Ah. This had been a sticky point at work as well. Everyone wanting to follow her Instajourney. It was like she, Flo and Sue were celebrities at work now. ‘I don’t have one.’
Dylan did a double take. ‘Are you for real?’
She made a weird smiley apology face. ‘I deleted all of my accounts.’
He ha ha ha’d and then did a double take when her expression remained unchanged. ‘Nah, c’mon. For real?’
She pressed a button on her phone and showed him. Just the factory pre-set apps plus a cycling one Flo had downloaded for her and the accounting one she and Sue used for Young & Son.
‘Man, you got balls!’
Raven laughed. Brave definitely wasn’t one of the adjectives she would’ve ascribed to herself. Cowardly, fearful, ashamed. There were more, but … lately she’d been feeling other things, too. Helpful. Proactive. Involved. On a micro-level, obvs, but lately, all of the things that she’d thought had been happening to her were actually things she had made happen.
‘You’re turning your weakness into your strength, aint’cha? Showing the dickheads where they can shove it.’
There was something about the way Dylan spoke – an emotional rawness – that told Raven he knew exactly what big dickheads people could be. And then she remembered Halfords and the way the shop assistant had been so dismissive of him. His gazillions of selfies that turned out to be for his depressed mother. The fact he spoke to her. In public.
‘How’s work?’ She asked.
‘Ah, yeah, that didn’t pan out so good.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I left.’ He glanced over his shoulder then dipped down to say, ‘Got fired, actually.’
‘Why? I thought you loved it there.’
‘I did, but …’ again he looked over his shoulder then down at the table where he traced something into a water ring. ‘Sometimes I have to stay up late with my mum, you know, to keep the demons at bay and I fell asleep on shift.’
‘That doesn’t seem so bad. They could’ve just woken you up.’
‘I was out on the floor. A customer found me.’
‘Ah.’
‘So, if they’ve got any jobs going at the call centre …’ He flashed her a grin and then said, ‘Nah. I don’t think I’d be any good at that.’
‘I’m sure you would, but it’s not everyone’s thing. What do you think you’d be good at?’
‘See?’ Dylan smiled his almost Bradley Cooper smile. ‘You know how to ask the real questions, don’t you?’
Errr … it was kind of an obvious one, but … maybe that was the problem with life these days. No one asked the obvious questions hovering between them like, how are you?
‘So …? What are you good at?’
‘Computers. That’s pretty much my area of expertise. Total techno geek if I’m being honest.’
‘Right. Well, if I hear of anything …’
‘Cool, cool.’ He tapped the table with his fingers then said, ‘I think we should conduct a social experiment.’
‘Sorry?’
He took her phone, then looked up at her, ‘I think the world of Instagram needs a new star.’
Raven stiffened as he downloaded the app she had very specifically deleted.
‘Right,’ Dylan began to cackle. ‘Who would you most like all those crackhead cyber bullies to have a smackdown with?’
Raven was about to protest and then thought of her superpowers. The ones that had given her the strength to move out of her house and in with Sue. The ones that kept her calm when angry, racist men were having heart attacks and refusing medical treatment. The ones she should’ve used when Aisha Laghari was lying on the bathroom floor at college. She thought for a while. Trawled through the things that had brought her genuine, proper joy over the past few months. Helping Sue. Meeting Flo. Getting rid of that unicorn rug in Sue’s entryway. Brown Goth Pinterest boards full of take-no-prisoners-chock-full-of-attitude women saying, Damn straight, I’m a girl of colour. Yeah, I like black lipstick. Too right I have a resting bitch face. And I’m pretty on top of it. All with a healthy dash of you can’t troll me now – I own everything you want to shame me with. ‘Got it,’ she said to Dylan as he started taking snaps of her with his phone. ‘What do you think of this?’
‘Ooo la la! Look who’s here! It’s the winner of the Tour de France!’ Dean crowed as he opened the door to Sue. She put the kickstand down on her bicycle and took off her helmet. She smiled at Dean and accepted the half hug he pulled her into, enjoying the new-found, yet entirely unspoken closeness she’d felt with him since Sunday Lunchgate as he’d now taken to calling The Day Someone Said No to Katie. The children ran down the stairs, shyly waved and ‘Hi Auntie Sue’d’ her before heading back to the kitchen to ‘Muuum? When’s lunch ready?’
Dean flicked his thumb to the spot where the children had just been. ‘They wanted to see the resident movie star.’
Sue flushed. ‘I’m hardly that.’
‘You’ve been on telly. More than any of us have.’
‘Actually, Dean,’ Katie swept from the kitchen through to the dining room holding a very large roast in front of her as if it were a crown. ‘I was on the telly back before I met you.’
‘It’s all been downhill since then, hasn’t it, love?’ When she disappeared, Dean dropped Sue a wink. ‘Totes jelly!’
Sue swatted at him then took off her reflective jacket and cycling shoes.
‘Look at you and all of your fancy kit!’
They both looked down at Sue’s outfit. Padded shorts, a shirt with a back pocket in it for her house keys. Shoes with a two-bolt clip to go with her hybrid pedals. All things she’d never known existed before Dylan, Raven’s friend, had explained them to her and showed her the best places to
