Knife Edge by Malorie Blackman Read Free Book Online Page B

dropping. They won't let me out of here until you weigh at least ten per cent more than your birth weight though, just to be on the safe side. I don't mind that. To be honest, I'm not in a rush to get back to my flat. I didn't go home when Callum died. I never will either. That's my old life. You are my new, the future. But Callum is my ever-present. It's like where he's concerned, time is just standing still. And I can't believe I'll ever feel any different.
    I tell myself to grieve and let it go, but with each breath I just seem to hold onto him tighter. I don't want to let him go. He was more me than I am. I know that doesn't make sense, but that's how I feel.
    But you're safe now and getting better and I'll focus on that.

fifteen. Jude

    I stood at the side of my window, watching the world pass by. The sky was a blanket of grey, tarmac-coloured clouds with no hint of the blue beyond them. The air hung heavy and still, even managing to muffle the sound of the traffic outside my window.
    Monday morning.
    A man and a woman walked by below me, hand in hand. The man stopped abruptly before turning to his partner, a smile on his face. He said a few words to her. I couldn't see her face as her back was towards me, but I could see his. And he only had eyes for the woman before him. He smiled at her then, cupping her face with his hands, he kissed her. I watched, the seconds ticking by, and still neither of them came up for air. I wanted to open the window and shout out, but I didn't. I wanted to walk away from the window and leave them to it – but I couldn't. I watched as they pressed their bodies closer together. I watched as the man finally, reluctantly, let go of his woman, only to stroke her face before taking her hand. And then they started walking again. I stared at the couple, willing them, daring them to look up at my window. But they didn't. The woman was a skank. She had to be to go with a Cross man like that. She wasn't even trying to hide the fact that they were together. But I knew what she was. The only nought women who went with daggers were skanks.
    Unbidden, the image of Sephy's face came into my head. Sephy and my brother, Callum. What were they like when they were together? Well, that was easy. Callum was . . . misguided – to say the least. And as for her? She was his nemesis, dressed up in a mantle of wealth and false friendship. I watched as the nought woman and the dagger man turned the corner, playing at being lovers in an unloving world.
    Time to do a little playing of my own.

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    THE DAILY SHOUTER Wednesday 26th May Page 5
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Wasp Sting
'Full of Hate'
    Yesterday, it was announced that Wasp Sting's invitation to sing at the Party in the Park has been withdrawn. A spokeswoman for the Heritage Charitable Trust, who stage the concert each year, told the Daily Shouter, 'Since announcing that Wasp Sting were due to appear, we've been inundated with complaints. Although they are a very popular nought rock band, many have protested at the type of lyrics this group expound. Their song, Behind the Flag, has been called a blatant incitement to violence against the police. Others have called them a group full of hate. We have therefore taken the difficult decision not to include them in this year's programme of events.'
    When Aidan Doyle of Wasp Sting was told of the news, he is reported to have said, The *!£%*@# Heritage Charitable Trust can kiss my a***. If they're afraid of us, then we'll play to those who *!£%*@# aren't.' One woman who regularly attends the Party in the Park told us, 'No way would I ever take my family to a concert where Wasp Sting are playing. They are a foul-mouthed so-called rock group who shout obscenities and stir up trouble. Not the sort of thing I want my children listening to, thank you very much.'

sixteen. Sephy

    Darling Callie,
    Guess who visited me today? My sister Minerva. I was reading a newspaper and didn't even realize she'd arrived until her shadow fell across my bed.