by Em Bailey
Dad used to take me for walks in the forest all the time when I was in primary school. I never told him but I was always scared going there, mainly because of the stories we’d all heard from the older kids about the cannibal who lurked in the trees. Never leave the path, we used to warn each other. That’s how he gets you. The forest was dark and damp and full of gnarled roots that could trip you up. In the fairytales Mum had read me as a kid, the woods were always places where witches lived or where uncaring parents abandoned their children. It was always our forest that I pictured as I listened.
That afternoon though, the sun was bright and warm, and I was actually looking forward to going in. It felt like I hadn’t done any exercise in ages. As we crossed the highway into the forest, I unleashed Ralph and straight away he started tearing around chasing imaginary rabbits. I put on my headphones and warmed up for a run, pretending that I was in a tropical garden scented with fruit and flowers rather than a dank forest that stank of rot. I started to hum, jogging along at an easy pace behind Ralph.
We hadn’t gone far when Ralph froze, his hackles rising.
‘What’s up, crazy dog?’ I said, taking off my headphones and stopping beside him. ‘Did those phantom bunnies get away again?’
But then I saw what had caught his attention. Up ahead on the path was a figure silhouetted against the dwindling light. At first I was certain it was Miranda, but a moment later I wasn’t. The figure was too far away and too hard to see. I had this uneasy feeling that whoever it was, they were watching me. Waiting. There was a sharp twinge in my head then, and I closed my eyes against the pain. By the time the throbbing had passed and I straightened up, the figure was gone.
Ralph was sniffing the air, muscles tensed.
‘Ralphy,’ I pleaded. ‘Stay with me.’
But before I’d even finished the sentence he’d leapt off down the path, barking loudly. The light was disappearing rapidly and the cold night air was settling.
‘Ralph?’ I sounded whiny, childish. ‘Come here.’
But Ralph ignored me, as usual, and there was nothing I could do but follow the path, praying he’d stick to it. The forest had become very silent. No birds. No insects. It was as if every living creature had disappeared.
And then, very faintly, I heard something. The crack-snap of twigs and branches breaking underfoot. ‘Ralphy?’ My breath snagged in my throat.
No, definitely not Ralph. This was a person and, from the sound of it, they were running through the forest’s thick undergrowth. Towards me.
My chest constricted. Breathe, Olive. Don’t freak. Lots of people ran in the forest all the time. Totally normal, non-scary people. But my throat refused to relax.
The noise grew louder. Closer. And then I could hear another noise too – a low gasping sound that seemed to echo all around. Panic scrambled through me.
A person stumbled into view, lurching unsteadily through a gap in the trees. Miss Falippi? I’d never seen her look like this before. Hair full of leaves, clothes covered with mud. She had this wild look in her eyes, and she kept twisting around to see someone or something behind her.
It’s like a movie, I thought, feeling dazed. The scene where the panicked woman is chased through the forest. As she stumbled closer I was shocked by how unfocused her eyes were, and how red. I’d heard the druggy rumours about Miss Falippi, of course, but I’d never taken them seriously.
Miss Falippi stopped and leant on a tree a couple of metres from me, breathing raggedly. Did she even know I was there? She seemed so wired. I took a step forward and touched her lightly on the arm. ‘Miss Falippi? Are you OK?’
Miss Falippi spun around, a look of complete terror on her face, like I was some kind of monster. ‘Stop following me! I said you could leave, didn’t I? Please … just go.’ She started to whimper then. ‘Oh, what have you done to me?’
My throat was tight with fear. Miss Falippi’s eyes were so dilated they seemed completely black, and her forehead was beaded with sweat. She wasn’t wearing her locket and for some reason this scared me most of all. She looked wrong without it. Unprotected.
‘It’s Olive, miss,’ I said gently, finding my voice again. ‘Olive Corbett.’
Miss Falippi’s eyes scanned my face, frowning – finally seeming to recognise me. ‘Olive? You’re in on this?’ she hissed. ‘I would have never …’
‘I’m just walking my dog,’ I said, trying to sound reassuring and calm despite the burning in my chest. ‘But we should leave now. It’s getting dark.’
Miss Falippi suddenly flung up her hand like she did in class when she wanted silence. ‘Shh!’ Her eyes darted around fearfully. ‘Is that…her?’
I listened and although I heard nothing, I had that awful prickling feeling that comes when you sense someone is hidden nearby.
‘Hello?’ I said loudly. ‘We need some help here. Is anyone there? Please.’ I thought I saw something then – a pale flash between the trees – but seconds passed and no-one appeared. My fists clenched. ‘There’s no-one there,’ I said, not very convincingly.
Miss Falippi swung round, her eyes even more crazed than before. ‘I know your type,’ she whispered hoarsely. ‘You girls will stop at nothing.’
I tried again to get through to her. ‘It’s just Olive, Miss Falippi. I’m not sure what’s happened but maybe I can –’
Miss Falippi stepped away from me, her hands outstretched, her face purple with rage. ‘Get away from me,’ she shrieked. ‘Leave me alone!’
She turned and stumbled off through the undergrowth, coughing and moaning. I didn’t follow. She’d made it pretty clear she didn’t want my help. I was taking some deep breaths when Ralph bounded out from behind a bush, looking pleased with himself. From the way he smelled it was clear he’d rolled in something disgusting.
‘Oh, Ralph,’ I said, nearly bursting into tears at the sight of his sweet, silly face. ‘Look at you. Come on. Let’s get out of here.’
When I got home Mum and Toby were still out, so I splashed water on my face and shoved down a round of meds. Had I taken any that day? Sometimes when I was tired I lost track.
I called Ami and when she turned up almost instantly, I nearly cried again – but then the anger came crashing in. ‘Where the hell were you?’
I knew it was unfair, but I couldn’t help it. I felt like she’d let me down. Ami took one look at my furious expression. ‘What’s happened?’ It was a relief to let it spill out – the horrible noise of Miss Falippi’s breathing, her paranoia, the madness in her face. My voice shook as I described the feeling I’d been unable to shake, that there was someone else in the forest.
Ami listened the way she always did – not interrupting, just hearing me out. ‘You did the right thing,’ she said when I’d finally finished. ‘You tried to help and she wouldn’t let you. What else could you do?’
I nodded slowly. It was the reassurance I’d wanted. But I still felt freaked. Ami squeezed my arm. ‘Hey,’ she said. ‘Let’s clean up Ralph before your mum sees him. I bet you by the time that’s done, you’ll have forgotten all about Miss Falippi.’
Usually I hated cleaning Ralph. His long fur tangled easily around gunk and burrs, and he had a habit of escaping from me while still wet and romping around, spraying water everywhere. But that evening I threw myself into the task with the sort of dedication I usually reserved for making Luxe posters.
Ami sat on the edge of the bath, pointing out the bits I’d missed and generally trying to take my mind off what had happened. And it worked. Pretty much. By the time Mum and Toby came home and Ralph was burr-free, I’d gotten close to convincing myself that what had happened in the forest was no big deal at all.
In the morning Mum had yet another rush of orders to deliver, so I got Tobes ready and took him to school.
I hadn’t slept well. Every time I’d closed my eyes, Miss Falippi’s manic face had appeared in my mind. You girls will stop at nothing, she kept saying over and over. Throughout the night, her expression mor
phed from fear to fury, then back to fear. I was relieved when morning came so I could plod through the things I needed to do. This task, then this task, then this one. They kept me distracted.
The bell had long since rung by the time I arrived at school. My footsteps echoed as I hurried across the deserted quad, making deals with fate as I went.
If Miss Falippi is all right, I’ll hand in my work on time for two weeks, I decided. As I reached the main building where all our classrooms were, I ramped up the deal. I’ll pay attention for a month. All the doors in the corridor were shut except one. Ours. It was obvious from the noise drifting out that there was no teacher in there. My hands were damp. If Miss Falippi is OK, I’ll be a perfect student for a year.
I could feel Lachlan watching me as I walked in, but I focused on Ami instead. She smiled at me reassuringly as I took my seat beside her. ‘She’s probably just late,’ she whispered, but there was an edge to her voice that gave her away. Ami was as worried as I was. I fixed my eyes on the doorway, willing Miss Falippi to appear, bracelets jangling, tea sloshing, locket dangling.
And then there was a familiar voice, just outside the door. ‘People. Get out your books. We’re going to learn about Cerberus today – the three-headed guard dog of Hades.’
The talking died away instantly. People slid reluctantly into their seats. Ami nudged me. ‘See? Everything’s fine.’
But I knew something was wrong. I could feel it, squeezing my heart.
‘Anyone who doesn’t have their books out when I walk in will not be going to the formal,’ continued the voice. It was so clear and strong – the opposite of how Miss Falippi had sounded in the forest. ‘Am I making myself clear?’
My heart was beating fast then. Why wasn’t she coming into the classroom?
Then the moaning began. People were looking around at each other nervously now, but no-one moved.
‘What have you done to me?’ the voice whimpered. ‘What have you done?’
I jumped to my feet, my chair clattering to the ground, just as someone sauntered through the doorway. Miranda. She saw me standing and smiled.
‘Well it’s good to see that someone was going to help poor old Trippy Falippi. I mean, if that had actually been her.’ She rolled her eyes and flailed her arms around. ‘Help me! I’m dying!’
It was the voice we’d all heard coming from outside the door. Miss Falippi’s voice. But now it was coming from Miranda’s mouth. The nausea rose up through me. She must have been there in the forest. But she hadn’t come to help.
There was a moment’s silence. Then Katie began to laugh. ‘Oh my god! That was amazing. I seriously thought that was Miss Falippi out there.’
Cam guffawed. ‘Awesome!’
‘That’s not cool,’ said Lachlan, shaking his head, but he was drowned out by Paige and Justine’s giggling.
‘What a pathetic, sick joke,’ I said, anger making me tremble.
Miranda’s eyes were on me straight away. ‘It’s Miss Falippi who’s the joke. How does a drug addict like her get to be in charge of a classroom anyway?’
I glared at her. ‘What are you talking about?’
Miranda’s teeth glittered. ‘Haven’t you heard? Miss Falippi was found wandering around the forest last night, completely wasted.’
‘Miss Falippi was actually on drugs?’ said someone.
‘God yes,’ smirked Miranda. ‘I saw her slip stuff into her herbal tea when she thought no-one was watching.’
Katie shook her head, looking disgusted, and I heard a few other people starting to mutter too. I was suddenly aware that Miranda was watching me closely.
‘Don’t pretend you care,’ she said. ‘She’s a stupid old freak, always blabbing on about nothing. She kept me here for an hour last night while she slurped away, thinking I didn’t know what she was up to.’ She smiled slyly. ‘So I put a little something extra into her cup. Detention ended pretty quickly after that.’
There was a moment of silence, which Katie broke by laughing again. ‘You are too funny, Miranda.’
I saw Lachlan out of the corner of my eye, sitting there stonily. Did he, like me, think that Miranda hadn’t sounded like she was joking?
Katie patted the back of the seat beside her. ‘Come and sit here, Miranda,’ she said. ‘Justine, move over.’
When Justine stayed where she was, Katie shook the chair impatiently. ‘Move!’
Justine got up robotically and shuffled along to the spare seat right at the end of the row. She kept her head down but I could see that her cheeks were pink with humiliation. By the time Mrs Deane walked in, Miranda and Katie were sitting side by side, chatting like they’d been friends for years. Their hair, I realised with an uneasy lurch, was now almost exactly the same shade of blonde. The same length too.
‘Where’s Miss Falippi?’ I asked Mrs Deane, somehow tearing my eyes off the weird sight of Katie and Miranda gossiping.
Mrs Deane gave me one of those I’ll let your interruption pass this time because there’s something more important I need to say looks. ‘Miss Falippi is unwell. I will be supervising the class until I’ve found a substitute.’ She sat down, folded her hands. End of conversation.
But I couldn’t let it go. Not that easily. ‘What’s wrong with her?’ My mouth was dry.
When Mrs Deane spoke it was obvious we were hearing the official story. ‘Miss Falippi has been under a great deal of stress recently. She’s taking some time off.’
By halfway through recess, it seemed everyone knew about Miss Falippi and her supposed drug problem. There were even people claiming she’d acted high in class sometimes. And when some cops showed up as the bell rang and headed for Mrs Deane’s office – well, that was all most people needed as proof.
Miranda spent the break with Katie. Justine and Paige were there too, but they may as well have been invisible for the attention they received. Katie fussed over Miranda, redoing her hair, adjusting her uniform so that she was wearing it in the correct way. Miranda was the new toy. At the end of the break, I saw Katie tie the pink thread from her wrist around Miranda’s. A strange feeling came over me as I watched them get up and walk away together, arms linked. Part of me was surprised at Katie, taking someone under her wing – not that Miranda looked like she really needed caring for anymore. The other part of me was … not jealous, exactly, but I did feel an odd, anxious protectiveness towards Katie.
A little breeze picked up and started blowing the break-time rubbish around in circles. I looked down and watched a line of ants busily working on an apple core.
I turned to Ami. ‘What should we do? About Miranda?’
Ami’s response was instant. ‘Nothing. We stay the hell out of her way.’
She’s really come out of her shell. That’s an expression I’d never liked. It seemed to me that most of the creatures living in shells were the sort you’d rather have stay in there. Snails. Crabs. Things with stingers. But over the next few weeks I heard people say these words about Miranda over and over again. And they said it like it was a good thing.
At first Ami and I kept away from Miranda as much as possible. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t still fascinated by what was going on – and not just because focusing on her distracted me from daydreaming impossible things about Lachlan.
It was hard to believe that the thin, frail, practically mute creature who’d turned up in our classroom a couple of months ago was the same person who now seemed to be everywhere and part of everything. Miranda was filling out. Her once-baggy uniform was now shorter and fitted perfectly, always casually askew in some Katie-ish way. Her sudden healthfulness hadn’t rubbed off on Katie, though – just the opposite. Katie had always been too skinny, at least to everyone except herself and her agent. ‘If I can just lose this last kilo,’ she was always telling me fretfully, ‘my agent says the jobs will come flooding in.’ It didn’t matter how many times I told her it was crazy, she wouldn’t give it up.
Katie’s agent must have been thrilled with
her now because the curves – such as they were – had started falling off.
It wasn’t just weight Katie was shedding. Every time I saw Miranda, she had another one of Katie’s possessions. At first it was just small things like hair clips and pens and magazines. But the things gradually became bigger and more valuable. Her purple earphones. Her favourite scarf. Her iPod. I half-expected her to rock up with Katie’s personal diary – the one she kept locked with a small silver key. But the biggest shock was the day I spotted Miranda wearing Katie’s earrings. Everyone knew about those earrings because Katie bragged about them constantly. They were ‘twenty-four-carat white gold’ with a ‘two-carat diamond in each stud’. She only dared to wear them to school because they were insured. No-one could touch them, not even Paige and Justine. But at assembly one morning, there they were in Miranda’s ears, sparkling and twinkling like stars when she swished her hair to one side. And that’s where they stayed. Until the night of the formal, of course.
Miranda had become part of the school-formal committee, although whenever I saw them having a meeting it was mainly Katie and Miranda examining the streamer samples while they listened to music with one purple earphone each. Paige and Justine would sit a little way off, their faces grim, surrounded by uneaten packets of rice crackers and bags of grapes. There seemed to be a protective barrier forming around Katie and Miranda, and it was becoming harder for people – and snacks – to get through.
Still, I was surprised when the news went around that Justine and Paige were officially no longer friends with Katie. Maybe it was the suddenness. Or the way that no-one seemed to know – or care about – what had happened. Apparently they’d just failed to measure up in some way.
‘They probably wore the wrong shade of nail polish,’ said Ami. ‘You know. Something unforgivable.’
When Justine was ejected from The Katie and Miranda Show, she just faded into the background. Maybe it was a relief. But it was different with Paige. I suppose I’d always thought that there wasn’t any real friendship between her and Katie – that Paige was prepared to put up with being Katie’s slave because of the associated benefit. Status. She’d stuck at it for a long time too, hovering on the edges for months as things soured between me and Katie, and pouncing when my position became vacant. I knew she was thrilled with her promotion, but I never considered for a minute that Paige might genuinely like and care about Katie.