Afraid by Mandasue Heller Read Free Book Online Page B

shot.’
    ‘Are you calling my mates dogs?’ Nadine demanded sarcastically. ‘I can get you kicked out for that.’
    ‘Go ahead and report me, then,’ Lucy challenged. ‘But I can assure you that the only one who’ll be leaving is you . Now lose the attitude and get yourself down to dinner. And you lot can get moving, too,’ she added sharply, obviously talking to Nadine’s friends. ‘And that goes for anybody else who’s still up here,’ she yelled then, banging on Skye’s door.
    Almost jumping out of her skin, Skye hugged herself and waited for a few minutes to make sure that the corridor was clear before reluctantly opening her door. She wasn’t hungry, but she had no doubt that Lucy would only come and drag her downstairs if she didn’t go of her own accord.
    Nadine and the others had already been served and were seated at the table when Skye walked into the dining room. She pretended not to notice them as she made her way to the hatch. She had already been wary of Nadine but she was even more so now, because she figured the girl had to be really tough to disobey the rules and argue with that battleaxe Lucy.
    When she’d been served, Skye carried her plate to the other end of the table and sat with the younger kids. She ate slowly in the hope that Nadine’s lot would finish quickly and go about their business. But they had obviously guessed what she was up to and her stomach churned as, one by one, all the other kids left the table, leaving just her and Nadine’s crew.
    Ten agonising minutes dragged by. But just as Skye was wondering how she was ever going to get out of there in one piece, Lucy popped her head around the door and asked, ‘What’s taking you girls so long?’
    ‘Keep your hair on,’ Nadine drawled, flashing Skye a sly grin as she pushed her chair back and stood up. ‘We were just going.’
    As Lucy shook her head and went about her business, Simone and Maz followed Nadine’s lead and stood up. But when Jackie also went to rise, Nadine shoved her back down, saying, ‘Where d’you think you’re going? It’s your turn to do the dishes.’
    ‘But she ’s still here.’ Jackie nodded towards Skye.
    ‘Who?’ Nadine looked around. ‘I can’t see no one; you must be imagining things.’ She slapped Jackie on the back of the head, and then, laughing, linked arms with the others and strolled out.
    Skye glanced at Jackie from beneath her lashes, and felt sorry for the girl when she saw that her cheeks were scarlet with embarrassment. She’d already sensed that this one wasn’t quite as nasty as the others, and didn’t understand why Jackie hung around with them when they were so mean to her.
    ‘Do you want me to help?’ she offered when Jackie started gathering the empty plates from around the table.
    Jackie shook her head.
    ‘I don’t mind,’ Skye persisted, hoping that it would break the ice and she’d have someone to talk to while she was here.
    ‘I said no ,’ Jackie hissed, scowling at her as she snatched her plate. ‘And don’t talk to me again, ’cos I don’t want to know you.’
    Skye was offended, but she knew when she wasn’t wanted so she got up and left Jackie to it. Relieved to see that Nadine and the others weren’t waiting for her in the hall, she dashed up the stairs, desperate for the solitude of her room.

5
    Skye stayed out of everyone’s way for the rest of the weekend, only venturing out of her room when she absolutely had to, to eat or to use the bathroom. Thanks to the uncomfortable mattress and the paper-thin walls through which she could hear everything that was going on in the adjoining rooms, she had barely slept and was exhausted by the time Monday morning came around.
    It was Skye’s birthday, but she didn’t feel the slightest bit excited as she lay there listening to the other kids arguing in the corridor about whose turn it was to use the bathroom. According to Val, her dad knew she was here, but he never remembered her birthday when