Liam closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “OK,” he said. “But I’m staying here too. There’s no way I’m leaving you here on your own.”
Sky nodded and suddenly she was in her dad’s arms and they were hugging. Rose watched in disbelief. How could they go from shouting to hugging so easily? Where were the slamming doors and moody silences that came in between?
Liam held out his hand. “Group hug,” he said, beckoning her over.
Rose stepped between them. As Liam and Sky wrapped their arms around her it took every fibre in her body not to dissolve into a pool of tears.
Chapter Thirty-four
Why is it, Amber thought as she rolled herself up in her duvet, that when something really bad happens, everything else goes wrong too? Her life was over at school. Gerald was her biological dad, and now she couldn’t find a single Oscar Wilde quote to fit her mood. This had never happened before. She flicked through the pages of her quotations book.
“I never put off till tomorrow what I can possibly do – the day after.”
Usually this quote made her laugh, but not today. Nothing would make her laugh today. The only vaguely good thing that had happened was that Daniel had let her have the day off sick. She’d told him it was because of her period – and it was, even though the pain was gone. News of what happened in PE had torn through school and she couldn’t bear another second of people sniggering and staring.
Daniel had sent her back to bed with a mug of ginger tea. His guilt and concern had been obvious. Amber felt a sharp stab of despair. When she came to him with problems did he inwardly sigh and think, she isn’t even my daughter? If he and Gerald ever did split up, he might never want to see her again. And then a question that Amber hadn’t allowed herself to think for a very long time crept into the corner of her mind. She flicked through her quotation book. She couldn’t think it. She mustn’t. Her eyes scoured the quotes.
“All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does and that is his.”
She dropped her book on the bed, staring at it in shock. Now there was no way she could avoid the question. Not now that Oscar had raised it. Amber sat up straight and took a deep breath. If Gerald was her father, who was her mother? The question mushroomed until it seemed to fill the entire room.
Outside the boat a goose honked loudly, wrenching Sky from her sleep. Slowly, the events of the previous day trickled into her mind. The paparazzi outside the house, the photo of Rose. Rose. Sky looked across at the other bunk. Rose was sitting up, peering out of the porthole.
“Hey,” Sky said softly.
“Hey.” Rose turned and gave her a weak smile. The goose honked again.
Sky propped herself up on her elbow. “How did you sleep?”
“Really well,” Rose said, looking surprised. “You know, considering.”
Sky sat up and wrapped her blanket round her shoulders. She could hear the clatter of cutlery in the kitchen. Liam must be making breakfast. She felt a twinge of sorrow. It was so nice to wake up on the boat again. If only they didn’t have to go back to that house.
“I’m dreading going back home,” Rose said quietly.
“Yes, I bet.”
Rose looked out of the porthole again. “When I’m here I can pretend nothing’s happened.”
“Hey, girls, are you awake?” Liam called.
“Yes,” Sky called back. She turned to Rose. “Don’t worry. You’ve got me.”
“Thank you.”
Liam knocked on the door. “Can I come in?”
“Sure,” Sky replied.
Liam stepped into the cabin, holding a tray. “Breakfast is served.”
Sky was relieved: Liam seemed back to his cheery self. He placed the tray on the floor. On it were two steaming mugs of tea and a plate of buttered toast. Sky’s stomach growled. She was starving. Rose clearly was too – she’d already grabbed a piece of toast. “Thanks,” she muttered, nodding to Liam.
“You’re welcome.” Liam sat down on the end of Sky’s bunk. “Now here’s the plan. You pair are going to be staying here for the time being.”
Sky stared at him. “What?”
“For real?” Rose’s eyes lit up.
Liam nodded. “Yes – just until everything calms down.”
“But what about my mom?” Rose asked.
“Your mam is on the case with her lawyers,” Liam replied. “I told her that you didn’t post the photo so she’s threatening lawsuits to newspapers left, right and centre. Don’t worry, we’re going to take care of you. Both of you.”
Sky felt light-headed with relief. Liam was still her same old dad. Savannah hadn’t changed him. She heard a weird noise from across the cabin. At first she thought Rose was laughing, but when she looked she saw she was bent forward, shoulders quivering.
“Thank you,” Rose gasped between sobs.
Sky and Liam went and sat on either side of her.
“I know that right now it seems like the end of the world,” Liam said softly. “But it isn’t. Those gobshites will get bored soon and they’ll find some other poor sod to hound. Until then, I want you to sit tight.”
As Maali walked up Brick Lane on the way to school she felt so much older and wiser than she had just the day before. She might not have a boyfriend but she’d finally had a proper conversation with a boy and had her heart broken – all in one day. She gave a worldly sigh – at least, in the movie of her life that’s how it would have been scripted. Ash’s heart belonged to another; it was exactly like Romeo and Juliet – apart from the fact that Romeo didn’t actually have another girlfriend and his heart only ever belonged to Juliet. But it was just as tragic, and for some strange reason that almost felt good. What had happened hadn’t been at all what she’d been dreaming of, but at least something had happened with a boy and that had to be better than nothing. Didn’t it? Maali took a deep breath. Please, Lakshmi, help me to believe this.
Then she saw something that made her stop dead still: Rose – or at least a picture of Rose – on the front cover of one of the newspapers outside the corner shop. Maali stared in disbelief. The paper had superimposed little CENSORED signs over parts of the photo, but it was obvious that Rose was topless. But what…? And why…? Maali scanned the headline: FOXY FERNDALE JUNIOR. She took a copy of the paper from the stand and started to read. Rose was the daughter of Savannah Ferndale and Jason Levine. Maali’s heart skipped a beat. When Rose had said her dad was an actor, she hadn’t realized he was one of the most famous actors in the world. And her mum was one of the most famous models.
According to the newspaper article, Rose was desperate to follow in her mum’s footsteps and had posted the photo of herself on Instagram. Maali frowned. It didn’t make sense. Why hadn’t Rose mentioned that in the Moonlight Dreamers meeting? Why had she said she wanted to be a patissier? Why had she started work experience in a cake shop if she wanted to be a model? And why had she come to look around Maali’s parents’ shop? Maali put the paper back on the stand, her stomach churning. Something wasn’t right – not right at all.
Rose sat on the small deck at the back of the boat and looked down into the glimmering water. Even though it was cold out, the sun was shining and the sky was a clear, forget-me-not blue. Sky’s mom was right; Rose might still be feeling taut with tension but at least everything looked fresh, and that was definitely comforting. She watched as a brightly painted boat chugged past. Its roof was covered with potted plants and stacks of logs.
“Morning!” the guy steering the boat called out with a grin.
Rose froze. Did he recognize her? Had he seen the picture? But the guy was already looking away, down the canal.
“Morning,” she called back softly. She leaned back in her chair. Sky and Liam had gone to Hampstead – Liam to see how Savannah was getting on with the legal side of things and Sky to get them both some clean clothes.
Rose stuffed her hands into her coat pockets and thought about Liam. She’d seen another side to him in t
he last twenty-four hours. Perhaps he wasn’t quite the new-age wimp she’d thought. In fact, she was actually starting to like him. And she was really starting to like Sky. Rose thought back to last night – how Sky hadn’t pried, and how she’d believed Rose and got angry at Liam in her defence. The tension inside her began to ease. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all. Maybe things didn’t just look as fresh as a daisy. Maybe they actually were. Should she go online and check? Things might have calmed down. The photo might already be yesterday’s news and she could put her mind at rest. She pulled out her phone and nervously turned it on.
“Look, Mummy, a duck!” she heard a child cry, and glanced up to see a family walking towards her along the towpath. The dad was pushing a pram and the mom was running after a toddler who, in turn, was waddling after a duck.
“Quack, quack!” the kid called to the duck, before dissolving into a fit of giggles.
Rose smiled. Then she felt her phone vibrate, again and again. The palms of her hands went clammy as she looked at the screen. She had three missed calls from Savannah and two new texts. One from Savannah and one from Matt. Her heart plummeted. She opened Savannah’s first:
Liam told me the truth about what happened. Hope you’re ok. Call me. Love you. xoxo
Then, fingers trembling, she opened Matt’s.
I’m sorry. Can we talk?
He was sorry? Before she could even think about replying her email notification went off. She clicked on her inbox. There were over one hundred new emails. She scrolled down. Most of them were Twitter notifications: people she didn’t know mentioning her in tweets. She clicked one open.
Gill June @junechild6
SLUT!!! @roselevine
Rose pressed delete. She saw a Facebook notification. One of the girls in her class had tagged her in a post. Classy! Not! she’d written, under a link to a newspaper story on Rose. Her comment had got twenty-seven likes.
Rose went back to her emails. She saw the name of a newspaper in her inbox. Then another. And another. The subject lines were Press Inquiry, Possible Interview, Feature Piece. She clicked on one of them.
Dear Rose,
I’m writing an article about you and your mother for Lady and Home magazine and I was wondering if it would be possible to have a chat with you.
All best,
Felicity Barker-Brown
Anxiety scurried through Rose’s body like an army of ants. People weren’t just writing tweets and comments about her, they were writing whole articles – people who didn’t know her and didn’t even know the truth. Things hadn’t got better at all. They’d got worse. A lot worse.
“Hello, lady!” the little kid called up to her from the towpath.
Rose stared at him blankly. What was she going to do? She’d spent years trying to avoid Savannah’s spotlight. Now it was beaming straight down on her. Everyone would recognize her and think they knew her – the way they did with her parents – and she’d never be able to have a normal life. She pictured trying to help Francesca in the patisserie and people coming in to point and stare. “There she is – the slutty daughter of Savannah Ferndale,” they’d say before ordering their cakes. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to let you go,” she imagined Francesca telling her, disappointment written all over her beautiful face.
“Hello, lady!” the little kid called again.
Rose blinked. His mom was with him now, and they were both staring up at her. Oh God, did the mom recognize her?
Rose jumped to her feet and leapt down the stairs into the boat, slamming the door behind her. What if the woman told the press that she’d spotted her on the boat? What if they found her here? Then where would she go? What would she do? OK, get a grip, she told herself, leaning against a kitchen cupboard. You have to do something. But what?
And then it came to her. She pulled out drawers until she found the cutlery. She rummaged through the knives and forks until she found what she was looking for. But would they be sharp enough? Rose didn’t care. She grabbed the scissors and headed for the bathroom.
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Date: Fri 6th November 13:05
Subject: Are you OK?
Dear Rose,
I hope you’re OK. I saw your picture in the paper this morning and I was worried. The things they were saying – it didn’t sound like you. I mean, if it is true then that’s fine, obviously, but if it’s not then I hope you’re all right. Do call me if you need to chat.
Lots of love,
Maali xxx
PS: I saw “the farmer” yesterday. It didn’t go how I had dreamed, but at least I’ve had my first proper conversation with a boy. So that’s something. I guess…
wildeatheart.tumblr.com
BULLYING: WHY?
Why, in a world that produced wordsmiths like William Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde, would you waste your words on spite?
Why, when words can be crafted into beautiful things, like “The curves of your lips rewrite history” and “Journeys end in lovers meeting”, would you twist your words into cruel weapons?
Why, when you could be trawling through a vintage fair for hidden treasure, would you rather be hunting for your next prey?
Why, when you could be eating creamy French cheese, satiny Swiss chocolate or grapes ripened by the Italian sun, would you rather spew your poison?
Why, in a world where one in nine people are starving, where millions of children are denied an education, where 774 million people cannot read and write, would you waste your anger on those who don’t deserve it?
Why, when you can make someone’s day with a smile or kind deed, would you ruin it with a sneer?
Why, when you are made from the dust of exploded stars, would you act as if you’ve been carved from ice?
Why, in a world where there is love, would you ever choose hate?
Amber
Chapter Thirty-five
Sky followed Liam into the hall and slammed the door behind her. The clamouring of photographers faded into the background. The police had cleared them off last night, but this morning a new pack arrived.
“Bunch of scumbags,” Liam muttered under his breath.
The house was deathly silent. Then the study door flew open and Savannah rushed out, followed closely by Antonio, his tan glowing almost orange against his pale pink jumper.
“Where is she?” Savannah cried, looking from Sky to Liam. “Where’s Rose?”
“It’s OK, she’s still on the boat,” Liam said, placing a hand on Savannah’s shoulder.
Savannah brushed him off. Her face was puffy and her eyes were bloodshot. She stared at Liam wildly. “You’ve left her alone?”
“Only for an hour or so. We’ve just come to get some clean clothes.” Liam turned back to Sky. “Do you want to go and get some stuff together?”
Sky nodded and headed towards the stairs.
“But I don’t understand!” Savannah cried. “Why didn’t you bring her back?”
“I think it’s best to keep her out of the spotlight for a few days – away from yer men outside,” Liam said gently.
“We need her back here to do an interview,” Antonio said, keying something into his phone.
“Oh, do you now?”
Sky froze on the landing at Liam’s tone. He never, ever lost his temper, but occasionally, when he was very pissed off, he would be ultra-sarcastic.
“Yes,” Antonio said. “I need her to set the record straight.”
“You need?” Liam said, again his voice icy cool.
“Yes. I need to do some urgent damage limitation,” Antonio muttered, still tapping away on his phone.
“Will you take a listen to yourself?” Liam said. “What about what Rose needs?”
Antonio gave a dramatic sigh. “For God’s sake, you stupid man, it’s all over the internet. We need to make it go away.”
Every cell in Sky’s body went on high alert. She peered down over the banister. Liam’s f
ace had flushed crimson.
“And how is this anything to do with you?” he asked, staring at Antonio.
“I’m Savannah’s manager,” Antonio said patiently, putting his phone in his pocket. “If it’s hurting her career it has everything to do with me.”
Liam took a step towards him. “Tell me, when you were little and all the other kids were dreaming of being footballers or astronauts, did you dream of one day being a parasite?”
Antonio frowned. “What?”
“Well, that’s exactly what you are, isn’t it? Getting rich off somebody else’s talent. Not giving a shit about how much pain they might be in or that you might be causing.”
“I’m sorry, but I really don’t have to listen to this.”
“No, you’re right, you don’t.” Liam spun round behind Antonio and got him in an arm lock. “Rose won’t be doing any interviews.”
“This is assault!” Antonio cried out.
“No, actually, this is not assault,” Liam said, frogmarching Antonio to the door. “This is throwing out the crap. But if you want to know what an assault feels like, I’m sure it can be arranged.”
“Savannah!” Antonio shrieked. “You can’t let him do this to me.”
“You should be ashamed of yourself,” Liam continued. “Always pushing her to do more work, lose more weight, have more surgery, just so you can get fat off her back.”
“Savannah!” Antonio cried again.
Sky peered over the banister to see what Savannah was doing. Surely she was going to go nuts. But Savannah was leaning against the wall, head in hands.
Liam opened the door and shoved Antonio outside. “Go on, join the rest of the parasites. Why don’t you be the star of the picture for once?” Sky heard the whirr of camera shutters before Liam slammed the door shut. He rubbed his hands as if he were getting rid of every last trace of Antonio. Then he took a deep breath.
“I’m sorry,” he said to Savannah softly. “I’m just trying to look out for you and Rose.”
“I don’t know what to do,” Savannah sobbed. “What should I do?”
The Moonlight Dreamers Page 19