The New Girl (10 page)

NINETEEN

“Hey!” Ollie protested, struggling on to his feet. “What are you doing?”

He rushed at the two men who had pushed him over. Lila was frozen to the spot. It was only when she recognized Tim's green hoodie that she found her voice.

“NO!” she screamed, dashing between her brothers and Ollie. “STOP!”

“We have to sort out this scumbag first,” Alex snarled, curling his fists. “He had his hands all over you!”

“Two against one,” said Tim, in Ollie's face. “What are you going to do, mate?”

Lila was mortified. How could her brothers do this to her, at the most romantic moment of her life?

“I'll protect you, Lila,” said Ollie angrily. “These two thugs don't scare me.”

“You are so
dead
,” Alex roared.

“He's my
friend
, you idiots!” Lila cried, shoving Alex backwards.
He'll never be anything else now
, she thought in agony. He wouldn't dare, the way her brothers were glaring at him. “Leave him alone!”

Alex paused, breathing hard. Tim hung back uncertainly while Ollie just looked confused.

“We've been waiting for you at home,” Alex accused Lila with a jab of his finger. “You should have been back an hour ago. We were worried, so we came looking. And guess what we found?” He prodded Ollie meaningfully in the chest.

“You don't understand anything, Alex,” Lila said through gritted teeth. She had never been so embarrassed in her life. “My friend will probably file for assault, the way you flew at him!”

“Who
are
these guys?” Ollie demanded, glaring at Tim and Alex.

“My brothers,” Lila groaned. She wished she could just curl up and die. “The big idiot is Alex, and the small idiot is Tim.”

“Pleased to meet you,” said Tim. “And stay away from our sister.”

“I'm really sorry you had to meet them at their worst,” said Lila. She pushed her hair out of her eyes, and realized she was shaking. “You two owe Ollie an apology.”

“It's OK,” said Ollie shortly. He brushed the sand from his blazer, where he had landed on his back. “They were just protecting you. I guess they don't want you being with any guys.”

“Glad you feel that way,” said Alex.

Lila wanted to cry. Ollie would never kiss her now. She wondered how to make things right again.

“Thanks for looking out for me, Ollie,” she said at last. She kissed his cheek, and tried not to remember how close she had been to kissing him for real.

“Sure,” he said. He dug his fists into his pockets and gazed at the sand, looking confused.

“You're coming home now,” Alex ordered, seizing Lila by the arm.

Lila shook him off. Her eyes filled with tears. “I'm not a dog,” she hissed. “I can walk by myself, thanks.”

Frustration and anger spilled out of Lila as soon as they were out of Ollie's sight.

“I hate you,” she said passionately. “Both of you. I'm only coming because I don't want any more trouble.”

“You've only been in this place for a week and already you've found a boyfriend,” said Alex with a shake of his head.

I haven't!
Lila wanted to shout.
And thanks to you two idiots, I probably never will!

“He looked like a jock,” said Tim. “You shouldn't trust jocks. They're not after your brains.”

“How would you know, you total nerd?” said Lila bitterly.

“You can't go out with the first guy who shows an interest, Lil,” said Alex. “You'll get a reputation.”

Seething, Lila rammed her hands deep into her pockets and imagined doing dark and terrible things to both her brothers when they got home.

“At last!” said her mum, running down the stairs at the sound of Alex's key in the door. “Where have you
been
, Lila? You know the rules for this week. I have been crazy with worry!”

Lila looked at the white, pinched expression on her mother's face. A wave of remorse washed away her wallowing anger and resentment. Her mum only wanted what was best for her. She wanted her to be safe. Lila had caused them so much trouble already. It wasn't fair to start it all over again.

“I'm sorry,” she said wearily. “It won't happen again.”

She bowed her head and waited for her brothers to land her in it.

“Don't give her a hard time, Mum,” said Alex. “Like some idiot tourist, she tried to find her way home through the Old Town, and she got totally lost. Without her phone she couldn't warn anyone that she was going to be late. We found her on the beach.”

“Crying,” Tim added helpfully.

Lila looked up, startled and wary. Alex gave her a little wink. All of a sudden, she didn't want to kick her brothers out to sea any more.

She saw her mother visibly relax. “Well, I suppose it's a little risky, sending you to school without a phone,” she said. “The Old Town is like a rabbit warren. Maybe we should rethink that. I'll talk to your dad when he gets in.”

“Good idea,” said Tim.

Alex pinched Lila's cheek and wobbled it between his fingers. “That way, she'll never get lost again.”

Lila's mother disappeared into her study, looking as though a great weight had been taken off her shoulders.

“Thanks,” Lila muttered after a moment. She rubbed her cheek where Alex had pinched it.

“Any time,” said Tim.

“But not too often,” Alex warned.

Climbing slowly up the stairs to her room, Lila shut the door and leaned her head against the wall.
What a day
, she thought. It was a miracle she'd come through it alive. She dialled Polly's number on the landline. Polly answered at once.

“Hello?”

“Hi,” Lila said, grateful to hear her friend's voice. “You won't believe the afternoon I've had.”

She described how she'd seen Ollie on the beach after leaving the others outside the Heartbeat, and how close they had come to kissing, and how sure she felt that he was her secret admirer. But it was as if all the humiliation with her brothers had knocked the thrill out of it. And Ollie hadn't even said goodbye. “He's a superficial kind of guy,” Polly said. “Ollie has about as much depth as a paddling pool, Lila. He can't help flirting with every girl he sees, except when he's kicking a ball around a muddy field, and then the ball gets all his attention. I really don't think he's the guy for you.”

Lila felt surprised, and a little offended. Polly was being a bit harsh.

“He's not superficial,” she said defensively. “You should have seen the way he stood up for me against my brothers.”

“That doesn't mean the guy has any depth,” said Polly. “Just a quick temper. Anyway,” she added briskly, “I have news too. Eve's cousin Flynn was at the Heartbeat Café today. We used to hang out a couple of years ago, before he left Heartside for uni. So Flynn's been invited to Eve's Valentine's party, obviously, and we got talking when Eve went to the bathroom, and he invited me as his date! I don't like him particularly, but it'll really annoy Eve if I go.”

So much for the truce
, Lila thought. “I thought you and Eve made up today?”

“No chance,” said Polly. “She pretended to be nice to me in the café today, but I could tell she didn't mean it. She still hasn't invited me to her party. This will really wind her up.”

“That's pretty cynical, Polly,” said Lila. “I really want this truce to work, you know.”

“Sorry,” said Polly simply. “But I still don't trust her.”

“Can't you even try?” Lila urged. “For Rhi's sake, if nothing else.”

There was a pause on the other end.

“So you think I shouldn't go to the party with Flynn?” asked Polly reluctantly.

Lila rubbed her eyes. “I didn't say that.”

“But what about the anti-Eve party we were going to have? Now you'll be on your own and—”

“I'll survive,” Lila interrupted. “Don't miss out just because of me. I know you really want to go. I'll see you at school tomorrow, OK?”

“Sure,” said Polly. Lila thought she sounded relieved. “See you in class.”

She slumped on to her bed and closed her eyes.

TWENTY

On her way home after school on Wednesday, Lila paused on the corner of the pier. Eve was coming towards her, her auburn hair bouncing on her shoulders. Lila wondered if she should run away, or slide down an alleyway into the Old Town so she could avoid her. But Eve was waving and smiling, and Lila knew there was no escape.

Part of her was happy about it. She had learned from hard experience what it was like at Heartside High with Eve as her enemy, and her life was much easier now that the rest of the school had stopped ignoring her. Several kids had even started talking to her, prepared to take the challenge she had thrown at them in the canteen on Monday: to get to know her for themselves. But the rest of her was cautious. Could it really be this easy? She couldn't help agreeing with Polly, that Eve was hard to trust.

The truce had held for two days now, ever since Rhi had laid down the law on the pier. Eve had moved from ignoring Lila to nodding at her, sometimes even saying “Hi.” And smiling too. Lila couldn't get used to that. Every time Eve smiled in her direction, it felt like she was looking at a happy crocodile.

I will make this work
, she thought firmly to herself as Eve broke into a light jog towards her.
Rhi is looking much happier this week. It's the least I can do for Rhi.

“Hi!” Eve tossed her hair off her shoulders and adjusted the pink shoulder bag she was wearing. “I'm going to the police station now. Do you want to come?”

When Lila blinked in surprise, Eve gave a giggle. “I'm not in trouble or anything. I've just got something for your dad.”

“I didn't think you knew my dad,” Lila said.

Eve fell into step beside Lila. “I said hello at the Heartbeat Café, remember? Although this is actually from my father.” She patted her shoulder bag. “We give out Valentine gifts every year for Dad's business connections and local VIPs. It's a Heartside tradition. Your dad counts as a VIP. Cool, don't you think?”

Lila wasn't sure how she felt about that. Her dad may have been the chief of police around here, but he was still just her dad.

“What's the present?” she asked, craning her neck to sneak a peek inside Eve's bag.

“Nosy,” said Eve, her sharp side flashing through like a knife. She backtracked with a smile. “Don't spoil the surprise. You'll be able to see for yourself when we deliver it, won't you? My father counts as a VIP around here too. He's the mayor as well as one of this town's biggest employers, did you know?”

Lila shook her head.

“We do have a responsibility as one of the most influential families in the town to support local businesses. So we give out Valentines so that everyone feels valued,” said Eve, airily.

If you're trying to intimidate me, it's working,
Lila thought gloomily. The police station lay close to the high street, not far from the clock tower on the eastern edge of town. Lila walked with Eve along Marine Parade, only half-listening as Eve chattered about life in Heartside.

“I know practically everyone along here,” she said, waving at the shops and ice-cream parlours they were passing. “Their businesses need serious updating, though. My dad has plans for redeveloping this whole beachfront. It would be amazing if all the tenants would wake up and see the benefits of modernization. But they keep doing things the old way, like it's somehow better.” She sighed. “No one glamorous will ever set up business in Heartside when it still looks like this.”

Lila liked the way the old shops and parlours of Marine Parade looked, with their weatherboarded faces, old-style neon signs, curly metal balconies and gleaming lead-paned windows. But in the interests of the truce, she kept her mouth shut.

Eve pointed at a gleaming development perched up high on the cliffs ahead of them. Cranes bristled on the skyline. “My father's building that,” she said. “It's a new shopping centre. He's going to build these amazing apartments with sea views up there too. He wants to build a marina to go alongside all of it. Imagine if all those billionaire yachts you see in the Mediterranean started coming to Heartside! It would be amazing. Like St Tropez.”

Eve's eyes sparkled at the thought of beautiful yachts being moored in the bay. For the first time, Lila saw something likeable about Eve. Suddenly, she understood why Rhi liked her. There was something about being with her that made anything seem possible.

“Hello,” Eve said to the police constable on the reception desk in the police station. She put her pink bag on the counter and drummed her neatly manicured nails. “I'm here to see Chief Murray.”

“Your name, miss?” grunted the constable.

“Eve Somerstown.”

Lila noticed how the constable's expression changed at the mention of Eve's surname.

“Oh, and this is Chief Murray's daughter,” Eve added, waving regally at Lila. “So, is he free?”

Two minutes later, Lila and Eve were ushered into the chief of police's office. Lila gazed around at the white walls, hung with photos of her father at different stages in his career. His office looked much the same as the one he'd had in London, only with a view of the cliffs and the sparkling sea.

Her father sat in a low-backed swivel chair, his hat perched in front of him on his desk. “This is a pleasant surprise, Lila,” he said. “And Miss Somerstown too?”

Something in his tone suggested to Lila that their visit wasn't a pleasant surprise at all.

“Please call me Eve, Chief Murray.” Eve didn't seem to have noticed the strange atmosphere. “My father sent me with a little Valentine's gift for you. Silly really, but it's a Heartside tradition at this time of year. I do hope you like chocolates?”

She pulled a tissue-wrapped box of confectionery from her bag and laid it expectantly on Lila's dad's desk.

“That's thoughtful, Miss Somerstown,” said Lila's dad, “but I'm afraid I can't accept it.”

Lila wondered why her dad was insisting on using Eve's surname. It sounded strange and old-fashioned.
Maybe that's how they always do things in police stations,
she thought. She felt embarrassed, and a little annoyed. First Polly, now Eve. Didn't her father want her to make friends? If everything Eve had told her was true, the Somerstowns were worth knowing in this town.

“Why ever not?” Eve said, sounding a little indignant.

“Police officers can't accept gifts, however kindly meant,” Lila's dad replied. He pushed the chocolates politely but firmly back across the desk.

Eve's cheeks flared with two spots of colour. Lila found herself feeling sorry for the Queen Bee of Heartside.

“Oh,” she said, looking upset. “I hadn't thought of it that way.”

Placing his hat on his head, Lila's dad extended an arm, showing Lila and Eve back into the corridor. “Like I say, it was a nice thought,” he said. “Lila,” he added a little pointedly, “shouldn't you be heading home?”

“Oh, does Lila have to go home already?” Eve sounded genuinely disappointed. “I thought I could show her a few Valentine's Day preparations before the parade on Saturday.”

Lila's dad looked reluctant. “My daughter knows the rules this week,” he said.

Eve wrinkled her nose prettily. “Valentine's Day only comes once a year, Chief Murray. We treat it like Christmas in Heartside. Just for a while?”

Her father sighed. “You're to be home by five, Lila. Understood?”

“Sorry about my dad,” Lila told Eve as they left the station. She felt she had to explain. “I'm supposed to head straight home after school. Strict parents, you know?”

“Poor you,” said Eve. “Oh well, an hour's better than nothing. Do you know about our Valentine's Day Festival on Saturday?”

Lila had seen the banners, and the street paintings, and heard the love songs on the town speakers. Valentine's Day was hard to miss around here. “Kind of,” she said.

“You have to see the floats – they're really gorgeous,” said Eve. She broke out the box of confectionery intended for Lila's father and put one in her mouth. “So are these,” she added with a laugh. “Your dad's missing out.”

The light was starting to fade from the sky now, and the streetlights were flickering on in a string of pink down the high street. They shared the chocolates, and Lila let Eve drag her behind the high street to a wide car park where a row of fantastically decorated floats stood under cover, ready for Saturday's festival. They were festooned in hearts and cupids, lips and ribbons and every possible thing vaguely connected with love. Lots of people were working on their floats in the lamplight, scrubbing the wheels of the vehicles, adjusting banners and layering on fresh swags of glitter and ribbon. The cheerful chatter and the smell of paint hung heavy in the air. Lila couldn't help relaxing, and allowed the romance of it all to soak into her skin. It was impossible to remain uneasy, surrounded by this many symbols of love and happiness. She couldn't help thinking of Ollie. What did he make of all of this?

“On Saturdays this place turns into a great big market,” Eve told her. “It's especially good when Valentine's Day falls on a Saturday, like this year. You'll be able to buy
everything
to do with love – everything except a boyfriend.” She giggled. “Believe me, I've tried.”

Lila felt something close to happiness as she laughed at Eve's daft joke and helped to finish off the chocolates. She was starting to believe that Eve was warming to her after all.

“And then of course there's the Valentine's Surprise,” said Eve. “The kids leave a secret message for the town every year. It's a rites-of-passage thing. Rhi and I will probably do it together.”

Lila pictured a great loveheart made out of rose petals on the beach, or a banner covered in kisses draped from the top of the clock tower. “That sounds really fun,” she said eagerly. “Can I help?”

Eve considered it. “It's probably best if there's just two of us,” she decided. “Maybe you could take Rhi's place this year.”

The clock tower struck five.

“I have to go,” said Lila regretfully.

Eve sighed. “Look, if you're interested in doing the Valentine's Surprise, meet me tonight on the cliff. There's a little cave just above the secret cove where we have parties in the summer. You'll know it when you see it. Shall we say midnight?”

Midnight? Why was everything always at midnight in this town?

Eve's eyebrows arched at the look on Lila's face. “Chicken?”

Lila felt scared at this flicker of the old Eve. “No!” she said defensively.

“Good,” said Eve, relaxing. “So I'll see you there. And remember – don't tell anyone, or it'll ruin the surprise.”

She waved carelessly over her shoulder, dropped the empty confectionery box in the bin and sauntered out of sight. Lila headed slowly in the opposite direction.

If she didn't meet Eve tonight, she'd be back at square one
,
she thought miserably. It had been such a relief, this afternoon, not having to worry about anything. But now the old nagging feeling was back. But could she really risk her parents' wrath twice in one week?

If she let Eve down this time, she knew she wouldn't get a second chance. And her life in Heartside would be over if Eve took against her again.

She had to risk it.