bored into her skull. She drummed her HB pencil on the side of her exercise book, her fingers overloaded with energy. Fragments of ideas, noises and images sloshed around her head – nothing making any sense. Nosebleeds, her dream, the girl in the corridor … how did that connect to Sadie … ? Then another piece of memory flotsam drifted to the front of her brain, something she’d completely forgotten.
The pencil slid from her fingers and rolled to the floor with a sharp ping.
She stood, almost knocking her chair over. The metal legs made an ugly screech as they scraped along the floor. Grabbing her books, she turned and darted for the door, almost colliding with Miss Foster, her English teacher, as she entered the room. ‘Bobbie, where are you … ?’
‘I have to talk to Dr Price.’ The lie felt lumpy on her tongue, but it would have to do. Bobbie knew Miss Foster would assume she had information about Sadie and let her go without hesitation. With her head down, she ducked past the teacher. This was so unlike her, but she knew there was no way she’d be able to work until she knew the answer to the noisy question that roared inside.
The first mission was finding Lottie Wiseman, Sadie’s BFF and room-mate. She did a ton of languages – where would she be? Bobbie initially set off towards where she knew Naya had Spanish, banking on Lottie being in the lesson with her, only to have a last-minute change of heart.
Instead, Bobbie left the shiny Millar Wing, with its clean sandstone walls and glass partitions, and headed back to the old building, towards Dr Price’s office. It made sense to Bobbie that those nearest to Sadie (including Lottie) were probably still being interrogated.
There was an open concrete courtyard in the middle of the school, and a fine drizzle had turned everything charcoal grey to match the heavy cloud that squatted above the school. Bobbie darted under the rain shelter and slipped in through the fire escape on the opposite side of the quad. Few lessons were taught in the old part of the school any more; only the music room, hall, dorms, canteen and offices were situated there. As such it was eerily quiet at this time of day, with almost all the girls either in classrooms or shivering on the playing field.
Bobbie ducked past the dinner ladies setting up the dining room and straight into the entrance hall, which seemed so different in the light of day. Her pursuit of the mystery girl seemed so much longer ago than last night. Now, fuzzy amber light diffused through the stained glass in the grand front doors, shining down on the reception desk. Lorraine, the school’s long-standing receptionist, looked up to greet her. ‘Hello … ’
‘Bobbie.’
‘That’s it! Is everything okay, love?’
‘Yeah.’ She used the same lie again. ‘I need to see Dr Price.’
‘Well, she’s in with the police at the moment, dear. Is it about Sadie?’
‘Sort of. Yeah.’ Bobbie leaned past the desk and glanced down the corridor towards Dr Price’s office. Sure enough Lottie and Kellie, her other room-mate, were waiting on the sofa near to where last night she’d seen the awkward figure of the girl. The impossible ghost girl.
‘Okay, love. Go wait with the others.’
Bobbie thanked her and shuffled down the corridor, trying to think of a way she could phrase this without sounding like a crazy person. Poor Lottie, who looked gaunt and frail at the best of times, looked awful, eyes red from crying and her face clammy and grey. If Sadie
had
been planning something, her best friend evidently hadn’t been in on it.
Kellie looked up at her. There was a long black hair trapped in her lip gloss and for some reason it really bothered Bobbie. ‘Hey hey hey, Bobbie. Do you know something about Sadie? Did you see her last night?’
‘No,’ Bobbie admitted. ‘I need to speak to Lottie.’
‘Me?’ she sniffed. ‘Why?’
Bobbie took a deep breath, suddenly not sure what to do with her hands.
The pencil slid from her fingers and rolled to the floor with a sharp ping.
She stood, almost knocking her chair over. The metal legs made an ugly screech as they scraped along the floor. Grabbing her books, she turned and darted for the door, almost colliding with Miss Foster, her English teacher, as she entered the room. ‘Bobbie, where are you … ?’
‘I have to talk to Dr Price.’ The lie felt lumpy on her tongue, but it would have to do. Bobbie knew Miss Foster would assume she had information about Sadie and let her go without hesitation. With her head down, she ducked past the teacher. This was so unlike her, but she knew there was no way she’d be able to work until she knew the answer to the noisy question that roared inside.
The first mission was finding Lottie Wiseman, Sadie’s BFF and room-mate. She did a ton of languages – where would she be? Bobbie initially set off towards where she knew Naya had Spanish, banking on Lottie being in the lesson with her, only to have a last-minute change of heart.
Instead, Bobbie left the shiny Millar Wing, with its clean sandstone walls and glass partitions, and headed back to the old building, towards Dr Price’s office. It made sense to Bobbie that those nearest to Sadie (including Lottie) were probably still being interrogated.
There was an open concrete courtyard in the middle of the school, and a fine drizzle had turned everything charcoal grey to match the heavy cloud that squatted above the school. Bobbie darted under the rain shelter and slipped in through the fire escape on the opposite side of the quad. Few lessons were taught in the old part of the school any more; only the music room, hall, dorms, canteen and offices were situated there. As such it was eerily quiet at this time of day, with almost all the girls either in classrooms or shivering on the playing field.
Bobbie ducked past the dinner ladies setting up the dining room and straight into the entrance hall, which seemed so different in the light of day. Her pursuit of the mystery girl seemed so much longer ago than last night. Now, fuzzy amber light diffused through the stained glass in the grand front doors, shining down on the reception desk. Lorraine, the school’s long-standing receptionist, looked up to greet her. ‘Hello … ’
‘Bobbie.’
‘That’s it! Is everything okay, love?’
‘Yeah.’ She used the same lie again. ‘I need to see Dr Price.’
‘Well, she’s in with the police at the moment, dear. Is it about Sadie?’
‘Sort of. Yeah.’ Bobbie leaned past the desk and glanced down the corridor towards Dr Price’s office. Sure enough Lottie and Kellie, her other room-mate, were waiting on the sofa near to where last night she’d seen the awkward figure of the girl. The impossible ghost girl.
‘Okay, love. Go wait with the others.’
Bobbie thanked her and shuffled down the corridor, trying to think of a way she could phrase this without sounding like a crazy person. Poor Lottie, who looked gaunt and frail at the best of times, looked awful, eyes red from crying and her face clammy and grey. If Sadie
had
been planning something, her best friend evidently hadn’t been in on it.
Kellie looked up at her. There was a long black hair trapped in her lip gloss and for some reason it really bothered Bobbie. ‘Hey hey hey, Bobbie. Do you know something about Sadie? Did you see her last night?’
‘No,’ Bobbie admitted. ‘I need to speak to Lottie.’
‘Me?’ she sniffed. ‘Why?’
Bobbie took a deep breath, suddenly not sure what to do with her hands.
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