by Lil Chase
‘Easy peasy!’ says Frankie.
She seems keen so I join in too. ‘And you have to speak in a French accent,’ I say.
‘Brilliant!’ says Ben, and the twinkle in his eye makes me need to sit down. I perch on the armrest of his chair.
‘Ask her to muck out your horse,’ says Zeba, and we all giggle.
Frankie puts on her serious face. ‘Right. Done. What’s your sister’s name?’
‘Weirdly enough, it’s Tracy.’
Frankie nods. ‘OK, wish me bon courage!’
We watch as Frankie walks over there. We’re all giggling and I start to relax. This is fun. Frankie’s walking strangely, even for her, and I realize that she’s in character, becoming a French girl, and she’s decided that this is how the French walk.
‘I can’t wait to see what happens,’ I say, and look at Ben.
He smiles back at me. ‘Me neither. This should be hilarious.’
Frankie’s always up for a challenge. I don’t know if I would be so brave. Despite all her crazy ways, Frankie’s all right. Maybe I was wrong about her being weird. Maybe she’ll actually help me be friends with the cool crowd.
‘It’s such a coincidence her name is Tracy like the girl at Frankie’s stable,’ I say to Karmella.
‘It will be, if that turns out to be her name,’ she replies.
‘I thought you said she was your sister.’
‘I’ve never seen that tramp before in my life. I was winding up your posh mate.’
Oh. I watch what’s going on at the other side of the coffee shop, a little nervous now. Frankie is overdoing her Frenchness, gesturing with her arms and miming horse riding. I can’t quite hear what the older girl’s saying, but I’m sure she’s telling Frankie to go away, but using rude words to do it.
Karmella laughs.
‘Fun-ny,’ says Ben.
I laugh nervously, trying to join in but feeling bad for my friend.
The girl stands up. Frankie looks worried. Then she drops the French act, smiles at the girl and points over at Karmella.
‘Let’s get out of here!’ says Karmella, and she runs to the door. Followed swiftly by Rochelle and Gary. Zeba shoots me a look; I shoot one back, not knowing what to do.
‘Come on, Maya,’ says Ben. He stands, then reaches down and grabs my hand. My hand! He pulls me up.
‘But—’
‘Leggit!’ he says. Then he drags me out of Starbucks, still holding my hand, and we run until we are round the corner and way down the street. He’s laughing as we go, pulling me along as fast as he can, and I don’t think I have ever felt this excited in my life.
We catch up with the others at a bench on a little green round the corner. Zeba is following close behind. Ben is still holding my hand and it’s hard to concentrate on anything but the sensation of his skin against mine.
‘That was genius,’ says Gary.
I look up at Ben. ‘Do you think … she’ll be … OK?’ I ask, panting.
‘She’ll be fine,’ he says. ‘That woman can hardly do anything to her in the middle of Starbucks, can she?’
‘I suppose not.’ But I’m still not sure. I know I wouldn’t have wanted to be left alone with a strange woman I’ve just insulted.
‘She’s a bit weird, isn’t she?’ he adds.
I am about to defend Frankie when I realize that she is a bit weird. Didn’t I think that about five minutes ago?
‘Yeah,’ says Karmella, who looks down at Ben’s hand holding mine and has to stifle a moment of shock. ‘She’s so posh and immature.’
‘How come you hang round with her?’ Rochelle asks.
‘She’s her beffy,’ says Zeba, filling them all in.
Everyone is looking at me. ‘What’s a beffy?’ asks Karmella with a sneer.
‘Oh, it’s just some silly kids’ thing that Frankie still talks about.’ I’m trying to avoid Zeba’s eye. ‘Oh, Frankie’s all right really,’ I say, desperately backtracking. ‘I mean, she’s into her horses and stuff, but she’s nice.’
‘It’s not nice to inflict that dress sense on the rest of the world,’ says Karmella.
My phone vibrates in my pocket. I bet it’s Frankie.
‘Well, that’s Maya for you,’ says Ben. ‘She’s so caring.’
I blush like a lunatic. Ben just complimented me. He’s holding my hand, and now he’s complimenting me. I do feel bad about Frankie, but I will make it up to her. And hopefully she’ll understand when she hears about my new boyfriend. My new amazingly gorgeous, super-lovely boyfriend.
‘Yeah, Maya’s all heart,’ says Zeba, scowling at me. Her eyes drop to mine and Ben’s hands locked together. ‘What would Hitachi think of you holding hands with another boy?’
‘Hitachi?’ asks Ben.
‘Hitachi’s Maya’s boyfriend,’ says Rochelle. ‘I’m sorry to disappoint you, Benjamin, but Maya’s already attached. And if you don’t drop her hand soon, he’ll probably beat you up.’
Ben grins at me. ‘I reckon I can take him,’ he says.
Wow, Ben Sands wants to fight for me!
‘Could I take him, Maya?’ he asks me.
‘Maybe,’ I say, and giggle. ‘You’re a bit more muscly than him.’ Obviously, Ben could take Hitachi no problem, as Hitachi’s not real. But it’s the thought that counts.
‘Wow, Maya,’ says Zeba, shaking her head at me. ‘Your loyalty knows no bounds.’
I gulp. She’s right. I have betrayed my fictional boyfriend and my lifelong beffy in the space of two seconds. But Ben Sands and the cool group are noticing me and I don’t know what to do.
‘Hitachi is probably used to it,’ says Karmella. ‘Maya is probably always cheating on him.’
I drop Ben’s hand, in defence of my fake boyfriend. ‘What do you mean by that?’
‘Well, your mum was a slag. It’s not surprising that you have turned out the same way.’ She says this with a shrug, like she’s just pointing out the obvious, but she’s just called my mum a slag!
‘That’s a bit harsh, Karm—’ says Ben.
‘Hey,’ she replies, her hands up in a surrender pose, ‘her mum had Maya when she was our age. She must have been shagging around all over the place.’
This speech is getting me more and more angry. I don’t know what happened when my mum had me – if I’m honest I’ve always been too scared to ask – but I’ve always sort of assumed that she fell in love with some mean boy who took advantage of her and left her when she got pregnant. But my mum chose to keep me and, like Luke said, that’s really, really brave.
‘It’s not Maya’s fault that her mum’s a slut,’ says Karmella. ‘But it looks like it runs in the genes.’
I think I’m going to cry. Partly because sometimes I worry about the same thing. That I don’t know my father because my mum doesn’t know my father. Because there were too many boys to choose from.
‘I’m not a slut,’ I say, but quietly, and I wipe away the tears before they fall.
‘I’m only saying—’
‘Shut up!’ I say. Suddenly I realize that Karmella is a cow. Why didn’t I see it before? She’s been mean to me and mean to Frankie. And I let her, just because I wanted to be cool and hang out with her and her cool friends. ‘Do you know what, Karmella? You are a complete bitch!’
Karmella gasps. ‘How dare you!’
Behind her I see Gary raise an eyebrow, and Rochelle mouths something like, ‘Wow, Maya’s got guts.’ And they smile at each other. It turns out that Rochelle doesn’t stick up for her friend either. Being cool seems to mean being nasty. If that’s the case, I don’t want it. And I’ll take the consequences.
‘I don’t give a toss about you lot.’
I turn away, leaving them all in a stunned silence. I hear Ben say to Karmella, ‘She’s right, you know. That was well out of order.’ But I can’t make out any more. I am off to find Frankie and beg her for forgiveness.
Chapter 16
I am running across Greenford High Street, tears pouring down my face.
I can’t believe I’ve been so stupid. I’ve been rude to Frankie, the girl who’s been my beffy since before I can remember. I ditched her for girls who are horrible, have no loyalty, and have no idea what the word friend really means. Rochelle has snogged the boy Karmella fancies. And Karmella would humiliate Rochelle for fancying Billy Beckworth. So how are they best friends? I want to turn back the clock and redo everything I did today.
I get out my phone and call Frankie. It rings twice, then goes to voicemail. Frankie’s message is her reciting her own telephone number as if she was a character in a Shakespeare play, and I’m reminded how much I love my crazy beff. ‘Frankie!’ I shout to the answerphone. ‘I’m so, so sorry. Where are you? I’m coming to get you. Call me. Please.’
I run to Starbucks, the scene of my hideous crime, and burst through the doors. Scanning the room, I’m very aware that everyone is staring at the crying girl with the stupid boy haircut who is gasping for breath. I can’t see Frankie. I run to the toilets and thump on the door.
No answer.
I thump louder. ‘Frankie, are you in there? I’m sorry!’
No answer.
‘FRANKIE!’ I shout and thump and kick the door at the same time.
A little old lady opens the door and frowns at me. ‘Oi! I’m trying to take a—’
I turn and run out of Starbucks and back on to the high street.
Maybe she’s at the bus stop, making her way home. I run there as fast as I can. If Frankie gets home before I manage to apologize to her, I know she will never forgive me. I will never forgive myself.
‘Maya?’ It’s not Frankie though, it’s a man’s voice. ‘Maya, is that you?’
Dave. I raise my shoulders and gear myself up to say something mean, but when he says, ‘Are you all right?’ I collapse into sobs.
He puts his arms around me and I allow it as I have no strength to push him away. He hugs me and I cry into his shoulder. ‘What’s the matter?’
‘Frankie and me … we … I …’ Because I’m so ashamed I have to tell someone the truth. Even if it is Dave. ‘I was really mean to Frankie just now—’
‘I can’t believe that,’ he says, interrupting me as he always does.
‘I was! I was hideous to her, and I want to say sorry but now I can’t find her.’
He looks a bit worried. ‘Have you tried phoning her mobile?’
‘Of course I have! She won’t answer.’
‘Of course you have.’ He looks thoughtful. ‘Should we call the police?’
‘She’s thirteen, David, not three!’
‘OK,’ he says. ‘Well, my car is in the car park. Let’s drive round and see if we can spot her.’
I don’t want to accept Dave’s help, or spend any more time in his company, but Frankie is more important right now. ‘OK,’ I say. And we head to the car park.
We drive up and down the streets of Greenford. I have my eyes glued to the pavements, scanning them for Frankie, hoping that the older girl didn’t beat her up and put her in hospital.
‘What if she never wants to talk to me again?’ I say, but I’m talking to myself really.
‘How long have you two been friends?’ asks Dave, sticking his nose in. He takes a right and turns down the road to the library.
‘Forever,’ I say.
‘Well, you can’t erase forever with one stupid fight,’ he says. For a moment I feel optimistic. Maybe he’s right for once. ‘With me and your mum it might be more difficult.’
He had to bring it back to Mum!
Suddenly I see Frankie further down the street. ‘Stop the car!’ I yell, like something out of a movie. Dave pulls over with a squeal of tyres, then grins at me.
I jump out. ‘Frankie!’
She turns round. When she realizes it’s me, she walks away.
‘Frankie, please wait!’ I run as fast as I can. Frankie stops and waits for me to catch up, which I would take as a good sign, but the look on her face says otherwise.
‘So now you want to talk to me,’ she says. ‘But maybe I don’t want to talk to you!’
‘Frankie, I’m so sorry for what they did back there,’ I say. ‘It was mean and I shouldn’t have let them do it.’ I reach forward and try to take her hands but she pulls them away. ‘They all started running and dragged me out with them.’ Frankie’s eyes are full of tears and it makes me cry again. ‘I’m so sorry, Frankie. Please forgive me. You are my bestest beffy, and you always will be.’
Frankie looks at the floor and mumbles, ‘It hasn’t seemed like that recently.’
‘I know, and I’m going to do better.’
‘You’ve got all these new friends and it’s like you don’t want to be my friend any more.’
‘I do! Of course I do!’ I take her hands and this time she lets me. ‘I just called Karmella a bitch.’
‘Really? Because of me?’
‘Of course!’ I say, though Frankie was just one of the reasons.
‘Well, normally I don’t approve of rudeness and swearing …’ Frankie smiles at me.
I jump forward and hug her tightly. So tightly that Frankie lets out a groan, and we giggle. ‘OK, try to leave my ribcage intact!’
‘Sorry,’ I say. Then I pause to make sure she knows I mean it. ‘I really am.’
‘I knew that Zeba was trying to take you away from me,’ she says once I release her.
‘Huh?’
‘I wouldn’t use profanity, but if she forced you to leave Starbucks without me, then I guess the proof of the pudding is in the desertion.’
‘I … No, Frankie, it wasn’t—’
‘Get it, pudding … dessert-tion!’ she says, and I don’t get a chance to correct her. ‘Hey, isn’t that Dave’s car? Maybe he’ll give us a lift back to yours and we can make a chocolate speciality.’
Frankie and me have been making chocolate specialities since we were five. We can’t get enough of them. We jump back in Dave’s car.
‘Hi, Dave,’ says Frankie. ‘What are you doing in this neck of the woods?’
Dave looks embarrassed and I realize that he was in Greenford to stalk Mum. God, I hate him!
‘All forgotten?’ he asks.
‘Is what all forgotten?’ says Frankie with a wink.
‘Glad to hear it,’ he says.
When we get to my flat Frankie jumps out and Dave stops me by turning round and saying, ‘Maya …’ before I can do the same.
‘Thanks for that, David.’ I don’t want him to start some in-depth conversation.
‘Please call me Dave. Like everyone else does.’
I mutter something in response.
‘And I’ll be here for you any time,’ he says. ‘And I mean any time. I want you to take my number.’ He grabs my phone from my hand, taps his number in and saves it. Which is totally presumptuous. ‘I know I’m not your favourite person,’ he says, ‘and I know I’m not your mum’s favourite person either at the moment. Your mum can be a bit flaky sometimes and—’
I can’t believe two people have insulted my mum today. I snatch my phone back and get out of the car.
‘Bye, David,’ I say.
‘Give Leanne my love!’ he shouts after me.
And instantly I decide to forget his message.
Chapter 17
Miss Draper is making us write poems together. Normally this would be my favourite assignment, but how am I supposed to be creative with a lunatic breathing down my neck?
‘OK, how about this,’ says Luke, as if he’s just a normal human, not the biggest bully this school has ever seen. ‘You do the first line, then I’ll do the second.’
‘Um, OK,’ I reply. ‘Err, how about something like … The sun is shining in the sky?’
I’m about to write the line in my book when I notice Luke is frowning. ‘Maya, Maya, Maya …’ He shakes his head at me. ‘This poem’s no good and I think I know why.’ He has a big grin on his face and it makes me want to grin too, partly because I don’t want to anger the beast and partly becaus
e he’s quite funny.
‘Sorry,’ I say, with my eyes on the paper.
‘Miss Draper said the poems are supposed to be about how we feel about school. When I go to school I don’t think about the sun shining in the sky. Do you?’
Things were supposed to be different at Mount Selwyn, but it’s only the start of my second week and it’s the same as it was at St Cecilia’s. I’m still uncool. I’m still in constant danger of being bullied. So no, he’s right, sunshine is the last thing on my mind.
‘I thought you were all about the metaphors and similes,’ he says. ‘Try again.’
This time I think really hard. ‘OK. How about: These are the socks I wore yesterday.’
‘A bit gross,’ he says, ‘but I like it. Write it down.’
I write it neatly in my book.
‘Then how about we follow with: With a hole in the toe, but I wear them anyway?’ he suggests.
‘Good!’ I clap my hands in a tragically uncool way.
While Luke writes his line under mine I look around at the rest of the class, who clearly aren’t enjoying themselves as much as me and Luke are. Karmella and Rochelle look bored, and for a second I’m tempted to look bored too. But then I remember that I don’t care what they think. And I’m not bored. This is fun. Am I actually having fun with the school bully?
‘OK, next line, your turn,’ he says.
I think for a second. ‘I’ve got a good one: The days are as long as the corridors.’
Luke nods in appreciation. I write it down.
He thinks, grabs the pen from me and writes.
I turn the book to read what he’s written. ‘Mr Holt’s face shines like parquet floors!’
I burst out laughing. Karmella looks round at me and I glare right back. I’m sticking by what I said to her on Saturday. If she wants to watch me having fun, then let her watch.
Miss Draper calls over to us. ‘Are you two doing your work?’
‘Yes, Miss Draper,’ I say.
‘Fascist!’ Luke whispers, loud enough for everyone to hear, and I wonder what’s suddenly made him turn nasty.
‘Hmm,’ she says. ‘Work more quietly, please.’ Miss Draper’s attention turns back to her book.
And Luke’s smiling again. Is this guy schizophrenic or something? Maybe it’s the happy pills. ‘OK, next verse. Now I’ll go first and you do the second line.’ He thinks for a minute then says, ‘Pretend to be me so I’m not like them.’