Effects of the Rider chapter 11
Alex never told Jack about why the two had an unscheduled sleepover (or movie night as the teens preferred to call it).
And Tom never told Alex the whole tale of why he turned up shivering on the doorstep without even an a coat on.
They were good friends and some-things didn't need to be spoken of; they understood each other too well to need such explanations.
It had been minus ten degrees C that night. Fourteen degrees Fahrenheit.
Tom had to leave.
They were shouting, ignoring him, blaming each other, pulling him into the firing line then yelling at him for taking the other's side when he told the truth. It was tearing apart.
They didn't even see him leave.
Tom walked down the road his head pounding, breath swirling out in front of him in gigantic clouds. Why did they have to do this? Why did they have to argue? Why didn't they care about him? He was tempted to just sit and wait on the bench at the corner of the road just out of sight until one of them came to look for him or he froze. If they didn't look they didn't love him.
He waited three hours.
If Alex hadn't called his mobile, he would have sat out there the whole night waiting for his parents.
If Alex hadn't called and bullied him to coming to his house for the night away from the screaming voices he would have broken.
If Alex hadn't been there...
Twelve homeless people died that night of hypothermia- it could have been thirteen.