My Way

Three: Cassie

My hands shook all the way through maths. I could barely read the whiteboard. 

Chloe kept filming me beneath the table, snickering, while Cara looked on, chewing her pencil. She didn't speak much, but I could tell she wanted to. Charlotte wasn't in the same class as the three of us. I was glad of that. I was glad she couldn't see Chloe acting like a paparazzo. 

Chloe was a head shorter than me. She was blonde, with dagger-like teeth. When she smiled, you could tell how much she despised you. But she forgot that I'd been round her house. I knew that her parents saw her only as an accessory. They were high-end solicitors and hardly spoke to their daughter. It was why we'd become friends.  

I wondered if King really had slept with her. I wondered if he liked her - if he knew her as well as I did. 

I shook my head, trying to calm my racing heart. I shouldn't be thinking about King. I should just be glad his brother was alive. Even if I hadn't known his brother even existed until an hour ago. 

Prince. King. What kind of names were those? Who would call their child 'King'? Perhaps his parents liked irony. 

My throat ran dry. Prince had almost killed himself today. I had the feeling he'd tried to do it before. And the way King had turned on me - as if I'd been the one to push his brother off the bridge. Maybe King was just being overprotective. I would be too - if I had siblings. My Mum had almost died having me and Dad was too volatile to adopt or foster. Then I'd found the Mermaids and I hadn't needed anyone else. It was just the three of us. Until the incident. 

"Time to pack up, gang". Our maths teacher had a dozen nicknames - all of them terrible. Gang. Kiddies. Players. Scamps. Sausages - that was the worst.

I headed across the yard, where empty Ping Pong tables sat like tombs. Benches stood in silence, the wood rotten and sagging. Someone grabbed my arm. I swung around. 

"Woah there," said Cara. "Nice right hook". She wasn't smiling - she didn't smile a lot - but her eyes twinkled. 

"What's wrong? Did I drop something?" I scanned the concrete. Cara shook her head. 

"I've told her 'no more'," she said. I frowned. We walked past the benches, beneath an alcove. 

"Told who?" I asked.

"Chloe. Fuckin' Steven Spielberg back there with her 4K camera. I've told her you're off-limits". I couldn't help but laugh. Cara made it sound like I were a target for assassination. 

"I doubt she'll listen," I said. And I didn't care. Chloe never went too deep. She never crossed the line. I didn't think she hated me. I think she hated the fact that, since Mum died, I'd barely mentioned her. Chloe had adored my mother. I think she hated the fact that I could keep my grades up with ease while she ended up trapped in after-school revision workshops. 

"Well, she's going to have to listen now that you're seeing King Novak". I stopped dead.

"What? Who told you that?" 

"You did. I saw you two on the bridge yesterday, with another kid."

"His brother," I said. "I didn't know he had a brother". Cara shrugged.

"Not many people do". 

"Well, I'm not dating him," I said. "I don't think he likes me".

"I don't think King likes anyone," said Cara. "But Chloe, for some God forsaken reason, likes him. So, if she asks, tell her you're sleeping with him. She'll leave you alone. She won't want to ruin things by coming after you".