‘Music,’ I begin, my concentration broken. ‘Umm …’
There goes my first point. Ms Hayes told us she was going to deduct a point every time we said um or ah.
‘There are … um … lots of different styles of music. Classical, jazz, pop, rap … ah …’
There’s a sudden crash as a pile of books and pencils topples to the floor.
‘Sorry, miss,’ Jane calls out brightly. ‘Liam bumped me.’
‘Did not!’
‘That’s enough, thanks, you two.’ Ms Hayes’ voice is firm. ‘Carry on, please, Michi.’
But I can’t. Every time I try to get a sentence out, something else happens to distract me. Amira holds up a note that says UGLY COW in large black letters (carefully done behind Ms Hayes’s back, of course), and Jess gets an attack of the sneezes. I’m still going when the bell rings. There’s a scraping of chairs as everyone scrambles to stand up.
Ms Hayes holds up her hands. ‘Did I tell anyone they could leave? I don’t know what’s got into you lot today.’ She turns to me. ‘Thank you, Michi. A little bit more preparation next time, please.’
Mortified, I return to my desk and slowly pack up my books. Up until this term I’ve always been one of the most confident kids in my class. What’s happening to me?
Ms Hayes dismisses us and we stash our books in our lockers. Mia walks me to the school gate where Dad’s waiting to take me to my exam.
She leans over and gives me a kiss for good luck. ‘You’ll be great,’ she tells me.
Will I? Something tells me that’s not going to happen, no matter how much I want it to.
I tap hesitantly on the exam room door. ‘Michi Kano,’ I announce to the examiner.
She waves me in, then picks up her pen. ‘Welcome, Michi. Let’s start with an E minor scale, shall we?’
I take a deep breath, then lift my bow. It skitters across the strings, sounding like two cats fighting. I stop half-way through, devastated. The examiner raises her eyebrows at me.
‘Is it okay if I start again?’ I ask her.
She nods, her face a mask.
My second attempt is better, but not much. My hands are shaking too much. All I can think about are the three hags from hell, ruining my oral report. I stumble through the rest of the set scales and arpeggios, then move on to the sight reading test. My teary eyes turn the unfamiliar notes into blobs and swirls, but somehow I make it through to the end.
Finally it’s time to play one of my set pieces. There are three I can choose from: a sweet lullaby, a cheery waltz and a slower piece, full of drama and passion. The third piece is perfect for the way I’m feeling right now. I take a deep breath, close my eyes, and begin.
My bow saws furiously up and down and across the strings as I recall the turmoil of the past week. The messages. The insults. The confusion and panic and fear. How dare they do that to me?!
I finally reach the end and put down my bow, my whole body shaking. I feel like I’ve just run a marathon.
‘Thank you, Michi,’ the examiner says briskly. ‘Please ask the next student to come in.’
Her face gives nothing away. Have I done enough to pass? And what will I tell my dad if I fail?
Chapter 18
saturday night
‘Hey, Alysha, got any blusher I can use?’ asks Mia.
Alysha looks up from the Pink HQ mirror where she’s carefully applying eyeliner to her eyelids. ‘In my make-up case. But make sure you put it back when you’re finished with it, ’kay?’
Mia retrieves it then comes over to me, wielding the brush. ‘Come on, birthday girl. Give me that face.’
I hold up my arms to fend her off. This would have to be the worst birthday ever. ‘Go away. Don’t want any stupid blusher.’
‘Yes, you do.’ Mia’s voice is patient. ‘You can’t go to a party without blusher on. It would be social death.’ She giggles. ‘Well, according to Crave magazine anyway.’
I fold my arms across my stomach. ‘Don’t want to go at all,’ I say, sticking out my bottom lip like a two-year-old.
‘Stop being such a baby,’ Mia tells me, playfully swiping at my cheeks with the blusher brush. ‘You’re just grumpy cos of what happened with your violin exam.’
‘Shut up about my stupid violin exam. I don’t want to talk about it!’
Lexi comes over and starts brushing my hair with long soothing strokes. ‘I’m sure it wasn’t as bad as you think. I always think I’ve stuffed up my piano exams, but I end up doing okay.’
‘Thanks, Lexi,’ I say, but I’m sure she’s wrong. It was all I could think about yesterday.
Mia’s dad sticks his head into the room. ‘Is it safe to come in, girls?’ he asks us. ‘I thought you might want to get going.’
‘Sure,’ Mia tells him, checking her hair in the mirror. ‘Is everybody ready?’
Lexi gives herself an extra squirt of perfume. ‘Yep.’
‘As ready as I’ll ever be,’ I mutter. Gatecrashing Amira’s party is a really, really bad idea. But it’s the only way I’m ever going to find out why she hates me so much.
‘Amira lives here?’ Alysha says as we crunch our way up the gravel drive leading to her front door. ‘Cool house.’
We can hear the music from the front porch. Mia rings the doorbell. Moments later Amira’s dad appears.
‘Hi, girls,’ he says, waving us in. ‘Nice to see you, Michi. The party’s out the back. You know the way.’
‘Thanks, Mr Rashid,’ I mumble, my eyes downcast. He obviously doesn’t know I’m now Public Enemy Number One in Amira’s world, or he would have stopped me from coming in.
I lead the way down the wide hallway and out to the back garden. The four of us stand in the shadows just outside the back door, taking in the scene. There are fairy lights strung across the yard and giant speakers beside the pool. A small group of girls is already dancing. Everyone else is standing in little groups, chatting or sipping drinks.
I recognise most of the girls from our class, and a few random shinies from some of the other classes in our year level. I can tell Alysha’s busting to go and join Paige and Jayde, but Mia sends her a warning look and she jumps back into line.
There’re some guys here too, though not many. Joe’s friends, probably. Which means that … Mia’s digging me in the ribs with that sharp little elbow of hers. ‘Here we go. Queen Amira’s just spotted us.’
‘She’s going to throw us out,’ I whimper.
‘Not if I’ve got anything to do with it,’ Mia mutters. She draws me in close, so that I’m flanked by her and Lexi.
Amira comes bustling over, Jane and Jess in her wake.
‘What are you doing here?’ she spits, her eyes boring holes in my face.
‘Great party, Ami,’ Mia says, smiling sweetly. ‘We’re so glad we could make it.’ She points to a trestle table set up with soft drinks and party food. ‘The drinks are over here, right?’
She turns to Lexi and Alysha. ‘You guys stay here for a moment and chat to them,’ she whispers fiercely. Then she grabs my arm and steers me over to the table, leaving Amira and her henchbuddies with their mouths flapping open and shut like goldfish.
Mia hands me a glass of fruit punch and I take a long sip. ‘So, now what do we do?’ I ask.
‘Just tough it out, okay?’ Mia tells me. ‘I think things are going to get pretty dramatic around here any moment now.’
‘Why?
‘Because Curly Hair is headed this way. And if Leesh’s theory is correct, that’s what all this hate campaign has been about. Amira thinks you’ve taken her guy.’
‘But I haven’t! I’ve hardly even spoken to him!’
‘You know that and I know that. But Ami and co. obviously think otherwise for some reason. Now, take a deep breath, okay? Ben’s about ten seconds away and counting.’
OMG. What am I going to say to him? Three … two … one …
‘Hey, Michi.’
‘Hey, Ben.’
‘It’s … ah …
great to see you,’ he says. ‘I didn’t think you were coming.’
I didn’t think I was either. ‘How come?’
‘I asked Amira before if you were and she said … she said … well, something pretty rude, actually.’
I bet she did.
‘Have you two had a fight or something?’ he asks.
‘Not yet,’ I tell him. ‘But I think we might be about to.’
‘Oh. That’s too bad.’ He stares down at his feet for a moment as though he can’t think of what to say next. Then his face brightens. ‘Hey, how did your violin exam go? I bet you aced it.’
‘I wish,’ I groan. I spend the next few minutes giving him a blow-by-blow description of how rubbish I’d been. For some reason it doesn’t sound so bad when I’m telling Ben about it. He’s laughing at my fighting cats description when I spot the three witches over his left shoulder. They’ve managed to escape from Leesh and Lexi and are heading this way at a hundred kms a minute.
‘Um, sorry, Ben,’ I blurt. ‘I just have to …’
And then I hotfoot it over to the toilet on the other side of the pool so I can lock myself in there for the rest of the night. The rest of my life, if necessary.
Except I never make it.
Chapter 19
saturday night … one minute later
Amira grabs my shoulder and wrenches it around so that I’m facing her.
Amira: That’s right, Michi. Run away.
Me: What do you mean? I’m just trying to go to the toilet.
Mia [who’s followed me]: Leave her alone!
Jess [moving in close]: You never stop lying, do you, Michi?
Jane: Yeah, you’re always playing Little Miss Innocent, but we know better. All your secret little meetings with Ben.
Jess: Rule Number One? Don’t take your best friend’s guy.
Me: But I –
Amira: I told you how much I liked Ben. I told you and told you. So what do you do? Throw it all back in my face and run after him yourself.
I’ve had enough of this. I take a deep breath and straighten my spine.
Me: Like when?
Jess: On Tuesday? At orchestra practice? I heard you practically had your tongue halfway down his throat.
Me: What?!
Mia: Well, you heard wrong. Who said that?
Jess: Olivia. Jess’s cousin. She said you and your friend were really rude to her too.
Jess has a cousin in the orchestra? Must have been that girl Mia bumped when she was moving the chair. Just my dumb luck. Jess probably sent her over to spy on me. She’s told them all about me talking to Ben, and my violin exam … and … and … Batty, my good luck charm. Everything starts slowly clicking into place.
Mia: That is such a crock.
Amira: So you say. Why would Olivia lie?
By now a small crowd has formed around us, wanting to know what all the drama is about.
I look around nervously for Ben. Oh no. He and Joe are standing near the pool, looking over this way. Have they heard what we’re arguing about? How embarrassing. But I can’t stop now … Me: Who knows? But she’s lying all right. So, come on, then. When else am I supposed to have ‘stolen’ your guy?
Amira: At my sleepover.
Me: At your sleepover? Are you serious?
Amira: Perfectly. Tara saw you. In the kitchen. You were flirting like crazy with Ben, trying to hold his hand.
Me [reeling]: You’re the one who’s crazy.
My mind races as I think back to the night of the sleepover. Yes, I’d been in the kitchen with Ben. He’d opened my drink can for me. Joe had been there as well, but I don’t remember seeing Tara. Unless she was watching us from the hallway, maybe … I search for her face among the crowd. She’s lurking at the back, looking a little nervous. I’m about to call her over, ask her to repeat exactly what she saw, when Joe pushes his way through to Amira.
‘I don’t know what your little friend over there thought she saw,’ he tells her, ‘but I was there, and all they did was talk. I didn’t see anything like what you just said.’
Amira glares at him. ‘Well, you wouldn’t. Guys never notice stuff like that.’
Now Ben is there too. ‘Well, I think I’d have noticed,’ he says quietly. ‘Seeing as how it’s my hand she’s supposed to have been holding.’
Oh, thank you, Ben. Thank you thank you thank you. I shoot him a quick smile and he blushes, then smiles tentatively back.
Mia looks directly at Tara, who shrinks under her gaze. ‘It’s amazing what some people will believe when they’re told things they want to hear,’ Mia says.
‘What would you know?’ Jess sniffs. ‘You weren’t even there.’
That’s when I snap. All the anger and the pain I’ve been bottling up inside me for the last week comes bubbling to the surface. With Mia beside me, I feel ten feet tall.
‘And neither were you!’ I yell. ‘Have you got any idea what you lot put me through this week? Well, let me tell you. It’s been hell. The lies. The threats. I can’t even walk though the school ground without people laughing and pointing at me. And it’s all been over nothing. Nothing!’
‘Yeah,’ shouts Mia. ‘It’s all been in your stupid heads! You should be ashamed of yourselves!’
Amira pouts. ‘Oh, come on, Mia. I bet you’d have done exactly the same thing if it was your boyfriend the little cow stole.’
Mia shakes her head. ‘You need help, Ami.’ Then she collects us all up like a mother hen. ‘Come on, guys. I’m going to call Dad and ask him to come and pick us up.’
‘Yeah, let’s go. It was a boring party anyway,’ Lexi says, loud enough for Amira to hear.
Mia turns to Alysha. ‘Okay with you, Leesh?’
Alysha hesitates for a moment. You can tell she’s dying to stay a bit longer, maybe score a few points with her shiny friends by giving them the inside story on Michi the Reject. Then she tosses her hair, gives Joe a wink, and links arms with Mia and me. ‘You betcha.’
I wait near the back door with Lexi and Leesh while Mia calls her dad.
‘Hey, Michi,’ says a soft voice behind me. I spin round, expecting to see Amira or one of the Js. Come to apologise, maybe. Fat chance. Instead, it’s Gabby and Lisa, from my class.
‘Lisa and I just wanted to tell you we never joined in with any of Amira’s games,’ Gabby says.
‘Yeah,’ says Lisa. ‘She’s the cow, I reckon. We’re leaving, too.’
And it looks like they’re not the only ones. Other guests are walking out now, too, sending me little smiles of support as they file past us.
I say good night to Amira’s parents, who’ve come out to the garden, wondering what’s gone wrong. Then Mia, Lexi, Alysha and I walk out of there together, our heads held high.
The last thing I see as we leave is Ben’s grinning face, silently cheering me on from the shadows.
sunday afternoon
We’re lying on the floor of Pink HQ, surrounded by cushions, chocolate wrappers and empty pizza (vegetarian in my honour!) boxes. My favourite song is playing softly through the speakers and we’ve just polished off the last of my birthday cake.
It’s so comfortable here. Comfortable and safe. Last week’s drama and Amira’s party seem like distant nightmares. Almost.
‘So, have you heard from Amira yet?’ Lexi asks.
‘Yeah,’ I sigh. ‘She rang this morning to let me know she’s taken all that mean stuff off the net. She wanted to come round but I said no.’ I fiddle with the tassel on my cushion. ‘I guess I’m not ready to talk to her just yet.’
‘Well, did she at least apologise for ruining your life?’ Alysha asks.
‘Kind of,’ I say.
But it hadn’t been an apology. Not really. She’d kept saying how the whole Ben thing had been a ‘misunderstanding’, so it couldn’t really be her fault. And that Jess and Jane had whipped it up into something bigger and uglier than it really was, and she’d just got carried away. I don’t know. I’m not sure how much I want t
o be friends with someone who can’t even take responsibility for her own actions.
‘How about the Js?’ asks Lexi. ‘Your other “friends”?’
‘They haven’t called, exactly,’ I tell her. ‘But Jane must have come round to my place this morning.’ I pull out little Batty from inside my top to show them. ‘Mum found him on our doorstep, in an envelope. With a note inside from Jane. She’d even bought me a new chain for him.’
Mia smiles at me. ‘I guess that’s her way of saying sorry.’
‘Maybe,’ I say. I give Batty a little pat, then cross my fingers for double luck. Please let me have passed my violin exam, I beg …
Then I look around Pink HQ. At the comfy cushions on the floor, and the music stuff spread around the room, and the funny messages and photos stuck all over the Wall. And my friends. Yep, this is definitely where I want to be. Okay, so Alysha can be a bit of a diva sometimes, but she came through for me in the end. And Lexi, did too. She didn’t have to, but she did. And … Mia. How can I ever thank Mia?
My phone beeps. Amira again? Or Jess?
The number isn’t one I know. Oh no! Don’t tell me the nasty texts are going to start all over again …
I open the message:
Hi Michi. Wld u like 2 come 2
a movie with me friday nite? Ben
OMG!
Alysha peers over my shoulder. ‘Who’s it from?’
‘Ben just asked me out,’ I say.
‘No way!’ says Lexi.
Mia throws a cushion at me. ‘Told you so.’
‘I can’t believe you’re going out with a Year 9 guy!’ wails Alysha.
Grinning, I text back.
Wld love to
Neither can I …
Chapter 1
monday morning
I see Michi’s smile coming up the corridor before the rest of her arrives. It stretches from ear to ear, lighting up her face.
‘Mia Moo,’ she says, giving me a big hug.
‘Let me guess,’ I tell her. ‘You’ve just been talking with Ben.’
A Year in Girl Hell Page 14