Chapter 6
“Oi! Williams!”
The shout—was horrible. It was loud and demanding, a boy’s voice, and on pure instinct, every muscle in Anton’s upper body tensed up. His heart doubled its efforts, and for a blind, awful moment, he was right back at his old school—the freak, the dyke, the tranny cow who never shaved her legs—
“Wait up!”
His lungs unlocked, and the rush of cold air was dizzying. He wasn’t there. They weren’t here. It was just—
“S’up, new kid?”
Jude. Jude, flushed from the cold, a dark beanie jammed down over his ears, and grinning that wide, beautiful smile that knocked the air right back out of Anton’s chest, for entirely different reasons.
“Um—”
“You alright?”
“Er—yeah, yeah, sorry, um—”
“Look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Jude said, hitching his bag higher on his shoulde
