Page 65 of Seven Letters

‘What’s going on down there?’ Mr Warren asked, from the front of the room. ‘I don’t want any comments about pairing. You are to work with the partner assigned to you and that’s that.’

At the end of class, as everyone else made a dash for the door, Zach turned around slowly in his chair. ‘How do you want to do this?’ he asked. Those were the first words he’d spoken to her since the night she’d burned the stuff on the lawn. ‘Once we decide on a book or play, we could each do our own part separately, then just submit it?’

So, he couldn’t bear to be alone with her even for a minute. Riley hoped her face didn’t betray how hurt she was. ‘Sure, yeah, whatever.’

‘What do you want to write about? I’ll let you choose. I’m sure you have strong feelings about some play or book. But can you not choose something, like, totally intense?’

Riley’s eyes narrowed. ‘Sure, Zach. Why don’t we do, let’ssee, how aboutDiary of a Wimpy Kid? Is that good for you? Not too intense? Not too much to deal with? Not going to bore you? Funny enough for you? I don’t want to ruin your life with my extreme choices or opinions, I mean, God forbid we’d actually do something that matters.’

Zach sighed. ‘Come on, Riley, give me a break.’

‘Like you gave me but didn’t tell me? The break we were having but you forgot to mention?’

‘Well, the next time you decide to crap all over someone’s ambitions, I’d advise you to keep your opinion to yourself.’

‘I’ve apologized for that, Zach. Come on, get over it already.’

‘Your opinion mattered to me.’

Riley felt her chin wobbling. ‘I’m sorry, Zach … Look, can you give me a break here? I’m going through a really shit time. My aunt is … she’s …’ A sob escaped Riley’s lips. She didn’t want to fall apart in front of Zach so she fled the room, ran to the toilets and locked herself into a cubicle. She put a hand over her mouth to muffle her sobs.

After five minutes, she began to calm down. She sat on the toilet lid and fished her concealer out of her bag. She’d have to try to hide her red, puffy eyes. She was about to unlock the cubicle door when she heard voices.

‘OMG, Zoë, what a shocker for you,’ someone said. It sounded like Danni Gard, but Riley wasn’t sure.

‘What are you talking about?’ Zoë’s voice said.

‘Haven’t you heard? Zach got paired with Riley, or should I say Debbie Downer, in drama. They’ll be working together for weeks on some big project. Just the two of them.’

Riley held her breath.

‘So what?’ Zoë snapped. ‘Zach is so over her. He can’t stand her. He said she’s all obsessed with people who, like, want to change the world and stuff and she totally doesn’t getathletics. Look at her! She’s a freak who wants to stay inside and read boring books about boring people no one gives a crap about. Zach will be furious he’s stuck with her boring arse as a partner. I feel sorry for him. I’d better find him and cheer him up.’

Riley pulled out more toilet paper to wipe her tears. Zach was gone. She had to forget about him. He didn’t even want to spend a minute alone with her doing a project. It was obvious he hated her.

The bell rang for break. Riley picked up her bag and headed out to the junior school playground to check on Izzy. At least she could do something right and help her little cousin. To hell with Zach, her aunt was dead and her cousin needed her.

25

Mia, Adam, Rob and Charlie paced up and down the ICU waiting room. What was going on? Mia had texted them immediately, thinking the alarm might have signalled the end. They had arrived in the last half-hour, all terrified. So far, no one had told them anything.

In the corner of the waiting room sat a woman of about seventy, her eyes closed, holding a set of rosary beads. She was praying quietly, completely immersed. It looked soothing, Mia thought. The woman’s husband had been rushed in with kidney failure, but Mia had heard one of the doctors telling her that he was going to be all right.

Angela came out and told the woman she could see her husband. She stood up, calmly placed her beads in a little leather pouch and went out into the corridor.

‘They’ll talk to you shortly,’ Angela said. ‘Don’t worry.’

The old woman’s poise and composure were in stark contrast to Adam’s mutterings and the rage Mia felt against the world. She had tried praying, but it had given her no peace. Seeing the woman and the comfort her rosary had given her, Mia wished she had stronger faith. To find consolation in some higher being would be a relief, but for her, no God could explain this or answer the questions she had. There was no God. How could a compassionate and loving God destroy Sarah’s life? Mia envied the woman her faith, but she knew she’d never find solace there. There was no ‘meaning’ to this situation: it was just awful, terrible, random bad luck. People were always saying there was a reason for everything.Bullshit. Sarah’s death had no meaning: it was just the world being cruel and heartless.

After what seemed like hours, Dr Mayhew finally came in to talk to them. He looked exhausted.

‘Is my baby OK?’ Adam demanded.

‘We had to perform an emergency ventriculostomy to treat the raised intracranial pressure by draining CSF and blood to relieve increased pressure inside Sarah’s skull from the brain swelling. This basically means that Sarah now has a drain in her skull. It’s vital that this does not become infected, so we will have to be extremely vigilant about visitors wearing protective clothing and gloves, too, now at all times.’

‘And Ben?’ Adam croaked.

‘The foetus remains stable as of now,’ Dr Mayhew said.

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