Page 52 of Save Us
The entire events committee has come down to the bus stop with her, and they’re all beaming from ear to ear. Even Camille, although she has her arms crossed over her chest.
Before I’ve quite got my head around what’s happening, Lin hugs me tight.
“I’m so glad you’re back,” she says, her voice shaking. When she pulls away, it looks almost as though there are tears in her eyes. “I don’t know how I’d have got through the rest of the year without you.”
“And I don’t know how we’d have got through the rest of the year with just Lin in charge,” adds Jessalyn as she gives me a quick hug too. “She’s beenbrutal, Ruby. This last week has felt like an entire term.”
“She just wanted everything to be perfect when you got back,” says Kieran, hugging me in turn. He smiles shyly at me. “Nice to have you back, Ruby. We’ve missed you.”
“What he said,” puts in Doug.
“It was weird without you,” says Camille. She tucks her hair behind her ear and gives a dramatic sigh of relief. “Good that you’re back.” Even she comes over and puts her arms around me.
By the time she moves away, I’m completely overwhelmed. My whole team is here to greet me. It seems like they genuinelymissed me. There’s a lump in my throat, and however often I swallow, I can’t get rid of it.
When I started at Maxton Hall, I never dreamed I’d end up like this. I preferred to fly below the radar so that nobody would have any reason to pick on me. All I wanted to do was get good A levels. Nothing more. And now I realize what a mistake that was. That I might have missed out on lovely moments like this.
“Shall we go?” Camille asks, pointing to the main door. “It’s time for assembly.”
I nod. As our little group heads into Boyd Hall, I link arms with Lin. She leans her head to rest on my shoulder. “About bloody time.”
“Totally,” I say. “You have to tell me everything.”
As I walk into school between her and James, I can feel people’s eyes on me. Heads turn toward me, and I catch occasional muffled murmurs.
And I couldn’t care less.
“The lasagna has never tasted so good,” I declare, sticking another forkful in my mouth.
“The lasagna tastes just as crap as ever. You’re just seeing everything through rose-tinted glasses after your week’s holiday,” Lin retorts, wrinkling her nose dubiously as she eyes the portion on her own plate.
“Your standards are just way too high.”
“And yours must be way, way low if you really think this tastes good. I mean, what is that? Spinach? Mushy broccoli? Nobody knows.”
I chew with a blissful sigh. Lin just shakes her head.
“I really missed you, Ruby.”
“Missed you too. I missed everything here. Even the stinky changing rooms after a match.”
Lin screws up her nose again. “So, I’m on a level with stinky changing rooms after a match, am I? I should take that as an insult, but I’m just too happy today.”
All I can do is grin.
After lunch, we take our trays back. Before I head through the door, I look around for James; he’s sitting with Kesh, Alistair, and Wren at their usual table by the window. The four of them have their heads together over the table, looking serious. I wonder if James is telling them what happened over the weekend. That he’s not living at home with his dad, and that he doesn’t want anything more to do with Beaufort’s. And that Cyril sent him the original photos on Saturday.
The thought of everything that’s changed for those lads since September makes me really sad. James told me their original plan for this year: fun, parties, no worries, no thinking about the future. And it’s been the exact opposite for all of them.
My eye rests on Cyril’s place, which has been empty all lunchtime. I’ll never be able to forgive him for what he did, but it still looks so wrong.
“Did you speak to Cyril?” I ask Lin as we walk outside.
Suddenly, her face tenses. She tucks a strand of her black hair behind her ear. “No. And after what he did to you, I’m not planning to talk to him ever again.”
A queasy feeling spreads through my stomach. Cyril did something unforgivable, but even so, I’m almost feeling sorry for him. It can’t be easy to get your heart broken and then lose all your friends.
“Why d’you ask?”
