Forget Me Never

I heard the kettle begin to boil. I felt a bit bad for sounding off, but not quite bad enough to apologize and explain, which I knew was what she wanted. Julie was always concerned that I didn’t talk to her enough, and she often wrongly assumed things – like that I was in a bad mood when I wasn’t. This would invariably lead to her asking lots of questions and eventually me snapping at her, which she then took as proof that I had been in a bad mood after all.
    That evening I sat in front of Edith, staring at the chat function on Facebook. Though we hadn’t arranged it, I sort of knew Reece was going to come online. When I saw him appear, I opened a message box.
    Hey, I typed. Seen the police yet?
    Yuppers. The charming DI Perry and his anaemic sidekick. They could make a really good low-budget TV cop show.
    Ha ha, true. So what happened?
    Just told them the facts. Think Mum quite fancied Perry. She wasn’t exactly chuffed about seeing the police, but she cheered up when we got in there. Kinda gross.
    Ewww! BAD mental images!
    Dunno how seriously they were taking it TBH. Figure they’ll speak to Anderson. Dunno if much else will happen.
    Or if they’ll even fill us in. This sucks.
    But it turned out I was wrong. Just three days later, DI Perry had an update for me.

REECE
    When I’d finished chatting to Sophie online I went downstairs to get a drink. Mum was in the kitchen watering the pot plants. Though I’d been joking about her fancying DI Perry, it was making me wonder how I’d feel if Mum did start seeing someone. It wasn’t impossible. She wasn’t that ancient, and compared to some of my mates’ mothers, she looked pretty good. And she was lonely – I’d heard her complaining to Aunt Meg. It couldn’t be much fun just looking after Neve. Mum didn’t even meet people through a job. Thanks to Dad’s life-insurance payout she could afford not to work.
    It was over three years now since Dad had died, and I missed him like it had happened yesterday. It was particularly bad whenever I saw my mates’ dads cheering them on at cricket matches, because I knew how much Dad would have enjoyed that. Whenever I thought about him too long all kinds of questions rolled through my mind. What would he think of how I’d turned out? Would I be different if he was still here?
    I guessed what Sophie was feeling now wasn’t so very different, even though Danielle had been in and out of her life while Dad had been in mine every day. It was a colossal blow to lose someone you cared about, and she’d already lost her mum before Dani. How had I lost sight of that? I made up my mind to be a better friend to her.
    ‘What are you doing tomorrow?’ Mum asked as I took a can of Coke from the fridge.
    I made a non-committal noise. ‘Go over to Sophie’s maybe. Talk over the police thing.’
    Mum didn’t look surprised. ‘Don’t get too caught up in this, Reece. That girl drags you down.’
    ‘What do you mean?’
    Mum brushed a droplet of water off a peace-lily petal. ‘I don’t know Sophie well, but I can’t imagine she’s a particularly easy friend to have. You’ve gone out of your way to support her in the past, and I’m not sure how much you get back. It seems to me that Sophie only wants you around when she needs you.’
    ‘You’re wrong. What about when Dad died?’
    Mum looked away, and I regretted bringing it up.
    You always hear that when something terrible happens the only upside is that it brings people together. That certainly happened for me, but it had been Sophie I’d got closer to, not Mum. Mum had been seven months pregnant with Neve when Dad died, and she was all over the place. Frankly she’d scared me.
    Part of me thinks Mum’s never forgiven Sophie for the fact that I turned to her . And part of me thinks Mum’s never forgiven herself.
    ‘Sorry,’ I muttered. The word hung in the air. I wasn’t sure whether or not Mum heard. She went on watering the plants.

SOPHIE
    I ran into the park, feeling like my lungs were burning. A quick glance told me that Paloma and co. weren’t sunning themselves in their usual spot. No one could get at me or ask any awkward questions. I slowed down, my breathing returning to normal. There was an empty swing in the play area so I claimed it and swung higher, higher, higher, until I started to feel heady.
    I’d been so hopeful an hour ago when Julie and I had gone back to the police station. When Perry and Grace appeared, Perry’s first words