‘No you’re not. We need to call an ambulance.’
‘No, my car’s over there.’ Lewis pointed.
‘Where?’
‘Trust me, it’s there.’
‘Lewis, you’re in no state to drive,’ said Rachel.
‘Can you drive?’ he said.
‘Yeah, but I don’t know about driving your van.’
‘I haven’t got it anymore. I’ve got a car,’ Lewis said, like he had a heavy cold.
‘Oh, okay. Where’s it parked?’
Lewis pointed to the massive hedge.
‘What? Behind the hedge?’
‘Er, no. It’s inside it.’
‘How did that happen?’
‘I, er, lost control when I saw those guys hassling you.’
It took several attempts for Rachel to reverse the car out of its bushy prison. The bonnet and windscreen were strewn with leaves and broken branches – the car looked like it was trying to camouflage itself. Lewis collapsed into the passenger seat while Rachel cleared all the foliage. Apart from some scratches on the paintwork it had fared better than Lewis had. Blood continued to Niagra out of his face and all down his front. His new grey double-breasted jacket was now splashed with red, like he’d been in a paintball fight.
‘This is the car from Twilight,’ Rachel said, getting in to the driver’s seat.
Lewis nodded. He pulled down the sun visor and looked in the vanity mirror. One of his contact lenses had come out and his nose was mashed. The only fictional character he resembled now was someone from a zombie film.
‘You’ve had your hair cut. It’s looks really nice.’ Rachel said, glancing across at him. ‘I’m so sorry, I’ve ruined your new look.’
‘Don’t worry, I’m fine.’
‘I'm so sorry, Lewis.’
‘Please stop apologising,’ Lewis said. ‘It was my fault.’ Every time she said sorry, his guilt got worse.
‘Your fault?’ said Rachel. ‘How could it be your fault?’
‘I should have been here earlier,’ he said. ‘Then I could have stopped those guys from hassling you.’
‘Lewis you can't blame yourself for this,’ said Rachel. ‘This was all my fault. I'm so sorry.’
Of all the stupid things he’d done in his life, this was by far the dumbest. In trying to impress Rachel, he’d only succeeded in sending her on a massive guilt trip for something she hadn’t done. A sickness hung in his stomach and he wanted to throw up. It didn't help that he'd swallowed a lot of his own blood. He was the also crappiest vampire ever.
When they walked into A&E it was a similar scene to the one Lewis had seen last time. Except on this occasion the place was full of people who had either got into a fight or fallen over – both the effects of too much alcohol. It wasn’t exactly the romantic end to the evening Lewis had planned. His look was ruined and he felt terrible for what he’d just put Rachel through. He was being punished for contriving something so idiotic.
He wanted to confess everything, but he knew that would be the end of their relationship, even though it hadn’t exactly started yet. If she found out what he had done she would never speak to him again, he was sure of that. This one had to stay well and truly buried. It was an awful thing to do and he knew Rachel was carrying all the blame for hitting him in the nose. As soon as this was over and if things went well, he vowed to shower her with presents.
After three hours, Lewis heard his name being called. He stood up slowly with Rachel’s help. As they made their way to the double doors that led to the treatment rooms Lewis saw the familiar face of the nurse with the tightly pulled back hair who’d seen him last time. Lewis looked down at the floor.
‘It’s best if you keep your head up,’ the nurse said. She led them both to a booth and sat Lewis down on the bed. The nurse cleaned the blood off his face and nose, and gently pushed a cotton wool bung in each nostril. ‘I’ll give you a load of these,’ she said holding up a packet of cotton wool. ‘You might have to change them every few hours depending on how much your nose bleeds.’
‘Is it broken?’ asked Rachel.
‘Difficult to tell,’ said the nurse, ‘even with an x-ray. If it is, we tend not to do anything other than let it heal by itself. The real question is whether it’s still straight or not.’ The nurse looked at his nose carefully. ‘Well, whoever hit you …’
‘It was me,’ Rachel interrupted.
The nurse looked at Rachel with surprise. ‘It was a nice clean blow,’ she said. ‘The nose is still straight, even if it is beginning to swell up. The swelling is nice and symmetrical, so we won’t need to realign it. Just keep plenty of ice on it and take anti-inflammatories regularly.’ The nurse paused for a second and looked at Lewis with searching eyes. ‘Haven’t I seen you recently?’
‘Er, yeah,’ he said.
‘What were you in for?’ the nurse asked.
‘My surfboard hit me on the head.’
‘Oh yes, I remember. I stitched you up. Have you had them out yet?’
‘No, not yet.’
‘Let’s have a look at them.’ The nurse lifted the flap of hair that masked Lewis’ other injuries. ‘Oh yes, this has healed nicely, I can take the stitches out for you now if you like.’
‘No time like the present,’ Lewis replied, shrugging his shoulders.
‘Lewis, you didn’t tell me you got hit by your surfboard,’ Rachel said, touching his arm.
‘No, I didn’t think it would exactly impress you.’
‘Lewis, you don’t need to impress me.’
‘Really?’
‘Of course not.’
Lewis smiled at Rachel and Rachel smiled back. It was the most romantic moment of the evening until the nurse started tugging stitches from Lewis’ head.
‘Ow,’ said Lewis.
‘Sorry, they do sting a bit when you pull them out,’ said the nurse.
Lewis sat there looking at Rachel. He had thread coming out one side of his head, balls of cotton wall stuffed up his nose and one contact lens. On the positive side, he was getting tons of sympathy from Rachel even if it was offset with a big dose of his own despicable guilt, seeing how he had created this whole catastrophe.
After he’d been patched up, Lewis felt well enough to drive Rachel back home. Along the way, there was mostly silence, apart from Rachel who kept apologising for hitting him. Lewis dropped her off and told her not to worry about him and that they’d meet up soon when his nose had resumed its regular shape. Rachel protested, wanting to see him earlier to make sure he was all right, but his wretched shame would have to subside before he could look her in the eye again.
*
Clive felt like a boil-in-the-bag meal. He had stupidly decided to wear a black crew neck jumper made from 100% pure wool. The reason for this was that Clive had little experience of night clubs and didn’t want to stand out as someone with no dress sense. Wearing black seemed like the safest option. He’d heard you couldn’t go wrong with black. Whatever fashions are in or out, black is always the new Friday, or something like that. So he’d gone for black jeans and a black top, just to be safe. However, Clive had failed to anticipate how hot night clubs get, and Aruba was like a pizza oven. The sweaty, claustrophobic heat from all those bodies being squished together was getting to him.
He’d also worn nothing underneath, so now the jumper was itching his skin like it was made from asbestos. Already irritable to start with, he also had the beginnings of a cold. Runny snot kept trickling from one nostril and red patch of raw skin had started to appear where he kept dabbing it with a tissue that had long since disintegrated into a ball of soggy shreds.
The thought of Rachel and Lewis arriving was also making him tense. He should have stayed at home. Part of the reason he was here was Kat, or more specifically the threat of what she’d do if he wasn’t here. Like the mafia, you never turned down an offer from her. But he was also curious to find out what was happening with Lewis and Rachel. Were they together or not? He had to know and had sort of resigned
himself to being out of the running now, especially seeing as he’d also been rejected by Lynn. If he’d had no luck with her, what were the chances of Rachel going out with him?
The music pounded against his already aching head. It was some wanky retro jazz fusion nonsense. Loads of people were dressed up in 70's afro wigs and flares. He hated them. Everyone seemed to be having a great time, except him, which was what he remembered from the last time he went to a club. He should have asked Ginster to come - at least he would have someone to talk to instead of standing there like Nobby-no-mates. But Ginster had zero street cred, which would have made Clive feel even less cool, if that were possible.
Clive looked around getting more hot and bothered. He kept scratching at himself like he had eczema. At last he saw a friendly face – Cassie. Although her face wasn’t exactly friendly, but she did look relieved to see him.
‘Clive, I’m so glad I’ve found you,’ she said.
‘What’s the matter?’
‘Have you seen Rachel?’
‘No I haven’t.’
‘I keep calling and texting her, but I’m getting no reply,’ Cassie said, glancing at her mobile.
‘Maybe she’s just late.’
‘She went to meet Lewis and they were supposed to come together. Kat keeps asking me where they are. She’s told everyone Lewis will be here. If they don’t show up I don’t think I’m going to get out of here alive, and neither will you.’
Clive was unconcerned about what Kat would do - a reckless attitude, but he already felt so low that he doubted if Kat could make him feel any lower. Lewis was the one people wanted to see, nobody was really interested in Clive. The familiar sour taste of resentment filled his mouth, but he covered it well.
‘Let me try ringing her,’ he said.
‘Oh thanks, Clive.’
He pulled out his phone and hit her number. It went straight to voicemail.
‘Hi, Rachel. It’s me,’ said Clive. ‘I’m here with Cassie. Can you give me a ring as soon as you get this message?’
Cassie sighed heavily and sat down. She looked around, scanning everyone in the place. Clive had never seen her so worried. All her happy-go-luckiness had gone. Should he try to comfort her and put an arm around her shoulder? Would she take it the wrong way and think he was trying to take advantage of her while she was vulnerable? That wasn't his intention but if she got the wrong end of the stick, things would get more complicated than ever.
But she was clearly in pain. He should do something instead of standing there like a numpty. What about a hand on the shoulder, just to reassure her? While the debate was raging in is head, Cassie stood up suddenly and headed towards a ginger-bearded giant who was shouldering his way through the crowd. She waved at him and he smiled a lopsided smile back.
‘Hi, Seth,’ she said, keeping clear of his stagnant breath.
‘Hello, Carrie,’ he said, slurring his words.
‘It’s Cassie,’ she replied.
‘Right, yeah. You look good enough to eat,’ he said.
Cassie looked at Clive and rolled her eyes up into her head. She backed away from him. Seth swayed there for a second before he realised Cassie wasn’t there any more. Clive wondered who the hell this guy was and how Cassie knew such an idiot.
‘Seth, we need your help,’ said Cassie.
‘Sure, anything you want, baby,’ he said.
‘Seth, can you ring Lewis and find out where he is?’
‘Lewis? Lewis, that guy’s a tosser. He’s no friend of mine.’
Clive couldn’t help cracking a tiny smirk. This guy Seth was a dick, but at least they shared some common ground.
‘I really need to get hold of him.’ Cassie laid on the drama.
‘Sorry, can’t help. Lewis shafted me. We don’t hang out anymore.’
‘But have you got his number?’ asked Cassie.
‘Dunno.’ Seth shook his head and lost his balance momentarily.
‘Please could I have it?’
‘Woz it worth?’ he said, regaining his balance.
‘Can’t you just give it to me?’
‘But what are you going to give me?’
‘How about a drink?’
‘I’ve had loads of those already.’
‘Er, some crisps?’
‘Crisps? What do I want crisps for? I want something else. I want a snog.’
‘Get lost, Seth,’ replied Cassie.
‘You’re a little bitch, you know that,’ Seth said, pointing his finger at Cassie. ‘You and that curly-head Rachel slut.’
‘Hey, shut up,’ Clive said. The inclusion of Rachel hooked Clive into the conversation, and he was already to explode thanks to his prickly jumper and itchy nose.
‘She’s the little slapper who took my best buddy away from me,’ Seth replied.
‘Well, seems like he’s better off with out you,’ Clive said, squaring up to him.
‘Don’t,’ said Cassie to Clive in a quiet voice. ‘Look at him, he’ll kill you.’
‘What? I’m not afraid of that dumb, fat twat,’ Clive said.
Seth smiled at Clive. It was a confident, sober smile that said I know I’m going to win. Clive had just opened the door and invited Seth to partake in his favourite past-time - fighting. Seth grabbed Clive by his jumper.
‘I’m going to enjoy this,’ Seth said.
‘Seth, stop it. Leave him alone,’ Cassie shouted.
Seth ignored her and lifted Clive off his feet. The sudden upward motion dislodged loads of fluff from Clive’s jumper, which went straight up his nose. It was worse than snorting pepper. His nose prickled and Clive desperately tried to suppress the urge to sneeze. He scrunched up his nose and contorted his face in all sorts of weird shapes to halt the nasal chain reaction.
Seth looked confused, trying to work out what Clive was doing. It wasn’t the usual response he got when he lifted someone off the ground.
Clive couldn’t fight it any longer and let out the most almighty sneeze. It was nearly as loud as the music and sent an explosion of spit and snot straight into Seth’s face. As an experienced scrapper, Seth was used to every kind of aggressive move. But not this one. He had no counter attack for a sneeze and reacted like anyone else. He put his hands up to his face to wipe away the slobber, letting go of Clive.
‘You little shit,’ said Seth, who was temporarily blinded while he tried to clear the mess around his eyes.
Clive hadn’t been in a fight since he was seven. But he knew an opportunity when he saw it. He used the only move he could remember and kicked Seth as hard as he could in the shin. Clive was wearing his smart shoes, reserved for special occasions. The soles were as hard as concrete.
Seth howled in pain, as the searing agony from his lower leg shot through his whole body. Nobody ever got the better of Seth in a fight and he was in shock, partly through pain and partly through surprise. It was quite an education for him. His brain locked up and he was confused momentarily.
That was enough for Clive to bunch up his hand and fire it straight into his face. Seth was more used to being hit in the face and recovered quickly. He just managed to swing his knuckles into Clive’s cheek before the bouncers were on him. The force of Seth’s punch sent Clive flying backwards into a table like it was a proper bar room brawl. Cassie was by his side in an instant.
‘Clive, Clive, can you hear me? Are you hurt?’ she asked.
Clive felt dizzy, like he’d just woken up on a fairground ride that was still spinning.
‘My face hurts,’ he managed to say.
Someone standing nearby gave him some ice, which Cassie held to his cheek.
‘Did I win?’ he asked.
‘I think it was a draw. You certainly gave him a good kicking though.’
‘Fa-fantastic.’ Clive was still a little woozy.
The bouncers bundled Seth out of the club. He was in such a rage that spit dribbled from his mouth - some of it was probably Clive's. Everybody who saw the fight couldn’t believe a ti
mid-looking guy in a woolly jumper had given one of the local hard cases an ass-kicking. Seth would never live it down.
When he finally managed to get to his feet, people started coming up to Clive and congratulating him for standing up to Seth. It was a weird sensation. For that night Clive became a celebrity. Kat was immediately at Clive’s side; she wanted to be part of the action and ensured everyone was aware that she knew him. He was a local hero and people kept buying him drinks. They wanted to know what it felt like to go up against Seth.
Clive was overwhelmed and flattered. It was a pity Rachel wasn’t here to see it. Maybe that was a good thing. By the time the story got to school it would have blown up out of all proportion. Everyone would probably be talking about how Clive broke every bone in Seth’s body because he’d dared to insult Rachel. In Clive’s mind, it could put him back in the running. There was nothing more romantic or heroic than defending a lady’s honour.
Chapter 16
*
An alien had boarded spaceship Clive. By the time he walked to school on Monday morning, it had breached every deck and infected every system. It wasn’t malicious or destructive, quite the opposite. Spaceship Clive had had a system upgrade and now moved with superior confidence. Though he had sustained some damage on Saturday night including a bruised cheek and a black eye, the encounter had strengthened him and given him a self-belief beyond his imagining. This was why it was alien to Clive. He didn’t like to admit it, but he felt almost smug.
The side of his face throbbed, but he liked the sensation. It continually reminded him of how he’d stood up to Seth and won the approval of everyone around him. He felt intoxicated, like he wanted to run along the pavement shouting and punching the air. He didn’t of course, but by the time he reached school, he could only imagine how big the story of his triumph over the ginger bully would have become.
Everyone would know about it, most of all Rachel. She would be flattered by his chivalrous act and would now see him as gallant and noble. It would put him in a completely different light; a light that could even overshadow Lewis - or it least put them on equal footing.
As he approached the school gates, he saw the small shape of Lucy Fitzroy sitting on the wall. She was one of Kat’s cronies, with small beady eyes and cheap highlights. She headed straight for Clive like a smart bomb.
Faye Meredith - Becoming Edward Page 16
