Bad Company(9)

Did she heck!

She looked at me. Looked at Ralphie boy and she lifted her eyebrows haughtily. ‘Lissa can’t be blamed for what her father is,’ she said, smugly. ‘Even if the likes of you can.’

He hadn’t expected that. He thought she’d seemed so much of a snob he expected her to fling me from her dramatically and stride away with her pert little nose in the air. (To be quite honest, so did I.) Instead, she linked her arm in mine again, and with a giggle pulled me past Ralph and his moronic friends.

It will go down as one of the great moments of my life. I’ll never forget Ralph’s face as we ran off. Totally gobsmacked!

Later, she wanted to know all about J.B. and what he’d done. The gory details, she said. And I told her.

I’ve never really talked about it before, but I told Diane everything. How I felt about him being in prison and how I hated him now that he was out.

And Diane agreed with everything I said. We’re so alike it’s unbelievable. She’d feel exactly the same in my position, she said.

At last, I have a friend to confide in besides this diary.

The only thing I didn’t tell her about was Magnus Pierce. He scares me too much.

‘Can I ask you a favour, Lissa?’ I remember now that J.B. came into my bedroom just as I’d finished writing my diary that day. I closed the book hurriedly and he glanced at it. ‘You keep a diary now, do you?’

‘Since I lost all my friends when you were sent to jail I had to have someone to confide in, didn’t I?’ That made him blush. And what favour could he possibly want from me?

He sat at the bottom of my bed. ‘It’s about Magnus Pierce.’

I felt my stomach churn. Even the mention of his name now frightened me.

‘I don’t want Mum to know he was here today. It would only upset her.’

‘Yes, it would, wouldn’t it,’ I snapped back at him. ‘Especially after all your promises.’

He was shaking his head. ‘No. You’re wrong, sweetheart. I didn’t know he was coming. I told him never to come back here. I never want to see him, or hear from him again. You’ve got to believe that, Lissa. Just give me this one chance.’

Had he told Magnus Pierce all this? Or had Magnus Pierce come here to pay him off for keeping his mouth shut? That’s what they did. I’d seen it in a movie once.

‘If your Mum knows, she’ll only worry. And there’s nothing for her to worry about.’

I shrugged my shoulders. ‘I don’t care what you do.’ And I walked out of the room and left him sitting there. I didn’t say I’d tell Mum, and I didn’t say I wouldn’t. Let him stew for a while. Let him worry. It was about time he did.

But of course I didn’t tell Mum. I couldn’t bear the thought of her worrying. Even though it made me puke to see the way he hugged her in the kitchen and kissed her neck. He could always get round Mum no matter what he did. Well, it wouldn’t work with me. He’d never get round me again.

Murdo was mad. Again. He had just had the results of our Christmas tests and they were dismal. We were a bunch of no good, lazy, useless, ‘in-div-id-ualssss’. He spat out the words angrily.

Diane glanced at me and mouthed, ‘So much for boosting our self-esteem.’

I giggled and Murdo’s ranting halted abruptly. His eyes darted to me. ‘Something amusing you, Miss Blythe?’

I swallowed and tried to think of something to say. ‘Come here!’ When Murdo was angry his accent became more Highland than usual.

‘Come herrre!’ he burred. When Murdo gave you an order, you obeyed. I stepped from the safety of my desk and sidled down the aisle toward him.

He always seemed bigger when he was angry, and broader. Right this minute he seemed to be filling the whole classroom.

I stopped in front of him.

‘I’m glad you find all this so funny.’ His glance went to Diane. He’d seen us stuck together like glue since she’d come to the school. At first I’d thought he was pleased about that. But now, his glare seemed to include her.

That put my back up. No one glares at my best friend.

‘I’m not happy with your attitude, lass,’ he said. I was trying desperately to think of some clever retort, but all I could think of was that his breakfast was still embedded between his teeth. Bits of cornflake, and toast and a little sliver of grated cheese.

He shook his head with disappointment. ‘Lissa!’ he hissed, and he sprayed bits of cornflake all over me. ‘What have you got to say for yourself?’

I wanted to say something clever, something so funny the whole class would laugh. I wanted to say something that would impress Diane. And it came to me in a flash of inspiration.