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

Chapter 16.1

The next day, Wednesday, was the first of October, and Atlantic High was alive with the thrum of anticipation that the upcoming Halloween Ball brought with it. Whispers of costumes, dates, and post-party horror movie marathons surrounded me wherever I went, and I could indulge in none of it.

The only person who I could share any sort of experience with - in our enviable joint-ban - was Carmen Vespin. I would have outwardly denied that I was trying to avoid her that day, but the truth was that I was picking my way so cautiously down each corridor that you could have sworn the whole school was rigged with landmines.

When I finally did bump into her in the hiatus before last class, she smiled at me so sweetly it was almost spooky. It was the deadly, 'I'm going to kill you later' sort of sweet that made me more nervous than if she'd come right up to my face and sworn vengeance brandishing a sharpened mascara wand and eyelash-curlers-turned-weapons. She was like a grinning jack-in-the-box that had yet to pop.

"Hey, Saff!" she chirped from across the hallway. There was a cold twinkle to her eye, as sharp as flint, and then she vanished around the corner.

"What was that all about?" Debbie appeared at my shoulder, and I almost leapt a whole three-feet into the air - an athletic feat that I would never have accomplished had it not been for the motivational startle.

"Debbie! Bloody hell, you scared me."

Debbie chose to ignore me. "The last I heard, the police were over at her house yesterday and her parents weren't too happy. So why is she smiling at you? Did I miss something?"

It was true. The news had been passed around like a lump of clay that, by the time it reached me, had been rearranged into something virtually unrecognisable. I'd even heard people say that Edith and had gotten so riled up that she'd attacked the police officers. The story was so convoluted that I wasn't exactly sure what had really happened; all I knew was that Ivana really had turned up at the Vespins house.

"No, it was a threat dressed up all pretty," I said.

"Ah." Debbie considered for a moment, and then whirled on me. "Okay, we need to talk. This is all getting pretty out of hand, Saffy."

"What is?" I frowned at her.

"This crusade that's going on between you and Carmen. Three weeks ago you just didn't like each other, now you're at each other's throats and getting each other banned from parties and getting the cops involved in stuff. We need to talk, whether you like it or not."

"Uh... okay?"

"Tonight, at The Old Curiosity-"

"I work on Wednesdays," I cut in. Debbie fiddled irritably at her lip piercing.

"It doesn't matter, you can talk on the job," she said. "You're going to tell me about everything that's going on with you because, to be frank, I have absolutely no idea."

"Where did the saying 'to be frank' even come from? I mean, who is Frank? Why can't it be Steve? Like, 'to be Steve'?"

"Saffy." Debbie observed me sternly.

I sighed and put both arms in the air. "Alright, fine. We can talk."

Debbie crossed her arms, her eyes prodding at me as though she didn't quite trust me. "Good. That's better," she said, and then her features softened. "I just feel like we barely talk anymore. I have to hear everything from other people before I hear it from you, and it shouldn't be like that. I mean, that's what instant messages are for, right? You're insulting the institute of the text message, Saffy."

"I'm sorry," I said, and this time I was sincere. "You're right. Tonight, you can just call me Frank."

Debbie stared. "What?"