Num8ers - By Rachel Ward Page 0,6

up, his nan looked at me. “Hi,” she said. “I’m Val.”

I tried to keep my eyes down, but for some reason I looked up briefly and, instantly, she held my gaze. I couldn’t look away. Her eyes were amazing — hazel, set in clear white, despite the smoke. And it wasn’t like she was just looking, like anyone else. No, she was taking me in, she was really seeing me. I clocked her number, 02202054: forty-four years to go with a heavy smoking habit. Respect.

“Who are you, then?” she asked, the words sounding harsh, although I don’t think she meant them to.

I couldn’t think straight, couldn’t even remember my name. I was like a rabbit trapped in the headlights of those eyes.

Spider came to my rescue. “Her name’s Jem. We’re gonna watch the telly.”

“In a minute. Don’t rush off. Sit here a minute, Jem.” She indicated the stool next to her with a nod of her head.

“Na-an, leave her alone. Don’t go off on one.”

“You mind your attitude, Terry. Don’t listen to him. Sit here.” She patted the stool, her hands small and lined with massive curled yellow nails, and I clambered up meekly. Spider’s nan wasn’t the sort of person you argued with, and on top of that there was something else going on. I could feel it in the air, like electricity sparking between us. It was frightening and exciting at the same time. I still hadn’t stopped looking at her, and as I shifted on the stool to get my balance, she put her smoke down and took one of my hands. You know that I don’t like contact, but I didn’t draw away. I couldn’t, and we both felt it, a crackle, a buzz, as her skin touched mine.

The reek of stale smoke from her mouth was filling my nostrils. Made me feel a bit queasy. I like a cigarette as much as anyone, but someone else’s, secondhand? Nah.

“I have never met anyone like you,” she said, and I thought, No, that’s right, you haven’t, but how do you know? “Do you know about auras?” she asked. The question was met by a snort of derision from Spider, who’d wandered into the front room.

“Leave it out, Nan. Leave her alone, you old witch.”

“Shut up, you!” She turned back to me, and her words, slow and carefully spoken, went deep into me, like I was listening with my whole body, not just my ears. “You have the most amazing aura I’ve ever seen. Purple and white. All around you. The purple shows your spiritual energy, and the white that you’re able to concentrate that energy. It’s quite remarkable — I’ve never seen anyone with an aura as strong as yours.”

I hadn’t a clue what she was talking about, but I wanted to know.

“Your aura, Jem, is the energy you carry with you. It radiates ’round you, all different colors. And the aura tells you more about that person than anything else. Everyone’s got one, but not everyone can see them. Just us lucky ones.” She narrowed her eyes. “You see them, too, don’t you?”

“No,” I said truthfully. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“She’s talking bollocks, that’s what,” shouted Spider.

“I’ve nearly had enough of you, son! You shut your mouth!” She leaned in closer to me and lowered her voice. “You can tell me, Jem. I understand. It’s a gift, but it’s a curse, too. Tells you more than you want to know sometimes.”

The pit of my stomach lurched. She knew what it was like. The first time I’d ever met someone who understood. God, I wanted to tell her, ’course I did, but fifteen years is a long time to keep a secret. Not telling becomes part of you. And I knew deep inside that once I started talking about it, even to someone like Spider’s nan, everything would change. And I wasn’t quite ready for that. Not yet.

“No. There’s nothing,” I mumbled. I managed to wrench my eyes away from her piercing, seeing gaze.

She leaned back and sighed — I could almost see her breath, it was that thick. “Suit yourself,” she said, lighting up another smoke. “You know where I am now. I’ll be here. I’m always here.”

As I slipped off the stool and went to find Spider, I could feel her eyes drilling into my back.

Spider was sprawled across an armchair, his long legs dangling over one side, feet twitching at the ankle. “Don’t take any notice of her. She lost the plot