The New Girl (5 page)

EIGHT

Ignoring Polly, Eve gave Lila a long calculating gaze. Then she switched her focus to Ollie.

“Hi, babe,” she said sweetly, planting a slow kiss on Ollie's cheek. She wafted a sparkly envelope under his nose. “You are coming to my party, aren't you?”

“Am I?” said Ollie.

“Of course you are. Here's your invitation.” She laughed, and ran her fingers through Ollie's sticking-up blond hair. “It's going to be a great night,” she purred. “Even better than last year. I promise.”

Ollie took the sparkly envelope with some caution, as if it were a bomb. Eve slid her perfectly manicured hand through the crook of Ollie's arm.

“Come on, or we'll be late for class.”

Ollie looked thrown. “I was just waiting—”

“The new girl hasn't even got her locker open yet,” Eve said, glancing at Lila. There was a look in her eyes that made Lila nervous. “The bell's about to go. Come
on
. . .”

“Nice to see you too, Eve,” Polly said drily as Eve pulled a half-laughing, half-protesting Ollie away. “Come on, Lila, put your stuff away and let's go.”

Trying not to feel downhearted, Lila fiddled with the latch on her locker. It felt strangely sticky. When she finally managed to get it open—

“Oh!”

She jumped backwards as a cascade of pink glitter and white confetti came pouring out. The glitter was the same colour as the sparkly invitations.

For a wild second, she felt a rush of hope. Maybe something from her secret admirer was hidden in the sparkles? She dug through the soft pink mess, feeling for an envelope, just in case. . .

“
Lila!
” Polly said in horror. “Look at you!”

Laughter rang out on all sides as Lila looked down at herself. Thick trails of pink glitter had run all the way down the front of her uniform. There were shiny little grains stuck to her skin, and her socks, and her tie. There was glitter in her pockets, and she could feel some trickling down inside her shoes. Glancing up, she caught sight of Eve smirking triumphantly as she towed Ollie towards their classroom.

She had been caught out by another of Eve Somerstown's dirty tricks.

Lila felt close to tears. She brushed at her blazer, but it was no good. The glitter stayed exactly where it was. She felt utterly stupid standing in the corridor covered in bright pink sparkles.

“Come on,” Polly sighed. “I'll help you get cleaned up. We've still got a few minutes before the bell.”

“It's no good,” Lila groaned in despair. “Glitter's impossible to get rid of. I'm going to look like a piñata gone wrong all day.”

Polly tapped her nose. “I've had all this and worse from Eve in the past. There's an extra uniform in my locker that you can borrow. Glitter-free.”

Hope flickered in Lila's heart. “Are you serious?”

Polly shrugged. “It pays to be prepared. I learned that lesson a long time ago. My locker's open – help yourself. I'll explain everything to Mr Morrison so he won't mark you late, OK?”

“You're amazing,” Lila breathed. Impulsively she gave Polly a hug.

Polly squirmed away, looking both pleased and embarrassed. “I don't fancy sharing your glitter, thanks,” she joked.

“Sorry,” said Lila, letting go quickly. “But you really are amazing.”

Polly grinned. With sudden mischief in her eyes, she scooped a full handful of glitter from Lila's locker and ran after Eve's fast-disappearing back. A sudden cloud of pink sparkles filled the air, and Lila heard a scream of rage. Polly had dumped the glitter down the Ice Queen's back.

Feeling a little better, Lila pulled the spare uniform – blouse, tie and skirt – from Polly's locker and spun the combination lock shut behind her.

Holding the spare uniform away from her to avoid any glittery cross-contamination, Lila walked quickly to the toilet down the hall. She hung the uniform on the back of a cubicle door. She washed her hands and legs as best she could at the sinks, with the help of a handful of paper towels. Then she headed gratefully into her chosen cubicle and shut the door.

Leaning her head against the cool cubicle wall, she shut her eyes tightly and willed the tears away. Lila was stronger than this. She couldn't let Eve win.

She stripped down to her underwear, and wriggled into the fresh uniform. Polly's blouse fitted OK, and the tie of course was fine. She could live without a blazer for today. The skirt was a lot shorter than she would have liked – more along the lines of Lil than Lila – but it would have to do.

She turned her blazer inside out and wrapped her ruined uniform inside it. Then she tucked the bundle back under her arm and prepared to emerge.

Her fingers froze on the cubicle latch. Someone was coming into the toilets.

“I can't believe Polly Nelson thought that was funny,” Eve raged. There was a
whoosh
from the sink taps. “She's such a bitch. I don't know why I was ever friends with her. I have glitter all down the back of my blouse.”

“You started it, you know,” said Rhi in her distinctive London voice.

“Lila Murray deserves everything she gets, the silly cow. You of all people should know that.”

Lila flinched miserably inside her cubicle. Rhi had definitely told Eve about what had happened in London. She shouldn't have been surprised.

“Who does she think she is, coming here and smarming up to Ollie? He's mine. Everyone knows it. He doesn't fancy her, whatever people think. I bet she's gone running to Reception. ‘Ooh, miss, they're all being horrible to me.' She's pathetic.”

Lila's hand was still hovering on the cubicle latch. She hardly dared to breathe.

Eve was still ranting.

“Miss Goody Two Shoes is nothing special. Everyone will realize that soon enough. If she thinks she can come to Heartside and act all high and mighty, she's in for a nasty shock.”

“Leave it, Eve,” advised Rhi. “You haven't invited her to your party, and—”

“I'd rather invite a dead weasel,” Eve said with venom.

Rhi continued as if Eve hadn't interrupted. “—and you've made it clear that you don't want anyone making friends with her. She's history around here already. There's no point starting a vendetta for the sake of it.”

There was the scrunching sound of paper towels, and the flip of a bin lid.

“I love vendettas,” Eve purred. “They're so much fun. Believe me, Rhi, that girl will rue the day she ever came to Heartside. The fun and games for Lila Murray are only just beginning.”

NINE

Explaining why she was wearing someone else's uniform while her own looked like it had been caught in some kind of fairy explosion had been difficult. Lila had invented an art class and a box of glitter with a loose lid, and had just about got away with it.

“Typical,” her dad sighed.

Lila bit her lip. As usual, her mum intervened.

“That's not fair, Greg. At least it wasn't a bottle of indelible ink. We have plenty of packing tape left over from the move. Wrap it round your hands, sticky side up, and rub it over your uniform, love. The glitter should come off without too much difficulty. Lucky that your friend had a spare one for you to borrow.”

Lila had got through two rolls of packing tape that evening, meticulously cleaning her uniform from top to toe until close to midnight. Despite her best efforts, she was still picking glitter out of her shoes, books and locker on Wednesday afternoon. Eve knew exactly how to cause maximum trouble with minimum effort.

The silent treatment from the other kids continued. Even Ollie seemed to have disappeared, sucked into the heart of Eve's gang and guarded jealously. Josh was his usual monosyllabic self, although he did smile at her these days. At least he didn't completely ignore her like everyone else. And all the time, Lila was wondering when Eve would strike again.

The conversation she had overheard in the toilets was burned into her memory. She cringed again and again as she imagined what Rhi had told Eve. In addition to keeping out of Eve's way, she now found herself swerving round corners and loitering behind doors whenever she saw her former friend as well.

By the end of school on Wednesday, total exhaustion was starting to set in. To help her cope with everything, Lila started making lists in her head of all the good things about Heartside. Polly. Ollie – when she saw him. The beach. Josh, at least when he smiled at her. Her new house, which was light and airy, with a garden and wide sea views; her old view in London had been of a row of dustbins, enlivened by the occasional urban fox. And best of all: no curfew, or mandatory meal times, or checking in with her parents at all hours of the day and night. Unlike in London, where she had been made to feel like a prisoner in her own life, her parents were giving her freedom in Heartside. She was free, and she wasn't going to mess it up again. All she had to do was fix the rest of the mess she was in, and her life would be great.

She had got much warier about opening her locker since the glitter incident. Prising it open cautiously at the end of Wednesday, she reached her hand in for her bag. As she did so, she managed to knock over a stack of textbooks. Her heart skipped as a note covered in familiar writing came fluttering out from between the pages of one of the books.

She snatched it up. Her heart was racing at a ridiculous speed. What would it say this time?

Not everyone at Heartside takes orders from Eve Somerstown. Do you know about karma? Eve will get what she deserves, and so will you. Have faith.

Once again there was no signature. The words weren't romantic, but they were just what she needed. Someone was looking out for her, and believing that things would get better. She checked quickly to make sure no one was looking. Then she pressed her lips to the note.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “Whoever you are.”

“Hey,” said Polly, coming up behind her. “Let's get out of here. You need a pick-me-up, and I know exactly where we should go.”

Lila quickly slid the little piece of paper into her pocket. It felt too precious to share, even with Polly. “Where's that?”

“The Heartbeat Café in the Old Town. It used to be a pub, but it was turned into a gorgeous coffee house years ago. They do live music. All the local kids hang out there.”

Lila raised her eyebrows. “Including Eve?”

“You can't avoid her in this town,” Polly said with an apologetic shrug. “It's a great place, Lila. I'll show you the sneaky way in if you're worried about bumping into Eve. So, are you coming?”

Drawing strength from the new note in her pocket, Lila took a deep breath. “This is my town now, whether Eve likes it or not. The Heartbeat Café sounds perfect. Let's go.”

The sun was nowhere to be seen as they walked from the school into the Old Town. Gulls sat on the uneven rooftops, crying and flapping their wings. To Lila it felt as if they were repeating what her secret admirer said. Have faith! Have faith!

The roads in the Old Town were narrow and higgledy piggledy, sloping left and right, some with steps and some with cobbles. Lila was lost in moments. She wasn't surprised tourists avoided this maze when they could spend their time on the wide, straight high street and the gently curving Marine Parade with its views of the sea instead.

Polly dragged her down a narrow set of cobbled steps to a silvery wooden fence, and pushed hard at the creaking gate. Inside there was a little paved garden dotted with wooden tables and large, furled umbrellas.

“That leads to the rooftop garden,” Polly said, pointing at a spiral of rusty iron steps running up the side of the old white-brick building. “It's gorgeous in the spring, if you can face the climb. We're going in this way. This fire door's never locked.”

They met a set of worn, carpeted steps as they entered the building. Polly ran up and craned her neck around the corner at the top. “Good, the table's not taken,” she said, sounding relieved. “Come on.”

“Oh!” Lila exclaimed when she reached the top. “It's so cool!”

The Heartbeat Café hummed like a hive below them, full of clatter and chatter. The red leather booths that lined the panelled walls were already half full, particularly the booths near the stage. Lila spotted Eve at once, sitting with her back to the balcony, beside Rhi and opposite a boy with dark curly hair she didn't recognize. She nudged Polly.

“Who's that?”

“Max Holmes,” Polly said promptly. “Tech genius with a rebellious streak. He's been going out with Rhi for about a year. Cute, isn't he?”

Lila caught a flash of Max's white teeth as he threw his dark head back and laughed at something Rhi had said. “Very,” she agreed.

“Eve always gets that booth by the stage,” Polly said, settling down at the little balcony table. “People say it's the best spot, but I think it's better up here. You can see everything that's going on.”

Lila noticed that there were hundreds of carved initals inscribed into the wooden walls around her. There were messages scratched into the wooden balcony rail too, and the banister that curved down the stairs. She traced the flowing letters
LW&TG
on a panel by her head.

“Carving initials and messages is a Heartbeat Café tradition,” Polly smiled. “Heartsiders have been doing it for generations. We are the love capital of the world, remember.”

Lila felt the love of
LW&TG
tingling through her as she traced their time-worn initials with her fingers. She wondered who they were and what their story had been. She wanted a timeless love like that. Maybe she'd find one at Heartside Bay.
Maybe I've already found it
, she thought, picturing the note in her pocket.
Only I don't know who with.

Down below, Max Holmes was carving something into the wall beside the booth he, Rhi and Eve were sitting at. It wasn't hard to work out that he was adding his and Rhi's initials to the history on the Heartbeat Café walls. Rhi and Max seemed like the perfect couple as they smiled into each other's eyes and linked hands over the table, and Eve was laughing and teasing them both. They all looked very happy.

“I'll get us something to drink,” Polly offered.

As she headed down the stairs for the bar, Lila looked back at Eve's booth. She blinked in surprise. An extra person had slid into the booth opposite Eve. His face was turned towards the balcony, and his eyes were on Lila.

Ollie slowly lifted his hand, apparently to scratch his ear. He quickly pointed upwards. Then he opened his hand, showing five fingers.

Lila guessed he meant the roof garden in five minutes. She could see Polly queuing at the bar. A reckless feeling swept through her.

Why not?
she thought.