Soul Fire

important thing to me.
    OK, so Mum banned me last night. But she didn’t mean it. She’ll have calmed down this morning – I hope.
    She leans forward and fiddles with my hair. ‘Got to focus on the future. On you, my gorgeous Alice. But let’s save the movies and the big lunch for when we’re both feeling
jollier. Take it easy today.’
    ‘Thanks, Mum. You’re great, you know that?’
    She smiles. ‘Do I sense you’re about to ask another favour?’ I look round the room, and spot my laptop on her bookshelf. ‘I just thought . . . maybe I could take the
computer. Do some school research. I’ll even use it downstairs, if you want – so you can keep an eye on me.’
    Her face hardens again. ‘Alice, for pity’s sake, can’t you manage a single day without bloody well going online? Go for a walk. Go to the shops. I don’t know. Buy some
drugs or something .’ Then she smiles weakly. ‘That last bit was a joke.’
    But then she reaches for her purse and passes me twenty pounds. When I go to take it, she hangs on to my hand. Her skin is warm. ‘Spend it on something fun, eh, darling? We can start again
now, can’t we? Not forget Meggie, but move forward, knowing it’s all over.’
    I don’t say anything. I can’t lie about this.
    She doesn’t notice, though. She just closes her eyes. ‘Close the door behind you, Alice. I don’t think I’ll bother to get up today. Then tomorrow, well. Tomorrow is the
first day of the rest of our lives.’
    I’ve got myself a day off, but with the Beach and Burning Truths off limits, I don’t know what the hell to do.
    I could go to Greenwich, of course, if the trains are still running through the snow. It’s where Meggie died, and now Tim, too. I’m sure Sahara would meet me, and Ade. I could use
today to find out more about what happened in his flat.
    And yet . . . something stops me calling Sahara. It’s not as though I suspect her, exactly, but at the same time, if Tim didn’t kill Meggie, someone must have. Once upon a time, I
thought murderers were crazy strangers, the kind of stalkers Meggie gained as soon as she appeared on Sing for Your Supper.
    But everything I’ve read since she died insists you’re more likely to be killed by the people closest to you. I shiver. The chances are Meggie knew her murderer. And so it’s
possible . . . no, likely , that I do too.
    Sahara? Ade? Zoe, the girl who found Meggie’s body? One of the other friends they hung around with?
    I remember the language on Burning Truths. All about arming yourself with information, fighting fire with fire. Perhaps it’s better if I don’t talk to anyone who knew Meggie until
I’ve read every word of Burning Truths.
    But there is someone I can to talk to, someone I can trust. Someone who also happens to have a computer set-up to rival NASA.
    ‘Hello, stranger,’ Lewis answers on the first ring.
    ‘It hasn’t been that long,’ I say, even though it probably has. ‘I’ve been busy with revision, sorry.’
    ‘Oh, right. I know how seriously you take your exams, Alice!’ He’s teasing me. He’s the only person who still does; everyone else treats me like an invalid, even now.
    ‘Something’s happened. I wondered if I could come over.’
    ‘On a school day? Don’t forget those important exams of yours.’
    ‘Ha, ha. Mum’s let me stay off because . . . Well, can I explain when I get there?’
    There’s a pause. ‘All right, Ali. I’m stuck in the flat all day, anyway, doing some testing.’
    ‘The flat?’
    Lewis laughs. ‘Mmm. I was finally moving out of home, remember? You were going to help me with the packing.’
    Shit . ‘Oh, Lewis. I’m sorry. After all the stuff you’ve done for me . . . I’m a rubbish friend, aren’t I?’
    ‘Your heart’s in the right place, though. I could pick you up in the car in half an hour if that suits you? And if you really want to help, bring your rubber gloves. The flat could
do with a woman’s touch.’
    As soon as he rings off, I race out the door, almost slipping on frozen snow. At least I have money to spend, thanks to Mum’s twenty quid and a bit extra I’ve put aside. But what do
you buy for the guy who has everything – or, at least, can afford everything he wants? Lewis is well on the way to being the next Bill Gates, even though he never boasts about it. He has a
brain the size of a very large planet, and set up his first tech company from his bedroom before his GCSEs. Four years on, the only