The Territory (10 page)

I hate Hugo Barnes. I really, really hate him.

We got our Biology test results back today. Mr Hanson read them out to the class.

Jack got 45 per cent. He tried to look like he was OK about it and even did a hilarious fish impression, but I could tell he was pretty worried. I mean it’s now only five weeks till the TAA and there’s no way that 45 per cent is ever going to be a pass, even with a SAM.

Daisy got 67 per cent, which was better than normal, but still not safe, and her mum always goes super-stressy at anything under 75 per cent. Raf got 83 per cent which was amazingly about what he’d got in the last Geography test that he uploaded for. Jack got really moody and said that Raf would just have uploaded after I left. I wish he’d give Raf a chance.

Hugo got 89 per cent and was looking pretty smug (normal freakoid facial expression) until Mr Hanson read out my result. 92 per cent – in your face, Hugo Barnes!! Apparently Hugo (along with nearly every other freakoid) had done better than me in the recall fact section, but I’d whooped him in the ‘apply your knowledge’ part.

You could tell immediately that Hugo was NOT HAPPY. His mean, ice-blue eyes narrowed and a muscle under his left cheekbone started to twitch. Amanda couldn’t help herself and reached over to stroke his arm, but Hugo shoved her away.

Mr Hanson chose that moment to leave the room to photocopy some sheets.

Hugo walked up to my bench, pushed my stuff onto the floor and called me a stupid, cheating Norm. This I could handle and I just laughed at him. I’d worked really hard for that test and had beaten him fair and square. This seemed to wind him up even more and that’s when it all went wrong. Hugo said I didn’t deserve to be at Hollets, that all Norms should be shipped off to the Wetlands at birth as they were like a sub-species. He said the Laboratory should never have employed my mum and that her decision to carry me, ‘like a fat whale’, and not to use a WombPod like every other government employee made her an embarrassment to the Territory. He said that he’d personally pay to have me and my ‘saggy’ mum shipped off to the Wetlands today.

When he started on about my mum, that’s when I saw red. My mum’s one of the good guys. One of the very few properly, truly, good guys. Through her research she saves lives every day. I wanted to scream at him and hit him but I knew he’d like that, so I pretended like I wasn’t fazed and then did what I knew would provoke him most. I stood up slowly and jerked my arms around chanting, ‘My-name-is Hugo-Barnes-and-I-am-a-freakoid-robot-with-no-natural-intelligence.’

Suddenly I noticed that the room had gone really quiet. I turned around to see Mr Daniels standing in the doorway. I could tell by his expression that he’d seen everything. I’ve got to go and see him in his office on Monday.

He said nothing to Hugo of course.

I hate Hugo Barnes.

I guess we should have known that they’d find out about Daisy’s party. We’d been inviting other Norms (and the occasional OK freakoid such as Barnaby) in the lunch hall and they must have overheard or something.

I find it hard to believe that I was ever friends with Amanda or that Jack and Hugo used to be pretty close at junior school. Hugo used to play football with Jack basically every Sunday morning and Amanda even came to my first sleepover. My friendship with Amanda, and Jack’s with Hugo, all changed when we got to ten. They suddenly stopped wanting anything to do with us and we didn’t exactly want to hang out with them either as they became super annoying. Mum said Amanda just hit puberty early. And I know she became absurdly guy-orientated, but it was more than that. She only liked freakoids; started to listen in class; blanked me. Now they’re so bloody superior and they just have to wreck everything.

Anyway, about 9pm the party was starting to get fun and people were actually dancing in the lounge. We’d moved the sofas to the edge of the room so there was a kind of dance floor and Daisy had put little tealights all along the mantelpiece to create a ‘romantic’ atmosphere. I think she thought it might help me to get it properly together with Raf! Jack was in a really good mood and he’s hilarious when he dances as he’s so big. A dance move that you might not notice in anyone else is magnified by his massive body into something totally absurd. He kept pulling this one particular move – sort of hammering with his right hand and bending his knees in time with the music. He looked like a genuine denser. Then he kept on trying to dance with me and hook his arm round my waist, but it didn’t feel right and I remained glued to a sofa at the edge.

‘Why are you being off with me?’ he asked, but I didn’t feel like having THAT conversation so I pretended I was hungry and went to eat some crisps I really wasn’t in the mood for.

My eyes kept returning to the front door, my heart getting a weird lame flutter every time someone new walked in. The flutter turned manic when Raf finally turned up just after 9pm. He was wearing this yellow shirt that would have looked malc on anyone else but somehow looked really cool on him. Jack must have seen my reaction as he said, ‘Oh, OK, I get it. I see,’ before stomping off. I was torn between approaching Raf and following Jack when the doorbell rang one more time.

Daisy, euphoric from dancing and general flirting, sprang up to open the door, her dazzling hostess smile at the ready.
The smile vanished and I knew something was wrong.

Hugo and Quentin barged in. Here comes trouble, we all thought, but they were acting nice. Worryingly nice. They’d brought loads of bottles of vodka with them and without it seeming like they had any sort of agenda, the vodka was made into cocktails and before long everyone was pretty hammered.

I’d only had two drinks but was already feeling a bit out of it. I remember edging round one side of the sofa to get back to where Raf was, when Hugo sneaked round the other side. Quentin blocked the way back and I was caught in an evil freakoid sandwich. Quentin started to stroke my arm in a pretty sleazy way and Hugo just watched and laughed as if he was properly enjoying it, but not in a fancying me way, more in a ‘I like to watch her suffer’ way.

‘Stop it,’ I hissed. I didn’t want Raf, or Jack for that matter, to clock what was going on, as I knew there’d just be a massive fight and things would get out of hand.

Quentin stayed put. His hand kept moving, roughly now. He kept on trying to put it down the V of my top.

‘Get your pervy hand off me.’ I pushed him away.

‘Stop pretending you don’t like it,’ laughed Hugo. ‘Have another drink. Everyone knows Norms are easy. Why do you think we came to this malc party?’

Quentin grabbed my wrists, pinning them behind my back with one of his massive hands.

‘Get off!’ I shouted, a lot louder this time. Everyone in the room stared at us.

I must have gone a bit trancey. I was brought back into the room with a start at the THUMP as someone’s head hit the wall. I turned to see Raf trying to tackle Hugo. His face looked calm but his eyes were blue and green ice. Hugo had the weight advantage though so Raf kept on being thrown to the floor and the best he could manage was to jump onto Hugo’s back and end up having a kind of piggy back. The absurdity of it made me giggle in spite of myself. That is, until I saw Jack, his face distilled anger, wrenching Quentin’s arms behind his back as he repeated slammed his head against the wall. I don’t know if he’d broken Quentin’s nose, but blood was streaming out of it and there was a trail, like train tracks, down the pale green wallpaper.

‘Jack, stop!’ Daisy shouted, seeing it at the same time. ‘He’s not worth it.’

We both rushed over to Jack and tried to pull him off Quentin. It was like ants trying to stop a truck. I tried again, grabbing Jack’s left arm and he instinctively punched back hard, throwing me off. My head seemed to crunch as I hit the edge of the coffee table. The metallic taste of blood in my mouth. Then blackness.

People with ‘self-inflicted’ injuries don’t get to go to hospital. Can’t even see a doctor. Well, I guess you could see a private one, but even if you could afford that, there’d still be records. Carelessness and risk-taking are BAD personality traits. Show a lack of judgement. As does mixing with violent citizens. So, even though you’re a victim, you’re not worth saving. Getting hurt at a party, doesn’t matter whose fault it was, counts as ‘self-inflicted’. Guess the top Ministry peeps didn’t get many invitations when they were young.

Apparently I blacked out as soon as I’d hit the table. Daisy had called Mum and Dad immediately. She knew an ambulance wouldn’t come and that if she called one, we’d probably both be put under surveillance.

Everyone apart from Raf, Daisy and Jack had left when they arrived. Daisy said Dad took one look at my head and Jack’s hand and told him to, ‘Get out, while you still can.’ I can’t quite believe it. Dad’s a big fan of Jack’s. But I suppose he did (accidentally) deck his baby girl. Then Dad lifted me over his shoulder ‘like a sack of potatoes’ (thanks Daisy – maybe like ‘sleeping beauty’ would have been nicer!) and carried me all the way home.

Mum’s science training and medical supplies came in useful. She gave me something for the pain, bathed the cut (luckily above the hairline so I won’t get a grimbo face scar) and kept me awake to check it hadn’t hurt my brain and turned me into a genuine denser. I actually began to enjoy it. I felt the most secure and cocooned I had for ages. Felt the stresses of the world and the endless revision and the exam just slip away. I think the drugs were pretty strong.

Mum made me stay in bed the whole day and wouldn’t even let me revise, didn’t want me to strain my head! We laughed about it. Never, when I was little, would I have thought I’d be pushing my mum to let me study more. Please, just one more chapter of Physics – pretty please!

I had visitors all afternoon. It was better than a birthday.

First Daisy, filling me in on all the details. Like how Hugo and Quentin had just fled as soon as I’d been punched out. How Raf had gazed ‘all gooey eyed’ on my limp body. (Cool.) And how Jack had almost gone into a state of shock at what he’d done. And how she’d had to spend the rest of the night (with Raf’s help – he’s so great!) cleaning up; trying to tidy up any breakages and remove bloodstains. Daisy was trying to pretend it was all OK and just really funny, but I could tell she was seriously stressing. One of her mum’s prized tacky glass sculptures had been shattered and Daisy hadn’t been able to completely get the blood off the wallpaper. In the end they’d pulled a sofa in front of it as a lame disguise, so hopefully her Mum won’t move it and go mental when she gets back in five hours time.

Raf dropped round at about 3pm, but massively annoyingly I’d just fallen asleep again so didn’t get to see him. Even worse, Mum hadn’t realised I was asleep and had shown him into my room and I’d been snoring. How unattractive is that!?!

Jack sheepishly appeared just before dinner. His face was all puffy and it looked like he’d been crying although he totally denied it.

‘I’m so sorry, Noa,’ he said, and his voice was regret itself. ‘I can’t believe I hurt you. I didn’t see you there. I just see red and then … it’s like my fists control themselves. I know that sounds lame, but that’s what happens. Honestly.’

‘Don’t worry – I know what you’re like. I know it was an accident. How’s Quentin?’

‘Dunno. I think I broke his nose.’

‘Poor Daisy. Lucky Raf was there to help her clean up.’

‘Well, he did start it.’

I couldn’t quite believe what Jack was saying.

‘He basically jumped Hugo and caused the whole fight.’

‘Jack. You are unbelievable. They came to get us drunk and perv on Norms. Quentin was feeling me up. Just get out,
Jack. Get out.’