As April filed past the teacher, he handed her the thick book. ‘Good thinking there, April,’ he said in a low voice, ‘I’m pleased.’
Before April could react, Mr Sheldon had turned away to shout at two girls poring over a magazine.
‘Now this is what I’m talking about,’ said Mr Sheldon, snatching the offending mag and dropping it into the waste-paper basket next to his desk. ‘Celebrity culture has played a confidence trick on you, people. God frowns on the worship of graven images, ladies, haven’t you heard? Think for yourselves! ’
‘But it’s got the last interview with Alix Graves in it,’ complained the taller of the girls.
‘Alix Graves is dead, Lucy,’ said Mr Sheldon. ‘I’m sure you’ll have found someone else to obsess over by next week.’
April looked up, surprised both by the insensitivity and the fact that a teacher would even have heard of Alix Graves. As she did, Gabriel barged past her, sending her spinning, and she dropped her books with a clatter. As she bent to scoop them up, she heard giggles and felt all eyes on her.
Great, just what I need
, she thought.
So much for staying under the radar
.
‘Are you all right?’
She looked up into Benjamin Osbourne’s blue eyes. He bent to help her up, his face concerned.
God, he’s good-looking,
thought April.
‘Yes, yes, fine,’ she muttered as she quickly gathered her belongings and moved into the corridor. She glanced back and saw that Benjamin was still watching her, a smile playing around his perfect mouth.
‘You’re sure you’re okay?’
April nodded and almost ran down the corridor. But she wasn’t fine, far from it. She had been humiliated and laughed at, she’d felt out of her depth and ... well, Benjamin must think she was a clumsy, stupid new girl with a bright red face. But that wasn’t the worst of it. No, the thing that had upset her most was that strange boy, Gabriel, barging into her. She couldn’t swear to it, but she was fairly sure he had whispered something to her as he pushed past. And it had sounded very much like, ‘Get out.’
Chapter Four
April was lost. After Mr Sheldon’s philosophy class, she had fled. She needed to get out, find somewhere away from the prying eyes of her classmates. All she had wanted was to get through the day without making a spectacle of herself, but no - she couldn’t even manage that.
What the hell’s wrong with me? Why can’t I ever avoid making an ass of myself—especially when boys
are
watching?
She sat down on a bench and took a deep breath. Now her embarrassment was fading a little, April began to get annoyed. Why did everyone here have to be so nasty? Mr Sheldon had known it was her first day, so why did he feel the need to single her out and then ridicule her answer in front of the class? That Emily could take a running jump, too. Benjamin had at least tried to help her, but what was that boy Gabriel doing barging into her? She’d only laid eyes on him a couple of times; what had she ever done to provoke him?
‘I hate this school,’ she whispered. She looked down at the book Mr Sheldon had handed out. A John Wyndham omnibus. Never heard of him. She turned to the contents page and her heart sank. The first story was
Day of the Triffids:
she had definitely heard of that one, something to do with giant man-eating plants, if memory served. April loathed science fiction with a passion, all those stupid aliens and lasers and stuff. And those nerdy boys who were into it tended to be weird and a bit, well, hygienically challenged. She ran her finger down the other titles:
The Midwich Cuckoos, Chocky
,
The Kraken Wakes
... Opening the book at random, she read the first two lines of
The Midwich Cuckoos. Wow. Dull
, she thought. No, make that dull
and
old-fashioned, full of dusty language and polite ideas: everything seemed to be ‘agreeable’, ‘curious’ and ‘queer’, although April did manage to smile when she discovered that the hero was called Richard Gayford. She shook her head. Even more than sci-fi, April hated it when teachers tried to be trendy but missed the mark by about three decades. Sighing and deciding she would worry about it later, she shoved the book in her bag and headed back the way she’d come, certain that her class must all have gone by now. She took the staircase down to the main hall and asked a younger girl for directions to the front entrance, the only way out of the building she knew of. The girl was polite and helpful, giving her detailed directions which April immediately forgot. In hindsight she should have known she was having her leg pulled, especially when the first instruction had led her into a service corridor, but April had a stubborn streak she assumed she’d inherited from her father and ploughed on despite her misgivings. Now she had lost all sense of direction. She knew she was on a lower floor, but beyond that she was hopelessly confused. Annoyed with herself, she pushed her way through a door marked ‘exit’—and walked straight into somebody.
‘Hey! Watch out!’ said an angry voice, as April became aware of eyes on her. There were two stunning girls lounging against railings. A third, with whom she had collided, had almost dropped a bottle she’d been drinking from and was wiping her mouth.
‘Don’t you look where you’re going?’ she demanded.
‘Sorry,’ muttered April, trying to skirt around her and get up the steps.
Drinking alcohol in school?
She knew she was in trouble; they wouldn’t take kindly to being caught, even if she wasn’t a teacher. April had almost made it past them when one of the girls stepped out in front of her. With a sinking feeling, April realised it was the beautiful girl with the rabbit-fur coat she had noticed before school. Davina, sister to the gorgeous Benjamin.
‘So you’re the new girl,’ she said, her blue eyes running over April like a scanner. April couldn’t help but feel a little uncomfortable being observed so closely.
‘I suppose so,’ said April lamely. She glanced at the other girls and could see they were waiting for Davina’s lead. After a pause that felt like an eternity to April, the girl smiled and held out a slender hand.
‘I’m Davina,’ she said simply. ‘This is Layla and Chessy,’ she said, pointing to her two friends.
‘I’m April,’ she said.
‘I know,’ said Davina. She stared at April for a moment, then beckoned her up the steps. ‘Come on, I bet no one’s shown you around here, have they?’
‘Uh, no, no they haven’t,’ stammered April as she followed. The other girls fell into step behind them.
‘Don’t worry, we’ll look after you - won’t we, ladies?’ She smiled. ‘So I hear you’re from Edinburgh. I just love Edinburgh, it’s so romantic. My mother is involved with the Festival, so I fly up most years. Don’t you just adore the Scotsman?’
‘My dad used to work for them. He’s a writer.’
Davina shot her a confused look, then laughed. ‘No, silly, I mean the Scotsman Hotel. They have the best spa in the city.’ She stretched out her thin fingers. She had a huge diamond ring on her index finger and April didn’t doubt it was real. ‘I could so do with a manicure right now.’ She sighed and linked her arm through April’s in an unsettling gesture of intimacy. ‘Mmm ... what’s that heavenly perfume?’ she asked.
‘Um, just soap, I think,’ stuttered April and Davina laughed a tinkling laugh.
‘You’re so funny,’ she said as they turned a corner and found themselves walking parallel to the front of the school, passing in front of the gymnasium.
‘So tell me, April,’ Davina said in a conspiratorial whisper. ‘Are you single?’
April giggled nervously.
‘We’ll take that as a yes,’ said Layla from behind them.
‘We must see what we can do about that,’ said Davina coolly. She stopped and turned towards April, her eyes narrowing as if she were sizing her up. Suddenly April felt horribly self-conscious, knowing she looked dowdy and fat next to this sleeker, better groomed specimen.
‘Well, I think we can certainly make a few adjustments that will help,’ said Davina, touching the collar of April’s coat, then pulling her hand away as if it was unclean. ‘I’ve got a beautiful Chloé dress you’d look amazing in and if we gave you smokier eyes ...’ Seeing April’s expression, she smiled sweetly and giggled. ‘Sorry, April, I’m doing it again, aren’t I?’
‘What?’
‘Oh, I’m always doing this, getting carried away. Here we are, we’ve only just met and I’m already giving you a makeover. When I decide I like someone, I just jump right in and ... silly, isn’t it?’
‘No, no, it’s nice,’ said April quickly, nervously pulling her coat around her. ‘Honestly, it’s fine.’
Davina beamed and squeezed April’s hand. ‘I’m glad,’ she said. ‘Listen, do you want to come over to my ...’
But suddenly April wasn’t listening. Her gaze had been drawn over Davina’s shoulder. It was Gabriel. He was walking fast, his face fixed in a scowl, and he had turned the collar of his jacket up against the cold.
‘What’s wrong?’ Davina asked.
‘Nothing,’ replied April. ‘Just that boy. I saw him last night. I think he lives near me.’
‘Gabriel?’ Davina rolled her eyes. ‘Don’t even think about it. I mean, he’s like my brother’s best friend and everything, but he’s so
moody,
’ she said as they watched his hunched back disappear through the gates and across the road. ‘Rumour has it he’s not that interested.’
April frowned. ‘What do you mean?’ She heard Layla and Chessy giggle.
‘Sex, darling, sex,’ said Layla. ‘Don’t they have that in Scotland?’
They all turned as they heard a cough behind them. Caro was standing there, swinging her bag back and forth.
‘Not interrupting anything, am I?’ she said tonelessly.
April noticed an unmistakable look of dislike pass between Layla and Caro. She was reminded of two cats meeting on a garden path. They didn’t actually hiss at each other, but the sentiment was the same.
‘Caro,’ said Layla coldly, then turned to April. ‘I’ll probably see you tomorrow. I think we’ve got English together.’
Davina pulled a beeping mobile out of her pocket. ‘My driver is here. I’m off too. Chess - you coming?’
‘Made some new friends?’ Caro said sarcastically to April once Davina and her posse had left.
‘No. Yes, well, I just met her. I was lost, you see ...’
Caro started striding away and April had to trot to keep up with her.
‘Sorry, Caro, is there a problem?’ she asked.
‘Hey, it’s no business of mine who you choose to hang out with,’ she said, not looking up.
‘I’m hardly hanging out with them. I just bumped into Davina and she collared me.’
Caro stopped walking and turned to April. ‘Aren’t you the lucky one?’
‘What’s your problem?’ asked April, confused. She was beginning to think that everyone at Ravenwood was a bit unhinged.
Caro looked angry. ‘They’re witches,’ she said. ‘They’ll suck you in, turn you around and then ... Oh, never mind!’ She stalked off again.
‘Caro! Please!’ cried April, grabbing her arm. ‘Just tell me.’
Caro looked at April, her green eyes probing April’s. Slowly, her intense expression softened and she let out a deep breath.
‘Look, I’m sorry,’ she said, shrugging. ‘It’s not you, it’s her.’
‘I get that,’ said April with a slight smile. ‘So what’s the problem between you two?’
Caro looked as if she was about to say something, then shook her head. ‘Those girls are evil. Pure, black-hearted, evil witches.’
April blinked at Caro for a second, then burst out laughing. After a second, Caro joined in.
‘Sorry.’ She grinned. ‘I get a little carried away when it comes to the Faces. Okay, maybe they’re not actually the spawn of Satan, but seriously, watch out for them.’
‘I will.’ April smiled. She paused for a moment, then said, ‘Caro, can I ask you something?’
‘Sure, what?’
‘Have you read
The Da Vinci Code
?’
‘I have - why?’
‘And do you watch
24? Prison Break?
’