Blood Ties (11 page)

I sped into the bathroom and cleaned my teeth.
How had I left so little time for my make-up and hair?

I smeared on some eyeshadow, then carefully slid Mum’s La Prairie mascara out of her make-up basket. She hates me borrowing her make-up – but it’s good stuff. All designer. And I needed all the help I could get.

I stroked on some mascara, then placed the tube back exactly where I’d found it. I dabbed some of Mum’s powder over my nose.

My face stared back at me from the mirror – anxious and ugly.

6.46.

I noticed a little arrow-shaped diamante hairgrip beside the sink and rammed it into the side of my hair. I tucked my hair over it, so the glittery bit didn’t show up so much.

6.47.

I had to go.

I ran out of the bathroom and back to my bedroom. I grabbed the money I’d got out of my account the day before. I was still intending to talk Theo out of his mad attempt to find his dad, but I wanted him to know I’d meant what I’d said about giving him money.

I turned to leave. Then noticed my bare feet.

Oh, God.

Shoes.

I pounded over to my wardrobe. Trainers. Slippers. School shoes. Flat sandals. No, no, no and no.

I bent down and started hauling shoes over my shoulder, desperately trying to find something that would look nice.

6.51.

Suppose Theo got there before I did. Suppose Jemima saw him and started talking to him.

I pulled out a pair of black high-heels that Mum had bought me a few months ago. ‘Elegant shoes,’ she’d said. ‘For special occasions.’

They were a bit grown-up at the front, but the heels were high and thin. I shoved them on my feet and stood up. I wasn’t used to being three inches taller than normal. I walked across the clothes still strewn over the floor, onto the landing.

6.52.

I knew I was walking awkwardly, but there was no time to change the shoes. I took a deep breath and tottered downstairs, holding on to the stair rail to steady myself.

Mum was waiting in the hallway as I reached the front door.

I grabbed my coat and glanced up at her. ‘See you later.’

‘Have a nice time,’ she said. She paused, her eyes flickering up and down my outfit.

How do I look?

I should have just gone, but I hesitated, really wanting her to say something encouraging about my appearance.

‘Very nice.’ She pursed her lips. ‘Though a bit shop-girlish. I thought you . . .’

But I didn’t wait to hear what she thought. I tore through the front door and up the road, walking as fast as my heels would let me, sniffing back the tears that threatened to smear mascara all down my cheek.

I just had time to catch my breath and put on a slash of lip gloss outside the busy school gates before Theo turned up. He was in jeans and a thick jacket, a backpack over his shoulder.

I stared at his face as he walked towards me, soaking up the shape of it, the way his hair fell round it, how perfect it was. He smiled at me.

I forgot that it was cold and my breath was misting in front of me. I forgot that there were people all around us, swarming in through the gates. I forgot everything except his face. I smiled back.

‘Okay?’ he said. I could see the anxiety behind his eyes. ‘This is Roy. Remember?’

I shifted my gaze slightly to the right. The thickset guy who I’d seen peering through the window at Max’s house was there. Theo’s bodyguard. Standing right next to him.

I hadn’t even noticed.

‘Hi,’ I said.

Roy nodded grumpily at me.

There was a pause. Theo appeared to be waiting for me to do something. Of course.

‘Er . . . down here.’ I led him and Roy through the gates.

My heart was pounding as we walked inside the school building. I wondered if Jemima was here yet.

The entrance hall was crackling with excitement. Nearest to us were several groups of boys, mainly from Princedale’s I assumed, standing in line to show the teacher at the desk their invitations. Most of them were mucking about, shoving each other or else chatting loudly with their hands in their pockets – but I could see their eyes darting everywhere.

I looked round myself.
Oh God
.

I was
so
wearing the wrong clothes. Further inside the entrance hall, loads of girls were shrugging off their jackets, all talking at the tops of their voices. Most of them were wearing short skirts and really clingy tops. A few were in jeans – but they had the tightest tops of all – either cropped above the stomach, or low cut over their boobs. And they were almost all in high, clumpy shoes and wearing masses of make-up.

My stomach churned. Everything I had on was completely wrong. I glanced at Theo. He was staring open-mouthed at the girls across the hallway. Humiliation burned my cheeks.

Roy caught my eye. He dug Theo in the ribs with his elbow.

Theo jumped. Then blushed.

‘Where’s
your
invitation?’ Roy said to him, roughly.

I pulled the one I’d taken for Theo out of my pocket and handed it to him. ‘You better queue to sign in,’ I said. ‘I’ll see you in the Assembly Hall.’

I shuffled off to the back of the entrance hall. I had to concentrate really hard on walking so as not to fall over in my shoes on the slippy tile floor. I left my coat on while I walked down to the Assembly Hall. I wanted to put off being seen in my clothes for as long as possible.

Thankfully the Assembly Hall had an unslippery wooden floor. And it was darker in here than out in the corridor, just a few soft, yellow wall lights round the sides of the room, and flashing lights near the sound system. The DJ – this young black guy – was chatting away over the low beat of the first dance track. The rest of the room was clear, with chairs pushed back against the walls and a long table at the end, serving drinks. Someone had strung several rows of twisted paper streamers along the two long walls. You could almost taste the excitement in the room.

I felt my coat being wrenched off my shoulders. Falling to the floor.

‘Oh. My. God. She looks like one of the teachers,’ Jemima snorted.

I spun round.

She was standing in front of me – the same height as me for once, thanks to my heels. But just as evil-looking as usual, with Phoebe and Amy on either side of her.

‘I saw your boyfriend earlier,’ Jemima said sarcastically. ‘Not exactly into you, is he?’

I stared at her. She looked amazing. Her hair was all swept up off a perfectly made-up face. And she was wearing an extremely short, tight, black dress that dipped at the front seam into a low V-shape.

‘Well?’ Jemima sneered at me. ‘Has he gone off with someone else already?’

Phoebe and Amy laughed.

‘He’s just signing in,’ I said, my heart hammering. ‘He’ll be here any second.’

At that moment the volume of the music rose dramatically and coloured lights started flashing across the room.

‘Let’s dance.’ Jemima pointed Phoebe and Amy towards the sound system.

As they strutted past me towards the centre of the room, Jemima leaned across. ‘I’ll be watching,’ she leered.

I bent down for my coat. The hall was already full of girls. Hordes of boys were now swarming in through the only open door. I folded my coat and shoved it under a chair. I stood alone for a few minutes, watching Jemima, Phoebe and Amy dancing. I noticed most of the boys coming into the hall were watching them too.

And then I saw Theo, his backpack hanging from his arm. He’d taken off his jacket and was wearing that long-sleeved top he’d had on the first time I’d met him. The one with the tiny writing on the chest. He was too far away and it was way too dark for me to read what it said. But I remembered.
Just try it
.

Theo was looking round for me. I walked over.

We stared at each other for an awkward second. I wondered if Jemima was watching us.

‘Where’s Roy?’ I said.

Theo’s face relaxed a little. ‘Outside. Your headteacher wouldn’t let him in here – said there were plenty of adults as it was.’

I looked round the room, noticing five or six teachers for the first time.

‘She also said no one could get into this room except through that door back out to the corridor,’ Theo added. ‘How am I going to get out of here if the other doors are locked?’

Oh, no.
I’d been so fixated on what I was wearing and on Jemima seeing me and Theo together, that I’d forgotten all about Theo’s main reason for being here.

How I’d told him I would help him.

And how I’d told myself I would try and talk him out of running away.

Rachel led me through the big hall. She pointed at the huge iron fire-escape door in the far wall. A stern-looking middle-aged woman was standing beside it.

‘It’s only bolted on the inside.’ Rachel sounded nervous. Jittery. ‘They’ll probably open it later,’ she said. ‘They did at the disco last term, to let some air in.’

I stared at her. Last term would have been the middle of summer. It was hardly going to get as hot as that tonight, and certainly not in the next half an hour.

Rachel gazed up at me, clearly seeing the doubt in my face. ‘If they don’t, I’ll just cause a distraction so you can pull the bolts and push it open. The door’s noisy, but it’s noisier in here.

It was true. The dance music was pounding away in my ears. I looked over at all the people dancing. I’d been to quite a few of these things before, but always with my friends. I’d never actually been to one
with
a girl before.

Not that this was a date.

I glanced down at Rachel. She looked nice. Not sexy like some of the girls here, but nice. And really quite easy to talk to. She seemed taller somehow. And I could see more of her face than usual, so she didn’t look quite so hidden away.

She was looking out at the dancers, chewing on her lip. I followed her gaze to this fit blonde girl in a tight black dress. I vaguely remembered her from the first time I’d met Rachel. She had a pretty, pointy face and was gazing at Rachel, a mean expression in her eyes. She glanced across at me and raised her eyebrows.

I looked down, embarrassed that the girl had caught me staring at her. Rachel shuffled uneasily beside me.

‘Look, Theo,’ she stammered. ‘I’ve been thinking. Maybe going after your dad’s not the best idea. I mean, going to Germany and looking round fertility and research clinics on the off-chance he’ll be working secretly in one. You’ve got to admit, it’s a bit mad.’

I gritted my teeth.
Jesus
. The last thing I needed was somebody trying to talk me out of this. I was scared enough as it was.

‘It’s not Germany,’ I said crossly. ‘It’s Cologne. A specific place. Anyway, I already know my dad’s working in a clinic, from my Mum.
And
I know what he looks like.’

I moved away from her and sat down on one of the chairs against the wall. The picture of my dad, along with my passport, some spare clothes and a list of fertility and research clinics in Cologne that I’d got off the internet were all in my backpack. It was wedged under a nearby seat, next to Rachel’s coat. I’d left my jacket in the entrance hall cloakroom so that Roy wouldn’t get suspicious. I’d have to do without it later.

My money – all seven hundred pounds of Mum’s emergency fund – was tightly folded in my jeans pocket. I hadn’t felt guilty about taking it out. After all, my dad had probably given it to her. And I was only using it to get back to him. I rubbed my sweaty palms down my jeans.

Rachel sat down beside me.

‘Sorry,’ she said hesitantly, not meeting my eyes. ‘I was just worried about . . . about what was going to happen to you.’

I gazed out at the disco. There were groups of girls dancing everywhere, mostly giggling at the gangs of boys hanging round the edges of the dance floor. It struck me that there were relatively few couples in the room. There were some – dancing or chatting or snogging in chairs. But most people were definitely not with anyone. Yet.

Jake’s parting words about Rachel went through my head. ‘You might as well make a move on her, dude,’ he’d said. ‘Seeing as everyone else thinks you’re her boyfriend already.’

What did he know about anything?

I checked my watch. Only seven-fifteen. Another fifteen minutes and I would leave. I was really nervous now. I just wanted to get going.

‘Theo?’

I looked round. Rachel was holding out her mobile to me.

‘Take it,’ she said. ‘You might need to be able to make a call. I’ve got some money for you as well.’ She fished in her skirt pocket and pulled out a folded bundle of notes. ‘One hundred and fifty quid. I’ve been saving up for ages.’

How amazing was that? She was offering me a phone and masses of cash. I frowned, feeling guilty for snapping at her earlier.

‘I can’t . . .’

‘You’ll need them.’ She shoved the phone and the money into my palm. Her hand rested on mine for just a fraction, then she pulled it away.

Part of me wanted to give the mobile and the cash straight back. It wasn’t fair, her helping me out like this. But on the other hand, it could take me ages to find my dad. I had the addresses of a couple of youth hostels in Cologne, but the more money I had, the safer I’d feel.

I pushed the money and the phone into my own pocket. ‘Thanks,’ I said. ‘It’s a loan. Okay?’

She nodded, staring out at the dancers again.

‘I’m sorry I was rude,’ I said. ‘I’m just a bit freaked by everything.’

Rachel nodded again. She half turned back to me, not meeting my eyes. ‘D’you want to dance?’ she said.

What? God, no.
‘Er . . .’

‘It’s okay.’ She glanced away. ‘I just thought, as you’ve got a few minutes . . .’

I gulped. ‘Do you? Want to dance?’ I said uncertainly.

Rachel shrugged. ‘Whatever.’

Man
. Still. It was the least I could do.

I stood up. ‘Come on, then.’

We walked over to the edge of the dance floor just as the song came to an end. My legs felt all shaky. I couldn’t believe I’d asked Theo to dance with me. It was seeing that horrible, triumphant look on Jemima’s face that had done it.