Sunday and Monday come and go way too soon and, before I know it, I'm sat at my desk in the exam hall on Tuesday as the head invigilator calls end of time. My last exam of the year is officially over. As of now, I'm on summer break.

Finally!

The realisation is made all the sweeter by the fact that everyone else at home has at least another month of school still. The rest of the school breaks up later than A-levels.

As soon as the papers have been collected up, we're let out of the room a table row at a time. I'm sat in the middle of the room so it takes a few minutes before I'm allowed to leave, my foot tapping impatiently against the floor. As soon as I'm out, I'm surrounded by the nervous chatter of my classmates as they discuss how they think the exam went.

"Hey, Jade," someone says, jogging to catch up and falling into step beside me.

It's Mike Langford, one of Dylan's friend's and, unlike Neil, someone I actually get along with. Whenever we have to carry out experiments in Psychology the two of us always pair up and work together.

"Hey," I reply as we walk towards the lockers to collect our bags.

"So how'd you think it went?" he asks conversationally. "I hated the stress section."

"I think it went okay," I reply with a small shrug. "I preferred the other paper, though."

"Definitely," he agrees. "I'd take the memory models over the sympathomedullary pathway, any day."

"Well, lucky us, we don't have to deal with either next year," I remind him with a grin. "We just get completely brand new topics to stress our guts out over."

"Lucky us, indeed," he agrees with a chuckle. "So, this is you done now for summer, isn't it?"

"Yep," I beam. "You?"

"I've got Chemistry next week," he tells me.

"Ouch," I wince. Chemistry is my least favourite of all sciences. "Good luck with that one."

He laughs as we reach my locker, watching as I open it and stuff all my school crap into my bag for the final time this year. "Well I'd better go," he says, nodding further down the hall to where his own locker sits. "I just wanted to say have a good summer."

"Thanks, you too!" I call after him as he walks away.

Once I've sorted my locker out, I drop Megan a text. She's currently in Biology, most likely bored out of her mind.

'Suckers at school ;) x'

My phone beeps immediately with a response.

'I hate you. How'd it go?? X'

'Not awful, not great. How's class? X'

'It's AWFUL!!! Come save me?! X'

'Sorry, girl, you're on your own. I'm not gonna be late to work to save your sorry ass x'

'You're evil x'

'I try. We'll have to meet up soon, okay? I can help you revise or something x'

'Fat chance on the revision thing but a defo yes on the meet up. Speak soon! X'

I roll my eyes and chuckle at her response, sliding my phone into my bag as I make my way out of the school. I'm due at the café in twenty minutes and I hope tonight's shift will be a smooth one. I'm working four until eight tonight, my usual shift, but I can't wait to get home. There's something about exams, they just knock the energy flat out of me.

It doesn't take long to walk to work and, as soon as I push the door open, I see Ellie chatting away to one of the customers in the middle of the room. When she notices me she quickly excuses herself, making her way over to the counter to join me.

"So I have a favour to ask," Ellie announces.

"Shoot." I lean my hip against the counter and wait.

"Dad's not going to be here on Friday and he's asked if I can take over in the kitchen... so could you possibly-"

"I'll hold the fort out here," I promise, never one to turn down extra hours. I'm not busy Friday and the extra money can't hurt.

"Really? Oh, thank God. I hate working alone," she replies.

"Sure thing," I reply with a shrug. I wonder where Paul's going. He rarely ever takes time off.

The rest of my shift goes without a hitch, the customers are polite and Ellie and I chat when we're free. Before I know it, it's time to head home.

"Thanks again for Friday!" Ellie calls after me as I leave.

Once outside I fish out my phone and unwind my earphones, deciding to listen to some music. I hum quietly to myself as I walk, still basking in the post-exam glow.

I'm about halfway home when the paranoia begins to creep in, an irrational feeling of being followed. I try to shake it off but the feeling refuses to leave.

I take an earphone out and look behind me and, unsurprisingly, there's no one there. I shake my head, call myself an idiot and continue on my way. I leave the one earphone out, though – just in case.

It's times like these that I really can't wait to get the hell out of Greencliff. It sucks feeling so unsafe all the time, feeling the need to check over your shoulder every few minutes despite walking the same route you walk every day.

I move a little faster, telling myself that it's because I want to get home and not because the feeling is beginning to freak me out. By the time I reach the house I'm practically running, not slowing until I reach the front door and close it behind me.

I roll my eyes at my own idiocy, making my way into the kitchen at a much more normal pace as I turn my music off.

"How was your day?" George asks from where he's sat at the table on his laptop. I open the fridge and grab some leftover pizza, not bothering to warm it up as I take a bite. Cold pizza is good pizza, despite what Owen says.

"Alright," I reply.

"Oh, hey, you're back," Stella says, walking into the kitchen and turning the kettle on. She pulls out the coffee jar from the cupboard and I take note of how tired they both look.

"What's going on?" I ask.

"Bailey," they both say. I roll my eyes.

When is it not Bailey?

"What now?" I ask.

Knowing Bailey, it's probably more detentions. She's been kept behind in school for the past two days for swearing at a teacher or something equally as dumb.

"Karen's due for a visit soon and Bailey's refusing to meet with her," Stella explains. "It's been an ongoing argument all night."

Ah, social worker problems. Those are a common occurrence in this house.

"You called Charlotte?" I ask. "She'll talk some sense into her."

"No. We were hoping that maybe you could try?" Stella admits, albeit somewhat sheepishly.

"I doubt she'll listen to me," I say. "She doesn't usually."

"I think she listens to you more than you realise," George disagrees.

"Yeah," I say, not bothering to reign in the sarcasm. "Right."

Bailey hates me. She goes out of her way on a daily basis to remind me of that fact.

"Don't give up on her," Stella says.

"Fine," I sigh, holding my hands up in defeat. "I'll try. But I make no promises."

"Thank you." Stella lets out a sigh of relief.

Without another word I turn on my heel and head up the stairs. I take a deep breath before knocking on Bailey's door, preparing myself for the devil spawn inside.

"What?" Bailey's voice grumbles from inside and I take that as a 'come in'.

I push the door open and notice the eyes roll she does when she realises it's me.

"What do you want?" she asks me from where she sits on the bed.

Things are still rocky between us – well, more rocky than usual – after the stunt she pulled the other night.

I haven't told anyone that she snuck off to work on her project with Alex. I'm not going to, either. She already gets into enough fights with Stella and George, as it is.

Still, I'm pissed at her for being so reckless, for putting herself in danger like that, and she's pissed at me for being pissed.

It's a fight that neither of us are going to win – we both know it. We've been steering clear of each other as much as possible, up until now.

I cross my arms and lean my shoulder against the doorframe, trying to figure out which is the best course of action to take.

"I hear Karen's due a visit," I eventually settle for.

Bailey doesn't bother trying to hide her scowl.

"Not you, too," she grumbles. "Go away, Jade."

"No," I reply, stepping fully into the room and closing the door behind me.

"Get out," she all but yells, grabbing a pillow from behind her back and throwing it at me. I catch it and drop it to the floor, making a great effort not to throw it right back.

I'm so fed up of her tantrums. Why can't we ever have a normal conversation? Why does she always have to pick a fight?

"No," I repeat. "I want to talk to you."

"Well I don't want to talk to you," she replies. I roll my eyes. No surprise, there.

"You never want to talk to anyone," I sigh. "What have you got against Karen?"

"I don't like her," Bailey snaps.

"Why not? Karen's lovely."

"No, she's not. She's dumb as fuck and a complete dipshit," Bailey argues. I sigh.

This is getting us nowhere.

"Bailey, why do you always have to make things so difficult?" I ask.

She doesn't answer, staring down at her feet.

Just talk to me goddammit!

"She talks to me like I'm four years old, she asks too many questions, I don't like her and – and she has stupid hair!" she lists off.

"Bailey-" I start but she cuts me off, sounding dejected.

"Just leave me alone, Jade."

Fine.

"You don't have to answer her questions, you just have to see her," I say as I make my way out the door, and when I'm in the hallway I turn back to look at her. "Stupid hair or not."

With that I close the door and let her get back to moping, a light thud on the wood a few seconds later telling me that her other pillow has joined its friend on the floor.

I go to my room and flop onto the bed with a sigh. Not knowing what else to do, I call Charlotte.

Much to Charlotte's credit, she lets me complain to her for a good twenty minutes about our half-sister before stepping in and defending Bailey.

"People deal with things in different ways, Jade," she reminds me.

"I know," I sigh, my frustration still biting at me. "I just – I don't know what to do, Char. I'm running out of options here. She's being impossible."

"It'll be fine," Charlotte assures me.

"That's easy for you to say, you don't have to deal with her every day," I say, rolling my eyes. I sigh again. "I wish you were here. You'd know what to do."

She's always been so much better at keeping Bailey in check than me. Without Charlotte here Bailey has been twice as difficult.

"You'll figure it out," she assures me. "You always do."

Not quite true but I always at least try to.

"Anyway," Charlotte continues. "Enough moaning. Tell me what your plans are for over the summer so I can figure out when to visit."

And, just like that, my bad mood lifts.

We talk for another twenty minutes before she has to go, when we hang up a small smile tugs at my lips.

I can always count on Charlotte to drag me out of my slump. If only I could do the same for Bailey...

My smile doesn't last very long.

***

The week ticks by and, as Friday rolls around, I find myself back in the café working the extra hours I promised Ellie. Dylan had his last exam yesterday, meaning he is officially a free man again. Last night we went out for a meal with his parents to celebrate.

As far as meals with his parents go, it wasn't the worst. I think they were too busy drilling Dylan with questions about the exam to ask me too much about my life.

You'll be happy to hear that the word 'grandchildren' wasn't spoken once.

Dylan's wasted no time in collecting his freedom. He's out at a party at Neil's place tonight. He wanted me to go too but I told him I had to work – thankfully. I really didn't want to deal with a Neil Gareth party, although I promised Dylan I'd go to the next one because I'm a good girlfriend like that. I force him to watch Happy Feet enough, it's the least I can do. I'm glad he's still gone without me tonight, though. He deserves to blow off some steam with his friends. I mean, it wasn't just me he didn't get to see outside of school.

"Hey, these are for the family by the window," Ellie says, sliding a tray of drinks over to me. "Do you mind taking them over while I check on their food?"

"Sure," I reply, grabbing the drinks and heading to the table.

As I'm handing the drinks out, a hot chocolate for the young girl and two coffees for her parents, the door opens behind me. I automatically check over my shoulder to see who it is, a habit that formed very quickly when I started working here, and take note of the three Coleman's as they walk in and sit at their usual place.

It's weird to think that they have a 'usual' table now. I remember the first night they came in here and I'd hoped it would be the last. No such luck. That just goes to show, wishes really don't come true.

I remove my eyes from Lucas, Andrew and Finn and turn back to the family.

"Is there anything else I can get for you?" I ask, forcing a bright smile onto my face when I notice the look the woman is giving the three guys behind me.

She doesn't trust them, it doesn't take a genius to see it.

Damn it, these guys had better not start killing off our customers.

I snort slightly when I realise that sentence could carry quite the double meaning, earning a confused look from the young girl. I ignore her and instead return my attention to her mother, who eventually realises she hasn't given an answer to my question.

"Um, no thanks," she replies. "Just our food. Do you know how much longer it'll be?"

She looks behind me again and I suppress a sigh.

Stupid idiots, coming in here and making my job difficult. Why can't they just go back to the last place they hung out at?

"It should only be a few more minutes," I say, trying to keep my voice light.

The woman looks back at me and nods slightly, and I take that as my cue to leave.

Unfortunately, I have other customers that need serving.

This time both Lucas and Finn come to order at the counter.

Marvellous.

"What can I get you guys?" I ask as I move behind the till.

"Hey, Jade," Finn greets with a slight smirk. "Just the usual."

Huh. There's that word again.

"Sure," I reply, doing my best to keep a polite smile on my face as they pay. From the way Lucas raises an eyebrow slightly, I'm not too sure I'm all that successful. "I'll bring them over when they're ready."

"Actually, we don't mind waiting," Finn says, catching me off guard.

I notice Lucas roll his eyes and I mutter out a quiet, "okay, then." I get to work on making the drinks, trying my absolute hardest to ignore the two guys as they watch.

"Hot, hot, hot," Ellie announces as she emerges from the kitchen, the plates of food in her hands burning her fingers.

"Thank you," Finn replies and I choke back a laugh.

Ellie pauses briefly, glancing at Finn and then at Lucas. She blushes and hurries off to serve the food and I grin slightly as I see my friend speechless for the first time.

Serves her right for always lumping me with serving them.

Finn notices my smile and returns it with a satisfied smirk. I roll my eyes at him and place the three coffees down on the counter in front of them.

"Thanks, Jade," Finn says cheerily as they pick up the drinks and return to their booth. I hate to admit it but I watch them go.

"Well, well, well," Ellie says, dragging my eyes away from the brothers as she appears at my side again. Apparently she's gotten over her little Coleman encounter. "Look who's back."

"You think they're going to find a new place anytime soon?" I ask quietly.

"Oh, please... with the way that dude pines after you? No chance." She laughs.

"He doesn't even know me," I remind her.

"Apparently he doesn't need to. He knows a good thing when he sees it," she replies with a shrug. "The guy has good taste, can't fault him on that."

"You're delusional."

"And you're Dyl-uded," she replies. "Just because you have a boyfriend doesn't mean that other guys stop being interested, Jade. You're a catch."

"That," I say, poking her arm for emphasis, "was probably the worst pun you've come up with yet."

"I try," she shrugs. I shake my head.

I know that Lucas isn't into me like that. The only reason he's so aware of my existence is because he's waiting for me to snitch on what I saw the morning I ran into him and Finn. Obviously, though, I can't explain this to Ellie. Besides, even if he is into me like that – which he isn't – I don't care.

Lucas Coleman is as far from my type as it gets.

"So, how's it going with Bailey?" Ellie asks.

"Not great."

Ever since our talk about Karen, Bailey's been making a point of freezing me out. Apparently, or at least this is what she told Stella, she's fed up of me butting in on her life and just wants me to back off.

Does it bother me? Yes. Yes it does.

I mean don't get me wrong, Bailey is a complete pain in my ass, but it annoys me that she won't let me in... or anyone else for that matter. Charlotte was the closest anyone's ever gotten and then she had to leave for university. It sucks.

"What are you going to do?" Ellie asks.

"I don't know. Talk to her, I guess? It's not going to be fun."

"Well, I definitely don't envy you, that's for sure," Ellie teases, nudging me with her shoulder. I smile a little and then let out another sigh.

With Bailey it never feels like I'm making any progress. It doesn't even feel like two steps forward and then three back. It always feels like I'm just walking in the completely wrong direction altogether. Whenever I try to get through to her I just make things worse between us. I'm going to have to figure something out, I can't let it continue like this. If only she'd meet me halfway, though. She doesn't even try.

"It'll be okay," Ellie assures me. "She loves you, really."

I raise an eyebrow at her.

"She does," she insists. "She just doesn't show it very often."

"Or at all."

"You'll see it one day," she says.

Funnily enough, I highly doubt that, but I let the subject drop and get back to work.

My family drama can wait another night.

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(Hey lovelies! So...... a ten month break in updating wasn't exactly planned--whoops? Anyways... moving swiftly on. My new plan is to update this story every Thursday and, as I've got quite a few chapters already written up (and scheduling updates is now a thing on here) I will hopefully be able to stick to it this time! Mark my words: this story will get completed)

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