'Like mother like daughter,' sneered Drew.
'What does that mean?' I asked.
'She had a thing for blankers too, didn't she?'
I was more than ready to slap Drew into a new postcode. All my previous training forgotten, I moved forward, but Tobey stepped in front of me again and Lucas moved in front of Drew. It didn't matter. Drew now had my full attention.
We were being given a wide berth by those arriving at school after us, but I was hardly aware of them. It was all about to kick off. And then Tobey, of all people, surprised the hell out of me.
'I'm not going to fight you, Lucas,' he said quietly. 'I'm not going to fight any of you. That's not what I come to school for.'
I watched in dismayed amazement as he slowly unclenched his fists.
'What's the matter, Durbrain?' Drew taunted. 'Chicken?'
'You must believe what you want to believe.' Tobey shrugged. 'Come on, Callie. Let's go inside.'
Tobey tried to take me by the arm, but I shrugged away from him. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Aaron and the others grinning disdainfully at Tobey, as if he was somewhere beneath contempt. And the studied calm I'd felt before burned away like dry paper on a bonfire. How could Tobey back down like that?
'Callie, it must be a comfort to know that Tobey Durbridge has your back,' Lucas scoffed.
I spun to face him. 'Lucas, why don't you—?'
'What is going on here?' Mrs Paxton's voice was like an icy deluge as the head emerged from the school building. She moved to stand to the side of all of us, and cast her trained eye over our still tension-filled bodies.
'Aaron, what's going on?'
'Nothing, Mrs Paxton,' Aaron mumbled, shuffling back, away from Tobey and me.
Mrs Paxton gave him a withering look before turning her attention to me and Tobey.
'Tobey?' she ordered.
Tobey looked her straight in the eye. 'Like Aaron said, there's nothing going on, Mrs Paxton.'
Mrs Paxton's lips tightened. 'All of you, go to your form rooms. At once.'
She stood aside as we trooped past her in silence. Tobey and I followed the others into school. I was still trying to work out who I was more angry at – Lucas and his friends or Tobey?
eleven. Tobey
'Why did you pull away from me?' Callie glared at me.
'What?'
'You heard.'
Well, that didn't take long. I glanced at my watch. Twenty-seven seconds into the building. I had hoped Callie would save it until we left school or, better still, till we got home. No such luck.
'It's very hard to defend the two of us with you holding one of my hands,' I told her.
'I don't need defending. I can look after myself,' Callie told me. 'And why did you back down? I wouldn't've given those gits the satisfaction.'
I shrugged. If I took on every prodigious arsehole who looked at me sideways, I'd spend my entire life with my fists clenched. I wasn't about to live like that, believing everyone was my enemy, getting my licks in first before others could touch me. That just wasn't me.
'Maybe you shouldn't be so combative,' I suggested.
The look Callie gave me would've speared right through to my vitals if I hadn't been wearing my kevlar underwear.
'Maybe you shouldn't let people walk all over you,' Callie countered.
'No one walks all over me, Callie,' I told her quietly.
The look on her face told me what she thought of that.
'There ain't one person who walks all over me,' I insisted.
Except maybe you, I added in my head.
Except probably you.
Except definitely you.
We continued to our lockers and unpacked our books for our first lesson in silence.
'I don't understand why you let them talk to you like that.' Callie shook her head.
I shrugged. 'Just because they're stupid as mud doesn't mean that I have to be.'
Callie glared at me. 'Tobey, when you throw me one of your infuriating "I'm-too-cool-for-this-earth" shrugs, I just want to kick your shins. Would you like me to teach you how to stand up for yourself ? Because I'm volunteering.'
'I'm a pacifist.'
'Are you sure you don't mean another three-syllable word beginning with P?'
It took me a couple of seconds to work out what she meant.
'So I'm pathetic now, am I?'
'Tobey, what would it take for you to rise up from your laid-back, as in totally horizontal, position?' Callie was getting angrier by the second. The only way she was going to calm down was if I didn't take her seriously.
'As the Good Book says, "The meek shall inherit the Earth",' I told her, adding with a wry smile, 'With your permission, of course.'
'Tobey, it's not funny!'
My smile grew broader.
'Ugggh! Sometimes you drive me corkscrew crazy.' Callie raised her voice, causing some of those passing us to glance our way, curiosity written large across their faces. 'Don't you realize that by backing down you made that lot think that you're weak?'
'And why should I care what Lucas and his minions think of me?' I asked.
Plus I wasn't about to get kicked out of school for fighting. Mrs Paxton didn't put up with that from anyone, Nought or Cross. Getting booted out wasn't part of my five-year plan.
'You care too much about what other people think of you,' I said.
Callie's eyes carried enough mean heat to fry me where I stood. 'Don't you dare say that. I couldn't give a damn what Lucas and his cronies think of me. But I do care about being able to look at myself in the mirror.'
'Are you implying that I can't?'
Callie shook her head and returned to her locker.
'D'you think I'm weak, Callie?' I asked, no hint of a smile on my face.
Callie studied me. I wondered what she saw.
'Tell me the truth, Callie. D'you think I'm weak?'
Her answer mattered to me. Very much.
'D'you want me to be honest?' Callie asked at last.
Uh-oh! Whenever she asked that question it was because she knew I wouldn't like the answer. I nodded.
'Tobey, sometimes you look at me like you would stand beside me though any kind of rain, fire or shit storm. But sometimes, like today, I get the opposite feeling. Would the real Tobey Durbridge please stand up?'
'Is that a yes or a no?' I asked. Callie's words had scooped out a large part of my innards. I shut my locker door and waited for her to answer. She always did that. When it was something she didn't want to say or she thought I wouldn't want to hear, she danced around her answer until I pushed. And I was pushing.
'Tobey, what would you do if someone said something derogatory about . . . us? The two of us? Together?'
Callie's face was turned up towards mine, the question mark in her head darkening her eyes and straightening her lips. What was it she wanted to hear?
'Callie, I'm not about to take on every brainless git who doesn't like the idea of the two of us together. People can say what they like.'
'I see,' she said. She turned away, but not before I saw the disappointment on her face. She muttered something. All I heard was the word 'together'. I took hold of her arm and turned her round to face me.
'Callie, what d'you want me to do? Punch out every idiot we come across?'
'No. But it'd be nice to know you've got my back.'
'I do. Don't listen to Lucas.'
Callie opened her mouth to argue just as the buzzer for assembly sounded. The harsh cacophony silenced whatever it was that she had been about to say.
'Callie Rose, I do have your back. You believe me, don't you?'
'Callie, there you are. You'll never guess what I just heard . . .' Samantha Eccles – or Sammi, as everyone called her – appeared from nowhere to link arms with Callie and drag her away.
A couple of metres further down the corridor Callie said something to Sammi, before turning back to me.
'Tobey, d'you want me to answer your question?' she
asked.
I nodded. Did she really think I was weak? I was about to find out.
'The honest answer is – the jury is still out.'
She and Sammi carried on walking.
I didn't need to switch to genius mode to know that in spite of my best efforts, I'd messed up.
twelve. Callie
'Callie, are you even listening to me?' Sammi asked.
Not as such, no.
'Of course I am. Every word.'
'Yeah, right. What did I just say then?'
'Bliss is going round telling everyone how she and Lucas have a hot date this Saturday. He's taking her to the cinema and for a meal and to a party afterwards and it's going to be sooooooo divine.'
Sammi and I were the last ones to reach the athletics track. And I for one was glad to get there. Sammi had been going on about Lucas and Bliss for the last ten minutes, and to be honest, her assumption that I had to be upset was getting on my nerves. Mrs Halifax gave us a look, then tapped meaningfully at her watch, but for once she didn't have a go. The weather was over warm rather than over hot, so at least it wouldn't be like trying to exercise in an oven.
'Aren't you bothered?' Sammi whispered as we joined in with everyone else's warm-up exercises.
'Why should I be?' I frowned. Arms outstretched, I tipped over to one side then the other, stretching out my waist. What a waste of time. Compared to the physical training regimen the L.M. had put me through, this was a doddle.
'Well, you and Lucas used to be together.'
'With the emphasis on "used to be",' I pointed out. 'Lucas is free to go out with anyone he likes, though I pity his taste.'
'So it's definitely you and Tobey now, huh?'
'We'll be working on stamina today, so everyone five times around the track please,' Mrs Halifax called out.
Ignoring the groans coming from all directions, I immediately took off at a steady pace with Sammi beside me. I'd avoided her question rather nicely, I thought. Twenty steps later and Sammi was puffing like a faulty car exhaust.
'You . . .' – puff – '. . . didn't . . . answer . . . my question. Oh my God!' – wheeze – 'I'm dying!'
'Sammi, you need to exercise more and smoke less.' I frowned at her. 'Those cigarettes will kill you.'
'Answer . . . my . . . question . . .'
'What was it again?'
Sammi glared at me.
I smiled at her. 'Well, your nosiness, Tobey and I are just friends.'
'How boring,' said Sammi, disappointed.
Tell me about it!
'We shouldn't . . . have to run . . . in this heat . . .' Sammi rasped. 'This is . . . just cruel . . . and unusual . . . punishment.'
I took pity on her and eased my pace to a gentle jog, so gentle I was practically walking.
'You and Tobey . . .' – huff – 'd'you wish . . .' – puff – '. . . it was more?' Sammi asked.
I shrugged. Nana Meggie had a saying – if wishes were horses, beggars would ride. I glanced at Sammi, trying hard to keep my face neutral. I was running at about onetenth of a kilometre an hour and Sammi was still having trouble.
'Why don't you just . . . tell him that?' Sammi coughed.
'It's not that simple,' I sighed. 'Tobey needs to figure it out for himself.'
'Oh, please. Callie, he's a guy. You'll have one foot in the grave before he catches on,' Sammi scoffed, finally getting her breath back.
'Then I'll wait.'
'You need to take him in hand, then take him to bed – not necessarily in that order,' said Sammi, winking at me.
'I don't think so.'
'I thought you liked him.'
I shrugged. 'I do. I more than like him. But that would be a bad idea.'
'Why?'
'If it doesn't work out, that's our friendship ruined. I don't want to risk that,' I admitted. 'Besides, there's no rush.'
'Except that Misty is determined to set more than just her eyes on Tobey,' said Sammi. 'So you'd better watch her – and him.'
'If Tobey really wants a girl who doesn't know a proton from a crouton, that's his business.'
'Wouldn't it bother you?'
Yes.
'No.'
'Misty says Tobey's one of the few boys in the school who knows what he's doing.'
'And the way she puts it about, she would know,' I replied with disdain.
This conversation was getting to me. I increased my pace, hoping Sammi would get too puffed out to talk so much.
'All I'm saying is' – wheeze – 'if you really like Tobey you'd better let him know and soon' – cough – 'or he's going to take what Misty keeps offering – if he hasn't already.'
'I'm not going to have sex with Tobey or any other guy just to keep him,' I argued. 'How pathetic is that. If that's what it takes then he's not worth having in the first place.'
'If you . . . say so,' wheezed Sammi doubtfully.
'I don't just say so, I mean so.'
I broke into a sprint which Sammi tried to match. There was no more talking as she tried to equal my pace. And she did try. But she didn't succeed. I finished my five laps with breath to spare. Sammi gave up after three, collapsed on the ground, and even Mrs Halifax's threat of a demerit slip couldn't shift her. By the time the lesson was over, I seriously wondered if Sammi was going to have a heart attack. We were back in the changing rooms getting dressed – well, most of us were. Sammi was sitting down with her head between her knees, dragging air into her burning lungs. I tied my jumper around my waist, before getting my bag out of my allocated PE locker. Glancing in the mirror, I saw my hair was all over the place. I used my fingers to unplait my ponytail, before digging out a comb. My hair reached well past my shoulder blades. During the forthcoming summer holidays I'd decided to get it cut short, more for convenience than any other reason. Plus Sammi reckoned short hair would suit the shape of my face.
'You should wear your hair loose more often,' Jennifer Dyer, one of my Nought friends, told me. 'It really suits you like that.'
'Thanks, but—'
'Nah, it looks much better plaited up,' Maxine, another friend, interrupted. 'You look too much like a blank— I mean, you look like a Nought with your hair loose.'
The changing room went quiet. Jennifer's face was bright red. I turned to glare at Maxine. What a bitch! 'It's only hair, Maxine. And luckily for me I can wear it any way I want to,' I told her, pulling my hair back into a ponytail and re-plaiting it. I smiled at Jennifer. She returned my smile, gave Maxine a filthy look and carried on getting dressed. Maybe I'd put off cutting it for a while. Then again, maybe I wouldn't.
Sammi began to straighten up. She looked almost human again. 'Running is for horses, not people,' she complained. 'And anyone with boobs bigger than a thirtytwo A should be excused from anything more strenuous than walking.'
I glanced down at my own boobs. According to Sammi's rule, I wouldn't have had one bit of serious exercise since I turned twelve.
'Callie, what's going to happen to the Isis Hotel bombing investigation now?' Talia asked, changing the subject.
My perplexed frown told her I didn't have a clue what she was talking about.
Talia dug into her bag and pulled out her mobile phone. A couple of screen taps later and one of the latest news items of the day was displayed.
The Nought man caught up in the bomb blast which killed Jasmine Hadley has finally been identified as Robert Powers, who was a guest at the Isis Hotel. With no known links to the Liberation Militia, the authorities have concluded that Robert Powers was unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Though flying glass and debris caused a number of roadside injuries, the Isis Hotel outrage claimed only two lives.
'So are the authorities no closer to finding out who planted the bomb then?' asked Talia.
'How should I know?' I raised my gaze from her phone to ask.
'There's no need to snap my head off. I was only asking.' Talia frowned.
'Sorry, it's just . . . I'm sorry,' I blustered. 'I have
to go now.'
Snatching up my bag, I walked away from my friends without a backward glance. I had to get out of there. Right away from all of them. I needed to be alone. Behind me, Sammi rounded on Talia.
'What the hell is wrong with you, Talia? Callie's grandmother died in that blast. D'you really think she wants to be reminded of that every two seconds?'
I didn't wait for Talia's answer. I ran as fast as my school bag slamming against my back would allow.
Robert Powers?
Who on earth was Robert Powers?
I'd assumed that the Nought man killed with Nana Jasmine was Uncle Jude. It had to be him. Did they find papers or a passport relating to Robert Powers on Uncle Jude's body? No, that couldn't be right. It would never have taken so long to identify him if they'd found identification papers. They must've had to reconstruct the Nought victim's jaw and teeth, and after that it was a question of finding the relevant dental records. And those records had revealed the dead man to be someone called Robert Powers. But Robert Powers and Jude McGregor had to be one and the same person. They just had to be. There was no other explanation.
Well, maybe just one . . .
What if it wasn't Uncle Jude who had died, but someone else? Oh, my God . . . What if some innocent man was in the wrong place at the wrong time and died because of the bomb I made?
And what if Uncle Jude was still alive?
thirteen. Tobey
As soon as I got home from school, I fixed myself a quick snack of scrambled eggs and beans on toast, then tried to settle down to my homework. But chemistry just wasn't lighting my fire the way it usually did. My head was too crammed with other thoughts.
Money!
Damn it! I had none and there was no prospect of any forthcoming.
Heathcroft School had provided me with a full scholarship, but just living day to day cost money. I only ever went on school day trips. My mum's pockets weren't deep enough for fortnights away skiing or singing abroad with the school choir. I'd even had to turn down the odd birthday party invitation or two because I couldn't afford to buy a decent birthday present. If only I could get the image of Dan's watch out of my head. I wasn't jealous. That wasn't it. I didn't want to own a watch like it or a designer jacket or any of that other nonsense.
Double Cross Page 7