Sarah is thrown back into an ugly past when her old best-friend-turned-enemy kills herself. With the help of new smiles and old glares, she learns that some things just won't stay dead until you make peace with them.
The weather at school the next week grew hotter and hotter, and soon we stopped doing tests all together, focusing instead on revising for exams. The heat also seemed to lift moods, for by Friday Thea was embracing me with as much ferocity as before.
Everything was okay.
It was Monday again, and we sat at lunch, discussing our group costume for William's friend Jacob's Hollywood themed party that weekend.
"I think spice girls," said Abbey.
"That's only five," I pointed out.
"How about we go as six Elvis's?" Said Eliza. We all laughed.
A slight girl named Helen and a ginger-haired girl named Julia came over to our couch, and we went quiet.
"Hey, Clara and Thea. Can we talk to you for a bit?"
Clara and Thea agreed as enthusiastically as they could, though they didn't do as good a job as they may have thought at hiding their reluctance, and stood to walk with them from the common room. Abbey, Eliza, Lola and I all looked at each other.
When they came back, Clara was in tears. Thea rubbed her back and they sat down on the couch. We didn't ask what had happened, nor did anyone try to comfort them. We sat and watched until the bell rang, and then we were off to class again.
The next day, Clara and Thea didn't come to the common room before class. Nor did they come at recess. At lunch they sat, quiet and heads bowed, but I didn't dare ask what was happening. Nor did I, at the time, particularly care. They seemed happy enough, and that was good enough for me. Whatever was happening, it wasn't any of my business.
Halfway through lunch, all of them save for Lola left, walking slowly from the room with their heads close together. Their mouths moved rapidly, but over the din of the common room, I couldn't hear a thing they were saying.
"So," said Lola, trying to hide the fact that she'd also noticed their departure, "How are you?"
"I'm really hot," I said, tugging at the front of my shirt as I said so. Lola fanned her face with her hand and agreed with an 'mm'.
"What are you doing on the summer holidays?" I said. Lola gave me a pointed look and laughed.
"What do you think? The same as every year - back to the Netherlands."
I made an apologetic 'ah' noise.
"Is everything okay, by the way?" she said, nodding to the door to the common room. I shrugged with an uneasy laugh.
"I was hoping you knew."
Lola shook her head. Her hair faded from black to light brown in a dodgy ombre that she'd done one night on impulse. Her fingernails were painted black, despite the school rules, and she wore dark green studs in her ears.
"I'm sure it'll work out in a week or so," she mused.
It didn't.
Each day it continued on like that, me and Lola being left behind at lunch as they went off, all gentle smiles until they dropped into deep glares just as they rounded the corner out of the common room.
I tried to shrug it off, thankful for their company for the first part of lunch, yet each day it grew on me more and more...
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