by Connie Glynn
‘Excuse me?’
‘Hi, sorry … Hi!’ Lottie stumbled over her words, desperately trying to remedy any awkwardness from her moment of stunned silence. ‘Have we … have we met before?’
Something flashed across the girl’s face, her eyes squinting before turning into an almost cocky smirk. ‘That’s highly unlikely,’ the girl replied, raising an eyebrow like some kind of eighties teen heart-throb.
Lottie immediately started blushing but she couldn’t quite figure out why.
The girl extended her hand for Lottie to shake. Even their hands were completely different. Her tattered wristbands and chipped black polish on cracked nails made Lottie feel embarrassed about her own little gold bow ring and meticulously painted pink nails.
‘I’m Ellie, Ellie Wolf.’
Lottie grabbed her hand and there was a tiny static shock between them that almost made her jump. She shuddered at the sensation but didn’t find it unpleasant.
‘Lottie … Lottie Pumpkin,’ she replied.
‘Pumpkin?’
Lottie mentally prepared herself for an onslaught of jokes at the expense of her odd last name that she’d have to pretend to find funny, but she was pleasantly surprised when Ellie smiled.
‘Cute.’
The light from the balcony window beamed in, illuminating her delicate collarbones and reflecting off a silver diamond-shaped locket around her neck, which had a wolf crest in the centre.
Lottie blushed again and instinctively looked down. ‘Thank you.’
An awkward silence crept its way into the room that Lottie felt she had to remedy.
‘Do you know what company you’re in?’ she asked excitedly, and immediately told herself to calm down before she seemed overly keen.
‘I’m in Epsilon, I think,’ Ellie replied indifferently, pouring one of her bags out on to her bed.
‘ME TOO!’
What did I just say about being too keen? Lottie mentally chastised herself, but Ellie turned and gave her a little side smile as if she found her enthusiasm endearing.
Lottie felt suddenly very uncool, but Ellie didn’t even seem to notice as she began rummaging through the objects on her bed.
It didn’t take Lottie long to have her side of the room exactly how she wanted it. She’d always been good with decoration, keeping scrapbooks and sketchbooks her whole life. Back in Cornwall, in the oaky attic of the bakery, her bedroom walls were covered in art pieces, Polaroid pictures strung up with clothes pegs, an assortment of fairy lights and colourful bunting in pretty pastels. It was her cosy retreat, a little haven where she could hide away.
She smiled to herself, dusting off her hands and admiring her handiwork. It was perfect. The rosy bedsheets, the flowerpots filled with pink roses, the candles on the shelves in colourful crystal holders. Everything blended just as she’d planned with the white and purple furniture of the Ivy dorm that she’d seen in the online brochure. She had also allowed herself to bring her most beautiful hardback fairy-tale books, along with a collection of paperbacks, all her stationery and Mr Truffles, her stuffed pig, who looked very comfortable amid her lacy cushions. She’d done it. She’d officially moved in, and she’d made the place hers …
Lottie turned round to find a war zone had broken out behind her. She gasped at the chaos on the other side of the room. If she hadn’t known any better, she’d have thought a bomb had gone off. Piles of CDs and DVDs were spewed across the floor. Who even owns CDs any more? Dark clothes lay in crumpled heaps next to mountains of dog-eared books and papers. It was the messiest room she’d ever seen and it hadn’t even been lived in for a day. The only thing Ellie had bothered to place carefully was a framed photo of herself with her tongue out, an arm round a very irritated-looking boy in a black suit.
After all Lottie’s careful planning for her perfect dorm room it hadn’t even occurred to her that her room-mate might be … a slob.
In the midst of the chaos was Ellie, sitting cross-legged on her bare bed with her big black boots, hunched over an unfinished sudoku with one earphone in, scruffy strands of hair obscuring her eyes.
‘Interesting choice of decor!’ Lottie tried to say this light-heartedly, but an involuntary twinge of nervousness squeaked out.
Ellie looked up slowly, pulling her earphone out and letting it dangle over the bed.
‘What …? Whoa.’ She pushed her hair back out of her eyes, letting out a long whistle of astonishment as she took in the room. ‘You just did all this?’ The words came out less impressed than bewildered.
‘Having a nice room is important to me,’ Lottie said quietly, the implication behind the words – she hoped – coming out very clear.
‘Ha!’ Ellie swung her legs over the bed. ‘Oh! I’m guessing my eclectic style is not so much to your liking?’ Her voice was dripping with sarcasm, her earlier charm replaced with a cockiness Lottie wasn’t sure she liked.
‘Well …’ Lottie began, not one hundred per cent sure of the best way to approach the situation when what she really wanted to say was exactly what she’d say to Ollie in the same circumstances: Clean your room, you animal. ‘I’d be more than happy to help you sort it out, if you’d like?’
Ellie stood up and crossed her arms in front of Lottie, who had her hands firmly placed on her hips.
‘And I suppose you want me to clean it all up then,’ Ellie said indignantly.
‘It’s not like the fairies are going to do it,’ Lottie said, surprising herself with her own sarcastic tone, something that was very unlike her.
Ellie exhaled through her nose in an ironic laugh.
‘Well, maybe I like it like this?’ She was enjoying winding Lottie up. She sauntered over to Lottie’s perfectly made bed and grabbed Mr Truffles.
‘Hey!’ Lottie exclaimed. ‘Be careful with him!’
‘It’s fine, it’s fine,’ Ellie replied, tossing him over her shoulder. ‘I’m just going to use him to even out the sides a bit … seeing as you clearly don’t like my aesthetic.’ She said the word slowly, drawing out the syllables and making little quote marks with her fingers.
Lottie was terrified of any confrontation so watched as Ellie placed him on top of a messy heap of stuff by her bed.
‘Ta-da!’ She grinned. ‘Now you have your perfect room.’
Lottie stared at her, mouth wide open. She was being teased. She felt tears sting the back of her eyes. She’d grown used to slights and jabs from living with Beady but had never imagined she’d have to deal with it at Rosewood. She took a deep breath and performed her mental ritual that had got her through so much before. Closing her eyes, she imagined wearing her mother’s tiara.
I will be kind, I will be brave, I will be unstoppable.
She was determined not to crumble.
‘Ellie, that’s not funny.’ She tried to sound as firm as possible but she wasn’t used to taking a tone of authority. ‘Give him back,’ she said, holding her hand out.
Ellie turned back to her and cocked an eyebrow. ‘Just come get him,’ Ellie replied, sliding to the floor. ‘Better yet, why don’t you come and join me in my trash pile?’ She beckoned for Lottie to sit next to her. ‘Or do you not want to ruin your pretty little dress?’
Lottie found herself particularly upset by that statement. She’d been so happy after Anastacia had complimented the dress that she’d saved up so much money for, but now that joy had been dashed by Ellie’s mocking words.
Ellie lay back in her pile of mess and began flapping her arms, making a junk angel on the floor, becoming at one with her piles of possessions.
‘Ellie, stop you’re going to –’
But it was too late; Ellie’s arm had caught the pile of stuff with Mr Truffles on top. That, in turn, knocked over her can of Coke that was on the floor, spilling the whole thing and turning her mess into a puddle of sticky jumbled objects.
‘Oops!’ Ellie sat up and stared at the dark bubbling liquid as it spread across the wood towards Lottie, making no attempt to stop it. To Lo
ttie’s horror, a small splash had landed on Mr Truffle’s foot and she quickly swept him up.
‘Oops? What do you mean, “oops”?’ Lottie found herself overcome with frustration. She’d never met anyone who made her feel this way before. It was as if her whole body was on fire and she realized for the first time since her mother had died that she was letting herself get angry. It felt like all the negative feelings she’d bottled up her whole life were ready to explode.
Ellie just shrugged in response.
‘Urgh, fine!’ Lottie stormed into the bathroom, gritting her teeth to stop from shouting, and grabbed a towel. ‘If you won’t clean this up then I will.’
She began soaking up the black liquid, decidedly ignoring Ellie’s aloofness.
‘Relax – jeez!’ Ellie grabbed one of her books off the floor and sat cross-legged on her bed again, casually flicking a strand of loose black hair out of her eyes. ‘I’m sure you have a maid or something who can come and clean this up.’ She chuckled to herself and Lottie felt her stomach drop.
That is it!
It was clear Ellie had some chip on her shoulder and Lottie would not have anyone make any prejudgements about her. Watching Ellie lounging on the bed, Lottie felt a storm building inside her.
‘Look, I don’t know what kind of assumptions you’ve made about me but I worked really hard to get into this school. I can’t afford the school fees and I had to really prove myself, so the least you can do is keep your side of the room clean on the first day.’ She slammed the towel down on Ellie’s bed. ‘Oh, and you’re right, I don’t want to ruin this dress, because unlike some people I don’t have the luxury of not caring about things.’
Ellie immediately stopped laughing.
There was an awkward long pause. Lottie couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so honest. She glanced at Ellie, suddenly terrified of the repercussions, but to her shock she saw what seemed to be genuine regret.
‘I … didn’t realize …’ Ellie looked away, pushing her hands through her hair in what was probably the closest she got to showing embarrassment.
Lottie unclenched her hands, which had unconsciously turned into nervous fists at her side. Then she noticed the clock on the wall that was ticking away. It was five to seven, just five minutes before she was meant to be meeting Binah.
Ellie’s look of shame clicked with Lottie in a way she didn’t quite understand and she felt like something important had just happened between them. Be kind, she reminded herself. She sucked in all her frustration and let it out in one long sigh.
‘Are you coming to the fireworks?’
Ellie blinked in surprise, obviously not expecting the sudden change in tone.
‘I’m going with some people I met earlier … I’m sure they wouldn’t mind if you tagged along.’
She looked thoughtfully at Lottie for a moment before turning away, her hair quickly falling back in front of her eyes.
‘I’m gonna pass. I’m really tired from all the travelling and …’ Ellie began fiddling with the locket around her neck. ‘I should probably tidy this up a bit anyway.’ She faced Lottie as she said the last words and gave her an apologetic smile.
For some reason Lottie couldn’t quite figure out, the idea of leaving this girl now made her chest feel heavy; even after their awkward introduction. It had been years since anyone had upset her and she was still subconsciously waiting for her new acquaintance to punish her for her outburst. But she didn’t. Instead she looked at Lottie in a way that made her feel as if she understood her and it made her instinctively pull her hand to her chest.
‘Thank you.’ Lottie surprised herself with the words, not entirely sure what she was thanking her for.
Ellie smiled – and Lottie felt like an unspoken truce had been agreed.
‘No problem.’
6
Binah collected Lottie at the Ivy Wood gate as planned and they walked together across a bridge to the Miracle Marquee. Thoughts of her spat with Ellie melted away and Lottie focused on how she was going to clear up the misunderstanding about her coming from another country and explain that she’d just been too shy to correct Binah earlier.
Luckily the school in the evening made a welcome distraction from her nerves. To her surprise, it was even more breathtaking at night, with soft flickering candles guiding you along the pathways. When they reached the marquee Lottie immediately understood its nickname. Wooden beams were obscured by hundreds of roses making the rooftop look as though it were floating. Inside, hanging out by the seating area, were Anastacia, who even in the dark was still wearing sunglasses, Lola and Micky, who were both eating lollipops, and a dark-skinned boy who Lottie didn’t recognize.
As she walked towards them, she could hear the boy saying, ‘I still think they should extend curfew to ten p.m. for the Year Ten students. Someone should complain.’
Anastacia scoffed. ‘Oh, please be our guest, Raphael, and let us know how it works out for you the fiftieth time around.’
The conversation was dropped as they spotted Binah and Lottie approaching.
‘Yay, Lottie!’ Lola ran over to her and gave her a big squeeze as if they had been best friends forever. There was a sweet smell like baby powder as she hugged her.
‘Lottie, this is Raphael. Raphael, meet Lottie.’
Raphael made a spectacle of bowing. ‘A pleasure to meet you, Miss …?’
‘Pumpkin,’ said Binah.
Raphael chuckled softly. ‘Binah, it’s too early in the year for your strange jokes,’ he said, straightening up. There was a very subtle American accent as he spoke that Lottie couldn’t quite place.
‘No … that’s really my last name.’ Lottie could feel the blush creeping up her cheeks and prayed they didn’t ask any more about it.
‘OK, people,’ Anastacia suddenly barked. ‘Professor Devine’s speech starts in twenty minutes and Saskia’s saved us a good place for the fireworks. Let’s move!’
Everyone immediately picked up their bags to walk to the viewing point. Lottie couldn’t help but wonder if Anastacia had said that to get the attention away from her, but was Anastacia that considerate?
As they walked towards the field where the speeches were being held, Micky pocketed his lollipop stick, only to start eating another lollipop immediately.
He noticed Lottie staring, and asked ‘Want one?’ He pulled a bunch from his trouser pocket and held them out to her.
Lottie politely took one and put it in her bag for later.
‘They’re Tompkins branded.’ Lottie jumped as Binah whispered in her ear. ‘The lollipops … and Lola and Micky, they’re Tompkins.’ It took Lottie a moment to register what Binah was saying to her. The twins were actual Tompkins? Tompkins was the most luxurious and delicious sweet company in the world. No wonder Micky had such a sweet tooth. And suddenly Lottie realized what they reminded her of, with their striking white hair and soft blush with dark lips. They were like human candy canes.
As Lottie processed this new information, they stopped walking and found themselves among a crowd of students, facing the frizzy-haired girl she’d seen Anastacia embracing earlier. Her mass of hair and lean body made her appear taller than everyone else and she held herself in such a way that it made her simultaneously unthreatening yet commanding. She wore a red sash with the bear symbol of Conch House – which indicated her position as head of year.
She scrutinized Lottie for a moment before smiling.
‘So this is the new Ivy student you mentioned, Anastacia.’
This must be Saskia, Lottie thought to herself. She wondered what else Anastacia had said about her. She gave a polite smile in response and the girl returned it with a look of inquisitiveness. She held out a bag of books, asking, ‘Do you mind holding this for a moment?’
‘Er, sure, no problem.’ Lottie took the bag and watched as Saskia rummaged around in her pocket before pulling out a business card and handed it to Lottie in exchange for the bag.
Lottie groaned internal
ly. I really need to get some cards.
‘I’m Saskia,’ Saskia said, offering a tanned hand. ‘Year Eleven head of Conch House.’ She relayed the information as if it were no big deal, but Lottie knew it meant she had a lot of power in the school.
‘I’m Lottie,’ she replied, suddenly feeling very shy.
‘That’s a nice name.’ Saskia gave Anastacia a sideways glance. ‘I hope Ani is being nice to you; we’re childhood friends so –’
Before she could finish, Anastacia barged between the two of them, planting herself next to Saskia. Saskia gave Lottie a little knowing smile and giggled.
As they took their places, Lottie noticed adults in dark suits scattered around the perimeter, looking very serious. They made her inexplicably nervous. They seemed to radiate danger. What on earth were they doing in a school?
‘Who are all those people dotted around in the black uniforms?’ Lottie asked curiously.
‘You don’t know?’ Raphael sounded so shocked you’d think Lottie had just told him she didn’t know how to count to three, but Binah quickly chimed in.
‘They’re bodyguards. There are a lot of children of very important people here, as you know –’
‘I heard some of the bodyguards are Partizans,’ interrupted Raphael.
Lottie noted that Anastacia looked up over her sunglasses for a split second but quickly glanced back down.
Lottie, of course, had absolutely no idea what he was talking about.
‘What’s a Partizan?’
At this seemingly innocent question, they all looked at her, their heads snapping round in unison. Micky’s jaw literally dropped, causing his lollipop to fall out of his mouth, which would have been comical but right now just made Lottie feel extremely anxious. Saskia raised an eyebrow, a unfathomable look on her face. Lottie rattled her brain, trying to think of a way to get out of this but nothing was coming to her.
