pouted. ‘They can’t possibly be making us go to lessons. If Sadie
has
died, we’ll at least get a couple of days off, right?’
Bobbie raised an eyebrow. ‘You’re all heart.’ Her appetite for breakfast was now non-existent. ‘Come on, let’s get front-row seats in assembly.’
Unfortunately, everyone wanted front-row seats. Once they were in the grey with claret trim of the Piper’s Hall uniform, Bobbie and Naya had to settle for a position in the third row. Bobbie’s heart was an unswallowed lump at the back of her throat, refusing to go down. It was more than just nosiness or curiosity – Bobbie
needed
to know what had happened to Sadie. There were only so many coincidences she was willing to write off.
Rumours and speculation bounced off the oak-panelled walls of the main hall. Thick-framed portraits of former headmasters looked on with stern disapproval. ‘Meningitis’, ‘pregnancy’ and ‘suicide’ were popular suggestions, although Bobbie was particularly impressed with ‘she injected heroin she bought from a tramp in Oxsley’. Still, she didn’t crack a smile. Her jaw was clenched tight and she chewed on the inside of her cheek until Dr Price blew into the room, as collected as ever, but with a steely glint in her eye.
‘Settle down NOW.’ She wasn’t taking prisoners. Every girl fell silent. The Head took her place at the podium and looked out across a sea of gossip-hungry faces. ‘This is very, very serious. Sadie Walsh is missing from Christie. No one has seen her since lights-out last night.’
There was a ripple amongst the crowd. Naya whispered something in Bobbie’s ear but she shushed her.
‘Quiet!’ Dr Price went on, smoothing her strawberry-blonde bob. ‘I don’t care what’s going on, what’s been said, what anyone has done – legal or otherwise.
All
that matters is finding Sadie and making sure she’s safe. If anyone knows anything about her whereabouts I need to know right now.’
More mutters as each girl asked their neighbour what they knew. Bobbie found herself short of breath. She and Sadie weren’t bosom buddies or anything, but the thought of something happening to her was awful. There was something else too, a niggling feeling that there was something she should be remembering.
‘If you don’t stop chatting I’m going to get really angry, ladies. I do not want to hear gossip, ideas or speculation. Obviously Sadie has gone somewhere and I don’t believe for a second that she didn’t tell someone where she was going.’
This time, at the point where someone
needed
to stand up and confidently say ‘she eloped to New Zealand with her internet lesbian lover’, the room was as quiet as a chapel.
‘You don’t need to say anything now, but if you do, genuinely, know something about Sadie please see me at once. Clearly I am going to be very busy dealing with this all day and the police are on their way. That means the rest of you need to make sure you are in the right place at the right time. You will all go to first period at once, is that understood?’
There was a droned ‘Yes, Miss’ by way of response.
Bobbie made her way to class on autopilot. First period on a Monday, cruelly, was double English Lit and, unusually for her, she hadn’t done the reading homework. As she filed into class, she overheard Grace talking to Caitlin, both of whom, even at times of crisis, were so effortlessly gorgeous they made the kilt and blazer look like a fashion statement rather than a uniform. Grace always proudly displayed the gold Head Girl badge on her blazer like she was the sheriff of the goddamn town. ‘God, she’s such an attention whore,’ Grace bitched. ‘She’ll be in Oxsley with some dykey Radley High girl who looks like Justin Bieber. I bet you anything.’
Bobbie ignored them and slipped into her seat. The lesson was on Poe’s
The Fall of the House of Usher
, which she should have been excited about, but she couldn’t focus. A worry worm
has
died, we’ll at least get a couple of days off, right?’
Bobbie raised an eyebrow. ‘You’re all heart.’ Her appetite for breakfast was now non-existent. ‘Come on, let’s get front-row seats in assembly.’
Unfortunately, everyone wanted front-row seats. Once they were in the grey with claret trim of the Piper’s Hall uniform, Bobbie and Naya had to settle for a position in the third row. Bobbie’s heart was an unswallowed lump at the back of her throat, refusing to go down. It was more than just nosiness or curiosity – Bobbie
needed
to know what had happened to Sadie. There were only so many coincidences she was willing to write off.
Rumours and speculation bounced off the oak-panelled walls of the main hall. Thick-framed portraits of former headmasters looked on with stern disapproval. ‘Meningitis’, ‘pregnancy’ and ‘suicide’ were popular suggestions, although Bobbie was particularly impressed with ‘she injected heroin she bought from a tramp in Oxsley’. Still, she didn’t crack a smile. Her jaw was clenched tight and she chewed on the inside of her cheek until Dr Price blew into the room, as collected as ever, but with a steely glint in her eye.
‘Settle down NOW.’ She wasn’t taking prisoners. Every girl fell silent. The Head took her place at the podium and looked out across a sea of gossip-hungry faces. ‘This is very, very serious. Sadie Walsh is missing from Christie. No one has seen her since lights-out last night.’
There was a ripple amongst the crowd. Naya whispered something in Bobbie’s ear but she shushed her.
‘Quiet!’ Dr Price went on, smoothing her strawberry-blonde bob. ‘I don’t care what’s going on, what’s been said, what anyone has done – legal or otherwise.
All
that matters is finding Sadie and making sure she’s safe. If anyone knows anything about her whereabouts I need to know right now.’
More mutters as each girl asked their neighbour what they knew. Bobbie found herself short of breath. She and Sadie weren’t bosom buddies or anything, but the thought of something happening to her was awful. There was something else too, a niggling feeling that there was something she should be remembering.
‘If you don’t stop chatting I’m going to get really angry, ladies. I do not want to hear gossip, ideas or speculation. Obviously Sadie has gone somewhere and I don’t believe for a second that she didn’t tell someone where she was going.’
This time, at the point where someone
needed
to stand up and confidently say ‘she eloped to New Zealand with her internet lesbian lover’, the room was as quiet as a chapel.
‘You don’t need to say anything now, but if you do, genuinely, know something about Sadie please see me at once. Clearly I am going to be very busy dealing with this all day and the police are on their way. That means the rest of you need to make sure you are in the right place at the right time. You will all go to first period at once, is that understood?’
There was a droned ‘Yes, Miss’ by way of response.
Bobbie made her way to class on autopilot. First period on a Monday, cruelly, was double English Lit and, unusually for her, she hadn’t done the reading homework. As she filed into class, she overheard Grace talking to Caitlin, both of whom, even at times of crisis, were so effortlessly gorgeous they made the kilt and blazer look like a fashion statement rather than a uniform. Grace always proudly displayed the gold Head Girl badge on her blazer like she was the sheriff of the goddamn town. ‘God, she’s such an attention whore,’ Grace bitched. ‘She’ll be in Oxsley with some dykey Radley High girl who looks like Justin Bieber. I bet you anything.’
Bobbie ignored them and slipped into her seat. The lesson was on Poe’s
The Fall of the House of Usher
, which she should have been excited about, but she couldn’t focus. A worry worm
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