by S. C. Ransom
“Pity. It wasn’t a bad likeness.”
I couldn’t speak, so I just snorted gently. That would tell him what I thought of his tactics. He laughed again.
“I quite like this. I get to say whatever I want, and you just have to listen to me, no butting in and no questions.” His tone was teasing, so I sighed again.
“I’ve been listening to this guy for a while now. It’s a bit dull isn’t it?”
I nodded almost imperceptibly. Mr Pasciuta was writing out a long proof on the whiteboard, and my classmates were all diligently copying it down.
“Do you understand much of what he is on about? I can’t understand a word.”
It was my time to smile. Luckily I wasn’t sitting that close to anyone else so I pulled out a fresh sheet of paper and scrawled,
I know all this. He’s repeating it for the slower ones.
“OK, OK. No need to show off. I guess I wasn’t a mathematician in my former life. Maybe I was good at history. Do you do that?”
It’s not much use for a vet. I’m doing maths and the sciences.
“Oh, OK. Well, I have to say that sounds dull. I can’t possibly sit here and listen to all these lectures. How about you skip class?”
Not easily done, I’m afraid.
“Well, in that case, I’m just going to have to distract you.” With that he started to stroke my hair, occasionally letting his fingers trace delicate paths down my bare arms. It was electrifying. I quickly reached for the paper.
Stop it! You’ll get me a detention.
“But I thought you liked it.” His voice was slightly muffled as he was kissing my collarbone.
I love it, but this just isn’t the right place. I can’t enjoy it properly. Can’t you just talk to me?
He laughed. I realised that my heart was racing and I was breathing heavily. I also realised as I focused on the room around me that no one was talking and every head was turned in my direction.
“Alex, come on, you know the answer to this one.” Mr Pasciuta was using his exasperated tone. Then it changed: “Are you alright? You look a little … flushed.”
I could hear Callum’s laughter.
“I am feeling a little dizzy, Mr Pasciuta. I think maybe I need to go to the bathroom and get some cold water.”
“Yes, yes, of course. Are you faint? Do you need someone to go with you?” A number of my friends looked up hopefully, seeing an opportunity to escape from the class.
“No, I’ll be fine, thank you.” I needed to talk to Callum, and an audience wouldn’t be helpful.
As I got to my feet to leave, a screeching bell suddenly erupted in the corridor outside, the sound echoing around the school. Mr Pasciuta swore under his breath.
“OK, girls: fire alarm. You know the drill: straight outside to the pitches, no bags, and NO TALKING!” he bellowed, as everyone abandoned the lesson and headed out towards the sunshine.
As we waited on the netball pitches two huge fire engines came racing up, and a wave of excitement swept through the crowd. There were plenty of my classmates who would cheerfully see the school go up in plume of smoke. But it wasn’t going to happen today: the alarms had been set off by the girls in the common room burning toast in the toaster, and the Chief Fire Officer was not amused. I could see him giving Miss Harvey a stern talking-to.
We all lapped it up. Miss Harvey was the headmistress, and usually dished out the punishments. But our fun was short-lived. As soon as the fire engines had gone, she called the school to order. Even outside and with no PA system her voice carried across the field.
“Luckily, today it was only toast, but never forget that at any time it could be a real fire. Your evacuation today was a shambles. It took twice as long as it should to get you all out here, and half of you clearly stopped to get your belongings.” Everyone started to look a bit shifty at this point, nudging their bags behind them.
“I expect a much better response next time, girls,” she continued, “and I expect you to be more careful in the common room, or I will have to consider withdrawing some of your privileges. Now please return to your lessons in an orderly manner.”
Callum had kept quiet while all this had been going on. In fact, I was sure that I had lost him in the scrum to get out of the school. I guessed he was taking the opportunity to have a bit more of a look around. As we started to walk back in I felt him reach me, so I slowed slightly to let the others get ahead.
“Where have you been? Find anything exciting?” I whispered out of the side of my mouth.
“Just checking out the facilities. Not bad. I can’t believe my school was as great as this. Do you get to do an art lesson today? That studio is awesome.”
“’Fraid not. Later in the week though, for my project.”
“Come on, Alex, what are you doing?” called Alia from up ahead.
“Coming,” I called. I got out a tissue out to hide my mouth. “This is really tricky. Can you come back later? I’m not sure I can keep this up for much longer.”
He sounded as if he was pouting. “We were just getting to the fun bit, too.”
I felt myself blush again. “Really, it doesn’t work for you to be with me in lessons. But please, come back later and we can talk tonight, OK?”
“OK,” he grumbled. “I’ll see you later,” I could hear the smile in his voice, “when it’s more … private.” With that he was gone again, leaving me with an empty feeling. I ran to catch up with the others and then we ambled back to maths.
Grace stayed unnaturally quiet all morning and avoided me at break time, but I managed to catch up with her in the corridor on the way to physics. Her long dark hair was down so I couldn’t see her face but I knew her so well that I could tell that she wasn’t happy.
“Are you OK today? You’ve not said much to me.”
“It’s about time you noticed. Some best friend you are,” she snapped.
“Has something happened with Jack?” I guessed. It must be something big to upset her so much. It couldn’t just be the fact that I hadn’t given her all the details on Rob.
“I thought you would know the answer to that.”
“What on earth are you talking about? How could I possibly know anything?”
“That’s not what Rob has been telling everyone.”
I was stunned. What had he done now?
“I’ve not said anything to Rob, and after the way he behaved on Saturday I’ve no intention of speaking to him ever again. What’s happened? Is there something wrong with you and Jack?”
“Jack doesn’t want to go out with me after all, apparently,” she sniffed miserably.
“What? But he was so keen the other night. What’s changed his mind?”
She stopped just outside the door of the physics lab and turned to face me. Her lips were pressed together in a hard line. “You!” she hissed and stomped into the classroom. She picked a seat away from our usual corner and got out her bags with a thump. Miss Deeley was already there, so there was no more opportunity to find out what she meant.
I was completely stunned. How could it possibly be my fault if Jack didn’t want to go out with Grace any more? I knew I had been a bit self-absorbed over the last few days, but I also knew I had done nothing wrong. Unfortunately though, Grace thought that I had. I couldn’t bear it that she would think that I would do anything to hurt her. I had to concentrate on helping her sort it out, and I was rather relieved that I had asked Callum to leave for a while. This wasn’t going to be a great spectator event, and, especially if it had anything to do with Rob, I would feel a lot less self-conscious knowing that he wasn’t standing behind me.
The lesson dragged on and on. Unfortunately it was a theory class so we didn’t even have the opportunity to talk while setting up an experiment. As we listened to Miss Deeley I racked my brains to try and work out what on earth Grace could mean. It didn’t make any sense to me. When the lunch bell rang, I made sure I waited for her at the door of the classroom. She paused, but then saw that the
re was no way to escape me, and I walked with her as we made our way back to the common room.
Whatever her problem was, I was torn between wanting to be entirely straight with her, and my conviction that I still needed to keep the bizarre events of the last few days to myself. “Grace, I don’t understand. What is going on? Talk to me.”
She gave me a withering look. “Are you just rubbing it in now? Isn’t what you have done bad enough?”
I felt an icy stab in the pit of my stomach. Her pace along the corridor increased – I was almost running to keep up.
“Back up a bit, please, Grace. You should know I wouldn’t do anything deliberate to hurt you. If Rob’s been telling you things, it’ll all be lies because he can’t handle rejection.”
“He said you would say that.”
“Look, how can I win in that case? Won’t you at least tell me what the problem is? At least tell me what you think I’ve done.”
“According to Rob,” she started, “you’re really fixated on Jack and that is why Rob dumped you on Saturday. Rob says you’ve secretly been planning to make a play for Jack for years. And when you saw him with me, you decided that it was Jack you wanted, however much it hurt me. And what’s worse, Jack is really pleased about it.”
“So when did Rob tell you all this,” I asked, astounded.
“A group of us went out last night. I did call to see if you wanted to come, remember?” I nodded guiltily. I had got her off the phone as quickly as possible so I could continue talking to Callum.
“But have you spoken to Jack about this? Was he there last night?”
“No, he’s been away all weekend with his family. Grandmother’s birthday.”
“So you’ve just heard this from Rob? You haven’t spoken to Jack?” I asked.
“That’s right.” Grace’s chin came up defiantly, but there was a small quiver in her voice.
“Look, Grace, I dumped Rob on Saturday when it became clear that he was only interested in getting me down to Cornwall. He was so angry that he abandoned me in the restaurant and I had to find my own way home. He really doesn’t take rejection well, so I’m not surprised that he’s invented a reason for my behaviour that makes him look better.”
There was a flicker of hope in Grace’s eyes. “You didn’t tell him that you wanted Jack?”
“Of course not. Jack’s like another brother to me. You know that. I couldn’t be happier that you and he are together.” I reached out and took her arm. “Honestly, Rob is lying. And I don’t believe for a minute that Jack would ever say that he wanted to go out with me either. In fact, why don’t you call him now?” I tried to smile encouragingly, but I was too angry about Rob.
“Well … I suppose … I could,” she murmured. “I didn’t think that I wanted to talk to him at all today.” She finally slowed her breakneck pace as we got to the top of the stairs in the sixth form block.
“Has he called you?” I asked. I guessed Rob wouldn’t have had the nerve to tell Jack any outright lies, not if he wanted to keep his pretty nose intact.
“Well, yes, he has left a message and a couple of texts. I just assumed he was being kind.” She kept her gaze on the floor.
“You see! There’s no problem with Jack at all. The only problem is Rob.”
She gave a weak smile, as if she was trying very hard to believe what I was saying. “But, Alex, what I still don’t understand is why you turned him down. You have been talking about him for months and months, and everyone thinks he’s gorgeous. I was so pleased for you when he finally asked you out. What happened? What’s changed?”
I couldn’t tell her, as much as I wanted to, but she needed to believe what I told her or she would continue to be suspicious. I tried to keep it as close to the truth as possible. “There wasn’t really only one thing. I just got this feeling, as soon as he made his move at the cinema, that I was just part of the Rob master plan, and what I wanted didn’t matter to him at all. He was too … smooth, too sure of himself, and he was telling me what he thought I wanted to hear. In fact, when I first told him that I didn’t think Cornwall was a good idea, he even told me he loved me, just to see if that would persuade me.”
“No! He can’t have been that obvious.”
“He was. He really thought I was just being a bit difficult and that he could flatter me into doing exactly what he wanted.”
“That’s awful. I’m so sorry, and I’m sorry that I fell for his lies too.” She looked shamefaced.
“Hey, I’ve forgotten all about it already. We can’t let him come between us.” I held out my arms and Grace stepped towards me with a smile. She hugged me back. “Now, go and call Jack. He’ll be really worried that you haven’t replied to any of his messages.”
“Good point,” she agreed. “I’ll be back in a sec.”
We had reached the common room, so she went off to find a quiet corner and I went to find our friends in our usual spot. This room was just for sixth formers, and following a recent campaign it was furnished with easy chairs and beanbags as well as tables and chairs. Our corner had a selection of comfortable seats, and, most importantly, a good view across the boys’ playing fields next door. There were usually a few girls idly leaning out of the window watching the boys on the football pitches. Knowing this, the sixth form boys generally had their lunchtime kick-about on this particular pitch, where they could show off to an appreciative audience.
All my friends were already lounging on the beanbags so I threw my bag down and flopped into the nearest chair. I was immediately conscious that all the chatter had abruptly stopped. I looked around and most of them were obviously avoiding my gaze. The only one sitting up straight was Ashley. She was smiling in my direction, a smile of victory.
“I do hope that you aren’t going to take it too personally. I mean, we’re all grown-ups here.”
I didn’t understand what she was getting at. “Sorry, I’m not with you.”
“Oh,” she tittered, “surely you must have heard already?”
She had such a smug look on her face that this could only be about Rob. I sighed and tried to keep my voice even. “No. Still not with you, I’m afraid.”
“I’m going out with Rob now, and he’s invited me down to his place in Cornwall in a few weeks.” She was visibly preening.
I had to give him credit: he was a fast worker. Poor Ashley, she wouldn’t stand a chance.
“Well, he made a speedy recovery,” I couldn’t resist commenting. She should have some warning about what she was getting into.
“Not much to recover from, as far as he was concerned. I do hope you are going to be OK though. I know it must be difficult for you.”
“I’m sure I’ll be fine.” I tried to strike a tone between indifference and friendliness, to discourage any more discussion, but she was on a roll.
“I mean, getting dumped on the first date! That’s got to be tough.” Her fake concern was beginning to get to me. If I had actually cared, then what she was doing would have been really cruel.
“I can live with the disappointment.” I was pleased to see that she was irritated that she was unable to get a reaction out of me. I took several deep breaths and continued to hold her gaze. She broke first.
“I have to say you are taking it well at the moment. I really hope it doesn’t get to you later.”
Honestly, I thought, the two of them deserved each other. Both were equally conniving and unpleasant. I was glad to be out of it, but getting angrier and angrier about how he had manipulated my friends. I smiled tightly at Ashley and got out my books, ending the conversation.
She continued to preen with Mia and Abbi. As I tried to shut out the details of their conversation, I wished I were somewhere quiet and private with Callum, where none of this would have any relevance. I was pretending to be deep in my book when Grace dropped down on the beanbag next to my chair, her face glowing.
“You were right!” she whispered. “He’s perfectly OK, apart from being a bit worried that I wasn�
�t responding to his texts. I told him that my phone has been playing up.” She considered the mobile in her hand for a moment. “Actually, that’s perfectly true. It’s been switching itself off at random moments for the last few days. Must be time for an upgrade.”
I didn’t respond, and when she looked at me I nodded in Ashley’s direction. “Heard her news?” I mouthed.
Grace tuned into the conversation at the other side of the circle, her mouth falling further and further open with everything she heard. Finally she dragged herself away and looked at me in horror. “I’m really hungry, so I’m going to head down for some lunch now. Want to join me?” she asked suddenly in a loud voice.
I smiled at her in relief and got to my feet. “Sure. I’m hungry too,” I lied.
Everyone else was absorbed in sharing the gossip about how I had taken the news, so the two of us walked out alone.
“I’m so sorry,” said Grace. “How can he be such a pig?”
I was so angry I couldn’t speak, and my eyes welled up. I tried really hard to suppress it: I really didn’t want to be seen crying in school today. Everyone would think that I was upset about Rob dumping me. “You know, I’m not sure I can actually face lunch. You go ahead and I’ll just take a walk over the pitches.” There was no way that I could sit in the dining hall and keep up the pretence.
“Oh, OK. I’ll come with you,” replied Grace unenthusiastically.
I did my best to laugh. “And miss lunch? Don’t be ridiculous. Can you just bring me a banana for later?” Grace had a gargantuan appetite for someone so skinny, and never went without a meal. She looked relieved.
“If you’re sure. I’ll come and find you in ten minutes.” She gave me a quick hug and ran off.
I set off for the playing fields behind the school, and after a few minutes’ walk I reached my favourite spot near one of the huge horse chestnut trees. I looked around, but no one was close by. I was finally alone. I really wanted to call Callum and see his beautiful face next to mine, but given that I had asked him to come back later, I thought it was unlikely. I couldn’t resist trying, though, just to check if he was still around. I called his name softly, pulling the tiny mirror out of my school bag. Nothing happened. I peered into the depths of the stone, and as usual the beautiful flecks of red and gold glittered in the sunshine, but nothing moved. He wasn’t there.
