After Forever Ends (24 page)

“Well, I heard that I’m a filthy whore a few times today and that a few people are surprised I’m walking straight. Oliver has me pregnant, I’m told, and it’s why he married me. Is that what you heard?” I was looking at Lance. Merlyn, for whatever reason, still did not seem to want to look me in the eye.

“Well, yes. They’re saying you’re with child.” Lance answered softly.

“But that’s not the bad bit,” Merlyn shook his chocolate milk carton, deciding that he was going to speak to me, “Someone’s telling folks that your parents forced Ollie to marry you against his will.”

“Oh, my God!” I threw my hand against my forehead. I felt sick. “You’ve got to be joking!”

“That’s absurd!” Alexander snorted, “Philip Cotton couldn’t make Oliver do anything! Lucy could take the old man with one arm! Ollie’d snap him into bits!”

“Why does everyone think she’s pregnant?” Oliver asked innocently as he spooned stew around his bowl. “Can’t two people just get married because they want to?”

“She’s not?” Lance shoved his dark blonde blond fringe out of his eyes with the back of his hand. He was honestly surprised.

“You are a great stupid scrut,” Alexander told him, “The two of you have the combined sense of a pair of goslings,” He raised his voice and put his arm around my waist as if to protect me, “She’s not pregnant! Sil’s a fine and decent girl! What’s so unbelievable that they might be in love? But then again,” He looked around to see how many people were listening. I’d say it was most in our half the hall, “If you would combine the keen and insightful minds of this lot you’d no doubt come to the wrong conclusion every time!”

“I’m sorry,” Merlyn told us sincerely, “It just seems odd is all. The two of you planning on going off together…well, that’s all right. But then you come back married! What’s a bloke supposed to think?”

“It was a bit sudden,” Lance added. He seemed relieved. “You never mentioned getting married, neither of you.”

“Ollie did to me,” Alex muttered. “Why’s he got to tell you clowns?”

“It’s all right,” Oliver handed me a piece of buttered bread. “I really don’t care what anyone thinks or says.”

“I do!” I objected, “They’re saying that my dad made you marry me! It’s bad enough they’re saying you only married me because you banged me up, but my Dad forcing you to marry me…that’s just humiliating!”

“It’s completely stupid as well,” Oliver replied calmly. He put his arm around me and tucked me to his side, “We’ve been a couple for two years and they’ve always talked, haven’t they? It’s never bothered me.”

“Of course it’s never bothered you! Nothing ever bothers you, Oliver!” It was the first time I can remember being really angry with him. I jerked away, “When someone says something you don’t like, you have this uncanny ability to just turn your head away and not hear them or you make it into a bloody joke! This is no joke to me! What they're saying bothers me! It hurts me!”

I turned away from him and found myself facing Alexander. He didn’t say a word, but I knew he was as upset as I was. I stared into his dark eyes and I got the distinct impression that he would kill for me if he had to.

“Eat your supper, Sil,” Oliver urged, putting his hand against my back, “You haven’t had a bite since we’ve been back. When we’re through with dinner we can take a walk around the lake like we always do. Get away from all these people who would do better to find themselves a hobby other than worrying about us.”

“I’m not hungry! I don’t want to go for a walk! I want to leave, Oliver!” I turned to him and then turned away just as quickly. If I looked at him I might start shouting and I didn’t want to do that. Enough people were already staring at us. “I told you when we got here! I hate this place and I hate almost everyone in it!”

I wanted to leave Bennington so badly it was all I could do not to scream and run out of the gates and up the road. It was only Oliver’s consistency and calm insistence that kept me there.

“Hey, Sil,” Lance said gently, “Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t think any less of you when I thought what they were saying might be true. Nor did Merlyn. I swear it! Hey, please don’t cry…”

But I couldn’t help myself.

“Oh, screw them!” Alexander put his arm around my back set his face close to mine, “Silvia! Listen to me! There is not one of those people talking who’s not a complete arsehole! SCREW THEM!” He said it very loudly, loudly enough for most of the room to turn and look.

“Come on, Love,” Oliver whispered into my other ear, “What they think doesn’t matter. We know the truth and our friends know the truth. Who gives a damn what those morons say?”

“It’s degrading!” I tried to get a hold of myself, but I couldn’t. I put my hands flat against the table, but my fingers were trembling, “It makes me feel as if I’m some vile, disgusting creature!”

That was it for Alexander.

“Could you be any crueller?” He demanded. He was looking straight at someone, but I could not tell whom. “You need to grow the bloody hell up! She’s a person! They’re people, these two!” He stood up, sending his chair skidding across the floor with an angry scrape. He was so livid his face was turning red like Edmond’s. I could see the vein in the side of his neck pulsing, “Who the hell do any of you think you are? Saying all you’re saying! How about we put you hypocrites under a microscope?” His eyes darted around the room and settled on the table to our right, “You! Vincent Todd! Yes, you! Oliver shouldn’t have bought the cow when he was getting the milk for free, eh? You’d have done the same and chucked her, eh? Excellent, Mate! Tell me, smoked any weed in your dormitory today? Wait! No! You had some down by the lake! Yes, I saw you! Dare you to put out your pockets!” He turned his jacket pockets inside out and mocked the guilty face Vince was making, “And you, Nick Porter, over there saying that Silvia’s all banged up this afternoon in class and laughing about it! You‘d like to have a piece of that, too, eh? Yeah, that was funny when you said that about my sister in law!” He clapped his hands and then snarled, “You’re lucky Professor Nickels walked in or I’d have knocked your teeth down your fucking throat! Oh, speaking of throats, did you and Dan Simms ever decide whether you were gay? You two lovers work it out? Or are you still playing make believe with that girl from Ebbw Vale? What is her name? Oh, yeah, Karenna McNeil! Nice girl, Karenna! Did you know that she’s my cousin on my mum’s side? I’ve been meaning to ring her. I’ve learned a few things since the last time we talked!”

There was a collective gasp and some hushed laughter throughout the hall. Nick and Dan both went white as chalk.

“Alexander!” Meredith spoke from a table away, “Stop it! Sit down!”

“No! Shut your hole, Meredith Ainsworth! It was you that started this rubbish! It’s the only reason why you could understand them getting married, eh? She’s pregnant! Well, if you’re so virginal I don’t suppose anyone would believe my recollection of how you spent your holiday with your knickers off and me on?” Meredith immediately began to cry. Alex didn’t even acknowledge her, “Or you, Jennifer Eisenberg, saying how Silvia’s such a whore! She’s been with both Oliver and me according to you! Well, let me tell you something! Silvia’s been with only one man and she was married to him! I’d slice my cock off before I’d betray my brother! But let’s not damage my reputation, eh? How about I tell everyone about you and me and our great adventures in the equipment shed while you were still engaged to Ted Guinness? As I recall, he graduated and you came straight for me! Didn’t mention he was buying a cottage for the two of you in Chepstow, did you? I got my arse beat over you, did you know? Old Ted and three of his rugby fucks found me in my own town and knocked the living shit out of me in the gully behind my house. Nearly broke my jaw, those bastards! But he dumped you just the same, didn’t he? Did me a favour, too! Got me free of you before John Christiansen gave you his disease! Still itching? You’re a lying, two timing, unfaithful, useless, cum swallowing tramp!”

Again, collective gasps and assorted laughter. Alexander glanced at John and he ducked as if something had been swung at his head.

“You’re a liar!” Jennifer swore, but there were streaks of pink in her face. “You’re a liar, Alexander, and everyone knows it!”

“Am I? Let’s see if I am! Got one tit larger than the other, do you? Come on, Dear, whip out the silicone cup you wear on the left and show us the difference!”

“It’s true!” A female voice rang, “I’ve seen her in the dressing room!”

A wave of malicious giggles filled the room. Jennifer was not one of the better-liked girls at the school. She was well known for spreading unkind gossip and bullying the under-classmen.

Jennifer crossed her arms in front of her chest and turned scarlet. She glared at the girl who had spoken, a second year that I did not know, “You’re a bitch! “ She told her and then turned back to Alexander, “And you’re a bastard!”

“Damn straight I am! And you’re a lopsided slut! Look at the lot of you girls!” He waved a hand toward the tables filled with the older female students, “You’re all so perfect with your knees glued together? Christ, I’ve banged half of you foul bitches!”

Oliver and Merlyn burst out laughing. Lance and I, however, just sat there with our mouths hanging open in horror. Moreover, Alex was not finished yet. Oh, no. Not even close.

“I don’t have to make anything up about you people! You tell lies! Lies! Well, I have the truth! And you can say what you want about me and if it’s horrible and disgusting it’s probably right, but at least it’s the truth! You’re all so full of shit! Silvia’s not pregnant! She’s a nice girl and she married Oliver for every good and true reason there is! You people make me sick! The lot of you gives me the shits!”

Headmistress Pennyweather burst through the doors and rushed toward Alex, waving her arms in the air, “Mister Dickinson!” She shouted, “Mister Dickinson!” She held up her hands to stop him. “That is enough!”

“I’m not through!”

“Yes, Mister Dickinson, you are through!”

“No, Ma’am, I am not! I have a lot more to say!”

“No, Mister Dickinson, you do not!” She stopped where she was and squared herself. “Anything you have left to say is better left unsaid! Do you understand me, Alexander?”

Alex glared at her and she glared right back. After a moment, he sat down, but his face was still a deep purplish red. I could hear his breath rattling in his chest like he’d just run a marathon at a sprint.

Our headmistress glanced around the room quickly, “Go back to you meals!” She shouted. “All of you!” She turned back to us and lowered her voice, “I see the gossip running amuck at Bennington has the lot of you very upset. I was afraid of that. Rumours and ignorance are unfortunately unavoidable when people do something unexpected.” She looked over her shoulder and then back, “Oliver, I want you to take your missus to the boardroom in the great hall. She does not need to be subjected to further examination. Alexander, you, Mister Crosby and Mister Pierce may join them there if they wish.”

“Thank you, Ma’am,” Each boy mumbled in turn as they stood and gathered their trays.

Madame Pennyweather glanced around again and then shooed us with the back of her hand, “Away! All of you! Clear off! It’ll give you an hour or two to cool your heads! I want you in your common room by curfew!”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Oliver answered mildly, taking my hand to help me stand, “Thank you.”

She nodded at him,

“Thank you, Ma’am,” I said quietly as Oliver and I passed her on our way out.

She looked at me with the sort of kindness I always tried to show Lucy, “You’re welcome, Silvia. Oliver, take care of your missus and have a quiet supper. Make sure she eats. She’s looking peaky.”

“I will, Ma’am. Thank you for everything.”

She winked at us and then turned quickly on her heel and sped away.

After Alexander’s outburst, people were at least less quick to be rude to Oliver and me. Whether it was out of guilt or because they were terrified of Alexander pointing a finger at them I can only speculate, but they treated both of us with much more respect. I even got an apology out of Meredith in the library a few days later.

“I didn’t mean to start any rumours,” Her blue eyes were wide with sincerity, “At your wedding, you remember, Oliver and Alexander made those comments about you showing if you had to wait and about their parents praying for you. Personally, I didn’t know if they were joking or not. I just didn’t see any other reason why you two would do something so rash. I only said about a baby to one person, I swear. The really mean stuff wasn’t me. I’d have never said any of that. I told people that it was a nice little wedding and that you both seemed very excited and happy. It was just so extreme, the way you two just went and did it! You’ve always been kind to me, Silvia. Oliver has been, too, even though I know he really can't tolerate me at all. I never meant to hurt anyone’s feelings.”

“Well thank you for that,” I said honestly. Meredith was a spoiled, whiney girl from North of London who most people couldn’t stand, but the truth was that I liked her. She had a good heart beneath it all. “I’m sorry Alexander is being so cruel to you.”

“That’s not your fault,” She pressed her pretty lips together. Alexander had been dating Meredith for a year, far surpassing any of his previous flames, but he’d turned on her when they came back to school. After humiliating her in the dining hall, he refused to speak to her. She’d gone out of her way to try to make things right between them. She’d cried, she begged to know what she’d done, she’d even pulled on his arm to force him to talk it out, but he’d simply walked away. I knew that the truth was that he was just bored of her and was using the situation as an excuse to get rid of her, but I didn’t have the heart to tell her that. She was hurting enough, “I do hate him.”

I didn’t blame her for that one little bit, nor did I blame Jennifer Eisenberg when she spat on Alex in the common room as we were entering to make the curfew bell.

“Disgusting! Honestly!” Oliver rubbed it off his cheek, “Could you have sprayed any further? I think you might have missed someone! My brother is right, you are completely mental!”