Split Second by Sophie McKenzie

middle of the room, talking with Jas and her parents. I watched Jas take a bite from a crisp then put the remainder on her mum’s
plate. No wonder she was so skinny. It struck me that though we’d shared snacks together many times I’d never actually seen her eat a proper meal.
    I sighed. The service had just turned into a drinks party and Nat was nowhere to be seen. The least I could get out of the whole stupid experience was a bit of information, something I could
properly use against him.
    I headed to the drinks table wondering if he was somewhere in the crush. The Mayor’s son was standing on the edge of the crowd. As I walked over, he smiled.
    ‘Hello,’ he said.
    ‘Hi.’ I looked around. No sign of Nat here.
    ‘Are they your parents?’ the boy asked, indicating Nat and Jas’s mum and dad.
    ‘No,’ I said.
    ‘Are you a friend of the family?’
    Irritation flickered through me at his persistence. ‘I’m their daughter’s friend,’ I said. ‘We go to the same school. Why are you asking?’
    The boy shrugged. ‘It’s just nice to see people my age. Girls especially.’ He grinned and a dimple appeared in his left cheek. ‘I’m Aaron by the way.’ He held
out his hand.
    I shook it, feeling even more annoyed. Aaron seemed to be treating the whole event as some kind of flirting opportunity. ‘Charlie,’ I said.
    I turned away, determined to find Nat.
    ‘Nice to meet you, Charlie,’ Aaron said.
    ‘Whatever.’ As I stomped off, it occurred to me that I’d probably been a bit harsh. After all, it couldn’t be much fun for Aaron to spend his Saturday morning at a
ceremony with a bunch of unhappy people just because his parents had to. And there was no way he could have known that I was the daughter of one of the blast victims.
    I walked on, still looking for Nat. I might have failed to rob his laptop, but if I could just get him talking, I was sure I could force him to let something slip about his involvement with the
League of Iron, some detail I could use to start building evidence against him.
    There
he was, hunched over his phone, crossing the room. He was heading for the fire door in the corner. My jaw dropped as he looked around – a quick furtive glance – then
pressed down on the bar. Was he leaving the memorial service? A moment later he slipped outside and out of sight.
    Where on earth was he going?
    I hesitated for just a second, then I sped across the room and followed him outside. He was still studying his mobile, walking purposefully up the road. Before I knew what I was doing, I was
hurrying after him. My pulse raced. Rationally this was mad: Nat was probably going somewhere completely unconnected with the League of Iron. On the other hand, why would he walk out on the
memorial service if it was for some innocent reason? In my bones I was sure that whatever he was doing was linked to the bomb and to his brother and to that disgusting League forum he had written
on as AngelOfFire.
    The wind pinched at my face, despite the bright sunshine. I hurried along, tugging my scarf around me. Nat turned right at the end of the road. He was walking fast. I sped up, almost having to
run in order to keep him in view. He took a left, then two rights in quick succession. He stopped for a moment, as if deciding which way to turn next, then headed towards the canal. I followed him
past a pair of homeless women arguing over the contents of a bin. A moment later, Nat reached the water and the first of the three low-rise council estate buildings that ran along its banks. I lost
sight of him as he walked through the entry arch.
    I sped up again, racing under the arch myself, out to the other side. Two men in the distance were shouting.
    Without warning, a hand grabbed my arm. Nat swung me round, his eyes blazing in the bright sunlight. ‘Why are you following me?’ he snapped.
    I tried to pull away, to run, but Nat held me fast.

Nat
    I gripped Charlie’s arm. There was shock – but no