He was making movements in his chair as if he was trying to get closer to me. He was flexing his tongue in his mouth with great effort, trying to work up a sound that his muscles seemed to be struggling with. I moved closer to him.
‘Guh … guh …’ He stopped, breathed, worked his muscles. ‘Guh … Go!’
His eyes, inches away from mine, were fixed and open and clear.
‘Guh … go,’ he said very quietly.
It wasn’t a suggestion; it was an order.
‘OK,’ I said.
He made a high, ear-splitting noise that shocked me, looking directly into my eyes and trying to lean closer.
‘OK, Ronan, OK!’ I said.
He did it again, but louder.
‘OK, I promise!’
He stopped but continued breathing heavily.
‘I promise,’ I said again, ‘I promise I’ll go. I’ll ask Jennifer to go with me.’
He was still holding that wide-open look.
‘I’ll ask her tomorrow.’
He blinked slowly and finally settled back in his chair.
I settled back too. I hadn’t realised how tense I had been until then.
I looked at my friend and I knew he’d just done something big for me.
He knew it too.
He did it despite knowing he was telling me to do something he might never get the chance to do himself.
He’d ordered me and I, his loyal subject, had to obey.
‘Ronan,’ I said, ‘you don’t need the formal to be voted king; youarea flippin’ king!’
29
The school formal was the most important event of the year for some people, but not for me. Not until King Ronan made me promise to go.
Ihadto keep that promise.
My stomach jolted when I got off the bus to see Jennifer standing at the gates waiting for me.
‘Thought we could meet here in the mornings?’ she said. ‘Get as much time together as we can?’
Her face was blushed from the cold and I’ll bet mine was too, although not because of the weather.
‘Great idea,’ I said. ‘Perfect.’
Jennifer was definitely a morning person and did most of the talking on the way to assembly; she didn’t seem to notice how quiet I was before we got there and had to join our separate lines. We said we’d catch each other between morning classes but I ended up taking routes to bypass any chance of that happening. We were supposed to meet during morning break too, but I hid myself in the Science corridor until the bell rang.
By lunchtime, I’d pulled myself together and stood atthe corner of the canteen as Jennifer and one of her friends approached.
