The Last Charm. Ella Allbright

groans. ‘Jake, you might be earning an annual salary, but I’m not. I’m just a poor student who spends all her money on art supplies and petrol. Come on. You owe me.’ She pulls a hopeful expression. ‘Don’t forget I saved your life once.’

      ‘Don’t forget I saved you from being expelled once. I’d call it even, as you said that night on the beach. No deal.’

      ‘You said it didn’t make us even, that you used me to get what you wanted, to leave home.’

      ‘I said a lot of things back then.’ He sighs. ‘I shouldn’t have said I used you. I’ve grown up since.’

      ‘Sounds boring,’ she mutters, looking down and fiddling with her charm bracelet.

      He flicks the tiny car charm, knowing he’s tempting fate. He’s not ready to say goodbye yet though. ‘You got another one.’

      She looks up. ‘Yeah. Grandad started teaching me to drive on his friend’s farm just after my sixteenth. It was in the New Forest, so great scenery and lots of private land to practise on. I studied hard to pass the theory test as soon as I hit seventeen, and then took a few lessons to help pass the driving test. The charm arrived a few weeks later.’

      ‘You like it then?’ He holds his breath.

      ‘Yeah, it’s cute.’ She grins.

      He nods. ‘You passed your test quite quickly.’

      ‘Not something you usually associate with me, huh?’ Her mouth quirks up on one side. ‘I really wanted a car to get around on my own. There are loads of amazing places I want to paint and taking an easel on the bus is no fun. My friends didn’t exactly relish driving me to deserted places and waiting around for hours on end either.’ She rolls her eyes. ‘But after I passed my test, Dad and Grandad clubbed together and matched some savings I had, and we bought this rust bucket.’ She kicks the vintage Beetle’s back tyre fondly.

      ‘You’re lucky they did that for you.’

      ‘Yeah. But I’m also the youngest in my year and having to wait nearly twelve months while all my friends got cars has been crap. The thirty-first of August is the worst day ever to be born on; I’m just lagging behind constantly. The least Mum could’ve done was cross her legs for an extra couple of days. Then I’d be the oldest in my year instead of the youngest.’

      ‘You’re right, she was completely selfish,’ he says, with a straight face. ‘But I don’t think the thirty-first of August is all bad.’

      ‘Why’s that?’

      Jake starts walking backwards, taking one last look at her, waving her insurance details in the air. ‘Because someone born on that day is paying for my dad’s car to be repaired.’

      ‘That’s not funny,’ she hollers as he gets in the BMW and reverses around in an arc to face the exit.

      He rolls down his window and gives Leila a cheerful wave. ‘Take care, Jones. My insurance company will be in touch soon.’

      ‘Jake, you sod!’ she howls as he drives off, revving the engine. ‘God. You’re always so cocky!’

      The sight of her fills his rear-view mirror as he leaves the school grounds. She wraps her arms around her waist, the fur on her collar bunching up around her glowering face. The clouds part and a ray of sunlight shines through, glinting off the diamond stud in her nose. ‘The other thing about the thirty-first of August,’ Jake says to himself as he presses on the accelerator, ‘is that I think someone born on that day is pretty spectacular.’