Proud of Me by Sarah Hagger-Holt

Author:Sarah Hagger-Holt
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Usborne Publishing Ltd

I see him before he sees me.

I’d got there ten minutes before we’d arranged to meet, bought a Coke and found a table in the corner with a good view of the door. Just after 11.30 a.m., I see a tall guy with dark hair come in. I watch him while he looks around, as if searching for a familiar face. He’s taller than I expected, but same face, same hair, same smile.

I take a deep breath – this is it – and raise my hand to wave to him.

He smiles and comes over. “You’re Josh?”

“Yes, that’s me.” My voice sounds high and tight, like I’m just a kid, but Eli doesn’t seem to notice. I clear my throat.

He puts out his hand to shake. “Eli. I’ve only got an hour for lunch, but I reckon we’ve still got plenty of time to talk. It’s great you live so near.”

I nod. It doesn’t feel so much like lying if I don’t say the actual words.

“Cool, well, I’ll just get some chips. You want anything?”

As he queues, I think to myself, Here I am, just hanging out with my brother. Nothing could be more ordinary. On the table, my phone buzzes again. My bag’s on the chair next to me, so I shove my phone underneath, well out of the way. I don’t want anything to disturb us.

“Normally I get a free lunch at work, before the rush starts. It feels well weird to be eating someone else’s chips,” says Eli, putting down his tray on the table, ripping open the bag of chips and pushing it towards me so that I can help myself. I take a chip, but my mouth’s too dry to taste anything. “But I thought here would be better to talk. People at work don’t know I’m DC. They are nosy though. They probably think I’m meeting some girl!”

“So you work at Nando’s, right?”

“Yeah, the one just round the corner. You know it? No, never mind. It’s just like every other Nando’s. It’s okay, just for Saturdays and the odd Sunday. Anyway, you wanted to talk…”

This is the bit I’ve planned. “Yeah, I just wanted to meet someone else who’s donor-conceived…I mean DC.” It feels strange being able to say “DC” out loud to someone who knows what it means. I stumble over it at first. “Apart from my sister. On the forum you seemed, I don’t know, really sorted about it all. You’re the first person I’ve actually met who knows what it’s like.”

Eli nods. “So when did you find out?” he asks through a mouthful of chips.

“When I was little. I don’t remember not knowing. We even had this book explaining it all…”

“Our Story? Yeah, I had Our Story too. I used to love that book. You’re like me then, not one of these angry DC kids?”

“Angry?”

“Yeah, you know, like the ones in the group who found out by mistake or whose parents kept it a secret. Some even say they wish they’d never been born cos of how unfair it is not knowing where they come from.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.