Two-Faced (7 page)

‘I thought I told you to go to my office?’ Mr Ainsley said, coming up behind her. ‘Or would you rather I skipped the formalities and went straight to calling the police?’

Sucking her teeth, unimpressed by his threat, Sandra turned to give him a dirty look. But when she saw the face of the girl whose arm he was holding, she did a comical double take.

‘They’re twins,’ Tina hissed, pulling on her arm. ‘Come on, just leave it.’

‘Fuckin’ freaks,’ Sandra spat.

‘Get moving,’ Mr Ainsley ordered. ‘And if I hear any more bad language you’ll be getting an extended suspension.’

Sandra muttered, ‘Big
wow
!’ and stomped off down the corridor.

‘Take your sister to the nurse to get her checked over,’ Mr Ainsley told Michelle, his mouth set in a tight line as he went after Sandra.

Instinctively reaching out to Mia when she saw the clumps of hair that had been dragged loose and the red marks on her throat, Michelle said, ‘Are you all right?’

‘Get off!’ Mia hissed. ‘And what have I told you about talking to me in public?’

‘But you’re hurt,’ Michelle murmured.

‘No, I’m not,’ Mia sneered, linking arms with Laura.

Gazing after them as they walked away, Michelle clenched her teeth when Lisa came over and said, ‘She
well
deserved that. And she’s lucky it wasn’t me, ’cos I would have ripped her head off.’

‘Good job it wasn’t, then, isn’t it?’ Michelle retorted frostily, stalking out into the yard.

Ignoring her friends when they called out to her from the safe spot below the headmaster’s office where they congregated at break times, Michelle sat down on the wet grass and hugged her knees to her chest. Mia had brought this on herself, because anyone would have reacted like Sandra just had if someone had nicked their boyfriend off them. But why had she had to go and pick on the hardest girl in school? That was just stupid. And, all right, so Darren Mitchell was good-looking, but he was a thug and an idiot, so he wasn’t worth getting battered over.

Sitting there until the bell went, Michelle got up and dusted the back of her skirt down. But just as she was about to go inside she saw Mia coming out with the nurse.

‘What’s wrong?’ she asked, running up to them as they headed towards the staff car park. ‘Where are you going?’

Mia clutched at her ribs as if she was in agony and gave her sister a rare smile. ‘It’s okay, don’t panic. Mrs Drake’s just taking me home so I can get some painkillers.’

Presuming a closeness between the two girls that didn’t exist, the nurse said, ‘Don’t fret, she’s just a bit bruised, that’s all. You can go home with her if you like. I’m sure Mr Ainsley won’t mind.’

‘
No!
’ Mia blurted out. Then, tempering her tone, ‘I’ll be fine by myself. Anyway, you’ve got English this afternoon, and we all know how much you love English – eh, Shell?’

Frowning, Michelle slipped her hands into her pockets. Mia was still smiling, and Michelle would have loved to believe that it was genuine. But, sadly, she suspected that it was purely for the nurse’s benefit.

Telling Michelle that she would see her when she got home, Mia continued slowly on to the car. Still standing where they’d left her when they drove past a minute later, Michelle sighed when Mia raised her hand as if to wave but stuck two fingers up instead.

Kim was lying on the couch watching Jerry Springer and she leapt up when she heard the car pulling up outside. Fearing that it would be the man from the gas board again, she peeped cautiously out through the nets. He’d already been twice this morning, making a holy show of her in front of the neighbours by shouting through the letter box about how he knew she was in, and how she’d better let him read the meter – or else. But she couldn’t let him in – not while the meter was still rigged to go backwards.

Bloody Eric and his stupid ideas! But he hadn’t shown his face since she’d had a go at him for having sex with her when she was out of it last Friday, so there was nothing she could do but wait for him to stop sulking and come round. Then he could put everything back the way it was supposed to be.

To her relief, it wasn’t the gasman, it was Mia. But she wasn’t alone; a strange woman was holding her arm as she hobbled slowly up the path.

‘What’s happened?’ Kim demanded, rushing to the door.

Using the weak voice that she’d adopted on the journey over, having decided that she’d get more time off school if she made out like she was more badly hurt than she actually was, Mia said, ‘I’m all right, mum.’

The nurse stepped forward and said, ‘Let’s get her inside, then I’ll explain.’

‘Who are you?’ Kim asked.

‘School nurse,’ Mia told her, trying to convey with her expression not to kick up a fuss and delay Mrs Drake any longer than was necessary.

Kim rushed in ahead of them and kicked the overflowing ashtray beneath the couch. Telling Mia to lie down, she demanded to know what had happened.

‘A fight?’ she squawked when the nurse told her. ‘Where?’

Wondering what the location had to do with anything, Mrs Drake said, ‘I believe it was in the canteen.’

‘So where were the teachers?’ Kim wanted to know. ‘I thought you lot were supposed to look after the kids to make sure this kind of thing can’t happen?’

‘I’m sorry, Mrs Delaney, but I wasn’t actually there so I can’t comment on that,’ the nurse replied evenly. ‘But I can assure you it won’t go unpunished.’

‘Too bloody right it won’t,’ Kim snapped, jabbing a finger in Mia’s direction. ‘This is no ordinary girl we’re talking about here, you know. Her face is going to be her fortune, and if anything—’

‘
Mum!
’ Mia hissed, wanting to shut Kim up before she said too much. ‘It’s not her fault. And Mr Ainsley stopped it as soon as he realised what was happening.’ Smiling at the nurse now, she rolled her eyes. ‘Sorry, miss, but she can be a bit protective – as you can probably tell.’

Telling her not to worry about it, Mrs Drake took a form out of her bag and handed it to Kim. ‘If you could just sign this to confirm that you’ve taken charge of her, I’ll leave you to it.’

Kim snatched the form and looked around for a pen, muttering, ‘I’ll sign it to say she’s home, but don’t think the school’s off the hook, because if I find out she’s injured—’

‘Just sign it,’ Mia told her tersely.

Kim did as she was told and showed the nurse out. Coming back a few seconds later, she stopped in the doorway when she caught Mia leaping up.

‘Oi, I thought you were supposed to be in agony?’

‘I told you I was okay,’ Mia reminded her, going to the window to check that the nurse had really gone.

‘That’s not how it looked to me; you could hardly walk when you came in. And what am I supposed to do now? We’ll have to cancel the photographer, but he’ll still want paying. And you know I can’t afford to lose that money
and
book another session.’

‘We’re not cancelling anything,’ Mia assured her, grinning slyly as she added, ‘I just wanted to come home early so I’d have more time to get ready.’

‘So you’re not really hurt?’

‘Well, yeah, a bit. But nowhere near as bad as
they
think. My mouth’s a bit dry, though, so I wouldn’t say no to a brew.’

Shaking her head, Kim lumbered through to the kitchen and filled the kettle. ‘You might as well get a bath now you’re here,’ she called over her shoulder. ‘Then you can try on them clothes I got you and do some poses. I want to make sure you’ve got them perfect, ’cos I can’t afford for you to go into overtime – not with the money they charge.’

‘I know what I’m doing,’ Mia told her, coming into the kitchen and opening the cupboard. ‘It probably won’t even take one hour, never mind
three
, ’cos my pictures will be brilliant.’

‘Bloody won’t be if you keep stuffing your face like that,’ Kim said, snatching the biscuit out of her daughter’s hand. ‘You’ll be fat as a pig before you get anywhere near a camera at this rate.’

‘It’s only a biscuit,’ Mia protested when Kim tossed it back into the cupboard. ‘I didn’t have any lunch.’

‘It’s your own fault for fighting when you should have been eating. And I suppose it had something to do with this stupid
boyfriend
you’ve gone and got yourself?’

‘
He
’s not the stupid one, his
ex
is. She can’t handle the fact that he’s dumped her for me.’

‘Oh, well, that’s the end of him, then.’

‘It is not! Now she knows, she can get lost.’

‘No,
he
can get lost,’ Kim countered sharply, waving the teaspoon at Mia as she added, ‘and so can any other lad who comes sniffing round from now on. And don’t start pulling your face, because I’m saying this for your own good.’

‘I don’t see how.’

‘Boys are a distraction, that’s how. And I’m not having any randy little sod get in the way of your modelling, so there’ll be no more boys from now on. And no more fighting. And no more junk food, so you can quit staring at the cupboard or I’ll throw the whole lot in the bin.’

‘You’ve got to be joking!’ Mia gasped.

‘Do I
look
like I’m joking?’ Kim turned and gave her a deadpan look. ‘It’s for your own good,’ she repeated when Mia gazed moodily back at her. ‘You might not think so now, but you’ll thank me in the long run. And in case you think I don’t know what I’m talking about, I bought some magazines this morning to gen up on it, and I reckon you could really pull it off – as long as you do as you’re told.’

‘By
you
?’ Folding her arms, Mia gave her mother a scornful look. ‘You’re not an expert just ’cos you’ve read a couple of stupid magazines, you know.’

‘All right, so I might not know enough to be your manager,’ Kim conceded, stirring two sugars into her own tea and none into Mia’s. ‘But I know enough to keep an eye on what you eat and drink so you don’t go wrecking your skin. And I’ll be keeping a bloody close eye on your agent as well, ’cos I was reading about this girl who got in with a bad one, and she reckons they can really take the piss if you don’t let them know who’s boss from the off.’

‘God, you’re going to be so embarrassing,’ Mia complained. ‘I haven’t even started yet, and you’re already putting me off.’

‘Don’t even go there,’ Kim warned, handing her cup to her. ‘I’m already up to my neck in it money-wise, and if you think I’m going to let you change your mind and leave me in debt, you’ve got another think coming.’

‘I never said I wasn’t going to do it,’ Mia replied sulkily, sipping on the tea. ‘
Eew!
You forgot my sugar.’

‘No, I didn’t.’ Kim ushered her out of the kitchen. ‘You don’t take it any more. Like you don’t see boys any more, or—’

‘Fight, or eat biscuits,’ Mia finished for her, shooting her a resentful glare. ‘So, is there anything I
am
allowed to do?’

‘Earn money,’ Kim said, grinning now. ‘
Loads
of money if the girls in that magazine are anything to go by, and you’re way prettier than any of them. Anyhow, give me that agent’s number while I’m thinking about it. I’ll ring him while you’re having your bath.’

‘
Ah
 . . .’ Mia bit her lip sheepishly. ‘I meant to tell you about that. Only I’ve heard he’s probably not all that good.’

‘Eh?’ Already reaching for the telephone, Kim frowned. ‘He’s been the dog’s doo-dahs all weekend, so what’s changed?’

Fully prepared to jump to Darren’s defence if her mum blamed him for trying to get her into
that
kind of modelling, Mia reluctantly admitted what she’d heard about Lorraine Braithwaite. But rather than go mad, as she’d expected, her mum just shrugged.

‘Oh, well, at least we found out before we wasted time talking to him. We’ll just ask the photographer to recommend someone more respectable. ’Cos they’re all connected, you know. According to them magazines, it’s a definite case of who you know, not
what
you know in this business.’

‘God, you
have
been doing your homework, haven’t you?’

Kim said that she wasn’t as thick as people obviously thought she was, then craned her neck when she heard the gate squeaking. Seeing a young woman coming up the path tugging a small suitcase on wheels, she glanced at the clock. ‘Christ, she’s early.’

‘Who?’ Mia asked, reaching for the remote to flick through the TV channels.

‘The beautician – or whatever she calls herself,’ Kim said, snatching the remote out of her daughter’s hand and shooing her into the hall. ‘Get yourself in that bath – and be bloody quick about it, ’cos she’s another one who charges by the hour, and I’m not having her sitting here clocking up air miles while you’re lazing about in the bubbles.’

‘I don’t even
like
bubble bath,’ Mia protested, trying desperately not to spill her tea as her mum pushed her towards the stairs.

‘Well,
start
liking it,’ Kim said breezily. ‘’Cos that’s what models do, isn’t it – lounge around in big bubbly baths, drinking cocktails while they’re getting their pictures took.’

When Michelle got home from school later that day, she heard Mia complaining as she walked through the door. And when she saw the state of her, she understood why, because Mia looked like a clown.

‘Trust me,’ the beautician was saying, deftly backcombing Mia’s usually sleek hair as if she were grooming a poodle. ‘You
have
to exaggerate the make-up or it doesn’t show up on the photos. And, believe me, I know what I’m talking about, because I’ve worked on
Coronation Street
.’

‘Ooh, have you really?’ Kim sounded impressed. ‘So, do you do that Gail Platt’s hair, then? It’s ever so thick, isn’t it?’

‘Oh, she has
wonderful
hair,’ the beautician gushed boastfully. ‘And the thicker the better in my experience, because it stays exactly where you put it. Fine hair like this is the worst,’ she added, pissing Mia off all over again. ‘You spend hours fluffing it up, but it’s flat as a pancake again in two minutes. Not to worry, though. It’ll take a Force Ten gale to shift it by the time I’ve finished.’

‘You’d best not make it stick like
that
,’ Mia protested, scowling at herself in the mirror. ‘I look like a bleedin’ drag queen.’