The Territory (6 page)

I randomly bumped into Raf as I left school. We were walking out down the corridor at the exact same time, at the exact same speed, so we kind of had to talk. I asked him about Mr Daniels and said I hoped he hadn’t got into too much trouble. I don’t know why, but as soon as I started speaking I could feel this malc blush rise up my face.

Raf clearly noticed as a grin spread over his face and his eyes sort of narrowed at the corners so they looked sly but pretty damn sexy at the same time.

‘I got let off with a warning. First time offender.’ Raf smiled. ‘God he’s horrific though. A real idiot. And what does he expect if he does that to his hair anyway?’

I couldn’t believe a freakoid would speak that way about a teacher, let alone a headmaster.

Raf misinterpreted my shocked face. ‘Sorry if you like him and everything.’

‘Oh God no,’ I said, and then an image of Mr Daniels with his hair wafting came back to me and I started giggling. ‘We’re calling him Aslan now.’

‘Aslan, I like it.’ His eyes narrowed further to blue/green slits.

And then we were at the exit and I saw Daisy and Jack calling me over and so I had to go as there was no proper reason to stay. And it took everything in me not to look back as I did.

I might be imagining it, but I think Raf might actually like me a bit. You know when you catch someone looking at you and then they look away but it’s intentionally a fraction of a second too late so they know you’re going to notice them looking anyway.

I first noticed it in double Chemistry. I was sitting at the window end of the front bench. I wasn’t being lamely keen; I’m a middle-bench girl by choice but my right contact lens had fallen out in morning break so I couldn’t see the board otherwise. Even then I had to squint like a bit of a denser to see the writing clearly. I guess I could have worn my glasses but there was more chance of Hugo declaring undying love for me than that happening. Mum says I look really nice and sophisticated in my glasses and that they’re ‘fashion glasses’, but I know that’s code for right geek and ‘fashion’ means even lamer than normal. I’m pleased she has principles and everything and didn’t make me a freakoid, but she could at least have let them laser my eyes. I’m probably the only person at Hollets who even owns a pair of glasses.

Anyway, Raf was sitting in the middle of the front bench, which was surprising. Most freakoids sit at the back as they don’t have to concentrate as hard ’cos they’re going to upload all the key points later anyway. And there were some spaces free at the back. One next to Amanda, which, OK, even most freakoids would avoid if they didn’t fancy a plague of flirtation and coma-inducing giggling. But there was also one next to Barnaby, who’s pretty harmless.

To look at the board or watch Mr Malovich, Raf just needed to look straight ahead. But he kept looking left towards the window. And smiling. And it seemed that he was looking at me. I checked and there wasn’t anything remotely amusing happening outside. And I wasn’t sitting next to someone properly hot like Daisy, as Daisy’s in a different Chemistry class. Obviously, it might be that he was laughing at my squinting face, which admittedly is pretty funny in a massively unattractive way. (Daisy says it’s not as bad as I think it is but I’ve done it in front of the mirror and it’s pretty hideous.)

But the thing is even that wouldn’t be normal freakoid behaviour. Freakoids ridicule Norms all the time. But not normally by smiling. It’s usually more direct. ‘Hey, Fish Face,’ is a classic. Or ‘How are the swimming lessons going?’ is another piece of hilarity. Fish and Fish Face have now completely taken over as insult of choice. A couple of months ago, Water Monkey was all the rage and it’d be rare for a Norm to walk down the corridor without being treated to a freakoid doing monkey arms and saying, ‘Ooo ooo ooo,’ interspersed with the odd, ‘Glug glug glug’. And who do you think looked more like a denser?

I told Daisy about Raf maybe liking me at lunch and she said she’d check it out in Maths, which we all had together in final period.

‘He’s definitely looking at you,’ she confirmed. ‘And he’s really cute. For a freakoid.’

‘Who is?’ Jack had crept up on us without our noticing. Which makes us pretty deaf as he’s not exactly a ginger ninja.

Both of us paused, knowing Jack’s reaction.

‘Raf, the new boy.’ Daisy finally replied.

‘The new freakoid you mean?’ Jack exploded. ‘I can’t believe you sometimes, Daisy. Get a grip on your hormones, for God’s sake. He’s a freakoid. End of story. Just one more robotic loser guaranteed to take a Norm’s place. Just stay away from him.’

‘It’s not me he’s into.’ Daisy spat back.

And then Jack shot me this look. And it was so full of confusion and disappointment that I felt a little bit sick.

So Jack’s off the rugby team. Coach Potter told him yesterday evening. From hero to zero in 60 seconds. Apparently the Governors had decided that, in light of the ‘incident’ last Friday, Jack’s being on the team was ‘weakening team spirit’.

‘I’m sorry, Jack, but it’s out of my hands now,’ Coach Potter had said.

It’s so unfair. Just because some freakoids couldn’t handle the fact that a Norm was actually loads better than them and showed them up. And surely if it was the ‘incident’ that worried them, then it was Quentin, not Jack, who should go. Jack thinks it all came from Quentin’s father who’s a school Governor. Quentin was one of the weakest on the team so most likely to get bumped if Jack had a permanent place. Quentin’s dad also ‘sponsors’ the team, which basically means that he buys all the uniforms and pays for the minibus to take them to games. He’s not exactly going to keep paying for other people’s children to be driven round everywhere, while his son sits on the bench like a loser.

At least this should mean Jack stops getting Fished as much and has more time for his SAM project.

I tried to convince him that it was probably all for the best, but although he nodded along and made all the right noises, he still didn’t look convinced. I’ve promised to help him revise for the next three big science tests, as he needs a bit of a boost at the moment. He’s also talked me into modelling for his next drawing for his SAM portfolio. That, I am not looking forward to.

Raf sat at our table at lunch today.

We’d been paired together for Chemistry. We were learning about Group 1 metals and both laughed at exactly the same time when Mr Malovich said ‘effervesce’ in a weirdly squeaky, high voice and then tried to cover it up with a cough. Jack started laughing too, but then stopped when he saw that Raf was laughing. He can be such an idiot sometimes.

Then in the canteen I saw Raf hovering, tableless, with a tray and he caught my eye and walked over.

‘Can I join you?’ he asked, his incredible eyes looking all, well, incredible. Daisy started smirking in a really annoying way and Jack looked pissed off, but we couldn’t just leave him standing there, could we? I think Jack just wouldn’t like any freakoid on principle.

Daisy whispered in my ear, ‘In there [big pause – the pause is crucial] like swimwear.’ I nudged her to shut up, but couldn’t stop myself from laughing. It’s one of our phrases at the moment. We know it’s lame but I guess we find it funny as swimming is out big time. Water’s kind of lost its appeal.

Lunch was particularly bland. Mucor loaf with potatoes. We’re getting less and less meat (if you can call Synthmeat meat) at the moment and more and more mucor, which only Daisy is happy about as she’s become a lame vegetarian. I think it’s just to annoy her mum. (It’s not going to be for animal cruelty reasons as I don’t think tissue cells grown in a factory lab exactly feel pain.) I once actually passed a mucor factory when driving somewhere with Mum. It was really weird: a dozen huge metal cylinder vat things where they grow the fungus and then a more normal-looking factory building where I guess they process it and add all the zillion different flavour combos that always end up tasting pretty much the same anyway, ie grim.

I asked Raf how come he’d moved to Hollets just six weeks before the TAA. As soon as the words were out of my mouth I wanted to claw back my massively boring question. About equal to Daisy’s dad asking her first boyfriend if he played a musical instrument. She was mortified. Anyway, Raf’s dad had moved jobs – he was a scientist like Mum and had been promoted to head up a team at the Laboratory.

‘Robotics?’ Daisy butted in. I felt annoyed with her for talking to him, but I guess it wasn’t exactly going to be an exclusive conversation, with two other people on the table and everything. And, to be fair to Daisy, everyone wanted to know more about the robots. We’ve all heard that they’re going to make robots to run stuff like the refuse centres and Dad had just been saying the other night how old all the bin men and cleaners and road sweepers were starting to look. I mean Al, who’s normally at the refuse centre when I go, looks even weaker than me and I always feel properly guilty when he helps me throw the bags into the different skips. And it’s not as if anyone who’s had to pass the TAA is going to accept that sort of job. Well done, you’ve revised your guts out or have incredibly rich parents who’ve paid to freakoid you up. Now here’s a broom.

Raf said that his dad was actually involved in disease-control, like Mum, but even so I could see that all talk was about to turn to robot stuff. It was like I could see my chance to find out more about HIM just start to fade away and I so wanted to talk to him that I did something incredibly embarrassing. I opened my mouth, made a sort of weird gargling ‘agh’ sound, and then shut it again and flushed fuchsia. Floor swallow me now.

Raf smiled his killer smile again and said, ‘Sorry? Is there something you wanted to say?’

Before I had the chance to respond, Hugo barged past and knocked his tray into Raf’s back, definitely on purpose. There was this massively tense pause as everyone waited to see how Raf would react, but Raf just looked up and smiled at Hugo. Not his normal smile. No glinting as it didn’t reach his eyes. But his lips were definitely turned up at the corners. I would have decked Hugo. Well, tried to anyway.

‘You don’t deserve to be a Childe,’ Hugo spat at him. ‘You’re a mutant. Your parents should have disposed of you once they saw you and your disgusting eyes growing in the WombPod.’

Raf just kept on smiling (ish) and started to eat his dessert. This alone was pretty impressive as it was parsnip and honey puree, which everyone knows is grim.

I told Hugo to get lost. I shouldn’t have got involved.

‘Getting cosy with the new boy are you, Noa? Finally think you’re in with a chance of some Childe-action? No one else would touch you. Well, Jack obviously, but he doesn’t count, now does he?’

Jack jumped to his feet. I’ve never seen him so angry. It took all my strength to yank him back down. The last thing he needs now is to be caught fighting in the canteen and have a point deducted.