Chapter 12: Anger

It’s a fact that only one thing travels faster than light, and that’s gossip. Lily and I entered the common room together to go to our lockers. All the chatter stopped and every eye followed us. Her locker was in a different section to mine so I told her to call me if she needed anything and we parted. The chatter immediately started again. Clarissa was by my locker before I’d even opened it.

“I heard you just got into a fight.”

“I’d hardly call it a fight. I just told some moron Year Eleven he needed to think before he started throwing insults around,” I said as I took my books out.

“I heard you beat him up just for talking about that slut you walked in here with.”

I slammed the locker shut and said, louder than I really needed to, “Listen, she’s—” The chatter stopped again and everyone looked in our direction. “Outside.”

“What? You can’t tell me—”

“You want to hear what I have to say? We talk outside, where no one else can hear. If not, fine by me. Find someone else to help with your Maths homework.”

“Paul!”

“What? You think I don’t know why you and I are friends?”

“If you think the only reason—”

“You mean it isn’t? What do you take me for? I’m not a fucking idiot!”

“Will you let me fin—”

“You coming outside or not?”

She studied me. “No. Not when you’re in this mood. You obviously don’t want to listen to me.”

“That’s right. I don’t. I don’t want to listen to any more gossip, any more badmouthing the innocent or any other bullshit.”

“Innocent? She—”

I held my hand up to stop her. “I said I don’t want to hear it!”

I stormed out of the common room and headed for Miss Pattison’s room. Clarissa didn’t sit next to me that lesson. Neither did anyone else. Miss Pattison gave me an odd look as she walked around collecting the essays. Her eyebrow was raised in question, but I simply handed the essay over and stared straight ahead.

Thankfully, I wasn’t called on to read that lesson, so I sat with the book open in front of me and silently stewed. It didn’t matter that I wasn’t following as someone else read—I’d already read the whole book. I had other things on my mind.

I didn’t go in The Vic if I could help it but, since I knew Stevens would show up there at some point, I went after Vicky had left for her shift at The Hall. I ordered a beer and found a table by the entrance. Even though I wasn’t eighteen for another couple of weeks, I’d never had any trouble getting served at The Vic. No one ever did.

I didn’t have to wait long for Stevens. Him and a couple of his hangers-on—probably the ones who’d enjoyed his hospitality on Saturday night—showed up just after seven-thirty. I didn’t even give him time to order a drink.

“Stevens,” I called as I got out of my seat. “You and I need to have a conversation.”

“Do we? Why the fuck would I want to talk to a no-good little shit like you?” Damn, I wanted to knock that smirk off his stupid fat face.

“I know about Saturday night.”

“What about it?”

“Lily told me all about it.”

“Who?”

“Lily!” I could feel the anger boiling up in my throat. “Lily Williams. The girl you near-as-makes-no-difference raped.”

“Hey! She chose to come with me. I didn’t force her to do nothing.”

I looked around the room. A few of the faces closest were starting to take an interest. “Let’s do this outside.”

He glared at me then at the people sitting close looking at us. “Yeah. Outside.”

“You want us to come with you, Del?” one of his goons asked. It was Mike Thornton. I grinned at him, recalling what Kelly had said about his lack of size. “What you smiling at, dipshit?”