Hollow Pike (21 page)

The cafeteria stunk of chips and vinegar as Lis sat, stiller than a garden gnome, at the table with her friends. She’d bought a vegeburger, but couldn’t bring
herself to even raise it to her lips – her appetite appeared to be on an extended retreat.

‘That was all it was? Someone nicked a book?’ Jack shoved a chip in his mouth.

‘Yeah, but a book about
witches
,’ Lis hissed.

‘Lis, you have got to relax, sweetie . . .’ Delilah reached over the table and stroked her hand.

‘Seriously,’ added Kitty.

Lis leaned in close. ‘There’s more, though. Friday night, and this is going to sound insane, but I think there was someone watching my house.’

Her friends looked sceptical. ‘Are you sure?’ Kitty asked.

‘Well, I thought it was the old man who lives down the road at first, but I don’t think it was. This . . . figure . . . just sort of stood there, staring at me.’

‘You’re hot. Own it.’ Jack laughed.

Lis had to laugh too at that. ‘Doesn’t it bother you in the slightest that there’s a killer pottering around town?’

‘No.’ Kitty shook her head. ‘Anyone who
met
Laura wanted her dead. Frankly, it’s a surprise someone didn’t bump her off sooner. Now, Lis, for the love of
Baby Jesus, LET IT GO!’

A magical sparkle tone from Lis’s handbag announced the arrival of a text message. She pulled out her phone and flipped it open. Danny. Damn, she’d forgotten all about Danny.

Hey, Lis, how’s it going? U still wanna do somthin next week? D xx

‘What is it, Lis?’ asked Jack, peering over her shoulder.

Eyes fixed firmly on the message, Lis placed the phone on the greasy table carefully, as though it might disappear. ‘It’s Danny, asking about our date. He wants to do something over
half-term.’

Big mistake. Her three friends exploded like a mockery bomb.

‘Lis and Danny sitting in a tree . . .’ Delilah sang.

‘Lis Marriott . . . Lis London-Marriott . . . Lis Marriott-London . . . Ooh, sounds like a hotel!’ laughed Jack.

‘Oh, shut up!’ Lis snapped, although she couldn’t keep a smile off her face. After so many weeks, the others knew exactly how she felt about Danny. The murky fog of
Laura’s death lifted from the room.

‘Sorry.’ Kitty laughed. ‘We’re only teasing because you’re making such a song and dance out of it!’

‘Oh, I know! I can’t explain it . . . I mean, I’ve been with other guys—’

‘Oh, yeah?’ said Delilah suggestively, prompting hysteria from Kitty as Jack made an obscene gesture with his tongue.

‘That’s disgusting!’ Lis laughed. ‘I didn’t mean it like that! It just never happened like this before. In Wales, either I wasn’t keen on the guys I went out
with or they weren’t keen on me. This is the first time where the boy that I really like . . .’

‘Likes you back!’ Delilah declared happily.

Lis grinned. ‘I don’t know why, but he seems to be pretty keen.’

‘Oh, I can’t think why he likes me with my luscious long hair or Bambi eyes or amazing boobs!’ simpered Jack in a faux little-girl voice.

‘You can sod off!’ laughed Lis.

This was the most relaxed Lis had felt in some time. It felt nice, as if the last few weeks hadn’t happened.

‘So, are we to assume that Danny Marriott would be your
first
?’ Delilah asked pointedly, calming the raucous table.

‘You would, er, assume correctly.’ Lis stumbled over her words a little. ‘Last year in Year Ten, four girls in my class got pregnant. I’m not judging, but that’s
not what I want, so I’m being picky.’

‘Good for you.’ Jack nodded. ‘Last year Gemma Cutler gave birth to a baby on the toilet . . . everyone totally judged her!’

The four dissolved into peals of laughter, the girls rocking in their seats uncontrollably.

‘OK, Jack. For that one, you are most definitely going to Hell!’ Lis giggled.

Jack didn’t reply, instead he reached across the table and grabbed her phone.

‘Excuse me! What are you doing?’

‘I’m replying to Danny!’

‘No, you bloody aren’t!’

‘OK, you do it.’

All faces looked to her.

‘I’m not sure whether I’m going to go on the date or not,’ Lis confessed.

‘Lis, why not?’ Kitty asked, eyes wide. ‘You’ve been obsessed with him since you got here. This is your big chance.’

She sighed. ‘Don’t get me wrong, I want to! It’s just . . . with all the murder stuff going on . . .’

‘Which is exactly why you
have
to go on the date!’ commanded Jack.

‘Why?’

‘Keep calm and carry on and all that. You are allowed a boyfriend!’

Kitty and Delilah smiled encouragingly, signalling their agreement.

Jack went on. ‘You have got to go out with Danny. You are the only one of us with a shot at a normal relationship!’

‘Er, excuse us?’ Delilah gestured at herself and Kitty pressed together on the canteen bench.

‘Pipe down, I didn’t see you two on the Pride march!’ Jack said sternly.

‘Really? Were you there?’ retorted Kitty.

Jack shot her an evil look with a tiny wry smile on the side. ‘OK, sorry! But it proves my point . . . just because we’re all freaks doesn’t mean you can’t have a nice
normal boyfriend. Besides, Danny is lovely. And hot.’

Lis felt the corners of her mouth curl up a little. She’d never had friends like this. Friends who wanted to see her flourish not fade. Their eager faces were like mirrors in which she
could see herself more clearly.

‘Well? Are you gonna text him or am I?’ Jack demanded.

‘Should I?’ Lis asked.

Three heads nodded enthusiastically and three mouths beamed as she tapped her reply into the phone. Like it or not, she was going on a date with Danny Marriott. And, just for the record, she
liked it!

First Date

The nearest cinema to Hollow Pike was on a fading ‘entertainment complex’ on the outskirts of Fulton. Drizzle hung in the air as Lis waited outside the main lobby,
wrapped in her red trench coat and Sarah’s old scarf.

Maybe it was the promise of a week off school, or perhaps it was the time she was spending with her friends, but Lis was actually sleeping peacefully. Neither Laura nor Mrs Gillespie troubled
her dreams. The tiredness was losing its grip on her and she felt better than she had in ages. She was ready as she’d ever be for her date with Danny.

How are people under legal driving age meant to have an old-fashioned date? The thought of meeting Danny on the bus had just seemed rough, so she’d agreed to meet him outside the cinema
instead. Max had dropped her off early, Danny was late and Lis was starting to feel highly visible and increasingly vulnerable.

What if this date was just some sort of elaborate prank? It crossed her mind that the offer of an evening alone with rugby team Adonis, Danny Marriott, might be too good to be true. Were Danny
and his friends hiding in the bushes, filming her on mobiles, ready to post on YouTube?

This was a big mistake. She’d stupidly allowed herself to believe that she was an ordinary girl, entitled to first dates and first kisses and boyfriends. Glancing at her phone for the
millionth time, Lis resolved to give Danny another ten minutes before accepting that she’d been dumped even
before
the first date.

‘Lis!’ Danny pelted around the corner, red faced and flustered. ‘So sorry I’m late!

Lis, you’re a paranoid mentalist
, she told herself as he reached her position at the cinema entrance.

‘That’s OK. You’re not that late,’ she lied, confirming how much she must like him.

He hovered at her side, possibly unsure whether to kiss her. Leaning in towards her face, he gave her arm a rub before apparently mentally chastising himself and zooming in a second time to
plant a dry kiss on her cheek. ‘I left my wallet at home. I had to go back! Anyway, you OK?’

‘Yeah, I’m cool,’ she replied, immediately wondering if
cool
was still an acceptable term. ‘Come on, or we’ll miss the trailers.’

‘You like the trailers?’

‘Yeah. Sometimes they’re better than the film!’

Danny
smiled
that smile, and Lis’s heart fluttered. Now that he was here, her nervousness had reached epic levels.

‘Nutter! Come on then!’ Danny said.

They stepped through the double doors and into an olfactory assault of popcorn, body odour and tinned hotdogs. It was a long time since this place had seen a lick of paint. They crossed the
chewing-gum-matted foyer to where a messy queue had formed in front of the box office.

Lis was genuinely thrilled to be seeing the exceptionally brutal sequel to
Hacksaw – Hacksaw: Torn 2 Pieces
. The first film had been unintentionally hysterical, but had also had its
moments of terror. Earlier, Jack had questioned whether this was a suitable film for a first date, what with one dead girl and a killer on the loose, but Lis suspected Danny would be only too
pleased to offer a shoulder to hide behind!

A life-sized cut out of the film’s satanic clown, Mr Jinkie, dominated the foyer. A nervous rush ran up Lis’s spine. It was ironic that she craved a good scare even after the last
few days.

‘I’m getting the tickets, OK?’ Danny said, trying masculine confidence on for size.

‘Perfect gentleman. I’m impressed,’ Lis said and smiled. ‘But I’m getting the popcorn, no arguments! Or are you a pick ‘n’ mix kinda guy?’

‘In here? Can you imagine the fingers that have picked that mix? No thanks!’

Lis laughed a full, chesty laugh. So far, so good. In fact, being with Danny was surprisingly easy; it felt somehow natural.

‘Popcorn it is then!’ Lis decided.

The queue moved quickly and they were called to a sealed perspex booth containing a spotty, overweight guy with greasy hair stuffed under a cinema-chain baseball cap, and a name tag that said he
was ‘Gary’.

‘Hi,’ Gary said, his face devoid of any enthusiasm.

‘Hi, mate,’ Danny replied. ‘Can we get two for
Hacksaw
please?’

Gary’s bored expression barely flickered. ‘ID.’

The smile fell from Danny’s face. It was common knowledge that the run-down movie house let pupils into pretty much any film they wanted. It was the only reason to come to this dump rather
than get the train into Leeds.

‘What?’ Danny asked.

Gary leaned forward a fraction. ‘I said ID! I need to see some ID;
Hacksaw
’s an eighteen, mate.’

The film was due to begin in three minutes and there was still a queue of customers waiting to get in. Lis heard the couple behind them sigh loudly in impatience.

‘We’re both eighteen. Sorry, I left my ID at home,’ said Danny, playing it cool.

‘I didn’t say
she
needed ID. I said
you
needed ID.’

‘Oh. Well, I’m eighteen, honest.’

‘Date of birth?’

He mumbled his birth date to the assistant.
Jesus, it’s a good thing his Science is good, because his Maths stinks
, thought Lis, grimacing.

‘Nice one, mate. That makes you seventeen,’ said Gary.

‘No! It makes me . . .’ Danny did the calculation too late. ‘Oh, OK.’ His face turned red and he couldn’t meet Lis’s gaze, even as she took his hand in hers.
She swore she could actually see his ego bruising.

He leaned closer to the ticket agent. ‘Look, mate. You’ve just let half my year at school in. Don’t be shifty!’

‘Are you telling me how to do my job?’

‘Not at all!’

‘I hope not, you little turd.’ Lis flinched at that. ‘You’ve got three options: show me some ID, piss off, or I can do you two tickets for
Castle of Imagination
.
What’s it to be?’

Castle of Imagination
was a new 3D animation about unicorns. No thanks.

‘I think we’ll piss off, actually,’ Lis said before Danny could respond. ‘There was no need to be so rude. I see your name is Gary. I might give your manager a ring
tomorrow. Thanks.’ She smiled sweetly and dragged the shell-shocked Danny towards the exit.

‘Oh my God. That was so embarrassing,’ Danny groaned, unable to look Lis in the eye. ‘You must think I’m the biggest loser ever.’

‘No, I think
that
guy’s the biggest loser ever. You just need to work on your mental maths.’

Danny managed a weak smile as they passed into the fresh air of the car park. ‘Yeah, what was his problem anyway?’

‘He’s probably a twenty-two-year-old virgin who still lives with his mum!’ Lis laughed. She let Danny’s hand go and turned to face him. ‘Don’t let him bother
you, he’s just jealous.’ With every ounce of confidence she had, she rose up on tiptoe and gave Danny a gentle kiss, just brushing his lips. He’d looked like he needed it. A wide
grin spread across his face: mission accomplished!

‘Well, if he was jealous, it’s only cos I’m with such a beautiful girl,’ Danny told her.

Lis roared with laughter. ‘Oh, that’s really slick!’

‘Thanks.’ He returned the laugh, this time taking her hand. ‘Well, the film’s out, so how about dinner? If we cross the car park there’s an amazing steak house. It
has the best food, like, in the world!’

She frowned sympathetically. ‘Danny . . . I’m vegetarian!’

He slapped a flat palm to his forehead. ‘Kill me now! Shall I just call a cab?’

‘No!’ Lis grinned. ‘You weren’t to know. I have a better idea . . .’