Chapter 67

Chapter Sixty-Seven

Will

H olding Maya's good hand, we filed into the school hall, slow-footed and sad, like everyone else. After Maddy had gone to school, Sam had called to say he and Lou were going to Ana's assembly and asked if I wanted to tag along. I didn't think Maya would want to come, but she'd said she'd be honoured. She'd only met Ana the once, but she mattered to Maddy and that was enough of a reason for Maya.

"There's Mike and Susan at the front, with Theo," Lou whispered to me as we took our seats. "I can't imagine how they're feeling."

The idea of what they were going through, filled me with a fear that I'd never felt before. Thinking that could have been me sat at the front of the hall made panic rise in my chest, and I hoped to God that it was never would be. It made me think about Steven and his son, and what he must have been going through. I needed to decide about the transplant, but more importantly I needed to contact his son, my brother .

"Is that Ana's brother?" Maya asked, rousing me from my thoughts.

Theo looked just as shattered as his parents, yet he was the one with his hand in his dad's and his arm around his mum. He was holding them up even though he looked like he was ready to collapse in a heap himself.

"He's a couple of years older," I told her. "Poor kid."

"Emma's mum is waving to you," Sam hissed from the side of his mouth. "She never gives up does she, even on a day like today."

She was waving her fingers and smiling, and it was totally inappropriate considering why we were sitting in the hall. At least when I gave her a chin dip, she turned back to the front to watch the staff and kids taking part in the assembly troop onto the stage.

"Oh bless." Maya sighed and clutched her sling. "Maddy."

My gaze followed Maya's, and my heart dropped to my boots with a thud. My little girl looked so damn sad. She, Emma and Liv were all holding hands, and they looked so small standing next to Mr Anderson, their head of year, and Miss Coombs, the head of school. There were another couple of teachers who I didn't know, and Becky Marshall, the head girl, who was clutching a book. All of them looked desolate, but the girls were by far the most overwrought with sadness.

"I can't stand this," I muttered, feeling my gut clench. I was halfway out of my seat when I spotted him.

Zak Hoyland .

When he placed his foot on the first step up to the stage, I stood to my full height and took a half stride. That was all it took for Maya to grab my hand.

"Don't Will. Just wait."

I looked down to see a raised warning brow. She then looked back at the stage, her eyes urging me to look for myself. When I saw him pull Maddy into his arms and kiss the top of my head, exactly what I would have done, a sense of relief washed over me.

"They made up," I whispered.

"I had no doubt." She gave me a knowing smile. "He's a good boy and he likes to think he models himself on you, so of course he was going to grovel for something he probably didn't do."

"You don't know he didn't do it," I grumbled, my eyes still on the scene playing out on the stage. "The evidence was pretty damning."

"Believe me when I tell you this," she replied with a smirk, "there are some awful girls out there, and if he didn't do it—and I believe he didn't—then I'm pretty sure one of those awful girls in this world did. Either that or she got some weaselly suck-arse little boy to do it."

"Christ, you know some horrible people," I laughed and settled back in my chair watching as Zak held Maddy's face and said something to her. After she nodded, he kissed her forehead and then went back to his seat. My eyes then moved to Emma who was crouched at the edge of the stage where Liam was reaching up his fingers linked with hers as they talked. "You have a good kid there," I said to Lou as she shifted in her seat.

"Takes after his dad," Sam said leaning forward to give me a self-congratulatory smile.

"You know him?" Lou asked.

Maya and I snorted a quiet laugh. "Bloody hell, I love her," Maya said, placing her hand on my thigh and giving it a small squeeze.

"Yeah, she knows how to keep him in his place."

Sam leaned forward and tapped Maya's knee. "I am Liam's dad really. It's a running joke that she thinks is funny."

"Shut up, Sam." I pushed him back with my arm. "It's about to start and we all know that you're not Liam's real dad."

Louise and Maya laughed quietly and then we all sat back to pay tribute to a girl who had always held my daughter's hand when I couldn't. Now she was gone but at least Maddy had Zak now, as well as me and Maya. There were a lot of kids who couldn't say that, so I was happy that my daughter was one of the lucky ones.

"Ana was my friend, my best friend since we were little, and I will always treasure that."

As Maddy took a deep breath, Liv rubbed her back, giving her what she needed to continue. Liv and Emma had done their tributes, Liv's had been a funny story about the four of them getting locked in the school, something I hadn't known about. Emma had read out a poem that she'd written herself, all about friendship. It was beautiful and poignant, leaving more than one person crying at the end of it. Now, Maddy was battling her tears to read out her tribute.

When she didn't continue, my hands clenched, wondering whether I should go up there and hold her hand. Her bravery won through, and after glancing into the audience, I suspected at Zak, she carried on.

"We did so many things together," she looked up and grimaced, giving a little shrug, "sorry parents about this next bit. We had our first taste of alcohol together when we skipped Mr Kings geography lesson once." Then she looked over at the staff who were sitting against the wall. "Sorry, Mr King, but rock formation wasn't doing it for us."

"Did you know that?" Maya whispered to me.

"No, I didn't. Now I know why she dropped geography the minute she could."

"Ana and I also went to our first gig together and we both fell in love with Shaun Peters together when we were eight and he was fifteen." A murmur of laughter spread around the hall, and Maddy's shoulders relaxed. "Shaun never knew, so if he ever arrests you, please don't tell him." When there was more laughter, the pride I felt for her was huge. Even Ana's family had smiles on their faces. Susan was wiping her nose with a tissue, but she was definitely smiling behind it. "Ana was also the first person to tell me if my outfit didn't look right, or if my hair needed cutting and she was the first person to notice that I had the hots for the new boy in school." She looked in Zak's direction, her features softening, and I was glad that he hadn't been a dick. He was a good kid and was good for Maddy. "The point is we might have argued from time to time," she stumbled on those words, "but she was always there for the important parts. I can't believe I'm going to have to go through those in the future without her. It doesn't seem right or fair. Not for her parents, her brother, her family, her friends, me," her voice broke but she carried on, "but mostly for her. She would have taken life by the reins and lived it to its fullest but, because of one stupid decision, she won't get the opportunity." Folding her notes she pushed them into her pocket and smiled at the audience. "I will never forget Ana. She will always be in my heart and when I graduate, get my first job, get engaged, married, and become a mother, I will tell her all about it. Then she'll still be with me for the important parts." She then looked directly at Ana's family, placed a hand on her heart and finished by saying, "Thank you for giving me the best friend in the world."

"Oh Will," Maya whispered. "That was beautiful, you must be so proud of her."

I couldn't speak for the lump in my throat but just nodded. I was proud, proud and grateful because she was my daughter, and I'd had a part in making her the person she was.

Without thinking about it, I leaned into Maya. "Want to move in with us?"

She blinked and pulled back to look at me eye to eye. "What?"

"Want to move in with us? Me and Maddy, well, until she goes to uni because I have a feeling she might change her mind about going to Edinburgh."

"H-have you asked her?" she whispered as Miss Combs took over on the microphone. "And how do you know about her changing her mind about uni?"

"Not yet but I know she'll be fine about it. She loves you. She'll be happy for us, I promise you." I leaned in closer. "As for Edinburgh, she tried to hide a letter from me and there's a certain boy who is going there."

Maya's eyes widened, wary as she glanced towards the stage.

"Well?" I prompted.

"I-I mean it's a shock and I'd love to, but can you ask me again once you've spoken to Maddy." She dropped her head, leaning closer to my ear. "And this is a strange place to ask me."

I shrugged. "Maybe, but today is all about the end of a life and the end of a chapter." I looked over to Ana's mum, dad and brother who were hugging the girls, glad once again it wasn't me. "The end of one chapter usually means the beginning of another," I continued, "so it seems as good a place as any."

Rolling her lips inwards, Maya nodded and then placed her hand in mine. Exactly where it was meant to be.