by Jacky Gray
No sooner had she settled down to tackle the maths homework, when she heard the thump of running footsteps behind her. Not normally troubled by the unknown, she flinched; the recent incident had hit a nerve. Hard enough that she actually bothered to turn round to see what new torment she would have to face. The big bully, Luke, stopped next to her bench.
“There you are. I’ve been looking everywhere for you. I’m really, really sorry.”
Glaring at him, she gave nothing away.
“First, I’m sorry for shouting at you. It wasn’t your fault. You weren’t there at the start when we picked teams so you had no idea who the captains were.”
She continued to regard him impassively.
“I’m mortified by what that little cow called you. So, so sorry, Jude.”
How the heck did he know her name?
He carried on. “Anybody only has to look at you to see what she called you couldn’t be more wrong. You’re totally…”
Raising an eyebrow, she channelled all manner of cool; her biggest role model being Voyager’s female captain, Kathryn Janeway. If ever a woman knew about the proper use of eyebrows, it was she.
“Blimey. That’s some eyebrow action, right there. If only you watched Star Trek, you’d understand when I say you could give Janeway a run for her money.”
Finally, something in common with somebody at the school. A huge grin tried to ambush her expression, but she managed to dim the intensity to a twitch at the corner of her lips. “I think I’m supposed to take that as a compliment, despite the fact their only female captain is a couple of decades older than I am.”
“Seriously? You can run like that, and you know Voyager? We should just cut through the wasted years and get wed right now.”
More eyebrow action. “Back off, jock. I don’t succumb to silver-tongued charm. And I’m never going out with a boy, let alone marry one.”
He grinned. “Maybe not in year seven, but you’ll soon have boys sniffing after you until you do marry.” His grin widened. “Something tells me you like old movies, too. This just gets better and better.”
Gesturing for her to move up, he sat next to her on the bench. “Let me guess: your folks have TCM, right? Are you more into westerns, or war movies?” He put on a credible Welsh accent. “Broadsword calling Danny boy. Come in, Danny boy.”
Jude knew straightaway, this was from Where Eagles Dare, but before she had a chance to say, the group of would-be popular girls surrounded them.
“Eww, Luke. You want to keep away from her, what she has might be catching.”
He stood abruptly, his whole body radiating angry energy. “Bugger off, Diana, and take your little crew with you. If I hear you’ve been trying to bully Jude, I will make sure you suffer for it.”
“Oh yeah? You and who’s army? You can’t touch me, Luke Harper. My dad is a governor here, so you better be nice to me if you know what’s good for you.”
He took a step toward her. “Is that supposed to frighten me?” He thrust his arms out as though to push her, but pulled them at the last moment, so he didn’t actually touch her. But she was so intimidated, she stepped back, stumbling, and ended up on the ground.
“You bully. You’ll pay for that. Did you see, girls? He pushed me. There are rules against that sort of thing.”
Jude stood, barely able to contain her anger. “You lying little madam. He didn’t touch you. You flinched and fell over because you’re scared.” She appealed to the girls who stood closest to Diana.
“You must have seen what happened. He pulled his punch at the last minute, so he didn’t touch her.”
The girls looked uncertainly between Jude, Luke, and Diana. Who held up her arms to the nearest girl. “Help me up, Becky. You saw him push me, didn’t you?”
The lanky girl was saved the need to reply as a couple of the lads ran up. “Luke. You can’t just run off when you’re the captain. It’s time to swap and we need you to bowl.”
He held out his hand to Jude, and they set off towards the rounders pitch, with Diana shouting after them, “You haven’t heard the last of this, Luke Harper.”
As she waited for the bus, Jude smiled at the vision of their year seven selves, so small and earnest. She’d got off lightly from the vicious bully, thanks to Luke. For the next couple of weeks, she’d been accepted as an honorary boy, joining in the fun and games every break and lunch. Luke went out of his way to ensure she was never left in a position where Diana and her sycophants could corner Jude and torment her. He explained that a couple of the lads knew her from the private school they’d attended. She was well known to be a nasty piece of work.
Liv hadn’t been so lucky, attracting Diana’s interest for all the wrong reasons. Jude remembered the way the monster had used the threat of her father to build up a gang around her. Obviously reluctant, they backed her up as she targeted some of the more vulnerable people in the class. People like Liv, whose main sin was to be brighter than everyone else. Like Jude, she didn’t seem to know many other people. Jude came across Diana and her gang having a go at Liv in the lunch queue.
Diana stood with her arms folded. “Seems to me, nobody likes a swot. But I’ve decided if you help me with my homework, you can join my gang. We are the cream of the cream in this school.”
Liv’s expression suggested she’d rather claw her eyeballs out. However, she was not only smart, but streetsmart, too, as she adopted a neutral tone. “That’s very kind of you, Diana, but I’ll respectfully decline. I appreciate the offer, though.”
“Just a minute. You don’t turn your back on me. I say when you can go. Who do you think you are; specky four-eyes? You think you can turn me down?” She smirked at the girls surrounding her. “If you don’t have any friends, you’ll get picked on. People will call you names, and so much worse. You won’t survive on your own, Billy no-mates.”
“Seems to me the only person calling names around here is you. I don’t need that kind of friend, thank you.” Liv walked away, ignoring the jeering which followed her.
Jude caught up with her. “Hang on a second. It’s Livvy, isn’t it?”
“No one gets to call me that except my family. Did she send you after me to have another go?”
“Really? You think I’d want to breathe the same air as that monster? May the gods strike me down, first.”
Liv grinned. “Sounds a bit drastic, but I absolutely get what you mean. Don’t know who made her Queen B around here, but she seems totally toxic.”
“You’re not wrong, there. I’m on my own till Kat gets back, if you wanted to hang out.”
“I’ve never seen you on your own. No one comes near when you’ve got that big blonde guy looking like your personal bodyguard.”
Jude nodded.” Diana had a go at me, and it got quite nasty, so Luke’s looking out for me. You’re very welcome to join us.”
“Thanks, I’d like that.”
The group dynamics changed completely when Kat finally returned to school. When Jude saw how close Kat and Luke were, she felt a little put out, and backed off initially, but Kat’s warmth and generosity of spirit drew her in.
Despite trying hard, Jude couldn’t understand Liv in their early years: it was the original jock versus geek – no common ground at all. The girl existed on a higher plane to the rest of them; she understood all the work, in every subject, without even trying. The only one who came close was Becky, and the pair formed a tentative alliance, spending less and less time with Jude and Kat.
Diana frequently muscled in on the brainiacs, taking every opportunity to cause friction between them in her efforts to rise above the bottom five in the class. When Liv refused to help her cheat, Diana got nasty. It all ended in tears in a huge, public shouting match.
Becky could no longer stand the aggravation, seeking a quieter life with Janet, a gentle soul who shared her passion for horse riding. Diana took up with Cecily, who thought all her birthdays had come at once. Which left Liv on her own again.
Jude
was delighted to see the way some of the people who’d initially hung around with Diana out of fear, had deserted her. But she’d pounced on a newcomer: a mouthy, exotic-looking girl, who joined the class after Easter, having moved up from the south coast. Mel projected a “class clown” persona, and was never afraid to use her startling good looks to manipulate boys and teachers alike. With Mel on her side, Diana took every opportunity to rip the vulnerable people in the class, especially Liv.
Jude couldn’t remember the details of the incident which resulted in Liv breaking down in the library, and Mel turning on Diana and giving her a proper mouthful about what a vicious bitch she was. Diana never forgave Liv, looking for every opportunity to make her life a misery.
For the last couple of weeks of term, Mel did a similar bodyguard thing for Liv that Luke had done for Jude at the start of the year, and the two become firm friends. Over the summer holidays, Jude and Kat had got together with Liv and Mel, and Liv immediately spotted the pattern in their initials. So The JKLM gang formed, with their motto “No secrets, no lies.” Their primary mission was never to allow Diana to pick on weaker kids ever again, and they swore a pact to that effect.
Jumping off the bus, Jude realised she was running late, as usual. But she was glad she’d reminded herself of what was truly important in all these shenanigans. Stopping Diana from doing more damage.
9 Fox in the Henhouse
An unexpected benefit from the lunchtime DT: Jude had completed most of her homework. She’d struggled with a couple of the questions where Ray’s shortcut trick hadn’t worked, no matter how many times she tried it, so she dragged out the book and tried again. Still no joy. She tried re-doing one of the other questions using the trick and it worked fine; so it wasn’t her. Must be something else. Jude had the advantage of “guy-wiring” in her brain giving her more of a chance than most at tackling subjects traditionally thought of as “male.” But this was pretty advanced stuff. Way above her pay-grade, as her dad would say.
Closing her eyes, she tried to remember Lenny’s explanation, wishing she’d made better notes. Instead, her brain insisted on replaying the first few moments of meeting Ray, reassessing his reactions based on what she now knew. She shivered at the intensity of his liquid eyes, seeing them crinkle as he winked at her outside Lenny’s classroom and Fearsome’s office. And then, when he thought she’d found out something about him, the endearing way he’d blushed revealed a vulnerability which made her insides melt. And that voice of his … too much. He really was the perfect package.
Jude was jolted back to the present by the memory of Lenny teasing that if he’d checked his answer, he would have spotted the mistake. Bingo. She checked each of her answers, substituting them back into the original equations to see if they worked. This revealed two more questions where she’d made silly errors with negative numbers and her answer was, in fact wrong. Nothing for it but to use the long-winded method; this time, all three answers checked out ok. She realised his method would work, but it was easy to make an error when dividing by fractions or negative numbers. A lesson well learnt. Even if it did make her horribly late.
As she washed her hair, Jude returned to her initial dilemma: It was obvious how she felt about Ray, but was she imagining all the signals he seemed to be giving out? And apparently not just to her. She thought back to their brief journey to the sports hall after lunch.
Liv had kept up a running commentary about all things Ray-flavoured; it sounded like she’d spent the whole of lunch swapping life-stories. And she obviously had the whole geek-connection with Ray; they’d sparked off each other during maths. Although not as “planet-sized-brained” as Liv, Jude was no slouch when it came to maths and science. Where was this leading? Jude really didn’t fancy a “handbags at dawn” scenario. Especially not with Liv; she couldn’t be sure who would win.
Ray had wheeled into their lives like a fox upsetting the hen-house: Even Kat’s behaviour was uncharacteristically flirty around him. Miss “there are boys in the room?” Flynn always seemed to have more interesting things occupying her attention. Jude knew her best friend’s attitude to the male sex had been crazily warped by having older brothers, she frequently made statements to the effect that boys were merely “smelly, noisy, orchestrators of mayhem,” and such like. But she suspected one particular boy had already stolen her best friend’s heart. Despite the constant protestations, the evidence was there.
She recalled the way Kat played up to Luke’s attempts to pull off “sexy bad-boy” at the lockers earlier on. Watching from a distance, she’d decided to leave them to it and killed a few minutes scouring the noticeboard until they left. It reminded her of all those years she’d convinced herself the pair of them were an item. Despite both of them protesting otherwise, she’d seen a spark between them.
For so many years, Luke had been like that irresistible present under the Christmas tree; the one with all manner of bulges and bumps enticing her to poke and prod. Except she didn’t want to poke and prod so much as hold and explore. And, more than anything, feel his big, strong arms around her.
Nope, not happening. Jude had way too much honour and integrity to even think about pursuing the initial attraction she’d felt for Luke. He and Kat were a match made in heaven, they just hadn’t realised it yet.
How on earth could she face her two best friends in the evening’s meeting, thinking they were rivals for the two guys who floated her boat? She was sure the planet had people with more complicated lives, but they were few and far between; certainly no one she knew. All she could do was play fair and be true to herself; she had absolute faith it would all work itself out in the end.
10 Jimmy: The Leader of the Pack
Liv picked up Mel’s book of insults, grinning at the message above her signature. “Study the one-liners; you’d be surprised how easily you can modify them to suit your needs.”
She turned to the one by Winston Churchill, when one of the first female MPs accused him of being disgustingly drunk, and read it out loud.
“My dear, you are disgustingly ugly. But tomorrow I shall be sober and you will still be disgustingly ugly.”
The folded page corner marked it as one of her favourites; she’d always wanted to use it. Being so defensive about her weight, she knew it would be the most likely topic. But to use it on Ray about his disability was mortifying.
What was she like? More to the point, what would he think of her? She must apologise as soon as she could. Apart from that, he seemed to like her. Or did he simply want to get close to Jude? What had he called her? The wild girl. Then he’d looked totally disappointed when he thought she was a lesbian. If that wasn’t enough, Liv had noticed the way he kept watching Jude through maths, then turned up in Fearsome’s office to stop her getting into trouble.
Oh, for goodness sake girl, pull yourself together. He’s got a hundred-watt smile, the body of an athlete and the mind of a rocket scientist; when is he ever gonna look at you? The guy’s got you sussed: no real boyfriends – you couldn’t count the boy in year six – and a crush on a hoodlum. Not that she’d known he was the notorious Jimmy Proud when she met him, but who’s to say it would have made much of a difference? They do say love is blind. A vivid picture of the pool room sprang into her mind as her finger crept toward a lock of hair, intent on some serious twirling.
They’d been invited to an all-day wedding reception on a dull Saturday in March. Mum and dad wanted to take Davey home for a rest after lunch, but Vicky insisted on staying at the hotel with her friend Laura who was a bridesmaid. Being enlightened parents, they’d agreed, as long as the three of them stayed together. Safety in numbers, an’ all that.
Within ten minutes, the older girls managed to ditch her. She didn’t mind; they didn’t want a younger sister around cramping their style, and she was quite content to explore the beautiful old hall by herself.
Down in the depths, the sound of clicking balls led her to a tiny games room. The sole occupant, a lad, didn’t appear t
o notice her as he played pool against himself. He cleared the remaining balls with a few precision shots, occasionally swigging beer from a bottle.
She hovered in the doorway, entranced by his total concentration and appreciating his athletic grace as he strode round the table. Mel would call him “easy on the eye,” but he was so much more, with tousled blonde hair and a leading-man square jaw. She almost clapped when he pocketed the black, but something vaguely dangerous about him stopped her, and she turned to go.
“Do you wanna play?” His husky voice melted her insides even as his electric blue eyes impaled her against the wall.
Her courage almost deserted her. “I can’t. I mean, I’ve never ...”
“C’mon it’s easy, I’ll show you.” True to his word, he demonstrated lining up a shot. It didn’t take her long to figure it was about calculating angles, and he congratulated her progress, calling her his protégée.
He took it seriously, bending over to adjust her arms or firm up her bridge, and she felt comfortable with his light, impersonal touch. As she improved, he showed her the correct stance, repositioning her legs and pulling out her hips, advising her to, “Loosen up, wiggle it about a bit.”
Dutifully doing as she was told, she recognised the improvement in her accuracy as she obeyed his instructions. She still had three stripes on the table when he potted the black, but he said she’d done well for a first game.
After racking up the balls, he drained the bottle. Telling her to break, he disappeared, returning with a big supermarket bottle of cider and two glasses. He filled them both and offered her one.
“Here, you’ve earned this.”
