‘I need to talk to you right now,’ she said.
‘Sure,’ said Clive. He was already getting attention before he was even inside the school gates. His ego went up another two notches.
The two of them headed to a small alleyway where a couple of younger girls were smoking.
‘Get lost,’ Lucy commanded.
They ground out their cigarettes and left.
‘What’s up?’ said Clive.
‘I’ve got a message from Kat. She wants you to change what happened on Saturday night.’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Clive.
‘Well, you have to tell everyone that you had a fight with Seth because he slagged off Kat.’
‘But he didn’t slag off Kat. It was Rachel.’
‘Yeah and that’s why we need you to change it.’
Space ship Clive was caught off-guard. Alarms were going off everywhere.
‘But, but …’ he said, stuttering his words as his mind tried to comprehend this sudden shift in reality.
‘But what?’ said Lucy.
‘But why should I change what happened?’
‘Cos it’s your fault.’
‘My fault? How is it my fault?’
‘That Lewis guy was supposed to show up for Kat’s birthday and he didn’t. You know him, and now you have to make up for it. So Kat’s said you need to change the story.’
‘Why?’
‘Because Kat said so. You’re lucky - she’s giving you a way out.’
‘What about Cassie? She knows what really happened.’
‘She’s already been set straight. It’s just you now.’
Clive's advantage with Rachel was being snatched away before it had been of any benefit. The scrap with Seth was the best thing that had ever happened to him. It had made him look like a hero and he was certain Rachel would’ve seen it the same way. But now, all its effect would be diverted in Kat’s direction. Rachel would know nothing of how Clive had stood up for her.
‘No, no, no,’ Clive said, shaking his head so rapidly it looked like it would topple off. ‘Sorry, I can’t do it. I didn’t do it for her.’
‘Your funeral.’ Lucy started to walk away. Clive came to his senses. Kat had a whole extended family of cousins and second cousins who could enforce her will. One word from her and the only way to get safely home would be in an armoured car.
‘Wait,’ said Clive. ‘Alright, tell her I said yes.’
‘There’s a good boy,’ said Lucy. She walked back and squeezed his bruised cheek as if he were a six-month-old baby.
‘Ow!’ squeaked Clive.
‘Oh yeah, sorry I forgot, you had a fight didn’t you.’
Lucy left Clive alone in the alleyway. He had lost his upper hand in the blink of an eye. Plain old Clive was back once more. Of course, people would still think differently of him. They’d still know that he’d been in a fight, but Clive wasn’t bothered about that. It would make no difference to the way Rachel thought about him. He kicked the wall as hard as he could. Now he had a bruised foot as well.
Once Clive’s toes had recovered, he dragged himself out of the alley and began making his way across the playground to his form room. He could hear people whispering and looking at him as he passed. They were obviously talking about the fight. He felt like Harry Potter on his first day at Hogwarts. Every time people glanced in his direction it reminded him that all his efforts on Saturday night had been a complete waste. He was getting the glory, but all the honour was going to Kat, not Rachel.
Clive felt a hard tap on his shoulder and saw two large shadows loom up behind him. He turned to see the ape-like figures of Shaun and Andy Sherwood. They were cousins of Kat’s and even though they were a year below Clive, they stood above him like skyscrapers. Just like with Kat, nobody dared cross the Sherwoods.
‘Are you Clive?’ asked Andy Sherwood.
‘Yes,’ said Clive. He half expected his dinner money to be taken off him. Instead, Andy and Shaun simply shook his hand.
‘We just want to say nice one for sticking up for Kat,’ said Andy.
‘S’right,’ said Shaun.
‘Oh, that’s okay, it was nothing,’ said Clive.
‘That’s not what we heard,’ Andy’s eyebrows went into a nasty ‘v’ shape.
‘S’right,’ said Shaun.
‘We heard it was Seth,’ Andy added.
‘S’right,’ Shaun repeated.
Clive realised Shaun was a man of few words.
‘You know Seth?’ asked Clive.
‘Course we do,’ said Andy. ‘He’s one of the hardest guys in this town, and you took him on. That takes guts.’
‘S’right,’ said Shaun.
‘Listen, if he gives you any more trouble, we’ve got your back, okay? You’re like family now and we protect our family, okay?’
‘Er, okay,’ said Clive. He wasn’t sure whether he should be happy or change his address.
Shaun and Andy slapped Clive on the back and walked off. Their little conversation should have made Clive feel secure and protected, but it made him feel threatened. Having the Sherwood family as your friends could be worse than having them as enemies. Even though they were indebted to him, Clive was worried that he would get dragged into their violent little world. It was like being in a clan - whenever they got involved in a dispute, you might get called up and be required to serve alongside them.
Just as Clive was shuddering at the thought, he saw the worried face of Rachel appear.
‘Clive I heard about what happened. Are you okay?’ she asked.
‘Yeah, I’m fine.’
‘So what happened?’
‘Nothing.’ Clive really didn’t want to discuss it, especially with Kat’s spies everywhere. They might see him talking to Rachel and assume he was telling her the real story. ‘I’m fine, look I’ve got to go.’
*
Rachel was left standing in the playground like a confused tourist. It had been the weirdest weekend she’d ever had. The thing with Lewis on Saturday was strange enough and now Clive had turned up at school after having a fight with Seth because he was rude to Kat. It didn’t make sense. Kat was one of his least favourite people. Plus, she couldn’t seem to get a straight answer out of him or Cassie, while everyone else seemed to know the whole story. Maybe Clive wasn’t proud of what he did, but that didn’t explain Cassie. Normally this would be the sort of thing she wouldn’t shut up about. Rachel’s phone rang. It was an unknown number.
‘Hi Rachel,’ said a bright female voice Rachel didn’t recognise. ‘It’s Olivia, Lewis’ sister.’
‘Hi Olivia.’ It was nice to hear such a warm, friendly tone on this odd Monday morning. ‘How are you?’
‘I’m great and yourself?’
‘I’m fine,’ said Rachel, even though she wasn’t.
‘I was wondering if I could meet up with you sometime, just for a chat.’
‘Yeah, I’d love to,’ said Rachel. ‘Shall I bring Cassie?’
‘No, just you and me. I know this is a bit out of the blue and kind of heavy, but I need to talk to you about something.’
‘Oh, is it serious?’
‘No not serious, just delicate. But I’d rather talk to you about it face to face.’
‘Okay,’ said Rachel, her curiosity piqued. ‘I’ve got to do some project work in the Russell Cotes Museum tomorrow after school, why don’t I meet you in their coffee shop at 4.30.’
‘Brilliant. Thank you so much. I’ll see you then.’
Rachel hung up. This was even more puzzling. What did Olivia want to see her about at such short notice? Rachel didn’t really even know her. She’d only met her once before at Lewis’ party. Today was getting stranger by the minute.
*
Olivia woke up early on Sunday morning, partly because she hadn’t been out partying the night before and partly because she wanted to do something useful after having a week that didn’t really add up to much. She decided that cooking breakfast for everyone w
ould help make up for having been such a waste of space for the past seven days.
Scrambled eggs bubbled away on the stove while a battalion of toast stood to attention in a wire rack. There was also freshly cooked asparagus, orange juice and a huge pot of thick black coffee. The delicious aroma of it all soon drifted around the house. It worked better than any alarm clock; her mother and father were up soon afterwards, but the delights of Olivia’s breakfast had no effect on Lewis. After his attempt at being Edward had backfired spectacularly in the gardens, he’d decided that being asleep was the best way of blocking it all out.
Her parents tucked into the hearty breakfast Olivia placed in front of them. After coming back for seconds they felt that a long walk along the beach was needed to burn off all those calories. Olivia declined their offer to join them, deciding instead to stay at home and tidy up. As Olivia was clearing the dishes away she heard Lewis’ footsteps coming down the stairs. She was just about to throw the remains of the breakfast away.
‘Lewis, do you want some scrambled eggs?’ she said, with the plate hovering above the open bin. When she saw Lewis, the plate slipped out of her hands and smashed onto the tiles. It was the shock of the seeing his inflated blue and bruised nose. ‘What the hell happened to you?’
‘I got elbowed in the face.’ Lewis’ voice was quiet and small.
‘By who?’
‘By Rachel.’
‘By Rachel?’ Olivia said, noticing that Lewis wasn’t making eye contact with her.
‘What - did you attack her or something?’
‘Not exactly.’
‘You did something stupid, didn’t you?’
Lewis didn’t say anything.
‘You idiot,’ Olivia said, pushing him away from her. ‘Well, you’ll get no
sympathy from me.’ She turned and cleared up the mixture of broken china and
egg off the floor.
Lewis stood there, chastised by the silence of his sister. Sometimes she could be worse than his parents for making him feel guilty. It was probably the fact that she knew what he was really like, whereas they chose to overlook some of his more reckless antics. Olivia ignored Lewis and walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs to get dressed.
This was bad for Lewis because he needed to tell someone about last night. Lewis had to get things out of his system otherwise they would fester in his head and drive him crazy. He couldn’t tell his parents because they would flip out, while his friends would think the whole thing was just funny. So it was always Olivia he went to when he needed someone to talk to. Since they were young she’d been like his priest and he’d made many a confession to her. She would patiently listen, while he would tell her how he had fallen through a roof or woken up naked somewhere or stolen a bus. Lewis followed her up to the bedroom.
‘Come on, sis,’ he said.
‘I’m not listening,’ Olivia replied.
‘Please, I need to tell someone, otherwise I’ll go insane.’
‘I think you’re already there.’
‘You’re the only one I can talk to.’
‘Well find someone else. Now I need to get dressed.’
Olivia shut the door in his face. She had never been a selfish person and usually couldn’t resist anyone who asked for her help, even if it was her dumb brother. The door opened again, to Lewis’ relief.
‘Okay what happened?’
Lewis sat on his sister’s bed and recounted the events of Saturday night, including how he enlisted a gang of hoodies to do his dirty work. When he was finished Olivia stood up and looked out of the window.
‘Well, say something, then,’ Lewis demanded.
Olivia ignored him for a minute then turned around to face him.
‘Come here,’ she said in a soft voice. This was what Lewis needed, someone who understood him. As he got closer he put his arms out to hug her and she slapped him in the face. ‘You are not Edward Cullen! You are a prat!’ Olivia screamed in his face. ‘How could you do that to a girl, especially Rachel! You put her in danger just to make yourself look good. You’ve gone too far this time.’
Lewis didn’t react. He wanted to accept his punishment, even though one slap on the face didn’t really atone for what he did.
‘I’m sorry,’ said Lewis.
‘Why are you saying sorry to me? It’s Rachel you need to apologise to.’
‘If I told her what I did she’d never speak to me again.’
‘Quite right too.’
‘So what should I do?’
‘Stop pretending to be Edward.’
Lewis knew she was right, but he didn’t want to stop. His new image had imprinted itself on him now. Plus he liked the fact that people, mostly young girls, did double takes when they saw him. If he was honest, it was vanity stopping him from changing his appearance. Of course, he couldn’t say that to Olivia, she’d destroy such a weak argument in a second, so he came up with something else.
‘This was partly your idea anyway,’ Lewis said.
‘What!’
‘Yeah, you suggested that I should be more like Edward so I could attract Rachel.’
‘No I didn’t. I said find something in common so you’ve got something to talk about. I didn’t say start dressing up as a bloody vampire.’
‘I’m sure you did.’
‘I can see where you’re going with this, Lewis, and it won’t work.’
‘What won’t work?’
‘Trying to include me in the blame. You’ve done this since we were kids and I’m not having it. The trouble with you, Lewis, is you have an extreme personality. Everything you do, whether it’s drinking, girls or surfing, you have to take as far as it will go. How far are you going to take this? Are you going to start biting people next?’
‘Don’t be stupid, I’d never do that.’
‘Really? I remember when you started surfing. You said it was just for a laugh and then two months later you were in Hawaii trying to ride waves big enough to kill people. Where’s it going to end?’
‘Yeah but this is different.’
‘Why is it different?’
‘I’m doing this for Rachel. I want her to like me.’
‘Okay so if she likes you and starts going out with you, you’ll stop all this?’
There was a pause before Lewis answered. ‘Er, yeah,’ he said.
‘You’re lying. You had to think before you answered.’
‘No I’m not.’
‘Lewis you have to stop this or either you or Rachel is going to get really hurt. You’ll start thinking you’re invincible or something.’
‘Well if I do you can have me locked up.’
‘It’ll be too late by then.’
Chapter 17
*
Olivia walked out of the bedroom and left Lewis alone. She was really worried about him. He always did this to her and she was always there to pick up the pieces, but now she was getting tired of it. She wondered if she would be doing this for the rest of her life. If he carried on this vampire delusion she could imagine getting phone calls in the middle of the night, asking if she could come and pick him up. Probably because he would be hitch-hiking to Forks and had got lost in the mountains, or had got arrested in Italy trying to track down the Volturi.
Her brother had always had an insane look in his eye, an unpredictable streak that made him do things no normal person would even consider. She remembered the first time she had experienced it. She was five and he was six, and they were walking along Poole Quay with their parents in February. Suddenly there was a scream and she had turned just in time to see Lewis jumping off the quayside with all his clothes on. Her dad had to jump in after him and pull him to safety. The arctic temperature of the water nearly killed both of them.
That was the first time Olivia had known real worry, and it had stuck with her ever since. Lewis wasn’t bothered about what he did, but Olivia was and she would always feel responsible for him. If he did something stupid, somehow she would always blam
e herself for not stopping it. Olivia grabbed her phone and left the house. She decided to go for a walk along the harbour to help her think. She purposely chose this side of Sandbanks so she wouldn’t bump into her parents. She didn’t want them to see she was worried, otherwise she’d have to start lying and making up explanations.
Olivia sat down on a bench and watched a girl learning to windsurf. Every time she pulled the sail upright she immediately toppled over like a fallen tree. Olivia watched this scene repeat itself about twenty times, until finally the fledgling windsurfer managed to keep the sail up for about three seconds and get the board going. It was enough to put a huge smile on the girl’s face. Olivia chuckled at how achieving something so simple could be so satisfying. Why couldn’t all of life be like that?
She pulled out her phone to see what the time was. It was only then she realised she’d picked up Lewis’ phone by accident. Her parents had bought them identical iphones last Christmas. She looked at the screen and saw that he had a missed call from Rachel. This gave Olivia an idea and she made a note of Rachel’s number.
*
Rachel had been afraid of the Russell Cotes Museum when she was a little girl. She’d thought ghosts and monsters lived in this sinister Victorian mansion with its sharp turrets and dark windows. She’d imagined them gliding through its drafty hallways and magnificent meeting rooms, plotting and scheming about how to entice their next victim in. Whenever the young Rachel had passed beneath its thick walls, her grip had always got a little tighter on her mum’s hand.
It was different now she was older. Rachel absolutely adored the place and always got a tingle of excitement every time she walked through its doors. It was a magical place, eccentrically decorated with stained glass ceilings, a bizarre indoor mosaic pond and the grandest of staircases that stretched out to all three floors. This gave way to its maze of rooms filled with the most fascinating objects gathered from around the world. From dusty sculptures of long-forgotten Victorian actors and vast Pre-Raphaelite paintings, to menacing Samurai suits of armour and golden Buddhas, the Russell Cotes was an Aladdin’s cave of wondrous curiosities from a more romantic era.
Faye Meredith - Becoming Edward Page 17