‘Dad’s sending me to boarding school, tomorrow. I miss you, I’m so sorry. x
Her grammar was perfect even in times of distress. Scarlet sighed, put down her phone and reached for her laptop. In an earlier text Lara had mentioned the name of the school. Scarlet found it on-line, found the nearest train station and went to the door of her room.
‘MUM?’
‘Yes sweetheart.’
‘Can I borrow your bank card please?’
Silence drifted up from below like nerve gas, threatening everything in its path. Scarlet didn’t think she had the patience or energy for a prolonged argument, but she needed this. Mum appeared at the bottom of the stairs.
‘What for?’
‘I need to buy a train ticket. I have to rescue Lara.’
‘Rescue?’
‘Her dad sent her to boarding school in, like, the moon.’
‘Boarding school. So she won’t be around to see you.’
‘Nope.’
Silence again. ‘Okay, come and get it.’
She got as far as opening her mouth to protest when it sunk in and she dashed down the stairs. ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you.’
‘Do I need to come with you?’
‘Mum, I’ve been to another dimension, I reckon I can handle Worcestershire.’
‘Worcestershire? I thought you said the moon.’
‘Yeah, well, same difference.’
She ran back upstairs and booked the ticket. It was for tomorrow and cost more than her phone but she had no choice. Her phone buzzed as the ticket arrived on it and she rolled over and closed her eyes.
There was something about train journeys that was utterly different from any other travel. She felt quite experienced with the whole traveling thing now. She hadn’t been on a plane yet, but otherwise— actually, she hadn’t been on a boat either.
Trains always felt different to busses and cars. She could watch the world go by outside the window and see lives flashing past her. It was like sitting on the platform in a tube station and watching people get off and on. Each one came with their own story, going somewhere she would never go, coming from somewhere she had never been. She used to be jealous. She still was, but for a different reason.
She was a target. She had power over which she still felt she had little control and lived in a world that refused to wait for her. Every day felt like scrambling to keep up and now school was officially over, she had no idea what came next.
Did she have to get a job? Were sixteen year olds allowed to work? Surely that was child slavery. She was seventeen in a few weeks, so it didn’t matter anyway. She could learn to drive and, other stuff, probably. Her eleven hours of sleep had left her dazed and bruised. She’d stopped by Martin to say where she was going and he’d been barely conscious, looking much like she felt.
She could talk about it all when she got back. He’d have some ideas. Her stomach was churning and she dug out her book. Will Grayson never failed to make her laugh, or cry, but either of them took her away from real life. The countryside passed in a blur. She had to change a couple of times, seeing new places through the white fences of a railway station.
Worcester arrived far too soon and she climbed reluctantly down. She didn’t know why she was worried, but her heart was hammering, far harder than at any other time in the last week. What if she said no? What if she was still too scared of her father?
Scarlet stepped out the station, checked her phone and crossed to the bus stop. Had she been annoying and old she’d have called the town quaint. But she wasn’t, so she didn’t. It was very beautiful though and she thought for a moment and for the first time what it would be like to live somewhere other than London. Then she laughed and checked Facebook.
The bus stopped by the school and she stood outside the huge metal gates, peering through at the expanse of green fields that ran all the way to the front of the house. And by house, she meant ludicrously massive mansion. It was the X-mansion, only without the blue beast thing. It may well have a space ship in the basement though.
The walk up the drive made her want to wee, the house getting larger with every step. It was so quiet. This couldn’t be a school. Come to think of it, if it was a school, why was Lara here now? Wasn’t school finished for the summer?
The front door creaked open and she stepped into a hallway lined with dark wooden panels and a white and black checkered floor. The reception was lined with glass and covered in laminated signs and she fit in about as much as she would at a supermodel convention.
A woman sat behind it, one hand holding a mirror, the other plucking eyebrows with a sort of careless abandon that made her wince. Each one came out with a soft popping sound and a gentle ‘ooh’ from the woman. She didn’t notice Scarlet until she stood right before her and cleared her throat. At which point she jumped, closed the mirror and tried to hide the tweezers.
Scarlet smiled in what she hoped was a reassuring way.
‘Um, hi, I’m looking for someone.’
‘Well, most of the staff are on holiday now. We only have our weekend boarders here and a few house masters. Who was it you wanted to speak to.’
Her voice was soft, just like when she’d been plucking, and Scarlet relaxed a little.
‘She’s a student, she’s called Lara. She just came here a few days ago.’
The lady nodded. ‘Well, my dear, everyone is up in the dining hall. Shall I show you where it is?’
Scarlet nodded gratefully and waited for the lady to adjust her dress. And her hair. And her bra. And then to have a general shuffle around before emerging from the reception and guiding the way across the checkered floor. Her shoes clicked and Scarlet looked sheepishly down at her fake converse. They couldn’t even raise a squeak.
The dining hall turned out to be a banqueting hall, complete with chandeliers and long wooden tables like something out of Hogwarts. Scarlet froze in the doorway. There were maybe fifty students gathered at the far end and for the first time, she wondered whether Lara didn’t belong here. This was totally her sort of place. And it was amazing. She’d have made the Hogwarts comparison as well.
The lady clicked her way down the centre of the hall, drawing the attention of every student. The attention soon turned to Scarlet and she could almost hear the sneers. Then a gasp rose from the chatter and she turned and Lara was there.
Her eyes were red and she was wan, features drawn like Scarlet had never seen. Even when she was about to be sacrificed to a demon she’d looked bright. But here she just looked sad. Scarlet nodded and released her jaws from where they had been clamped together.
She walked around the end of the table and Lara climbed from the bench to come to her. Scarlet broke into a mini run, covering the last few steps at a dash and grabbing Lara into a hug. She buried her face in her hair, the familiar, exciting smell bringing a lump to her throat.
She pushed her away and stared and Lara stared right back. Scarlet mouthed ‘I’m sorry’ and Lara shook her head.
Then they were kissing and crying and it was all horribly messy and there were people watching, but for the first time in, like, forever, she didn’t care.
That’s the end of Scarlet’s tale for now. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it. I’ll post on Friday about a few changes coming on the blog and where Scarlet’s going next. Then on Monday we’ll be starting an entirely different story called 13 Roses. cheers 🙂
