Page 22 of Clara's Secret Garden
I turned around, indicating the backs of my tormentors asthey walked away.
He frowned. ‘You should front it out. Laugh like you agreewith them when they call you names. If they can’t make you feel bad, they’llget fed up.’
‘Will they?’
‘It’s worth a try. I used to get bullied for wearing glassesbut I just laughed at the name-calling and they soon stopped bothering.’
‘Maybe I’ll try that.’
‘You okay now?’
I smiled at him gratefully. ‘I’ll be fine.’
‘Okay. See you, Clara Bear.’ And he sprinted off, back alongthe path to catch up with his mates.
As I watched him go, a warm feeling was spreading throughme. If Rory Angel didn’t already have my heart, he certainly did after that...
*****
I walked around in a daze of happiness for a few daysafter Rory’s rescue. He must really like me or he wouldn’t have helped me likethat, would he? For the first time, I had a glimmer of hope and I hugged itclose to me.
But then something happened that brought me right back toearth with a bump.
It was lunchtime and I was coming out of class with Siobhanwhen I saw Hannah and her mates up ahead of us, talking to Rory and laughing.
As we got closer, I heard Hannah say, ‘You had your armaround her. Do you fancy her, then?’
I felt my heart jolt.
They were talking about Rory intervening to help me.
I froze inside as I waited for his response to their taunts.He was laughing if off but Hannah was persistent, following him and demandingan answer, refusing to let up like an annoying wasp.
At last, running out of patience, Rory turned and glared ather. ‘I felt sorry for her, okay? Now, piss off!’
Siobhan, who knew all about it, threw me a sympathetic look.But I swallowed hard and then acted my heart out, like I didn’t really care.Inside, though, I was crumbling. Rory felt sorry for me. Of course he did. I’dbeen living in a fool’s paradise, imagining that he might really like me.
I hadn’t forgotten his advice about tackling bullies,though.
I started doing what he said and laughing when Hannah got upto her bullying ways, shrugging it off as if I didn’t care what they said aboutme. It was scary, though. My heart was almost leaping out of my chest as Ipretended to think it was funny. But to my surprise, it seemed to have aneffect. Hannah backed off a bit, although she remained the bane of my lifethroughout my schooldays.
Rory continued to call me ‘Clara Bear’ and I liked it. Otherpeople joined in and ‘Clara Chubface’ gradually became a thing of the past.
When I finally left school, I was relieved to leave the badmemories behind. But I had mixed feelings because I knew I wouldn’t see Roryanymore. I might bump into him sometimes but it wouldn’t be the same as sharinglessons and seeing him every weekday...
*****
When I left school to study dance at the local college, Igot myself the part-time job at the doggy day care centre to help pay my waythrough the course – and one evening, after helping to hand all the pets backto their owners, I was on my way home when a familiar figure got on my bus.
Rory?
Walking up the aisle, he spotted me. We smiled and heplopped down in the seat beside me.
‘Clara Bear. How are you doing?’
‘I’m fine, thanks.’ My heart was going like the clappers. ‘You’reat uni now? Studying law?’
He nodded, not looking too thrilled about it.
