Page 38 of The New Girl

Just as she was coming out of the room, Safa opened her bedroom door. Ruby almost jumped out of her skin.

‘Ruby? Where have you been? You’ve been gone for ages. Are you OK?’

Ruby froze. She was sure her guilt was written all over her face. Safa would know that she had been up to no good. She tried desperately to keep calm. ‘Oh right, yeah, sorry. I, uhm, I just saw your mum coming up the stairs, so I was chatting to her.’

‘OK, well, come on, we need to run through the whole scene before you have to go home.’

Ruby’s legs were shaking as she followed Safa back into her bedroom. She sat down on the bed before she collapsed. She’d never make a good detective or spy; it was way too stressful.

Ruby was so distracted after the whole hiding-under-the-bed drama that she made a complete mess of her lines. She needed to get out of the house. She needed to go home and calm down.

‘What’s up with you tonight? Are you OK? Is it Robbie?’ Safa looked concerned.

Ruby had to come up with an excuse to get out of the house. ‘No, Robbie’s fine. I just ... uhm, well, actually I just don’t feel great.’

‘You do look a bit hot. I hope you’re not getting that flu that’s going around school. You can’t be sick for your big night.’

‘No, I’m sure it’s not that. I just feel a bit sick.’ Ruby held onto her stomach. She felt so bad lying to her friend.

‘I hope it wasn’t Mama’s curry,’ Safa said.

‘Oh gosh no, it was delicious. I’m just really tired and I have a headache. Sorry, Safa, and thanks for all your help. I’ll see you tomorrow.’

‘Go home and rest. You need your strength. Do you want me to walk home with you?’

‘No, not at all. Honestly, I’m fine. It’s no big deal.’ Ruby grabbed her script and shoved it into her backpack. She swung her bag onto her shoulder and hurried to the door. ‘No need to come downstairs with me, I’ll just nip out now. Will you thank your mum again for dinner? OK, bye!’ Ruby ran down the stairs and out the front door.

The fresh air felt amazing on her hot face. She gulped in big breaths of cold air and headed towards home. It took longer than usual to get home because her legs were still shaking so much. She really hoped the photos would print out OK, because there was no way in hell she was going back to do that again. No way, no how.

Ruby lay on her bed and texted Clara. ‘I found them, but it was SOOOO hard. Nearly got caught.’

Clara texted straight back. ‘Did you take photos of all the documents?’

Ruby felt annoyed. How about a ‘Well done’, ‘That must have been scary’? Nothing. ‘Yes, I did. Hopefully they will be clear enough.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘My hands were shaking, Clara. It was really stressful!!!!!’

‘If they’re not clear they’re no use.’

Ruby threw her phone across the room in frustration.

‘Ouch!’ As the phone went flying across the room, Mum came in. It hit her on the foot.

‘Sorry,’ Ruby said.

Mum came over to the bed and sat down. ‘Hi, pet, are you OK?’

‘I’m fine, Clara is just being bossy and annoying.’

‘She’s a good friend, Ruby. Don’t waste time arguing. Honestly, good friends are very important. Everyone drives you nuts sometimes, but Clara is a lovely girl and she doesn’t have it easy.’

Ruby did not want to get into a big chat about Clara and their friendship. She wrapped her arms around her stomach. ‘I’m just grumpy and my stomach hurts a bit. I think the curry I ate at Safa’s was a bit spicy,’ she lied.

‘Ah yes, curries can be hard on the stomach if you’re not used to spicy food.’ Mum pushed Ruby’s hair out of her face. It felt so nice. They so rarely had quiet time together, just the two of them. Ruby smiled up at her. ‘How did the hospital visit go?’ Ruby asked.

Mum shrugged. ‘Fine. No change, nothing new really.’ She snuggled down beside Ruby. ‘But the good news is that the consultant told me that he’ll try to help me get Robbie into Grangepark School, you know the one for children with intellectual disabilities, next year – which would be incredible. God, Ruby, it would change things so much. I’d have time for you and Orla again and I’d be a better mum, and Robbie would be happier, and Dad wouldn’t have to work so hard because Robbie would get all the speech therapy and occupational therapy that he needs at school. We could stop paying for all the extra therapy and he’d be stimulated and happy with other kids like him and specially trained teachers ... it would be incredible. But I don’t want to get my hopes up because there is a very long waiting list. It’s the best school in the country and ... well, I guess there are a lot of children who need their help.’

---