FIRST-PERSON COMPETITION
Wish Upon a Star
Susan Rocks lives in East Dorset and has had several short stories published both online and in print. Last year, Susan was longlisted for the Penguin/Random House writenow2020 competition and is busy editing her first novel, The Butterfly Effect, whilst plucking up the courage to finally submit to agents. She is also writing the first draft of her second novel. This is her second Writing Magazine competition win and can confirm this win is equally as exciting as the first. She can be found on Twitter @SusanRocks3.
by Susan Rocks
D
o you remember the night we saw the shooting star?
I throw the blue biro down; of course Jake remembers. Screwing up the scrap of paper, torn from an old school notebook, I aim it at the bin two metres away on the other side of our studio apartment (meaning bedsit), that’s been home for the last year. Perhaps I should go without leaving a note; I owe him more than that though, after everything he’s done for me.
What did he see in me? From his first day at school, when he stood up to the boy calling me skank, dirty girl, he always sensed when I needed help. Like when the glossy girls, with their designer backpacks and made up faces mocked me thanks to my charity shop clothes, my lack of a mobile phone let alone a tablet. It took a long time for me to trust Jake. Gradually he wore me down, shy smiles, winks when a teacher stuffed up, sharing chocolate during break. Later Jake called me his wounded deer, large deep brown wary eyes, always ready to leap away on spindly legs if anyone approached me too quickly.