her opening what appears to be a bedroom door to see a man in bed with a dark-haired woman who, it seems, lives at number forty-two on their street. Her love story ends abruptly when she discovers her husband is taking more than just French lessons.
The world becomes muffled. I reach in my bag for a boiled sweet. My head is back to normal. This is good news.
The bookshop is quiet. I’m restacking books in the young adult section.
In one of the saggy armchairs is Amber, a local teenage girl, who’s seemingly pretending to be engrossed in a young adult fantasy novel but keeps glancing at me. On the table next to her is Miranda’s old lava lamp and a replica crystal ball.
Amber’s mum, Kate, used to be a regular at Miranda’s book club. I liked Kate; she was funny and always told us hilarious stories about her three children. She was married to Ben, a local tree surgeon, and her retellings of their family life were like listening to a comedy show. The kids would always be causing some sort of chaos, Ben would be escaping up the nearest tree, and Kate would always be locking herself in the loo to read a book in peace. She was a huge fan of romance novels and would always encourage me to start reading them.
I tried my hardest to avoid physical contact with the people from Miranda’s book club. They were all lovely, and I didn’t want my curse to spoil things. But one evening, Kate accidentally knocked into me. I saw how her love story with Ben would end: her in a hospital bed, him holding her hand. That night I went back to my flat and cried for hours.
It wasn’t a shock when, six months later, Kate came to book club and announced she had been diagnosed with skin cancer. She put up a brave fight, but sadly, the cancer was too aggressive, and she passed away two years after she got her diagnosis.
Amber’s long blonde hair is twisted into a bun on top of her head. She’s clasping the book with long pink nails and fiercely chewing on a piece of gum. I often see Amber here. Miranda always says that Amber is skipping school; however, I often wonder whether Amber feels closer to Kate here. Kate used to say Once Upon a Spine was one of her favourite places.
‘You okay, Amber?’ I ask, while slotting a book onto the shelf.
Amber shrugs. ‘Sort of.’
‘No school today?’
She grins. ‘I’m studying.’
I survey the book she’s reading. ‘I didn’t know dragons were on the curriculum nowadays?’
Amber giggles. ‘They’re a vital part of my education, Nelly.’
I go to stand near the armchair and tidy up a shelf opposite.
