By Midnight (24 page)
‘Hey! Sleeping beauty!’ said Caro, snapping her fingers at April. ‘Get with it, we’re here to work out how to combat these rumours about you, remember?’
‘Shhh ...’ said April, looking behind her to check they weren’t being overheard. ‘I don’t want it spreading to the whole village. It’s bad enough as it is.’
‘Don’t worry, honey,’ said Simon, leaning in to whisper.
‘We’re going to fight fire with fire. Give them a taste of their own medicine.’
His plan was simple and, as it had turned out, devastatingly effective, working on Simon’s theory that gossip was currency; people always wanted new angles on the same story, and having the latest angle was like gold dust. By the end of the day, the whole school believed Caro and April’s version of events: that April had wandered into the kitchen at the party and had stumbled on Marcus Brent trying to ‘debag’ one of his friends. Frankly, it was the sort of horseplay that often happened among members of the rugby team, but when Simon had insisted on adding the phrase ‘gay scrum’, it had taken off like wildfire. It had been the girls’ intention to imply there had been something a bit suspect about the boys’ behaviour, but they had reckoned without the power of a juicy rumour to multiply. By the time the story came back to them at the end of the day, it appeared that the boys had been involved in some of the most extreme practices available to the imagination. April was shocked that the rather strait-laced pupils of Ravenwood could come up with such filth, but overjoyed that people were now looking at her with pity rather than disgust.
‘Why didn’t you tell me, darling?’ said Davina. She had run into the Faces in the Ladies by the refectory, which was something of an office for them. She didn’t often see them in the canteen. ‘I knew that Marcus was a dirty boy, but I had no idea! It must have been terrible for you.’
‘And you so innocent and all,’ said Layla with a sneer. ‘It must have been quite a shock to see what boys really look like.’
‘Is it all true?’ asked Chessy eagerly. ‘Did you really see him do that thing with his tongue?’
April had shaken her head to it all and maintained an aloof ‘I don’t want to talk about it’ position, but that had only added fuel to the fire.
‘Golly, if she can’t even bring herself to describe it, it must have been truly revolting,’ she heard Chessy say to Davina as they left the bathroom.
Funny how people are always prepared to think the worst of someone
, thought April as she looked into the mirror. Of course she was delighted that the plan had worked so well, but she was beginning to feel a little guilty. Not that Marcus and his cronies had had any qualms about spreading a rumour about her, but somehow April couldn’t feel too pleased about their success. The truth was, the one thing she had really wanted to happen hadn’t: Gabriel hadn’t called. It had been three days now and she hadn’t heard a peep from him. She’d hoped to bump into him at school, but he never seemed to be there. In fact, she’d only ever seen him in school twice, both times on her first day: once in Philosophy, and once heading for the gates.
Maybe I’ll see him on his way home today, she thought
with a jolt of excitement.
Not that he’s about to fiall in love with
this. She looked in the mirror, pulling at her cheeks.
God
,
I look tired. Does everyone else see these rings under my eyes too?
, thought April as she looked into the mirror. Of course she was delighted that the plan had worked so well, but she was beginning to feel a little guilty. Not that Marcus and his cronies had had any qualms about spreading a rumour about her, but somehow April couldn’t feel too pleased about their success. The truth was, the one thing she had really wanted to happen hadn’t: Gabriel hadn’t called. It had been three days now and she hadn’t heard a peep from him. She’d hoped to bump into him at school, but he never seemed to be there. In fact, she’d only ever seen him in school twice, both times on her first day: once in Philosophy, and once heading for the gates.
Maybe I’ll see him on his way home today, she thought
with a jolt of excitement.
Not that he’s about to fiall in love with
this. She looked in the mirror, pulling at her cheeks.
God
,
I look tired. Does everyone else see these rings under my eyes too?
She put down her bag and pulled it open, rummaging around for her concealer. It was forbidden for girls to bring make-up into school, but like most of the other rules, it was openly flaunted. She certainly couldn’t imagine any of the teachers stopping the Faces from touching up their lip gloss or mascara, which they did constantly, even during lessons. In fact, now she came to think of it, those girls were given an awful lot of leeway.
I guess it’s just an unconventional school. Which is the understatement of the year.
I guess it’s just an unconventional school. Which is the understatement of the year.
April stopped, make-up forgotten. She could hear a noise coming from one of the cubicles.
Crying?
She crept a little nervously along the line of cubicles, her ears straining. A muffled sound came from the cubicle at the end.
Crying?
She crept a little nervously along the line of cubicles, her ears straining. A muffled sound came from the cubicle at the end.
‘Hello?’ she whispered, tapping gently on the door.
This time she heard a definite sob and she pushed at the door, surprised when it opened. It was Ling Po, sitting on the toilet seat lid with her feet tucked under her, her arms crossed defensively.
‘Are you all right, Ling?’ asked April softly. The Chinese girl shook her head and looked at the floor. She seemed to be cradling her left arm.
‘What’s the matter? Are you hurt?’
She shook her head again and pulled her cardigan tighter around her. April frowned. ‘What’s wrong with your arm?’ she asked. ‘Can I see?’
Ling pulled away angrily. ‘Don’t!’ she cried. ‘It’s nothing to do with you.’ Then she looked up at April with frightened eyes. ‘Don’t tell them,’ she pleaded. ‘Don’t tell them you saw this!’
‘Okay, okay,’ said April, a little confused. She could see Ling was clutching a paper towel to her wrist. She reached out, meaning to help her if she could, but Ling jumped back as if April had struck her.
‘Please, Ling, is there anything I can do?’
‘You can leave me alone!’ whispered Ling, pushing past April and running out of the bathroom.
‘Sorry I spoke,’ said April, staring after her. She was just stepping out of the cubicle when something caught her eye: there were little red spots on the white plastic toilet seat.
Blood?
She leant closer. Yes, it was definitely blood. For a fleeting second, April thought of Mr Gill and his claim that vampires were everywhere, but then she dismissed it.
Oh no
, thought April with a feeling of horrible pity.
She’s a cutter
. April’s friend Rachel in Edinburgh had been through a phase of self-harm when her parents had divorced and she recognised the pattern. God knows, April could relate to Ling’s experience - the upheaval of coming to a new school, plus the pressure of trying to fit in with the Faces - she felt for the poor girl.
Blood?
She leant closer. Yes, it was definitely blood. For a fleeting second, April thought of Mr Gill and his claim that vampires were everywhere, but then she dismissed it.
Oh no
, thought April with a feeling of horrible pity.
She’s a cutter
. April’s friend Rachel in Edinburgh had been through a phase of self-harm when her parents had divorced and she recognised the pattern. God knows, April could relate to Ling’s experience - the upheaval of coming to a new school, plus the pressure of trying to fit in with the Faces - she felt for the poor girl.
Shaking her head, she walked back to the sink and picked up her concealer.
I’ll ask Caro who she thinks I should speak to about
it, she thought, leaning in to the mirror. Suddenly, April had a thought and almost laughed out loud.
Imagine if the Faces were vampires,
she thought,
they wouldn’t be able to use mirrors, would they? That would mess up Davina’s beauty regime.
I’ll ask Caro who she thinks I should speak to about
it, she thought, leaning in to the mirror. Suddenly, April had a thought and almost laughed out loud.
Imagine if the Faces were vampires,
she thought,
they wouldn’t be able to use mirrors, would they? That would mess up Davina’s beauty regime.
Suddenly her head was jerked backwards by her hair.
‘Making ourselves pretty, are we?’ hissed Marcus, bringing his face up close to hers. ‘I think it will take a little more than that.’
‘What are you—’ began April, but her sentence ended in a squeak as Marcus tightened his grip on her hair and used it to yank her backwards across the room, banging her head hard against the tiled wall. She cried out in pain and fear, but Marcus grabbed her throat and squeezed.
‘I suppose you thought it would be funny, didn’t you? Hmm?’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ said April through gritted teeth. Marcus was really hurting her, but she didn’t want to let him know that.
Marcus grabbed another handful of her hair and twisted her head down. ‘Oh, I think you do,’ he whispered. ‘You and your freaky little friends have been spreading lies about me.’
‘We wouldn’t—’
‘Don’t!’ he yelled. ‘Don’t even think about denying it. I saw your pathetic friend Caro all chummy with that disgusting fag in the refectory. It doesn’t take much intelligence to put two and two together,’ he said, his voice quivering with anger. ‘And intelligence is what this school is famous for, or hadn’t you heard?’
‘You’ve made a mistake,’ said April, tears of pain running from the corners of her eyes.
‘Oh no, you’re the one who’s made a mistake.’ He stared into her eyes and all she could see was pure fury. ‘You have no idea what you’re dealing with at Ravenwood.’
He put his arm around her neck, dragging her along the wall towards the toilet cubicles.
Oh God, help me, please, please,
thought April desperately, kicking out, trying to tear his arm away, but he was too strong. She was genuinely terrified now. Marcus was vibrating with rage, completely out of control.
Oh God, help me, please, please,
thought April desperately, kicking out, trying to tear his arm away, but he was too strong. She was genuinely terrified now. Marcus was vibrating with rage, completely out of control.
‘You want to spread rumours that I’m gay?’ he spat. ‘Want to find out if it’s true? Want to see if I can do some of those things to you?’ His mouth split into a wide grin. It was horrible, like a wolf about to rip the throat from a lamb, and April knew she had to act before it was too late.
‘GET OFF ME!’ she screamed, driving her knee upwards as hard as she could. With a surprised, breathless ‘Oof’, Marcus crumpled to the floor and she pushed past him, scrambling for the door just as it burst open.
‘What the HELL’s going on in here?’ yelled Mr Sheldon, striding in, his eyes blazing, his jacket flapping behind him. ‘How DARE you!’ he roared. ‘I won’t have this kind of disturbance in my school!’
Then he saw April, her clothes dishevelled, her face scrunched and tear-stained. ‘What on earth ...?’ he began. ‘April, what’s happened?’
April could only shake her head and gesture weakly behind her. Frowning, Mr Sheldon stepped past her and saw Marcus slumped on the floor, moaning. The teacher swore under his breath, then shot April a look. ‘Get out, April,’ he said quietly. ‘I’ll deal with this. Go!’
April didn’t need telling twice. She turned and fled.
Chapter Fourteen
‘He’ll call. They always call in the end.’
April shook her head and flopped back on her pillows. ‘Maybe they always call you, Simon,’ she said sadly, ‘but they don’t always call me.’
‘He’ll call, honey,’ said Caro. ‘It’s only been two days since the party, that’s nothing. A boy doesn’t take you to his favourite place in the moonlight then forget all about you.’
April tried to smile, but the truth was she was finding it hard to feel too positive about anything. It wasn’t just the fact that it was Tuesday evening and Gabriel still hadn’t been in touch, it was more a build-up of all the negative things that had happened in the last ten days and after her run-in with Marcus she just couldn’t seem to keep her chin up. April had tried to tell herself she was overreacting, but she had been genuinely terrified; Marcus had been out of control, and there was no telling what he might have done if she hadn’t been able to get away. She shivered at the memory of his eyes. They were horrible. She never wanted to see them again, but then she went to school with him, the chances of putting Marcus Brent out of her mind were slim. All in all, April was feeling pretty low. What with Marcus, Gabriel and her general homesickness for Edinburgh, she felt as if she was wandering around under a black cloud. She knew she had plenty to be happy about - she had friends and she was doing okay at school. It didn’t help that her parents were constantly fighting, but that was par for the course these days.
‘If he said he’d call, he will. Boys just aren’t so time-orientated as girls,’ said Simon as he combed his hair in April’s bedroom mirror. ‘He’s probably doing other things, like playing football or
Grand Theft Auto
or something.’
Grand Theft Auto
or something.’
‘Does Gabriel Swift strike you as the sort of boy who would own either a pair of football boots or an Xbox?’ said Caro.
Simon glanced over and shrugged. ‘No, probably not, but that doesn’t mean he’s not tied up, writing deep poetry and listening to My Chemical Romance. Maybe he’s fallen down a well.’
Caro threw a cushion at him. ‘Yes, and maybe he’s caught the Black Death,’ she said sarcastically. ‘Come on, this is serious.’
‘Okay, so what do we do when things get serious?’ said Simon, putting his comb down purposefully.
‘I don’t know, hide under the bed?’ asked April.
‘No, we get dressed up!’ said Simon triumphantly. ‘When the going gets tough, the tough get fabulous,’ he added, striding to April’s wardrobe and pulling a few things out. ‘Ooh, this is nice,’ he said, holding up a black dress.
Caro shook her head. ‘That’s the one she wore to the Halloween party. Too formal, anyway.’
‘Well, what is this, then?’ asked Simon. ‘Is it a date or are you meeting as friends? Is he just lonely and needs someone to go to the supermarket with him, what?’
April shook her head. ‘I wish I knew,’ she said sadly. ‘I was a bit drunk and I asked him out. I said I’d show him my favourite place. I don’t even have a favourite place.’
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