The New Girl (2 page)

TWO

The room erupted. A tall man with his hands on his hips and a pair of glasses balanced on top of his head looked down at Lila in astonishment. Mr Morrison, she guessed from the depths of her mortification. From her angle on the floor, he looked as high as a mountain.

“Lila Murray, I presume?” he enquired amid a storm of catcalling and applause.

Lila struggled upright, shoving Ollie away from her. Her face was completely aflame. Could there have been a worse way to make an entrance? “Sorry I'm late,” she stammered.

“These corridors can be distracting.”

Lila had never heard so few words from a teacher sound quite so withering. Laughing his head off, Ollie bowed to the whistling still coming from the back of the room.

“Sit,” Mr Morrison said to Ollie, as if he were talking to a disobedient dog. “Miss Murray, sit at the back beside Miss Nelson.”

As Ollie sauntered to his seat, high-fiving as he went, Lila cringed a hundred times over. She wanted to bury her head. Everyone was looking at her, talking about her and pointing at her. One boy in glasses was staring so hard that she wondered if his eyes would leave some kind of imprint on her skin. So much for blending in. Now she had what amounted to a big neon arrow over her head, flashing “TOTAL SCREW-UP”.

One girl in particular, who was seated near the front, seemed to be giving Lila the evil eye. Even in the hideous black and red Heartside uniform, she looked like some kind of supermodel. She was slim and long-legged, and her red hair fell halfway down her back in the kind of sleek waves seen on hairspray ads. An expensive silver watch peeped out from under her shirt cuff. Her skin was flawless and her eyes were a clear blue-grey. Lila felt them hammering into her like two steel nails.

“Nice watch,” she mumbled, for want of anything better to say.

“Going to steal that as well?” the supermodel enquired.

Lila felt extra-mortified. This girl was obviously going out with Ollie. Lila couldn't help but feel a stab of disappointment.

Mr Morrison handed Lila a worksheet. “Enough chit-chat, ladies. Off you go, Miss Murray.”

Lila kept her eyes on the floor as she walked through the classroom and sank into the spare desk beside a girl with a blunt blue-black fringe and a pair of quirky zigzag earrings.

“Don't mind Eve the Ice Queen,” said the girl. She had a light American accent. “She's well known for keeping her soul in the deep freeze. I'm Polly. Welcome to Heartside High.”

“Hi, thanks,” Lila said, grateful for a friendly face. “Sorry about the entrance. It wasn't exactly planned. And it wasn't what it looked like.”

“Ollie Wright isn't known for his subtlety.”

Lila spent a couple of minutes hunting down a pencil, thankful for something to take her mind off her embarrassment. When she cautiously emerged from the depths of her bag, she was relieved to see that most of the class had lost interest in her. Bending her head, she tackled the worksheet. It could have been written in hieroglyphics, for all the sense she made of it. Her mind whirred through everything she'd learned already that morning.

Ollie: hot football-playing show-off. Polly: friendly American with interesting jewellery. Eve: beautiful witch with a wand already positioned between Lila's shoulder blades. Ollie and Eve: clearly together.
Only another twenty-three people to get to know. . .

She scanned the rest of the room. The staring boy in glasses had bent his head so close to the desk she wondered if he had fallen asleep. Avoiding stares from a few of the boys looking a little too knowingly in her direction as well as a wink from Ollie, her eyes slowed to a halt.

No way
, thought Lila, astonished and more than a little freaked out.
Make that twenty-two.

Rhiannon Wills' distinctive curly hair was bent towards Eve the Ice Queen. They were deep in conversation. How had Lila not noticed her at the start? More to the point, how had
Rhi
not noticed
Lila
?

She felt uncomfortable as she thought about the last time she and Rhi had met. It hadn't been Lil's finest hour. They hadn't seen each other for a couple of years now. Maybe Rhi hadn't recognized her new look, or her new name. Maybe Rhi didn't
want
to recognize her. Or maybe it wasn't Rhi at all, she thought hopefully.

“Who's the girl next to Eve?” she asked Polly in a low voice.

“That's Rhi,” said Polly, confirming Lila's fears. “She and Eve are best buddies.”

“Is Eve going out with Ollie?” Lila asked, desperate to know.

Ollie was just a stupid jock, she tried to tell herself. A jock who'd made sure Lila Murray was notorious before her first lesson had even begun. It wasn't like she was seriously interested in him or anything – was she?

“She wishes,” Polly said. “But if you believe what Eve tells you, it's only a matter of time. She's queen bee of Heartside, you see. What could be more natural than dating the school's football star? It's destiny.” She smirked.

Mr Morrison clapped his hands. “OK, you've had enough time with those worksheets. Themes in
Of Mice and Men
by John Steinbeck. Who's going to start us off?”

Polly put up her hand. “Friendship, sir.”

“Thank you, Miss Nelson.” Mr Morrison's gaze settled on Polly's earrings. “And lose the jewellery. The rules of Heartside are clear: studs only.”

Polly flushed. She slowly removed her earrings and tucked them into her pocket before adding in a low voice to Lila: “Of course, Eve wouldn't know real friendship if it bit her on her designer-clad butt. That's the trouble with growing up rich and spoilt. You think the world owes you everything.”

Lila was surprised by the venom in Polly's voice. If Eve was so bad, she wondered what Rhi saw in her. Rhi was a decent person, at least back when she'd known her. She didn't deserve the way Lil had treated her.

“One to avoid, then,” she said.

Polly nodded. “When Eve Somerstown marks your card, you know about it,” she said a little bitterly.

Lila wondered when and how Eve had marked Polly's.

She spent the rest of the lesson avoiding Mr Morrison's questions and trying to work. When the bell went for the end of the lesson, she stuffed everything into her bag and followed Polly out of the classroom. They reached the door at the same time as Eve and Rhi. Lila stayed behind Polly, hoping to avoid Rhi's recognition.

“Shame about the earrings, Polly,” Eve drawled, shouldering an expensive-looking leather rucksack. “Mind you, they were vile. No wonder they burned Mr Morrison's eyes out.”

Lila was comforted to see Rhi look awkwardly at the floor. Clearly Eve's nasty streak didn't impress her best friend.

Eve shifted her attention. Lila felt her steely blue-grey gaze taking in her pristine uniform and neatly brushed hair, clearly assessing just how much of a threat she posed. Her eyes stopped on Lila's wrist where her blazer sleeve had ridden up. They widened maliciously. Too late, Lila realized her tattoo was on view.

“Nasty
graze
you have there, new girl,” Eve commented. “It looks almost like a tattoo. But of course, tats are illegal if you're under eighteen. So it couldn't possibly be. Could it?”

“Leave her alone, Eve,” Polly said. “Come on, Lila.”

Lila's feet were rooted to the floor. Her good intentions of staying out of trouble were dangerously close to collapse. Polly hadn't deserved that crack about her earrings. She didn't deserve this treatment either. Because she dared to talk to Ollie? Who did Eve think she was, throwing her weight around like she owned the place? A bubble of anger starting rising in her blood. It boiled over, strong and fierce.

She met Eve's gaze head-on.

“Why don't you ask the guy who tattooed ‘Ice Queen' on your arse?” she asked.

There was a shocked silence. Eve stared at Lila like she couldn't believe her ears.

“
What
did you say?”

OK, so Lil had just broken through, Lila thought. But it was worth it for the look on the Ice Queen's face.

“You heard me,” she said. “Come on, Polly. It smells like a tin of old tuna around here.”

THREE

“You shouldn't have said that,” Polly muttered, hustling Lila away from the classroom.

“Eve Somerstown is a bully!” The Lil part of Lila was still fired up. “You have to stand up to bullies, or they trample you.”

The look Polly gave her was a combination of awe and exasperation. “Eve's the most popular girl in the school. Her dad owns half of Heartside Bay. Making an enemy of Eve Somerstown is like . . . I don't know, getting through immigration and shooting the president.”

“Some president!” said Lila.

Why wasn't Polly thanking her? She just got them both out of trouble! A small voice in her head muttered something about frying pans and fires. She tried to ignore it.

“Just watch your back,” advised Polly. “Eve's like an elephant subscribed to text alerts. She doesn't forget.”

The way she said it sent a chill down Lila's back. Just like that, her anger boiled away, leaving Lila to face an unpleasant truth. Eve Somerstown sounded like the kind of girl who knew how to bear a grudge. Lila knew she had just made a huge mistake.

Her sudden anxiety must have shown in her face.

“Hey, don't listen to me,” Polly added. “I get stressed about stuff like this, but it's clear you can stand up for yourself.” She glanced at Lila's neatly buttoned collar. “You're kind of a surprise,” she said thoughtfully. “You know that?”

Lila's phone vibrated.

Talk 2 me xx

Her fingers strayed to her tattoo. On top of everything else that had happened that morning, she really couldn't face Santiago. She wanted to forget about him. Didn't he realize that?

She'd hardly put her phone back in her pocket when it buzzed again.

TALK 2 ME LIL xxx

She tapped out a swift, irritable reply.

GO AWAY

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz
. The texts all said the same.

Miss u. Love u xxx

“You should put that away before someone confiscates it,” Polly told her. “They're really strict about phones here. Apparently there's a whole room in this place full of confiscated hardware.”

Buzz. Buzz.

“I'm trying to,” said Lila helplessly.

“Someone really wants to talk to you,” Polly said.

“It's no one important.”

Lila shoved her phone in her pocket.
Don't ask me anything else
, she thought imploringly. The thought of talking about Santiago, even to someone as sympathetic as Polly, made her blood run cold.

To her relief, Polly dropped the subject. “What's your next class?” she asked, peering at the paper in Lila's hand.

“History.”

Polly pointed down the corridor. “History's that way. You OK finding it by yourself?”

Lila was jolted out of her thoughts. “You don't do history?”

“Don't panic, Eve doesn't either,” Polly said kindly. “You'll be fine. Just don't call anyone else a tin of old tuna, OK? See you in maths.”

Lila was surprised how nervous she felt, hearing Polly's shiny patent-leather brogues tapping out what sounded like a final farewell down the corridor. It was so hard, keeping everything together in this strange new place.

Buzz
.

Going crazy without u xxx

Lila felt exhausted. When would Santiago get the message? She couldn't deal with him right now. As her thumb hit the
off
button, she ran into her second person of the day.

“Hey, watch where you're going!” said an irritated voice.

Lila almost dropped her phone. She looked up to apologize to whoever it was she'd trodden on. She recognized him from English that morning as the boy who had been staring at her: tall and geeky with short hair the colour of chestnuts. His heavy glasses had slid down his nose and there was a pained look in his electric green eyes.

“Don't feel you have to apologize or anything,” he said sarcastically. “I have one spare foot.”

The apology she had been framing died on her lips. He shook his head and pushed through the classroom door in front of her.

Lila wanted to scream at the unfairness of it. She took several deep breaths to calm herself. It was no good. Her anger, damped down a little since her spat with Eve, roared up again like a freshly fanned bonfire. He hadn't even given her a
chance
to apologize! Back in London, Lil ate guys like him for breakfast. She couldn't let a sorry specimen like that one get her down.

 

The history teacher, Ms Andrews, was a lot more welcoming than Mr Morrison. She beamed at Lila from beneath a blond fringe.

“You must be Lila? Welcome to the class. I'm afraid we're a little full, but there's a seat next to Josh over there.”

She pointed at the empty chair. Lila's heart plummeted as she registered who her neighbour would be. The guy from the corrider. She couldn't believe the morning she was having.

Rubbing his chestnut-coloured head, Josh regarded her over the tops of his glasses as Lila slowly sat down. His green eyes were no friendlier than they had been outside the classroom. The name
Josh Taylor
was written at the top of his book.

“I guess you're Josh,” Lila said, to break the silence.

“Looks that way,” he said drily.

“Lila.”

There was silence again.

“I was going to apologize, you know,” Lila blurted. She knew she sounded petulant but she couldn't help it. “Only you didn't give me a chance.”

Josh pushed his glasses up his nose. “Apologizing isn't the fashion around here. It's easier to assume the worst.”

He bent his head over his book. Lila felt another rush of annoyance. Didn't he have any manners?

She tried to concentrate on what the teacher was saying about post-war superpower relations. It wasn't easy, particularly as she had the sense that Josh was staring at her every time she looked towards the front of the class. She wished she was sitting next to someone friendlier, who didn't take so many notes.

Sneaking a glance, she was surprised to see Josh wasn't taking notes after all. He was sketching, clearly not paying any attention.

“So, Josh,” said Ms Andrews, after a complicated explanation on the causes of the Cold War. “Recap for us. How did the Berlin Blockade affect relations in Europe?”

Lila allowed herself a private grin. She was going to enjoy this.

Josh laid down his pencil. “The Soviets wanted control over the whole of Berlin, not just the eastern sector where they were based. They blocked all supply lines – rail, canal and road networks – into those parts of Berlin controlled by the Allies. The West responded by dropping supplies into the city by air, embarrassing the Soviets into lifting the blockade eleven months later. Battle lines were drawn. From that point, the Cold War was inevitable.”

Lila shut her mouth, which had fallen open. Ms Andrews moved on to someone else, then wrote up a set of instructions on the whiteboard.

Josh glanced at Lila's face. “Just because I'm a guy, it doesn't mean I can't multitask,” he said, taking up his pencil again.

“I didn't say anything,” Lila protested.

“You were thinking it, though.”

He was infuriating. Lila's eyes rested on his drawing. It looked like a girl's face in profile. Straight nose, wavy hair. A mole set just above a curving cheekbone. Her hand lifted to her face in surprise, feeling the mole on her own cheekbone.

“Is that—”

He slammed his book shut. “The instructions on the board say to do this part in pairs,” he said. “You go first.”

Great
, thought Lila, reaching slowly for her pencil. Why would Josh want to draw her? He couldn't stand her.

They got on with their work. Josh looked surprised as she got more than her share of questions right, and she felt a little stab of triumph.
I'm not as stupid as you think, geek boy
, she thought.

“Do you draw in class a lot?” she asked at the end of the class, as they packed up their belongings.

Josh shrugged. “Depends on the class.”

“Were you drawing me?”

Josh shoved his book deep inside his bag. “Are you always this nosy?”

Lila flushed. She was only expressing an interest. If he'd been drawing her, she had a right to know why. What was his problem?

“Are you always this rude?” she demanded.

“Am I rude?” He seemed surprised by the question.

Lila could hardly frame her answer, she felt so annoyed. “You're the rudest guy I've ever met!”

Josh finished packing his bag in silence. Lila could feel her whole body trembling with irritation as they walked out of the history classroom side by side. If they had maths together, she promised herself she would sit as far away from Josh Taylor as she could.