Taking refuge in a cinema wasn’t a new experience. Dad and me had been hiding in them for as long as I could remember, but doing it during school time? It was risky, but it had to be done.
I shaded my eyes as I approached the exit doors, preparing for a rare blast of sun on the other side. There was nothing worse after a film than a bad case of sun blindness.
Although the screening finished twenty minutes after school did, I still had to be careful as I left. Didn’t want anyone clocking me, wondering how I’d got into town so quickly. This was the fifth time I’d risked bunking off and so far everything had worked out tidily. No one, it seemed, suspected a thing.
I wasn’t daft about it. I registered in the afternoon before ducking out, had even forged a letter from Dad once about a hospital appointment. Didn’t want anyone getting suspicious or anything. Plus I was canny about what I was wearing when I arrived at the Ritzy. One sniff of a school uniform and I’d be shown the door, so I always switched my jumper and school shoes as I left, adding this flowy scarf I had, plus a shed-load of lip gloss. The hope was that I passed for a sixth-former on a free period, and despite sweaty palms each time I bought my ticket, no one seemed to look twice.
By the time I hit fresh air, I’d forgotten all about the film I’d seen. For the first painful time in my life, it was unimportant. What mattered was that I was out of the glare at school, my absence limiting the damage I could do by simply being there, especially in Hobson’s lessons.
The run-in with Donna had scared me, made a nonsense of the balancing act that I thought I’d perfected. I couldn’t risk another cock-up in front of Hobson: Donna never gave second warnings. I’d been lucky to get a first.
Hobson didn’t help things either. He’d continued using films in a number of his lessons, and when no one came up with the answers quickly enough, I was his default setting. Not that I gave him anything. Not a single answer. It wasn’t worth the risk, regardless of how easy the questions were.
He was bemused by my sudden lobotomy. He looked at me in such confusion, like he knew that I was doing it on purpose. After a couple of lessons where I refused to answer, he kept me back on my own, earning me a glare from Donna for my trouble. I couldn’t win.
‘Is everything OK, Daisy?’ he asked.
‘Sir?’
‘I’m slightly worried about you, how you’ve been these last couple of weeks. You’ve seemed a bit, pensive. Not the same person you were when I arrived.’
‘Don’t know what you mean, sir. Everything’s fine.’
Donna’s head appeared in the window of the door, irritation plain to see.
‘I got the feeling that film was your thing,’ he added, looking for a way in. ‘I was surprised, given what you’d said before, that you didn’t know the answers this time.’
‘Must’ve got lucky, I suppose.’ My feet were shuffling towards the door.
‘I’m right, though, aren’t I? Films are something you love, aren’t they?’
It seemed an odd question, but I shrugged it off, not wanting to give him anything to lengthen the conversation.
‘They’re all right,’ I mumbled. ‘Can I go, sir? I’ve got to get home quick. I’ve something on.’
Still frowning, he nodded, and after checking the coast was clear I made a swift exit towards the river path and home.
That’s when I’d decided on doing the occasional bunk. It seemed the safest option, away from either Donna or Mr Hobson. And the cinema was the perfect place to disappear.
Or at least it had been, but as I walked down the cinema steps I crashed headlong into someone, bumping them off balance, jarring my scarred arm in the process. They seemed to bounce back in slow motion as I recognized them.
It was Mr Hobson.
I’d have bolted if I thought it would do me any good. And if he hadn’t launched into a conversation.
‘Daisy? What are you doing here?’
There seemed no option but to tell him the truth.
‘I presumed when I didn’t see you in class this afternoon that you were ill. I certainly didn’t expect this.’
I braced myself for a lecture, or for him to drag me back to the head’s office, but that wasn’t what I got.
‘Is the lesson so bad that you felt you had to do this?’ he asked, almost hurt.
‘It’s not about the lesson, sir. There’s nothing wrong with the lesson.’
‘So why bunk off? It’s hardly what I expected of you. You always seemed so … keen?’
It wasn’t a question I could answer. Not without unpicking all my hard work and leaving me with a slap from Donna. Strangely, neither option appealed, so I came up with a complete lie.
‘Just couldn’t face it today, sir. It’s the first time I’ve done it. Really.’
‘And was it worth it?’
‘Sir?’
‘The film. Was it any good?’
There was a smile on his face. It didn’t belong there, not in these circumstances, but he genuinely looked amused and interested.
‘It was … pretty, well, average really. Just some rubbish rom-com.’
‘Nothing worse than a disappointing film. It always seems like such a waste. And there are so many brilliant romantic comedies as well. Have you ever seen When Harry Met Sally?’
I shook my head.
‘And you call yourself a film fan? That’s more disappointing than finding you bunking off! You should do something about it.’
The whole conversation was baffling. I didn’t know if that was my cue to smile and walk off or what, but he had one more thing he wanted to say, the smile disappearing as he started.
‘Daisy, all jokes aside, you’ve put me in a difficult position. You know I have to think of your welfare and let the school know what’s gone on. What would we have done if something had happened while you were meant to be in our care? I know you’re nearly fifteen, but you’re still vulnerable. There are people about who would still look to take advantage of you.’
Shit. Dad was going to be asking a lot of questions now, ones I didn’t want to answer.
‘But I see your potential as well, Daisy. And I don’t want you getting a reputation in school for a one-off mistake. And this is a one-off, isn’t it?’
‘It is, definitely.’
‘OK. So let’s chalk this one up to experience, shall we? I can keep a secret if you can.’
The relief was so great I wanted to kiss him. Naturally I stifled that feeling.
‘That would be magic, sir. I won’t do it again.’
His grin was back. ‘Make sure you don’t. We have to trust each other, you hear? Otherwise I’ll be in as much trouble as you. There’s one thing you need to do, though, Daisy. And that’s really think about why you’ve done this. And if you need help in doing that, then ask. There’s something special about you and no one wants to see you struggle when there’s no need.’
His words punctured me slightly, because he’d been honest when all I’d done was lie. They made me realize what I’d been storing up and how heavy it suddenly all felt. In an instant tears came to my eyes and I lifted up a hand to shade them.
‘Are you sure you’re OK?’ he asked.
‘Sure, thank you,’ I gabbled, before walking slowly away.
‘You know where I am,’ he yelled as a parting shot.
I did know, because each time I glanced back he was still there, smiling kindly.