"Hello?"

"Uh... hi." A stuttering male voice filled the line.

"Hi." I said, "can I ask who you are?"

"It's Jarrod." The male said and I was instantly worried.

"What is it? Is it Lilly?"

"No. It's nothing serious." I breathed out a sigh of relief and leaned back into my chair. "I was wondering if you could come over today, not for Lilly but to see me?"

I paused for a second to think. Would it be appropriate to see him alone? He, like Lilly, was no longer my student so that was not the issue, but could I go to her house and not see her but spend my time with her brother? Somehow it didn't feel right and I drew in a breath to gently reject his offer but before I could say anything his voice cut through the line.

"It's my birthday and I just hoped you could be there but I understand if you've already got plans."

That made me feel bad and put me in an uncomfortable situation.

"Sure I'll come." I said before I could fully think it out, guilt mixing with the prospect of seeing Lilly to make the decision before my brain could contribute.

"Great!" He said cheerfully. "Come round about eleven cos that's when we're eating! It's going to be so great!"

"Yes, it will." I said cautiously starting to regret agreeing to go.

"I can't wait to see you!" He exclaimed and I murmured an agreeable noise. "What?" He shouted, talking to someone off the phone. "Okay... yes, yes I will... I'll only be two seconds!... Just give me a minute... no, mum just let me say bye! Yes!"

I smiled to myself imagining him arguing with his mother, I remembered a time I used to do that, before I hit puberty and everything changed. It was nice to see someone at his age still having a enough relationship with their mother to argue with her.

"Hey, sorry about that but I have to go."

"I gathered." I said with a small smile and he sighed. "I'll see you about eleven, okay?"

"Yeah, thanks."

I hung up and got ready for a shower, I had to look good if I was going to see Lilly.

As I was standing under the powerful jet of water two things hit me. One, that I'd never given Jarrod my number, and two? It had only been a month since Lilly's birthday.

***

'The first of course was easy to understand,' I mused as I sat in the car, drumming my finger on the wheel impatiently as I waited for the light to change. 'He probably took it from Lilly's phone. But the second... the second.'

A horn blared and I jumped and realized the light had turned green. I pressed down on the accelerator quickly before the man behind could get too angry and ram me or something.

One of them couldn't be their real child. There was no way they could both be from the same mother, it was biologically impossible. So was Lilly adopted, or Jarrod. I was inclined to say Lilly, her blond hair setting her apart from the browns and blacks that dominated the rest of her family.

I turned into the road that led up to Lilly's house and felt a fluttering in my stomach. What caused it I couldn't say, maybe it was apprehension, maybe my new found realization. Whatever it was it settled like a layer of mucus, there to stay.

***

I rang the doorbell and Maggie opened it.

"Good morning Mrs Daniels." I said politely and she smiled warmly at me.

"It's nice to see you Laura! Are you here to see Lilly?"

"Actually Jarrod invited me over, I understand it's his birthday?"

"It is indeed." She said without moving from the doorway. "So he invited you over did he?"

"Yes."

"Did he say why?" She asked, sounding suspicious.

"Not really, he just said he wanted me to be here."

"I'm not sure that's the best idea, maybe you should go home right now and-"

"Margret let the poor girl in." Mr Daniels said, appearing beside her in the doorway. "There's nothing to hide from her."

I smiled uncertainly, feeling as though there was some part of the conversation I was missing. They stared into each others eyes and something must have passed between them because she turned to me with a smile and stepped back to allow me into the house.

I passed her and heard the door close behind me as I headed towards the living room, where I assumed they were gathered.

When I entered Lilly looked up at me from where she was seated on the floor, playing a board game with Tara. She smiled and I grinned back but before I could say anything I was engulfed in a hug from an unknown source.

"You came!" The things voice squealed and it's stuttering awkwardness was unmistakably Jarrod.

"Of course I did." I said, wrapping an arm around him for only a second before letting go. I had to push him away gently before he would release me.

He pushed his glasses up his slightly red face and went back to his seat.

"How are you?" I asked softly as I lowered myself to the ground between Tara and Lilly.

"I'm fine." She said, not quite meeting my gaze.

"Are you sure?" I asked more insistently and she nodded, this time giving me a weak smile. I wondered what had happened between when I entered the room and now. Had something been said or done that had upset her in some way without my realizing. Was it me?

I glanced around the room, hoping someone would catch my eye and tell me what had changed her mood so drastically. As I did so I noticed Jarrod staring at me intently. I smiled at him trying not to let on that it made me a little uncomfortable. He didn't smile back but blinked suddenly and looked confused. His eyes suddenly focused on my face and he flushed and looked away.

I blinked a few times before shaking my head, bemused, and turned back to the board game.

'Hi?' Jarrod's voice was inside my head, that weird tingling that had been so frequent that day I though I'd heard Lilly's voice.

I swung round and stared at him. He stared at me for a second then his mouth fell open slightly in shock.

"She can hear me." He said softly.

"What?" His brother asked, looking up from his laptop. I vaguely remembered that his name was Tom. "Who can?"

"She can hear me!" He shouted and jumped out his chair and ran towards me. He hugged me and because he had been standing up and I sitting down he fell onto me, sending me onto my back. "I found you!"

I was still totally confused and caught too off guard to do much more than lie there.

"Get off her you ass!" Lilly snapped, and suddenly the weight was removed from me. "You haven't found her!" Jarrod pushed himself up onto his feet and stood in front of me possessively.

"I have! She could hear me!" Jarrod insisted and Lilly laughed, but there was no amusement in the noise.

"Check your crystal." She challenged and he glared at her.

"Why should I? I can talk to her, that's proof enough that she's it."

"She isn't." Lilly insisted, her eyes flashing with something I hadn't seen before. "I guarantee it."

"Fine I'll check! But you're the one who's going to be disappointed."

"Just go." Lilly snarled and I spotted Tom rolling his eyes and winking at his wife. She giggled softly and that was the only sound that could be heard in the room other than Anne's impatient tutting.

Just under a minute later his footsteps came back down the hall, rather slower than he's departed. When he entered the room Lilly raised her eyebrows expectantly and he muttered something, staring at the ground.

"What was that?" Lilly asked, her face a picture of glee.

"It's not green." He said enunciating his words.

"Didn't I tell you?" She asked, smirking.

"Yes." He said softly, then he pushed his hair out his eyes and said. "I could talk to her though so I just wondered... how can I do that?"

"Oh..." Lilly said, her face losing it's victorious look. "That's because... because she... is... er... mine?" Her words weren't meant to come out as a question but the way she said it sounded like that.

There was a deathly silence then Anne started to laugh and it wasn't a kind laughter.

"Seriously! After all that you still can't admit it!" She screeched, still laughing. "That's pathetic!"

"I did admit it!" Lilly snapped, her eyes darting to me anxiously to see how I was taking it.

"You haven't told them yet." I said, my voice coming out much smaller and childlike than I intended it to.

"I did." She insisted but her eyes flicked across everything in the room but me.

"Why didn't you tell them? Why didn't you at least tell me you hadn't told them?"

"I was just-"

"Ashamed?!" I demanded, anger bubbling inside me now. "You like a woman, so what? Being a lesbian doesn't make you a different person! It isn't a terrible illness!"

"I know that, I was going to tell them I swe-"

"Save it." I said. "I don't want to hear it. I think I'll just go now." I started to walk towards the door. "Tell me when you can stomach the fact you like me."

"Laura! Please!" She cried, following me out into the corridor. She grabbed my arm and spun me round.

"What?" I snapped, too angry to care about the tears on her face.

"I really was going to tell them." She said.

"When?" I asked and she shifted uncomfortably. "I see." I said disappointed. "I can't be a secret! A doll in the cupboard that you just take out and play with whenever you feel like it!"

"I know." She nodded, wiping a silver drip of water from her cheek. "I don't want you to be a secret. I want people to know that I'm with you but... I don't want their opinion of me to change because of that."

"If they don't care about you regardless then that's not the sort of people you want to know!"

"I know, everyone says that but..." She waved her hands, searching for the words. "It's not that easy to risk it, you know?"

"No." I said bluntly. "I don't know, I've always been totally honest about that."

She stood there awkwardly, picking at the edge of her nail.

"I understand."

"No you don't! You think you understand but really you just think I'm overreacting!"

"I don't."

"I don't care anymore." I snapped, whirling around and heading for the door.

"Laura!" She shouted but I slammed the door.