Afraid by Mandasue Heller Read Free Book Online

‘Makes me heave, that shit.’
    ‘Don’t be so ungrateful,’ Col scolded. ‘There’s plenty who’d jump at the chance to eat as well as you lot do.’
    ‘Give ’em our fish, then,’ drawled Nadine as she sauntered past him. ‘We’re going out.’
    ‘No, you’re not!’ Col called after them as they made their way along the corridor. ‘I’d better see you all in the dining room when I come down.’
    ‘Or what?’ Nadine called back over her shoulder.
    ‘Why do I bother?’ Col shrugged in a gesture of surrender when the girls turned the corner and disappeared from view. Then, turning to Skye, he tilted his head to one side when he saw her tear-stained face, and said, ‘Chin up, Chuck; it’s honestly not that bad here.’
    ‘Yes, it is.’ Skye wiped her nose on the back of her hand. ‘I hate it! I want to go home.’
    Col walked over and, crouching low to avoid smacking his head on the upper bunk, sat down beside her. ‘Everyone feels like this when they first get here,’ he said softly, ‘but they soon settle in. Take Nadine.’ He nodded towards the door. ‘She was so scared in her first week we couldn’t get her to come out of her room. Now look at her; thinks she runs the place. So it can’t be that bad, can it? And I bet you lot’ll be the best of mates in no time.’
    Skye was starting to feel sick. Col didn’t know what he was talking about if he thought that Nadine and those other girls were going to let her settle in without a fight. ‘I need the toilet,’ she said, jumping up and rushing for the door.
    ‘Down the landing, last door on the right,’ Col called after her as she darted out. ‘Come down for lunch when you’re finished.’
    Queasy at the thought of trying to stomach food right now, Skye covered her mouth with her hand and ran the rest of the way down the corridor.
    Outside just then, Nadine and the other girls had left the grounds and were strolling down the road.
    ‘We’ll wait a couple of days,’ Nadine was saying. ‘Let her think we’re not that fussed, then catch her off-guard.’
    ‘Yeah, probably best not to strike too soon,’ Simone agreed. ‘Col will be watching us like a hawk now he’s caught us in her room.’
    ‘He don’t scare me,’ Nadine scoffed.
    ‘Me neither,’ Simone agreed. ‘But if he tells Lucy, we’re fucked.’
    ‘Whatever,’ Nadine said dismissively. Then, clicking her fingers at Jackie who was at the other end of the line, she said, ‘Oi, thicko. I thought I told you to get the fags out.’
    ‘There’s only three left,’ Jackie told her, sliding the pack out of her pocket.
    ‘Looks like you won’t be having one till you’ve bought some more, then, doesn’t it?’ said Nadine, snatching them from her and passing them out to the others before tossing the box onto the floor. She paused to light hers, and then walked on, saying, ‘Right, here’s what we’re going to do. We’re gonna jump her after school on Monday and fuck her up, then tell the nonce and the witch that we rescued her from some other girls, and get ourselves a treat for being heroes.’
    ‘What if she grasses us up?’ Simone asked. ‘She looks the type, little mardy arse.’
    ‘You said the same about her .’ Nadine jerked a thumb towards Jackie. ‘But she was smart enough to keep her gob shut. And that one will, an’ all – if she knows what’s good for her.’
    As the others walked on, laughing at the memory of the kicking they had given her not so very long ago, Jackie shuffled miserably along behind them. She knew exactly what was coming to the new girl – and she didn’t envy her one little bit.
    Lucy was vacuuming the landing carpet when Skye came out of the toilet a short time later. ‘Stop right there,’ she ordered, stamping down on the Hoover’s off-switch when Skye tried to scuttle past. ‘The dining room is that way.’
    ‘I’m not hungry,’ Skye muttered.
    ‘Are you ill?’ Lucy raised an eyebrow. ‘Anorexic?