The Visconti House (21 page)

“You need to be careful. If you hang around with nerds, you’ll end up all nerdy yourself.”

It was funny how they were both telling her that she should be careful who she hung around with. Then Laura reconsidered; it was not funny at all. It was awful.

Kylie tossed back her hair. “Anyway, I almost feel sorry for Leon. I bet he’ll find it horrible at the new school. You know what he looks like. He can’t even afford a proper haircut.”

Laura squirmed. She felt as though she were betraying Leon. Why wouldn’t Kylie stop talking about him? Why was she so interested in him, anyway?

Laura tried to edge away, but Kylie wouldn’t stop. “And with his dad and all.” She shook her head. “It’ll be ghastly.”

Desperate to escape, Laura spun around, only to see Leon standing behind them. For a moment his eyes met hers and she felt her stomach heave. Before she could say anything, he had pushed past her and entered the classroom.

All day, whenever she thought about it — and that was all the time — she felt sick. Waves of panic swept over her. As soon as school finished, she raced to the locker room, then ran after Leon.

“I wasn’t talking about you,” she blurted out as soon as she caught up with him. “It was Kylie. She’d heard about the scholarship. Not from me. From someone who knows her mother.”

Leon said nothing.

“I wouldn’t talk about you, Leon.” He was walking
so fast, Laura struggled to keep up with him.

“It doesn’t matter. I don’t care.” Leon did not take his eyes off the road ahead.

Laura tried to think of something else to say but couldn’t, so they continued on in a painful silence, Laura still almost running, until they arrived at Mrs. Murphy’s gate.

Leon went in without saying good-bye.

There were five more days until the dance. Five long, miserable days. Laura had never been so unhappy, not even when she had torn up her dragon. She did not see Leon when she walked past Mrs. Murphy’s house, and he seemed to just vanish after school. He did not look at her in class either. Laura saw him on the other side of the room, working, reading, staring out the window, and she thought that her heart would break.

She missed him dreadfully. It didn’t matter that Kylie, Maddy, and Janie talked to her all the time now or that Jenny Peters chose her to be part of her team for a basketball game. This was what Laura had been
wanting, ever since she had started high school, ever since they had moved to this town.

But now that she had it, she didn’t want it anymore. She just wanted to be friends with Leon again, to walk home with him and talk about Mr. Visconti and lick the cookie dough from the mixing bowl on Mrs. Murphy’s back step.

On the day of the dance, excitement was buzzing through the school yard like electricity. The Year Eight classes were allowed to go home at lunchtime, and everyone spilled out into the sunshine, shouting and joking and jostling. Laura grabbed her bag and left immediately, feeling worse than ever.

For the first time since they had stopped talking, she saw Leon ahead of her. His shoulders were hunched, and he was walking very fast. Suddenly, she made a decision. She started to run, her heavy bag jolting against her back. When she caught up with him, he did not turn or say anything.

“Leon, stop,” she said, grabbing his bag and
gasping for breath. “Stop. I want to ask you something.” Leon stopped but he did not look at her.

Laura swallowed. “I was wondering if you still wanted to go to the dance,” she said. “I was wondering if you wanted to go with me.”

“Are you asking me to go with you now?” He was rigid, his gaze fixed on the train tracks.

“Yes.”

There was silence.

“Why?”

“Because I want to go. I want to go with you,” said Laura.

Leon looked at her then but his eyes gave nothing away. “So you’ve decided it’s OK to be seen with me now?” he asked, although it was not really a question.

The words hit her like a blow. Laura shot him a reproachful glance and began running down the hill as fast as she could, her eyes blurred with tears.

“Hey,” Leon called, sprinting after her. “Come back. I’d like to go with you.”

Laura skidded to a halt. She turned back to him and her heart leaped. He was grinning his old grin.

“I’ll come over at seven,” he said, turning into Mrs. Murphy’s garden. “See you then.”

Laura crossed the tracks and started up the hill, feeling alive again. Everything was all right now. Leon wasn’t angry with her anymore. They were friends again. He still wanted to take her to the dance.

Then she stopped, dropping her bag onto the road. But what was she going to wear? Laura began to panic. Everyone would look so good. They had makeup — not Isabella’s theatrical makeup, but real, proper makeup — and they knew how to put it on. They had earrings and long dresses and swirling skirts. They had fancy shoes. They had fake tans.

Laura tried to think of anything in her wardrobe that would look even vaguely appropriate. But she had nothing. Nothing at all. She imagined arriving in her one good dress — it was too small now and looked like a little girl’s dress. Everyone would laugh. The more she thought about it, the more desperate she felt. Catching sight of Samson asleep in the violet patch, she gathered him up for comfort and carried him inside. Her mother was making a sandwich in the kitchen.

“You’re home early,” she said, looking up in surprise.

“Remember, I told you. We got out at lunchtime today because of the dance.”

“You don’t look very happy about it.”

Laura sat down, still clutching an indignant Samson. “I’m going with Leon.”

“That’s great.”

Laura’s eyes filled with tears. “But I’ve got nothing to wear. Everyone else will look so good and I’ll just . . .” At this moment Samson, who had been struggling to get free, managed to jump onto the table. He leaped off quickly before he could be scolded and stalked out the door.

Laura’s mother came over and gave her a hug. “It’s all right,” she said. “We’ll work something out. What do people wear to dances?”

“I don’t know,” replied Laura in a small voice. “It’s supposed to be a sixties theme.”

“A sixties theme — why, that’s easy!”

“What do you mean?”

“Wait and see.” Laura ate half her mother’s sandwich while she waited for her to return. When she did, she was carrying a red flowery dress with embroidery on the front and tiny sparkly mirrors stitched into it. “Try this on,” she said. “Your godmother, Anna, gave it to me. She bought it when she was traveling in Afghanistan. Put it on.”

They went into her parents’ bedroom, the only room with a full-length mirror. Laura took off her
uniform and slipped on the dress. It was a little too long, but her mother pinned up the hem.

“Wait a moment.” She left and came back with some daisies to put in Laura’s hair. “There,” she said. “You look beautiful — like a real flower child! I’ll sew up the hem, and you’ll be fine.”

Laura stared at her reflection. “Are you sure this is what people will wear?” she asked.

“Well, it
is
a sixties look. It’s perfectly appropriate — and the important thing is, you look beautiful.” Her mother kissed her.

Laura turned around, studying herself from all angles. She could not quite believe it. She did look beautiful. The white daisies were like stars in her dark curls, and the red dress made her cheeks glow. Her eyes were shining. Then she remembered her daydream about the dance. It was as though she had stepped into it and been transformed.

When Leon arrived at exactly seven o’clock, he was carrying a small bunch of roses. “Wow, you look
fantastic,” he said. Then, remembering the flowers, he thrust them at her. “Grandma said I should bring these.”

But Laura did not see them. She just stood there staring at Leon. She hardly recognized him. His hair had been cut. He was wearing a new sweater, a college sweater for the sixties theme, and proper jeans.

Laura thought he looked amazing.

“My dad got that job I told you about,” he said. “He sent me some money, to get ready for the new school. Do you think I’ll pass?”

“Maybe.” Laura grinned. “If you stop hanging around with me.”

“Never,” replied Leon, then added, “So are you going to take these flowers, or not?”

Laura laughed and took the bunch. “They’re beautiful,” she said. “I’ll just put them in some water, and we can go.”

Laura had walked the road to school over a hundred times but never like this. Never in a dress that swirled around her ankles and glinted in the soft evening light. Never with flowers in her hair and bangles on her wrists. And certainly never with someone who looked like Leon did now. She kept glancing at him shyly, wondering if he was quite real, and was reassured to see that he still had his measuring expression, that he still kicked a stone as he walked, and that he still scowled when he caught sight of Kylie, Maddy, and Janie hurrying through the gates ahead of them.

It was as though the same dreamlike magic had descended over the school, Laura thought. The old drabness was gone and there was color everywhere. In the girls’ bright dresses. In the boys’ shirts. In the streamers and balloons that billowed around the front of the hall. Even Mr. Parker looked colorful in an astonishing orange shirt. Only Miss Grisham
remained the same; she stood at the entrance to the gymnasium, selling tickets and frowning at a group of boys hovering by the door.

Laura felt apprehensive as soon as she saw them. Were they going to start making fun of her? She steeled herself for their taunts, but none came. To her surprise the boys had become very quiet. Behind her, she heard someone calling. It was Jenny Peters.

“Hey, Laura, you look awesome! I’m so glad you came.” She hugged Laura and then turned to Leon. “You look great, too, Leon. I barely recognized you.” She grinned and nudged Laura. “So the rumors were true, after all.”

There was nothing nasty in her tone, just friendliness, and Laura thought how strange it was that the same comment could sound so different, depending on who said it.

“What rumors?” asked Leon, looking from Jenny to Laura.

Before Laura had time to feel embarrassed, Jenny took her arm and said, “C’mon, let’s go in.”

As they entered the gymnasium, Laura found it impossible to believe that this magical place was where she had sat through endless assemblies and long boring speeches. Rainbows danced across the
walls and ceiling as the mirror ball revolved and the psychedelic montage glowed under the spotlights. On the stage the sound system was a myriad of flickering lights, radiating music over the crowded floor.

“Look at our streamers,” shouted Jenny above the music and the squeals of girls greeting one another. “They’re free now.”

Laura nodded, gazing up at the strips of silver and purple hanging from the ceiling.

“Come and join us, Jenny,” yelled a girl in a bright pink miniskirt who had stopped dancing and was beckoning wildly from beneath the mirror ball.

“Catch you later. You two have a good time.” Jenny let go of Laura’s arm and began threading her way through the dancers. A moment later she was in the center of the room, moving to the music, her arms pumping the air.

Laura felt a wave of inadequacy sweep over her. “I could never do that,” she said. “Let’s just watch for a while.”

Leon grinned at her. “Look at those girls over there. They’re just moving from one foot to another. I’m sure you can manage that. And no one will notice you, anyway.”

Laura was not so sure — Kylie was already staring
at her and whispering to Maddy and Janie — but she followed Leon onto the dance floor and began to shuffle in a small circle, trying not to think about how silly she must look.

Leon smiled at her. He appeared completely at ease. He stood quite still for a moment, listening to the rhythm, and then as though the music was running through him, his body began to move. Laura watched him, fascinated, until she realized that he was watching her. Then she stared up at the mirror ball.

After a while Laura forgot to worry about how she looked. She felt the music carrying her away. She sang snatches of the songs along with everyone else and, like them, called out for more when the music suddenly stopped and Mr. Bevan came to the front of the stage.

Mr. Bevan was acting as DJ, and although Laura did not have him for any of her classes, she knew that he was very popular. Under the lights, in jeans and a tight shirt, he looked much too young to be a teacher. He coughed into the microphone. “Now I’ve been told that some of you are going to dancing classes, so, even though tonight has a sixties theme, I think it would be good to put those dancing lessons to use.
How about something with a Latin flavor? A little salsa?”

There was an audible groan and people began to leave the floor. Laura pulled at Leon’s arm. “I can’t do that,” she whispered. “Come on.”

Leon didn’t move. “You’ll be fine. Just follow my lead.”

“What?” Now there was panic in her voice. “No!” She turned away but Leon caught her around the waist, pulling her back.

He drew her close and whispered, “Back-step-step, forward-step-step.”

Laura bit her lip and struggled to concentrate on the rhythm as they began moving slowly around the floor. She tripped over his feet several times and got tangled in her dress, but each time it happened, Leon steadied her and continued on. As the song drew to a close, he spun her around, catching her just as the music ended. She was still laughing when the music stopped. Everyone began to clap and Laura realized that they had all been watching.