The Magpie Effect - The Magpie Chronicles Book 1 (#Wattys2015)

Chapter 13.1

It wasn't often that I gave up my bed on Monday morning without a fight - but the following Monday saw me hurtling out the front door with reckless abandon. I'd spent the whole weekend cooped up in my bedroom, which wasn't so unusual, but Vivian's hostility towards me since the episode with Edith Vespin made me feel like a prisoner in my own home. At least I usually had the option to leave and grab cookies or something, but Vivian was parading about the house like some grouchy prison guard who glared daggers at me whenever I dared to poke a toe beyond the threshold of my bedroom door.

Besides, Monday was the day. It was the day that Mona and I spent the whole of Saturday night talking about and mapping over, to the point where I felt something that bordered on excitement. We finalised our plans on Sunday night, and by the time I reached the bus parked outside Atlantic High the following morning, I was actually glad to be in school. I wasn't dreading seeing Carmen and Holly and the rest of them; I felt in control, like I knew a secret concerning them that they had no idea about.

That excitement lasted all of two minutes, right up until I spotted Debbie through the crowd. She was wearing a raincoat and suede boots, and an expression of sheer indifference.

"Hey, Deb!" I hissed, shuffling through the crowd until I reached her side. "Are you all ready for the trip?"

Debbie lifted the corners of her lips. It wasn't a smile. "Sure."

"Oh, well- good," I said, wincing. I took to bouncing from foot to foot in the hope that it would disperse the awkwardness that had, for a reason completely unknown to me, wedged itself between us. "Where are Jet and Wes? Aren't you in the same group as them?"

Debbie glared at me, as though I'd just uttered something unmentionable. "They're over there," she said, jabbing her finger over her shoulder. "Where are yours?"

"What?" I almost swallowed my tongue. "Debbie, what's gotten into you-"

"Ok, so does everybody have a bus-buddy?" Mr Carmody waved his arms above the crowd, beckoning for order. Everybody shuffled into their respective pairs. Debbie crossed her arms and I bobbed next to her, my confidence suddenly shattered. I refused to go and join my own group mates until absolutely necessary, but right now I thought perhaps they would be more welcoming. Why was Debbie being so off with me?

"Good. Now, once we leave the grounds it's about a half-hour drive to the Cathedral Caves," said Mr Carmody. "Once we get there, it's important that everybody stays together. While there are some lights in the cave, it's still easy to get lost. Don't forget that this is one of the biggest network of caves in Europe - there are lots of little passages and corridors that you can drift down."

We shuffled onto the bus, and I reluctantly sat next to Debbie. She looked away almost immediately, finding something interesting to look at out the window. Carmen and her posse headed straight for the back seats, of course, but not before she could depart with a wink in my direction. Jet and Wes sat just across the aisle, but I couldn't bring myself to look at them.

We spent the first half of the journey in silence. I exchanged a few little remarks with Jet and Wes but they soon returned to their own devices, probably sensing the thundercloud that was hanging between me and Debbie.

So, after about fifteen minutes of battling with myself, I came out with it. "So, are you going to tell me why you're ignoring me or am I going to have to guess?"

"You didn't call."

I paused. "Eh?"

Debbie turned to face me, her eyelids batting with indifference. "You didn't call. You saw that me and Stuart weren't getting along, and we even left early, but you didn't call to find out what was wrong. What sort of friendship is that?"