know that much about each other. I’d told Nat a bit about Dad, and how things were with Mum, and he’d been unbelievably great about it. And then he started telling me about his brother.
‘He’s a good kid. I love him to bits, but he’s so highly strung. Way too sensitive for his own good. It all gets too much for him sometimes, you know?’ I nodded.
‘Dev gets so depressed. I worry about him a lot – that he might do something stupid one day.’
‘Dev?’ I said.
‘Yeah, Devon. He got the short straw when our parents were deciding on names. I mean, Nathaniel’s not so great, but it beats Devon any day of the week.’ Nat noticed me looking at him strangely. ‘What?’
‘Devon’s your brother?’
‘You don’t know him, do you? Seriously?’
‘He’s in my year at school.’
‘Shit, I should have thought. I forget we’re not the same age. Dev seems so bloody young, and you … well …’ He eyed me up approvingly.
‘How come you didn’t go to my school then? I’m sure I would have remembered someone like you.’
‘Our parents split up about nine years ago. My dad scarpered with one of Mum’s friends – what a gent, eh? Mum had a complete breakdown. Couldn’t cope with me and Dev. And I didn’t help matters much. I played up quite a bit – just to get attention, really. Not something I’m particularly proud of. Anyway, lucky old me got sent to boarding school. Dev would have gone too, but Mum didn’t think he could cope. I was well pissed off at being sent away while “Mummy’s little prince” got to stay at home. But looking back on it now, getting away from here was the best thing that ever happened to me. No offence.’
‘God,’ I said. It was a lot to take in. I couldn’t believe I was going out with Devon’s brother. Mental. How could I not have known about him before? If I had, I’d have been a lot more friendly to Devon, that’s for sure.
‘Listen, Grace. I never would have said anything about Devon if I thought there was even a remote chance that you knew him. Clearly I’m a complete retard. Promise you won’t say anything about what I told you – about Dev.’
‘Of course I won’t say anything. I don’t really know Devon that well, anyway. He’s more a friend of a friend. Don’t worry your pretty little head about it.’ I kissed Nat on the forehead and we lay in silence for a while. I was wondering whether Sal had ever met Nat. I knew she’d been to Devon’s house a couple of times, but surely she’d have told me about him if she had? I was dying to ask if Nat had met any of Devon’s friends, but I didn’t feel ready to get into the whole Sal thing yet.
Over the next few days, I found myself thinking about Devon quite a bit – about his depression. It just showed that you can never tell what’s really going on with people. Beneath the shiny surface they present to the world.
I wondered if Devon ever cut. Probably not. More of a girl thing, I guess. It’s in all the magazines. I find it sort of shameful to be part of such an obvious teenage statistic. I like to be a bit more original if I can.
Those first few weeks with Nat were pretty great. For the first time in my life I was perhaps eighty per cent happy. And the missing twenty per cent was all Sal. Probably more than that, if I’m honest. I thought about her a lot, and nearly picked up the phone a hundred times. But as distractions go, Nat was more than adequate.
We had been going out for about a month when I decided to pay Sophie a visit. I’m not entirely sure why. Anyway, I popped into the shop on the off-chance and, sure enough, there she was behind the counter. The shop was busy. A yummy mummy with a screaming baby in a bizarre sling-type thing. Two old ladies gossiping and trading stories of ailments. A shifty-looking boy wearing skinny grey jeans and a black T-shirt emblazoned with the name of some band I’d never heard of. He was lurking in the condom section. Bless.
I waited until the old dears were the only ones left in the shop. They were oblivious to everything, not to mention slightly deaf. At least I assumed that’s why they were talking