Grace

Chapter 38

"How can I help you, Grace?" Mr. White asked.

"I managed to trip up the stairs earlier," I said and put my uniform jacket on the counter which separated the front of the uniform shop from the back. "I ripped a couple of buttons off and scuffed the elbow."

He looked at the damage and tisked. "The best thing you can do is get anther. I've got all your measurements on a card back here. I can have another one made by Wednesday."

That was the middle of next week. It was the end of January, still really cold, and I wasn't going to have a jacket for half the week. Great. I kept a sigh to myself.

"Ok, thanks. Want me to pay now or later?"

"I'll send the bill straight to your parents."

"Did they let you know they've changed their address?"

He shrugged. "Don't matter much. I charge the account they have with us rather than sending a letter out to them."

"Oh, ok. Thanks."

"No problem. Good luck out there."

I tried to smile a little, but I wasn't really feeling it. It might have been Saturday, it might have been freezing cold out there, but even so there was a crowd of paparazzi following me. They weren't allowed to photograph me at school, the headmaster had told them all they'd been trespassing and would call the police if they came within school grounds again, but I was in Eton town. Out here I was fair game.

I didn't leave campus much during the week. When I did, Ben often came with me so that we could spend some time with each other out of school and not in uniform. It was a small freedom. When he was with me, they weren't allowed to follow. They hadn't bothered coming before we were attacked. But afterwards...

This was the second time I'd left campus since it happened. I really hadn't expected the press to be waiting around off campus for me still. I'd had to dash up here this morning before breakfast to get new shoe laces. I'd managed to get mine so knotted last night the only option had been to cut them so I could take my boots off. The press had been waiting like vultures and I'd only just managed to get through them by myself. I'd been late for class and I'd nearly been put in detention.

The only difference in then and now was that I wasn't in uniform. I was in jeans, layers and woolly winter wear. Apparently changing into normal clothes after school was breaking news. Ben had wanted to come because he knew that they couldn't take photos if he was with me, but the cold had been aggravating his arm enough so I'd made him stay at home.

I was sort of starting to regret it.

Bracing myself both for the cold and the click and blinding flash of cameras, I stepped outside and walked forwards quickly and with purpose. I knew that they wouldn't actually stop me going anywhere – the pictures wouldn't be good if they did that – but I still wished they weren't here. They called out to me, asking for smiles, asking for waves, calling me 'slut' and 'whore' to get a reaction out of me. Well, they didn't know that this teenager was really good at ignoring stuff like that. I walked on refusing to duck my head or let them affect me.

I really wanted to duck into the shops we passed so that they couldn't take photos. The press didn't go into shops because it was private property, but I would not let the hounds know how much they rattled me. Mostly I was angry that they were here. I hadn't actually done anything to deserve this attention. All I was doing was going out with a guy. It wasn't news worthy. People fell in love all the time. It wasn't like they couldn't find another teenager in love to follow around and get a few pictures of. If my romance was news worthy then so was everyone –