All three, Zara, Henry and Sunita, shrugged.
‘I’ve never really had much to do with her,’ said Sunita, ‘but she seems OK, to be honest.’
That wasn’t what I wanted to hear.
‘What’s she been saying about me?’ I asked abruptly.
‘Don’t worry about it,’ said Henry, looking anxious. ‘It’s just childish stuff.’
‘Like what?’ I stared hard at him. I’d already sussed that Henry was more easily intimidated than Zara or Sunita. ‘Tell me.’
‘Er – well, let me see …’ Henry’s ears slowly turned bright pink. ‘She said that you never washed and you smelled really bad. Oh, and that your cat had fleas. And so did you—’
‘What!’ I tried to jump to my feet but Zara grabbed my arm in a grip of steel and held me fast. ‘How dare she!’
‘It’s just five-year-old stuff,’ said Sunita soothingly. ‘Don’t let it get to you, Dani.’
‘Look, nobody believes her,’ Zara added, keeping hold of me. ‘Not even her friends. They’re just enjoying winding you up.’
‘Not just her friends,’ I said, still furious, remembering what had happened that morning. ‘There were some other girls. One was Indian and she had green eyes …’
‘Oh, you mean Celina Patel and her band of gruesome girlies.’ Zara pointed across the playing field. Celina was sitting there, sprawled elegantly on the grass, with the blonde skinny girl and two others. ‘That’s just typical of them, isn’t it?’
‘Are they friends with Lalita?’ I asked.
Zara shook her head. ‘Not particularly, but Celina just loves winding people up. She’s the bitchiest girl in our class. No, in the school. No – make that the whole wide world.’
‘Don’t let it get to you, Dani,’ advised Henry. ‘They’ll forget about you in a day or two and start on someone else.’
‘Stick with us and Celina won’t give you any more hassle for sure.’ Sunita winked at me. ‘She hates us – me especially.’
‘Yes, stick with us,’ Henry chimed in, ‘if you don’t mind being a loser.’
I looked bewildered.
‘Losers United,’ Sunita explained. ‘That’s what Celina calls us. At least, she used to.’
I gazed at the three people in front of me. Zara was gorgeous, Sunita was pretty too, and although Henry had an ordinary sort of face, he didn’t look like a loser. All of them were bright and friendly and funny. Losers United?
‘I used to be a bit bigger than I am now,’ Henry said sheepishly.
‘A bit bigger!’ Zara snorted rudely. ‘You were fat, Henry. And Celina used to tease me about my birthmark.’ She pointed at her cheek.
I peered at it, but I could hardly see anything.
‘Special make-up,’ she explained.
I glanced at Sunita. ‘What about you?’ I asked curiously. ‘Have you and Celina had a fight or something?’
‘Sort of.’ Sunita nodded. ‘When I first started here, she told everyone my dad was a thief on the run from the police.’
‘No!’ I gasped. That was a lot worse than Lalita pretending I had fleas. ‘Why would she do a thing like that?’
‘Oh, it was true all right,’ Sunita said matter-of-factly. ‘He gave himself up a while ago and he’ll be going to trial soon.’
I stared at her, my mouth open so wide I could have caught quite a few flies. Or fleas.
‘I’m sorry …’ I couldn’t think of anything else to say.
‘It’s OK,’ Sunita said easily, although there was a shadow in her eyes. ‘At least we know where he is now. It was awful when we didn’t. Anyway’ – she shrugged – ‘Celina made my life a misery, but things worked out OK in the end.’
‘Oh.’ I thought for a moment. ‘Well, I’d like to be a loser too. If that’s all right with you.’
‘According to Lalita, you’re one already,’ remarked Zara. ‘So welcome to the club.’
‘Thank you,’ I said, and I smiled.
I wasn’t planning to confront Lalita about all the stupid and childish things she’d been saying about me. I was going to do the mature adult thing and ignore her. Like Henry had said, people would forget all about it in a few days if I didn’t make a big fuss.
But when I came out of school at lunch time and saw Lalita, it was too good an opportunity to miss. We’d just finished a French lesson and the teacher had started chatting to me afterwards, asking about my previous school. Sunita had whispered that they would see me in the canteen for lunch, and she, Zara and Henry had left. I was on my way to meet them when I spotted Lalita, all on her own, standing near the fire escape. She was talking into her phone and it was one of those calls. I could tell by the shiny, smiley look on her face.
I strolled over to her, silently and slowly, trying to overhear as much as I could.
‘Of course I want to see you,’ she was saying, ‘but it isn’t always easy to get away. Not now they’ve moved in.’
She meant me and Mum, obviously.
‘Yes, I’m going to,’ Lalita went on. I could detect a hint of anxiety in her voice now. ‘I just need to find a good time.’
I was right behind her now and she still hadn’t noticed me. I reached out and poked her hard in the back.
‘Aargh!’ Lalita yelped, almost jumping out of her skin, which amused me no end. She spun round, a fearsome scowl appearing on her face as she realized it was me. ‘Got to go, sorry!’ she gasped into the phone and snapped it shut.
‘Don’t hang up on my account,’ I said coolly. ‘Interesting call?’
‘Mind your own business!’ Lalita snapped, looking more angry than I’d ever seen her before.
‘It sounded interesting,’ I remarked, hoping she’d think I’d heard a lot more than I actually had.
The look on Lalita’s face was priceless. She didn’t have a clue what to say. Frowning, she took a step towards me, her hands clenched.
‘Better not stand too close,’ I said with a pretend yawn. ‘You know, those fleas can jump an awfully long way.’ I shot her a patronizing look. ‘How old are you anyway? Even a toddler could come up with something better than that.’
I had the upper hand now and Lalita knew it.
‘Why don’t you just leave me alone?’ she snapped.
‘Oh, I’d love to,’ I said. ‘But all these secret phone calls! And then there’s the mystery of that big bag you took out of the house and never brought back. You can’t expect me not to wonder what’s going on!’
Lalita turned so red, I could actually see the colour rising in her cheeks like an uncontrollable flood.
‘You – you—’ She was so furious she could hardly get the words out, which had to be a good thing as I was sure she wasn’t going to say anything nice.
I waited, my arms folded, eyebrows raised. I knew I was being incredibly irritating, but did I care? No.
At last Lalita gave in. Shoving her phone into her bag, she barged past me and stalked off across the playground.
I smiled. She might have got the better of me so far, but I was fighting back.
Lalita, however, wasn’t beaten yet …
Ravi and Mum couldn’t pick us up after school because of work, so they’d arranged for Lalita and me to go home together on the bus. I said goodbye to Zara, Sunita and Henry at the school gates and hung around, waiting for Lalita. She was taking ages. I had a new Jacqueline Wilson book in my bag so I took that out and began to read, leaning against one of the gateposts.
Fifteen minutes later it gradually began to dawn on me that the playground had gone very quiet. I looked up from my book. There was no one – and I mean no one – around. The school buses which picked up outside the school had all gone. There wasn’t a single Coppergate pupil in sight. And half the teachers’ cars had gone from the car park too.
Where was Lalita?
I knew the answer to that one right away.
She’d gone home on her own and left me behind!
Angrily I shoved my book into my bag and stomped
off down the street. We were supposed to get one of the school buses together, but I knew that there was a main road not far away which had loads of buses going up and down it. I was sure I’d be able to find my way back to the house from there. Lalita would think leaving me behind was really funny as I didn’t know my way round this part of town. She probably thought I’d get lost. Well, I’ll show her, I thought …
Oh dear. It turns out Lalita was right. I did get lost.
I found my way to the main road OK. That was fine. Then I spotted a bus, a number 19 which had WILLOW DRIVE as its destination. I vaguely remembered seeing a Willow Drive near Ravi’s house, and I knew I could get off there and walk the rest of the way.
‘So there, Lalita!’ I thought triumphantly as I climbed onto the bus. ‘I might even get home before you!’
It wasn’t until twenty minutes later that I realized, with a cold, sinking feeling in the pit of my tummy, that the road near Ravi’s house was called Willow Walk. Not Willow Drive. As I peered helplessly out of the bus window, I didn’t recognize a single street. I was completely and utterly lost.
Trying not to panic, I got off the bus at the next stop. I was in Paradise Road. Where the hell was that?
Quickly I pulled out my phone and dialled the number of my mum’s office.
‘Hello, this is the voicemail of Meeta Gill. I’m at a meeting out of the office this afternoon and therefore unavailable to take your call, but please leave a message and I’ll call you back …’
What was I going to do now?
I didn’t really have a choice.
Mum had put Ravi’s office number as well as his mobile into my phone. For emergencies, she explained. I didn’t think I’d ever need to use them, and said so, but this was an emergency, wasn’t it? I scrolled through my phonebook, found Ravi’s office number and hit the green key.
‘Hello?’
He answered so quickly that it threw me a bit. For a minute I couldn’t speak.
‘Hello?’
‘Ravi,’ I mumbled hesitantly, ‘it’s me. Dani.’
‘Dani?’ Ravi immediately sounded worried. Maybe he thought Lalita and I had burned the house down or something between us. ‘Are you all right?’
‘I’m fine,’ I said automatically and then realized that I wasn’t. ‘Well, I’m not really …’
‘Dani, you’re not making any sense.’ Ravi’s voice was sharp with anxiety. ‘Are you OK or aren’t you?’
‘I’m all right. I’m just lost.’
‘Lost!’
‘I got on the wrong bus,’ I explained in a rush, ‘and now I’m somewhere called Paradise Road. I tried to ring Mum but she was in a meeting.’
‘You got on the wrong bus?’ Ravi repeated. ‘How did that happen? Where’s Lalita?’
I didn’t know what to say.
‘She’s – wasn’t there,’ I muttered. ‘I think she must have gone home.’
‘I see.’ I could tell from Ravi’s voice that he did see, perfectly. ‘Stay exactly where you are, Dani.’ I could hear him turning off his computer, moving around his office. ‘I know where Paradise Road is. I’ll be there in about twenty minutes.’
‘Oh.’ I felt a bit tearful with relief and had to fight not to show it. ‘Thanks.’
‘And Dani, be careful,’ Ravi went on. ‘Don’t speak to anyone.’
‘Ravi,’ I said shakily, ‘I’m not a stupid little kid.’
‘I know. But I don’t want anything to happen to you. See you very soon.’ And he hung up.
He was there in fifteen minutes. I don’t know how because the early evening commuter traffic was building up and the roads were busy. I’d never been quite so relieved in all my life. I ran towards the big BMW smiling with relief, but as soon as I climbed in, I was crippled with shyness again.
‘Thanks for coming, Ravi.’ I was fumbling for my seat belt so that I didn’t have to look at him.
‘No problem, Dani.’ We were off again, sliding smoothly back into the line of traffic. ‘It’s the least I could do after Lalita left you behind.’
I risked a glance sideways at Ravi’s stern profile. So Lalita was in for it. I can’t say I wasn’t a little bit pleased.
‘Lalita’s usually a very responsible girl.’ Ravi was staring ahead through the windscreen. He didn’t seem to want to look at me either, which was fine by me. ‘I can’t believe she did this.’
‘We had a bit of a row at lunch time,’ I blurted out. Why did I say that?! Me and my big mouth. Why should I take any of the blame?
‘Oh.’ Ravi didn’t sound at all surprised. ‘Well, it’s early days yet. It’s going to take a while for us all to get used to living together.’
‘If we ever do.’ I didn’t mean to say that, but the words just tumbled right out of my mouth.
‘We’ll get there in the end.’ Ravi sounded very confident. Despite myself, I was impressed. He was either a very optimistic person or a very stupid one. ‘As long as we all keep trying …’
Had I been trying? I squirmed uncomfortably in my seat, feeling a bit guilty. But why should I? Lalita hadn’t exactly been trying either, had she? At least I kept most of my feelings to myself and my diary. I didn’t go around shooting my mouth off like Lalita.
Suddenly I realized that Ravi was still talking, and I hadn’t heard half of what he was saying.
‘… and maybe one day you and Lalita might even become friends …’
‘No way! Are you kidding me?’ This time I couldn’t have stopped the words coming out even if I’d tried.
‘OK, maybe that’s a bit over the top,’ Ravi admitted. He glanced sideways at me. ‘Perhaps we could aim for you both being in the same room without wanting to kill each other?’
‘That sounds better,’ I agreed, trying not to smile a little.
‘The thing is, Dani’ – Ravi cleared his throat awkwardly – ‘Lalita is actually a very nice girl …’ Oh really? ‘I know you’re not seeing the best side of her at the moment …’ Tell me about it! ‘But you and she really do have a lot in common …’ We live in the same house, and that’s it.
There was silence for a moment as we sat in a long line of cars.
‘So how did you enjoy your first day at Coppergate?’ asked Ravi.
I shrugged. ‘It was all right.’
‘You said you and Lalita had an argument.’
I gritted my teeth. Why did every bit of conversation have to come round to Lalita?
‘It was nothing,’ I said shortly. ‘Just the usual.’
Ravi was tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. For some reason he seemed really nervous and I was beginning to feel a bit uneasy myself.
‘It’s probably not fair to ask you this, Dani,’ he muttered, ‘but would you say Lalita is happy at school?’
That was the last question I was expecting. I was completely thrown. ‘Er – well …’ I stuttered, wondering what on earth I was supposed to say.
‘Sorry,’ Ravi said quickly. ‘I shouldn’t have asked. I mean, you’ve only been there a day yourself. It’s just that—’ He almost shot through a red light and had to slam on the brakes quickly. ‘I know there’s something wrong. Something going on that isn’t just about the wedding …’
Immediately I thought about those phone calls. I was right! Lalita was up to something …
‘Forget it, Dani.’ Ravi switched on the radio and there was a welcome blast of Bollywood from one of the local Asian radio stations. ‘It was a stupid question.’
Relieved, I sank back into my leather seat. That was about the longest conversation Ravi and I had ever had, but it had given me plenty to think about …
Lalita was in the front room staring out of the window when we arrived home. She peered anxiously across the drive, trying to see who was in the car. I guessed she was wondering whether I was going to get home safely or not. Not because she was worried about me, but because she was nervous about getting into trouble herself. Well, I thought, trying not to be too gleeful, here it comes …
/>
As Ravi locked the car, Nan’s silver Toyota turned into the driveway. She waved at us and climbed out.
‘Nan!’ I ran over to give her a hug. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘I came to see how your first day at school was,’ she explained. ‘And to say goodbye.’
I stared blankly at her.
‘I’m going to India tomorrow,’ Nan reminded me, shaking her head. ‘Don’t tell me you’d forgotten.’
I had, actually. Nan goes to India on holiday every year to see our elderly relatives, who are still living in the family village.
‘I didn’t expect to see you, Ravi,’ Nan remarked, her sharp eyes missing nothing. ‘You’re home early.’
‘Come in.’ Ravi opened the front door, looking slightly uncomfortable. ‘Would you excuse me for a few minutes? I have to talk to Lalita urgently. Dani will make you a cup of tea.’
As Ravi marched into the front room and shut the door, I just caught a glimpse of Lalita’s sulky face. Serves her right.
‘OK, Dani,’ Nan said as soon as we were in the shiny chrome, cream and black hi-tech kitchen, ‘what’s going on?’
I grinned. ‘I told you, Nan, you ought to be a detective.’
Nan raised her eyebrows at me. ‘Tell me everything.’
‘Lalita was supposed to bring me home but she went off without me and I got on the wrong bus.’ I dropped tea bags into two black mugs. ‘I didn’t know where I was and Ravi had to come and collect me.’
‘So now Lalita’s getting it in the neck from Ravi,’ Nan observed.
‘It wasn’t my fault,’ I said defensively. ‘I tried ringing Mum but she was in a meeting.’
‘Things aren’t getting any better between the two of you?’
‘Nan, things are never going to get any better. She hates me.’ I handed Nan her tea.
She stared into it as if the answer to the problem of Lalita and me was at the bottom of her mug. ‘Maybe she’s a little jealous of you.’
‘Jealous!’ My eyebrows almost shot off the top of my head. ‘Nan, you have to be joking. She’s the one with the big house and the posh car and the plasma TV, as she keeps reminding me.’
Dani’s Diary Page 9