Читать книгу Dramas of a Teenage Heiress - Katy Birchall - Страница 9

On the way to assembly, it dawned on me what Ella was up to.

It was SO obvious. She couldn’t bear that Grace and Olly picked me over her last term, so now she was jumping on the Nancy Rose bandwagon, trying to make all my friends think I’m a terrible person and turn them against me!

It made perfect sense. She had been wanting to get back at me ever since our falling out last term and Nancy Rose had given her the perfect opportunity.

‘Think about it, Grace,’ I said under my breath as we made our way to assembly, the boys walking ahead of us. ‘Why else would she tell Cal that he was a nice guy?’

‘It was a bit strange,’ Grace agreed. ‘The last time she spoke to Cal it was to tell him that his hair reminded her of an erratically blow-dried poodle.’

‘She is out to get me and you HAVE to be on your guard to make sure that she doesn’t turn you against me with her snide remarks. It’s all part of her cunning plan.’

Grace laughed. ‘Don’t be silly, Flick! You know what Ella’s like, she just says stupid things. We know to ignore her. But I wouldn’t worry, I don’t think she’s concocted some genius plan to make all your friends dislike you.’

‘You don’t know Ella like I do,’ I huffed. ‘She can hold a grudge. Did I ever tell you about the time I drank her coconut water?’

‘Um, no?’

‘Boy, was that a drama.’ I sighed, recalling the incident. ‘I thought she wouldn’t mind if I drank her coconut water, but it turned out it wasn’t just any coconut water, it was special coconut water that her mum had had imported for her, and that was the last carton. To this day, I wish I had never touched it.’

Grace blinked at me. ‘What happened?’

‘She was so angry that she uninvited me from a sleepover at her house.’

‘She uninvited you from a sleepover because you drank her coconut water ?’ Grace looked stunned. ‘You’re joking, right?’

‘Sadly not,’ I said, as we took our seats in the main hall. ‘I had to ask Matthew if he could work his head concierge magic and track some down for me.’

‘And did he?’

‘You know his motto, Grace.’ I smiled. ‘Anything is possible at Hotel Royale. He managed to get a whole crate sent in. After I showed up at school with that for her, she bought me a new friendship bracelet.’

‘Wow.’ Grace nodded, looking impressed. ‘All that because of some coconut water.’

‘I’m telling you, Grace,’ I whispered, spotting Ella a few rows ahead chatting to some girls in the year above, ‘this morning was probably just the beginning. She’s probably talking about me right now to those girls. Probably telling them that I’m the worst person in the world and not to go anywhere near me.’

Grace and I both leaned forwards to try and listen in to her conversation.

‘I think,’ Grace began thoughtfully, ‘she’s actually talking about perfume.’

‘Of course! Don’t you get it?’ I hissed, shaking my head at Ella’s back. ‘Perfume is floral! Floral, like roses ! Like Nancy ROSE! She’s tapping into everybody’s subconscious, laying the groundwork so that everyone is thinking about it all the time!’

Grace gave me a strange look and opened her mouth to speak, but then the headmistress, Mrs Walker, arrived and the room descended into hush.

Mrs Walker began reading out the various notices but I couldn’t listen; I was too distracted by the back of Ella’s head. I kept thinking about what she’d said to Cal before assembly and every time I thought about it, I felt a new wave of anger.

She had always been jealous of me, even while we were friends. I remembered how pleased she was when she came for lunch at the hotel with her mum. She caught me serving guests their food because Timothy, one of our best waiters, was teaching me how everything in the dining room works. She had been so quick to spread rumours about me. And even now, when we hadn’t spoken for weeks, she was straight in there, jumping for joy at my public humiliation. Had she ever been my friend at all? Or had she always been lying in wait, secretly hoping that I would screw up? Ugh, I felt so betrayed!

Ella is SO Edmund with the Turkish delight.

I was so engrossed in Ella’s backstabbing that I didn’t hear Mrs Walker call out Cal’s name.

‘What’s Cal doing?’ I whispered to Grace as he stood up and went to the front of the hall.

‘You’ll see,’ she said with a smile.

Cal cleared his throat and he shuffled his feet nervously as the entire school waited for him to speak.

‘I would like to announce that we are launching a school newspaper, which will report on school news and events, as well as including interesting general features and competitions. Uh . . . we will be holding our first meeting after school today for anyone who would like to join the editorial team, and the first issue will be published at the end of term. Yeah. Thanks.’

He scuffled hurriedly back to his seat and Mrs Walker thanked him, emphasising that the newspaper would be an excellent opportunity for budding journalists and would look good on university and job applications.

‘Why didn’t he tell me?’ I asked Grace who gave him a thumbs up when he caught her eye.

‘You had a lot on your mind,’ she explained before adding proudly, ‘I’m going to be an investigative reporter.’

‘I thought you wanted to be a vet when you were older?’ I whispered in confusion.

‘It’s good to have a range of activities and interests on your applications. Veterinary courses are competitive; I have to stand out. It’s not all about grades.’

I sat back in my seat as Mrs Walker read out the rest of the notices, before dismissing everyone for the first lesson of the day. I didn’t get the chance to ask Cal about the whole newspaper thing, so I had to wait until lunchtime when we were sitting in our now-usual corner of the canteen.

Every room I’d walked into since the start of the day had descended into ripples of whispers, so I wasn’t exactly surprised that all the students in the canteen looked up as I came in and then watched me sit down.

‘Do they all seriously believe that I tackled Nancy Rose to the ground over a handbag?’ I sighed, glancing nervously around me.

‘I think it’s a good thing,’ Grace said cheerily.

‘How is it a good thing?’ I asked, baffled.

‘No one will mess with you now. I think most people are genuinely impressed that you took someone down.’

‘I did not take someone down,’ I groaned, lowering my fork and burying my head in my hands. ‘She tried to take the handbag from me.’

‘Technically, you took it from her first,’ Cal added.

I glared at him. ‘Whose side are you on?’

‘Always yours,’ he replied with a mischievous grin. ‘Even if you are a bit of a diva.’

‘Like Grace said, I think being escorted out of a handbag launch will do wonders for your street cred.’ Olly nodded, taking a sip of water. ‘No one will ever consider taking a dachshund handbag from you again.’

‘Let’s change the subject,’ I insisted, wishing I could go home and hide under my duvet again. ‘So, a school newspaper, huh, Cal? You should have said something.’

‘I felt you might not be too fond of journalists at the moment.’

‘Some journalists,’ I replied.

‘I can’t wait to get started on the paper,’ Olly said enthusiastically. ‘I’ve got some great ideas for the first issue.’

‘Wait a second . . .’ I looked from Olly to Cal and back to Olly again. ‘You’re involved in the newspaper too?’

‘Meet the brand-new political commentator and film critic.’ Olly smiled. ‘It’s an unusual combination, I know.’

‘Wow,’ I said. I knew Olly wanted to go into politics or be a lawyer, despite his musical talents, so it kind of made sense.

‘I’m hoping that having someone as popular as Olly on the team might boost the appeal of joining,’ Cal said knowingly. ‘When word gets out that you’re involved, the crowds will flock.’

‘Ew.’ Grace wrinkled her nose as her brother laughed off Cal’s comments.

Cal was probably right, though. Olly was one of the hottest boys in the school, with his long dark eyelashes and sharp cheekbones and everything. Sometimes, when we talk, I find it hard to concentrate on what he’s saying because his eyes are so pretty and I get all lost in them and then I realise that he’s asked me a question and is waiting for a reply. I usually have no idea what he’s asked me because I’ve been thinking about how intense his eyes are, and whether he uses an eyelash curler or if that can possibly be natural, so I panic and just have to nod and go, ‘YES,’ confidently, hoping for the best.

This has led to many an awkward situation, like the time I accidentally agreed to be a backing singer with Grace at one of his band’s gigs.

Three minutes into the first rehearsal, he stopped the song, turned round to me with this amused expression and said, ‘I thought you said you could sing?’

Which is precisely why I did NOT leave my state-of-the-art speakers to Olly in my will that I wrote the other day after watching Nancy Rose’s vlog, despite him always whining on about how badly he wants the same ones. That will teach him for being so rude about my angelic vocals.

Instead, those beauties will be going to Bruce, Grace’s tortoise.

‘So, the team is looking strong so far,’ Cal continued. ‘We have Olly on culture, Grace as our lead investigative reporter and I will be heading up general features.’

‘And you’re the editor,’ Grace said, making Cal blush. ‘Kind of an important role.’

‘I’m hoping we’ll get some keen photographers too. Olly, doesn’t your friend Liam have a pretty cool camera?’

Before Olly could answer, I cleared my throat.

‘What about me?’

The three of them blinked back at me.

‘What about you?’ Cal asked, looking confused.

‘What’s my role?’

‘You . . . you want a role on the paper?’ Cal shared a confused glance with Olly. ‘You realise it would be extra work. You know, outside of school. You’d have to come up with ideas and stuff.’

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ I said huffily, narrowing my eyes at him.

‘Nothing, nothing.’ Cal laughed, holding up his hands. ‘Don’t want to rile the Handbag Hooligan.’

‘I am NOT a Handbag Hooligan,’ I fumed, feeling my cheeks growing hot. ‘And for your information there are loads of ideas I can bring to your stupid newspaper. Loads.’

‘Like?’ He said, leaning back and folding his arms with a bemused expression.

Honestly, there is no one in the world who can wind me up and get under my skin like Cal Weston can. He loves doing it too, which makes it even MORE infuriating.

‘Like . . . well . . .’ My mind went blank. ‘I’ll . . . think of something, just you see.’

‘I look forward to hearing your pitch at the first meeting after school.’ Cal grinned. ‘See you there?’

‘Oh, you bet you will.’

Later on I kind of regretted my decision. I had exactly zero ideas to bring to the paper and I didn’t know how I could be of any help, either. Everyone else had their specific interests, and working on this paper would help their future career. My future career was already decided for me – running Hotel Royale – and the only other interest I could think of that I had was my dog and his, frankly, fabulous wardrobe.

So, I decided that I would just tell Cal that actually, he was right. I didn’t have anything to bring to his stupid newspaper. I had plenty of other pressing things to do with my very important time, thank you very much.

Like trying to convince the world that I wasn’t a Handbag Hooligan.

When the bell rang, I marched determinedly into the classroom where the newspaper meeting was being held and straight up to Cal who was standing by the board at the front.

‘Cal,’ I announced, before he could say anything. ‘I’m not here to help —’

‘Then why are you here?’ a bored voice asked from the corner of the room.

I turned round and my jaw dropped.

‘Meet the newest member of our team,’ Cal said, shooting a warning look as he gestured to Ella.

You have GOT to be kidding.