The Awakening (2 page)

Without warning, a rough set of hands yanked at my jacket. Surging upwards, my forehead smashed against the doorframe. I cried out in pain and twisted, trying to break free of the grip. It didn’t work. As I lurched upwards for a second time, I saw the familiar skinhead and unkind black eyes and understood that Terry Burton - my own personal, full time bully - was the one attacking me. After I’d been successfully removed from the car, he held me up in front of him, jacket twisted in his rough hands.

“Oi knob head,” he spat through clenched teeth. “What cha think you’re doin?”

Terry was half a foot taller than me and well built. He had to hunch over to bring his face close to mine. There were only a few centimetres between us and I could smell his hot, reeking breath on my face. I gagged; he stank of alcohol and stale cigarettes.

Desperately I looked around, not sure what I’d done to annoy him this time. Terry smiled over his shoulder and I noticed the rest of his crew. They always hovered around him like flies on turd. They were all laughing at my baffled expression.

“Don’t member you askin’ for permission to park in my spot Eden!” He unclenched a fist from my jacket and stabbed an accusatory finger at the Peugeot. I tried to respond, even though it was pointless. We all knew what was coming. “B-but, it’s free parking and you don’t have a c-”

Terry's fist exploded into my stomach like a piston. I grunted as the wind rushed from my lungs. He let me go and I crumpled to the ground, chest wheezing and mouth flapping as I struggled for air. White hot pain blazed through my stomach. It took all of my strength not to vomit.

“Ha-ha, little freak looks like a fish!” he snorted, causing a fresh wave of laughter from behind him. He reached out and seized a handful of my hair. I winced, still gasping as he dragged me back onto my feet again.

“Now you best listen up mate. I’m holding that spot for TJ’s girl. She’s running a bit late.” He jerked his thumb in the direction of the wiry black guy, who stood at the right of the crew, arms folded. TJ nodded in agreement, a large smirk on his nasty face.

“Now, if you park in my space,” he continued, stabbing a finger into my chest, “then she’ll have to pay for parkin. That ain’t no way to treat a lady is it?” He didn’t wait for an answer, just wrenched my head from side to side. The pain made my eyes water.

“Glad you agree mate. Now why don’t you be a good little girl and go park down the road so we can keep this spot free yeah?” He let go of my hair and I nodded glumly.

“Safe. Now get out of here before I give you a proper shoeing.”

The gang gave my car a few half-hearted kicks as I reversed out of the space and headed back the way I'd come. As I drove away, another car passed me. I glanced in my rear-view mirror and watched it swing into the space I’d used. The car door opened and Elliot - one of the football guys from my Physics class - got out. He walked right past Terry and his crew. They didn’t even give him a second glance. I bit my lip hard as the tears welled up.

Once back out of the main gate, I drove a few hundred yards to Tailor Street. I parked up and chinked a few pound coins into the pay and display. After slapping the ticket on the dashboard and slamming the door, I shuffled back to school.

Trying to cheer myself up, I re-imagined the scenario.

Terry pulls me out of the car, but instead of quivering, I catapult forward, driving my forehead into his nose. There’s a satisfying crunch as it crumples. I laugh as he staggers about screaming, as a waterfall of his own blood spills down his front. Then I glare at his stupid friends. They all run away, terrified.

The blast of a car horn from somewhere down the road snapped me back to reality. I wondered for the umpteenth time if I should tell the school. And for the umpteenth time I argued that it would only get worse. Mr Burton senior was chairman of the school governors. This fact had allowed Terry to do A-levels in the first place and pretty much gave him a free reign to do what he wanted.

Got to love politics.

As I reached the main gates for the second time that morning, the final bell rang. Picking up the pace, one hand holding my aching stomach, I ran through the empty grounds and up the stone steps of the main entrance.
At least he didn’t push me down these again,
I thought bitterly.

The school itself was one of the largest in Chapter Hill, mainly because it accommodated for sixth form students like me as well as years seven to eleven. It was easy to get lost in the spider web of corridors and rooms if you didn’t know where you were going.

I tore down the empty hallways, my footsteps echoing around me. By the time I reached my English class, the door was already closed.

Thanks Terry, you made me late as well.

As I put a clammy hand onto the door handle, I was oblivious to the fact that my whole life was about to change.

2

T
wenty three faces looked up as I stood panting in the doorway. Mr Hanley stopped writing on the whiteboard and turned his podgy, red face towards me, peering over the top of his spectacles.

“Ah Alexander, how nice of you to join us! Better late than never I suppose, please take your seat.”

I muttered an apology and sat down at my desk.

At the start of the term it had been determined that I wasn’t cool enough to be allowed on the back row and the rest of the desks were full. So, I’d been left with the spot straight in front of the teacher’s desk. This meant I was an open target to any onslaught from behind. A regular occurrence as Andrew Pearson - another member of Terry’s gang - shared the class with me.

Mr Hanley continued writing on the board until he was interrupted a second time by a light tap at the door. Miss Cleveland, the leather-faced school secretary, peered through the glass. Our teacher excused himself and waddled out of the room.

Instant disorder ensued. People shouted to each other from stools and others got up to go and talk to friends. No one spoke to me. Instead, an empty Coke can smacked against the back of my head. I spun around to the sound of laughter as the cold liquid dribbled down my neck. Andrew stared at me from the back row, a satisfied grin on his face. “Sorry Eden I was aiming for the bin!”

“Leave me alone!” I hissed, which earned a collective “ooooooohhhh” from the rest of the class. I turned back around and fumbled through my bag, producing a dog eared copy of
Rebecca
. I pretended to look through, my face burning.

The door opened and Mr Hanley padded back in. “Okay everyone, playtime’s over, back to your seats please,” he said. Lots of shuffling and order was restored. “I have just received some news. It would appear we have a new pupil joining us.” He frowned down at a piece of paper in his hand. “A Miss Gabriella De Luca from
Italy
.” A murmur waved across the classroom as the information was processed. “She should be here shortly. In the meantime, I want to turn your attention to
Rebecca
. Now I trust you’ve all managed to read pages one hundred to one hundred and fifty over the weekend. If you haven’t, now is the time to panic, because...” he drummed his fingers on the desk, “...there will be a test for last part of the lesson!”

The revelation was met with groans and nervous glances. It appeared the majority hadn’t even opened the book, let alone read fifty pages of it. A satisfied smile spread across my face. I’d read it from cover to cover twice already. Then I thought a little more morosely,
it’s not like I have a social life to get in the way.

Mr Hanley put a hand up to silence the class. “I’m in a generous mood, so for the next twenty minutes I’ll let you... refresh your memories,” he chuckled. The class relaxed and silence descended on the room as everyone scanned through the chapters. I thumbed the relevant pages, looking for key scenes. Mr Hanley used the time to finish writing the questions on the board. After a few minutes there was a soft knock at the door.

“Come in.”

The door opened and all the air left the room.

Standing in the doorway was the embodiment of perfection. Thick hair - iron straight and the shade of dark ink, spilled down to slender shoulders. Eyes like sapphires on ice, contrasted full red lips. Skin the colour of fresh honey. A slim biker jacket and figure hugging jeans emphasised a body most girls would kill their best friend for.

Flawless.

The class fell into a stunned silence. Even Mr Hanley seemed a little taken aback by the new girl’s undeniable beauty. After a few seconds he composed himself and addressed her directly, peering over the top of his glasses as he spoke.

“Ah Miss De Luca I presume. Welcome dear, I’m Mr Hanley,” he fawned.

Gabriella De Luca dazzled the room with a smile. “Thank you, sir.” I could hear a faint hint of an accent in her voice, wrapping her words in silk.

“Everyone is re-reading pages one hundred to one hundred and fifty of
Rebecca
. Do you have a copy with you by any chance?”

Gabriella responded by deftly pulling a pristine copy of the book from her leather handbag and holding it in the air.

“Ah fantastic. Well now, there will be a test on those pages later, but you’re excused of course. Just start the book and catch up in your free time.”

“Actually Mr Hanley, I read the book on the journey over, so I’m happy to take the test too,” the new girl replied in her subtle tone.

Mr Hanley beamed; his round face appearing worryingly close to bursting. “Oh that’s wonderful! Take note people, this is what we call a
dedicated
student! Well now Gabriella, take a seat, I believe there’s a free one next to Andrew there at the back.” He pointed towards my tormentor. The new girl smiled again and made her way over to the back of the room.

Then something weird happened.

As Gabriella neared me, everything went into slow motion. Something ignited in the depths of my chest and an immense heat ripped through my body, racing through my veins until it reached my fingers and toes. It was followed by a thousand miniature electric shocks which crackled along every follicle of hair on my skin. Then I felt myself being unwillingly drawn towards her, as if she were a human magnet. I gripped the side of the desk to stop myself falling off the chair, but not before it tipped onto two legs. The new girl shot me a confused glance and hurried past.

As she moved away, the sensations stopped and my seat clattered back to its correct position. My mouth dropped open.

What the hell just happened?

Behind me I heard several loud sniggers and realised glumly that my bizarre behaviour hadn’t gone unnoticed. I was clueless when it came to girls, but even I knew that it had not been a normal reaction.

I heard shuffling behind me and hushed words of greetings being exchanged as the girl took her seat. I could hear people from other desks turning to speak to her. I kept my head fixed forward.

“Okay, okay everyone, let the poor girl get settled!” Mr Hanley said. He tapped the whiteboard with his marker. “You have a test to fail.”

All eyes shifted from Gabriella to
Rebecca
.

Revision didn’t last long. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see several classmates craning their necks to catch a sly glimpse. I had a worrying impulse to do the same thing. A stupid idea - it wasn’t like she would notice me anyway. But as much as I tried to ignore the urge it got the better of me. I inched my head around to catch a quick look at Gabriella.

She was staring at me.

My stomach lurched as if someone had applied the brakes. There was no question about it. Her eyes locked with mine. She didn’t look away or turn her nose up. Just kept calmly looking at me and I even saw the corners of her mouth inch up into a smile. A low squeak escaped my throat. I felt flames rising to my cheeks. I wanted to turn back, but couldn’t bring myself to look away. I felt powerless.

I could sense people focusing on me, wondering what the weirdo was doing no doubt. Andrew leaned over and mouthed the word ‘Loser’ into the new girl’s ear. At that point she mercifully detached her glance from me and flashed a smile at Andrew instead. I whirled my head back around. My face burned with embarrassment. I could actually hear my pulse hammering away in my ears.
Oh my god! Why did I just stare at her like an idiot? After almost falling on her? Jesus!
The new girl had probably just been looking around when I had optically attacked her
. Nice work Alex, the girl’s only been here two minutes and I’ll bet she already thinks you’re a complete psychopath! That’s got to be a new record.

I tried to drown out the disapproving internal voice by filling my head with Daphne Du Maurier’s words, but I couldn’t concentrate. I kept reading the same sentence over and over, unable to make sense of it. After an eternity, Mr Hanley plodded over to each desk in turn and placed down some blank sheets of lined A4 paper. When we all had one, he made us put our copies of the book away and begin the test.

I stared at the first question on the whiteboard.

Q1. Why do you feel that the narrator of the story struggles to fit into her newly appointed position of power?

I frowned. I could understand the individual words, but my brain refused to comprehend the question. Looking away and looking back again made no difference.

My mind had gone blank.

The bell rang, signalling the end of the lesson. On my desk lay a piece of paper with my name on and nothing else. Mr Hanley walked around and gathered the answers. He raised his eyebrows when he picked up mine but didn’t say anything. I was one of his best students; I guess that entitled me to a bad day or two. I watched as people gathered around Gabriella like moths to a flame. I made sure I didn’t catch her gaze again, busying myself with packing my folder into my bag, while Mr Hanley spoke.

“Okay people, I want you to make sure you’ve read the next fifty pages by the end of the week. And actually make sure you do this time! You know, it’s only your education at stake.”

I battled my way through the crowded corridors, trying to shut out the roar of noise that came from hundreds of over energised students. I made my way through the main building towards my locker. A poster pinned to the noticeboard in the hub caught my attention. I stopped to look. It was black with little white snowflakes dotted all over. In the middle, an exterior photo of the school had been photo-shopped to look as if it were covered in snow. I scanned the white print running underneath, my heart sinking.