Worse Than Boys(27)

The police headed for their car and left. Wizzie waited till they were gone. Then she leant close to Rose. ‘Catch you later for that,’ Wizzie mouthed, and I knew there was trouble coming. The first time there would be trouble and I wouldn’t be there to share it. I’d always known my boldness gave them courage. How could they manage without me? Maybe they wouldn’t want to.

Or maybe I had another chance to show them they needed me.

‘Catch you later,’ Wizzie had warned. And I was going to be there when she did.





Chapter Twenty-Four


Wizzie and her gang never wasted any time. If they said they would catch you later, you’d better be ready for later to mean later that same day. I knew that, so I hung around the gates waiting to see what would happen.

They were standing by the bus stop, watching for Erin and Rose and Heather coming out of the school gates. Cameron High stands at the top of the hill, overlooking the town. Beyond the school there is a sprawling new estate of modern houses, but go past that estate and you are into the wilds of nowhere.

When I saw Wizzie and her gang standing by that bus stop, silhouetted against the darkening sky, it sent a shiver down the back of my neck. I wasn’t afraid. As I watched my friends – why did I still call them my friends? – as I watched them strolling out of the school gates I knew how they would be feeling. Tensed and ready for anything. My eyes darted to Wizzie and the others, spread out across the street. Grace stood with her fists clenched and she’d never looked more like a horse – a war horse. Lauren kept licking her lips nervously. Then there was Wizzie, bold and scary – that knife of hers was never far from everyone’s mind. Though I’d never known her to use it. But get Wizzie, and once she was out of action the rest would fall like pins in a bowling alley. But my friends didn’t have me there to whisper that advice to them. Instead, they had Geraldine Mooney, standing beside them where I should be. I’d been replaced already.

Common sense told me to go home and forget about them. Let them get on with it themselves. I shouldn’t care. But I couldn’t move. It was as if my feet were glued to the ground.

They stopped and stared at the Hell Cats.

‘What are you looking at?’ Grace said, and at the same time she moved forward. And suddenly, it was Mooney who leapt towards her – showing off if you ask me, desperate to make an impression. She landed against Grace and bounced off her. I could have told her she would have done that. She fell back on the ground and Grace laughed that neighing laugh of hers and stepped over her. By that time they were all on each other. Wizzie grunted and grabbed at Heather. Heather screamed as Wizzie gripped her hair and lifted her from the ground. Erin and Rose had jumped in too and suddenly they were all a mass of arms and legs, flailing about wildly.

Erin was on the ground, struggling to get up, but big Grace was almost sitting on her. Mooney was trying to pull her off, but she had Lauren attached to her neck.

They were losing. My friends were losing. They needed me. They must see that. I couldn’t help myself. I didn’t even think about it really. I didn’t do it to impress or even to get back in with them. It came as naturally as flicking a fly from my face. I jumped in to help them.

I had Lauren off Geraldine in a moment and landed a punch that sent her reeling across the ground. I pushed Geraldine aside and gave Grace such a ferocious push she went toppling off Erin. I reached for Erin’s hand and pulled her to her feet. Her eyes flashed when she saw me, but I turned from her till we were standing, back to back, the way we always did. Ready to take on all comers. I was swaying on my feet as Grace headed back towards me. I stretched out my arms, eager to take her on. The adrenalin rushed through me.

And suddenly, Grace stopped in her tracks. In fact, everything stopped. It was like that bit in a movie when the soundtrack fades and the action goes into slow motion. I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned, ready to punch, thinking it was Wizzie or one of the others who had grabbed me.

But it was Erin. Her face was angry, her voice bitter. ‘Piss off!’ she said. ‘We don’t need any help from you.’

‘But …’ I looked round them and I’ll never forget the triumph on Wizzie’s face.

She dusted herself off. ‘Yeah, let’s put this off till another day. You lot aren’t able to handle us on your own.’

And I realised that was what I had done. I had made it look as if the Lip Gloss Girls couldn’t win a fight without me.

‘Erin, I didn’t mean … I only wanted …’

None of them listened. Erin spat on the ground in front of me. ‘I wish you could take the hint … You’re not wanted.’