To Lucinda’s surprise, Connor seemed to take the presentation very seriously while they worked on it on Friday. He was more cheerful than she had yet seen him, which meant that he would actually talk, if not happily, and helped her a lot with their work. Understandably, he would not take his hood down still at school, and Lucinda found that she was barely able to stop herself asking how his neck got the way it was.

 

With masses of self control she didn’t ask him, and in return it seemed Connor didn’t question her on her fear of the council estate, remaining focussed upon their work. Even so, by the end of the lesson every group was asking for more time to work on their project, to which Sybil replied with just a smile and shake of her head.

 

That was the challenge of their work – so much to learn and not enough time – as Sybil explained patiently. The next two years would be like that, so they all had to get used to it early on. She went on to explain that the topics they were all currently studying would be covered in lessons, so any information they missed wouldn’t be ignored.

 

However, pretty much every student left the lesson arranging to meet up with their partner over the weekend to finish their project. Connor and Lucinda were no exception – they had finally got all the information they needed for their presentation but hadn’t for a moment thought about how to present it to the class.

 

According to Connor, he had no parents to worry about getting permission from either, so they decided to meet up that evening and if they needed it they’d meet up at the weekend too. Connor was so reluctant when Lucinda suggested using his house this time that eventually she relented and invited him over again. He smirked.

 

“That’s fine, but we’re walking this time,” he told her firmly, and before she could argue he had turned along a different corridor towards his next class, which wasn’t with her. Lucinda shouted after him, but he didn’t seem to hear.

 

Well, he had done as she said and removed his hood yesterday, despite his scars. And he would be there to protect her if the wolf thing came again… or to distract it.

 

* * * * *

 

It felt wonderful to be able to walk home without the shadows moving. In the light of day, the estate wasn’t as bad as it seemed in the dark, and Connor’s presence reassured her of her safety. He was even more cheerful than he had been that morning.

 

“So what’s wrong with this place?” Connor asked in a friendly way that was not demanding an answer. Lucinda smiled at him.

 

“You’re going to think I’m mad,” she chuckled. “I was going through here on Tuesday and Wednesday in the dark and I could swear the shadows were moving…”

 

Connor smiled slightly but said nothing.

 

“And then there was this big… you’re smiling!” she yelped excitedly all of a sudden. Connor scowled. “Sorry, I’ve never seen you smile before… anyway, there was this big grey dog - thing following me. The first night it just stood there when I saw it, the second it was going to attack me until it heard another dog howl…”

 

“Awoooo!” Connor joked. “Sure it wasn’t a werewolf?”

 

“You see, that’s why I didn’t tell you before,” Lucinda snapped, feeling embarrassed.

 

“You’re serious?” he asked, stopping in his tracks.

 

“Deadly serious,” she nodded.

 

“Well then,” he said, returning to his joking state, “don’t come this way at the full moon!”

 

Lucinda groaned and playfully punched his arm.

 

* * * * *

 

Connor watched over Lucinda’s shoulder as she cleverly navigated around the power point slides on her computer, setting up their presentation. He felt useless, not having her knowledge of computers to work with, but as she worked he wrote the dialogue to the slides she was creating.

 

He had never been one of the people who made friends easily… or at all really. No-one had ever made the effort to get to know him, until now. Thanks to Sybil, their teacher, Lucinda had forced him to talk to her, to help her with the project. He had still not been at all friendly with her, though he regretted it now.

 

But then she had demanded that he removed his hood. If he had been the worst looking man in the world, he could not have been more self conscious. His hair, eyes and heavily scarred neck had always attracted unwanted attention and questions which he wouldn’t answer. And for the first time, someone had seen his scars and not demanded to know what had happened.

 

He had been a fool making her go through the estate. He of all people should know that superstition and irrational fears could easily be more rational than people thought. And when she had told him about the grey dog he had laughed at her, despite his belief that everything she was saying was true.

 

“And it’s done!” Lucinda exclaimed suddenly, pushing the save button with joyful finality. “How are you doing?”

 

“Almost there,” Connor reported. In a way he was glad they were done, the work was tough and they had to really concentrate because Lucinda was determined to win the chocolates, but in another way he wasn’t. The project had made Lucinda friends with him; without it there was no guarantee she would remain so. “That’s it I think.”

 

“Thank God,” Lucinda sighed, leaning back in her chair and relaxing. “All there is now is to present it.”

 

“Don’t you think we should run through it at least once before we have to try in front of the class?” Connor suggested, noting that it was getting late and they wouldn’t have time tonight. He was glad.

 

“I suppose…” Lucinda yawned. “Not tonight though, I’m too tired. Tomorrow?”

 

“What time?” Connor asked, smiling. Lucinda frowned at him.

 

“Here again?” she asked. Connor nodded quickly. “Fine. Be here around midday?”

 

* * * * *

 

The next day the two ran through their presentation together. Convinced that theirs would be the best, Lucinda declared an end to preparation.

 

“You don’t have to go anywhere, right?” she asked curiously, switching off the computer.

 

“No, I don’t think so…” Connor frowned.

 

“Good,” she smirked evilly, “because you really need some new clothes. We’re going shopping.”

 

As she got up and headed for the door Connor stayed seated on the sofa.

 

“I don’t have any money…” he admitted warily. Lucinda looked around, a sympathetic but not surprised expression on her face.

 

“I’ll treat you,” she told him, throwing his hooded coat at him. “Come on!”

 

* * * * *

 

Lucinda beamed as Connor came out of the changing rooms with arms piled high with tonnes of (cheap) clothes. He would hardly accept those, never mind some of the more normally priced items that she had tried to buy him. He had insisted on taking her into several charity shops too, from which he bought an awful lot on her orders that if he found something half decent he should try it on.

 

Even if the clothes were cheap, he looked a lot better in them than he did in his old things, which had not only been falling apart but hadn’t fit properly anyway. Only his three ‘hoodies’ and one hooded coat fit him properly, giving the impression that his other clothes had fit better than they actually had.

 

In total, the cost of all Connor’s new outfits was under a hundred pounds, which may not have meant a lot to Lucinda but it meant the world to Connor. If she was happy to spend so much money helping him out, he couldn’t imagine that she was going to forget about him the moment the project was finished.

 

Lucinda watched Connor as he paid for his last few items. He was smiling constantly, something she hadn’t seen him do, and she couldn’t help but feel good to see him happy.