Two children, laying in the grass on a summer afternoon. One boy, one girl. In the peace and the warmth, the world seems to stop.

“Jay?”

“Yeah?”

“Things’ll always be like this, right? We’ll always be friends?”

Silence fell again. Rolling on his side, the boy stared contemplatively at the girl.

“Yeah. Nothing will ever change.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

In the peace and the warmth, the world seems to stop. The promise of a seven year old seems such a trivial thing to all but the speaker and the listener. To him, it will become the very foundation of his world. To her, a lie she wished she could believe in.

Chapter One

“Jayne White!”

“Wha… Yes, Miss?”

“If you’re quite done daydreaming, perhaps you would be so kind as to answer the question?”

“Question, Miss?”

Around him, the other children snickered. Only one set of emerald-green eyes was sympathetic, a stark contrast to the mocking gazes of everyone else. Staring straight ahead, Jayne tried to ignore those eyes, and finally, with a small frown that made Jayne’s very centre ache, the face those green eyes were set in turned around.

“Jayne, I’m going to have to speak to you after class. Please remain behind.”

Sighing, Jayne nodded in resignation. Turning back to the pages of his book, he stared at the picture he’d been drawing. Grimacing, he tore the page out of his book and lobbed it at the bin.

“Aaaaiirr baaallll!”

“Shut up, Luke.”
Grinning, Jayne turned to his left and jokingly punched the boy sitting next to him. Clutching his arm, Luke attempted to look hurt.

“Thou hast slain me!”

With a mock groan, he collapsed on his desk. Laughing, Jayne got up and moved to put the paper he’d thrown into the bin he’d missed.

“You’re such a dickhead, Luke,” He grinned. “Maybe next time I really should hurt you.”

“Tch, you wouldn’t do that to me…”

“Don’t be so sure.”

Still grinning, he sat back down. Looking around his class briefly, he let his gaze linger on the back of one person in particular’s head. As he stared at that head, his grin slowly faded, and with a small sigh he began to take down notes from the board. Where she had been watching from her desk, Ms Wayne shook her head and turned to stare thoughtfully out the window.

Later, when the lesson ended and the teacher motion for Jayne to stay behind, nobody noticed the single girl that lingered behind while everyone else left the room, who went to the bin and picked up a single piece of paper, meticulously un-crumpling it and placing it in her book before hurrying after her classmates.



Stifling a grin, Ms Wayne attempted to look seriously and sternly at the brooding teen sitting in front of her.

“Jayne, you understand why I held you back, don’t you?”

“Yes, miss.”

“And why have I held you back?”

Jayne cast a glare at her that could have melted steel, and this time she couldn’t entirely hold back her smile.

“Either because I don’t pay attention in your class, or because you just hate me. I’m not quite sure which,” Jayne was grinning slightly as well by this point, and the tension in the air was rapidly dissolving “Besides, I’m sure you’ll tell me in great detail.”

Letting out a small laugh, Mrs Wayne leant forward slightly. “Jayne, you’re a bright young boy…”
”I know, I know,” Jayne abruptly cut her off “and you’re worried about my future because if I were to just try a little harder I could achieve so much. I’ve heard it before, miss. A lot.”

“That’s because I’m concerned about you, Jayne! You rarely pay attention in class, and when you do you usually treat everyone else with disdain. If you’re not going to give yourself a chance, at least give your classmates a chance.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah…”

“And give Laura a chance, too.”

“Huh?”

“I’ve been around for a while, Jayne…”
”Yeah, that much is obvious…”

Glaring at Jayne, she went on “…And I can read the signs. The girl thinks the world of you, Jayne. And I’m fairly sure you feel the same.”

“Ms Wayne.”

“Yes, Jayne?”

Jayne stoop up suddenly, knocking his chair to the ground. “With all due respect, stay the hell out of my private life.”

Staring after the Jayne as he stormed out of the room, Ms Wayne wondered, and not for the first time, why she tried to work things out with sullen and opinionated teens.



Jayne almost ran from the classroom, almost as though he was pursued by demons only he could see and hear. Halfway down the corridor leading to his locker, he stopped and leant against the wall, slowly sinking down until he was sitting with his head resting on his knees. Closing his eyes, he tried to wish everything away. Tried to wish away the feelings racing through his body, to ignore the thoughts screaming through his head and block out the images painting themselves on his eyelids. He kept thinking back to the dream he’d had in class, of when he’d made that promise as a child. Ten years on, he still tried to keep his promise, and couldn’t help but feel like he was failing.

“Jay? Are you alright?” came a voice suddenly, snapping him out of his melancholic remembrance. “Jay?”

Looking up, he saw again a pair of startlingly green eyes, set in a face full of concern.

“What did you just call me?”

“Huh?”

“Jay. Did you call me Jay?”

“Yeah… And I asked if you were ok…”

“Don’t ever call me that.”

“What? Why not?”

“Because only one person ever called me that, and you will never replace her.”

“What? Jay? I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

“Never, ever call me that again.”

“I just wanted to help…” as Jayne watched, a single tear form in one of those beautiful eyes and slowly spilled down an almost perfectly sculpted cheek, making his heart ache. “I was worried about you…”

Almost completely out of nowhere, a sudden rage boiled up inside him. “Well, don’t! I don’t need your help, and I don’t need your pity! I just want you to leave ME ALONE!” as he shouted the last two words, those two green eyes suddenly hardened.

“Fine. Have it your way, Jayne.” Spinning on her heel, Laura walked away, an aura of coldness emanating from her, leaving Jayne staring after her in shock.

“Fuck.” Slamming his head back into the wall behind him, Jayne stared at the ceiling.

“Fuck. What the fuck did I just do?”



Jayne and Claire were playing down at the park, laughing and screaming in joy. Jayne’s parents looked on and smiled, while Claire’s parents looked on in anxiety. Laughing and smiling, Jayne ran as Claire chased him, sprinting around the small playground.

“Haha! You’ll never catch me!”

“Yes I will! Just you watch!”

Grinning, Jayne slowed down, pretending to be out of breath, and just before Claire caught up to him, he sprinted off again, this time over the road next to the playground. Cackling with glee, Claire followed. Just as Jayne’s parents yelled out for them to stop and get off the road, just as Claire’s mother screamed in horror, a small, flashy sports car came screeching around the corner. As Jayne turned around, a smile still plastered across his face, he hear Claire’s mother scream and saw Claire standing in the middle of the road, blinking dumbly at the on-coming car. As Jayne’s smile began to rapidly disappear, the car slammed on its brakes, trying to stop. As Jayne began running back towards Claire, screaming at her to move, the car began skidding. Claire turned and faced Jayne, terror written all over face. And then the car struck.

Time seemed to go in slow motion. Jayne saw his father racing towards him, while his mum caught Claire’s fainting mother. He heard the opening of car doors, and the horrified shouts of adults. He turned and began to walk slowly towards where a body lay crumpled on the ground, metres away from where the crash occurred, flung like a rag doll. As he came nearer, one of the other parents from the park tried to hide the sight from him, but he pushed past. Walking towards the lifeless body, he crouched down next to Claire’s head.

“Claire?” he whispered. “Claire, wake up.”

Sobbing, Jayne reached out to try to shake her awake, and as his hand touched her shoulder, she cracked open a single, once bright green eye.

“Jay, you promised me that nothing would ever change. Jay, it hurts. Please make the pain go away, Jay…”

Gasping for breath, Jayne woke up, his sheets and his body soaked in a cold sweat. Putting his hands over his eyes, he began to cry uncontrollably, each wrenching sob shaking his entire body. He remained like that for several hours, until finally, exhausted and out of tears, he fell into a troubled sleep.