Blood Entwines by Caroline Healy Read Free Book Online Page A

first class.
    Ashleigh hadn’t been in contact for weeks. Jenny barely at all. Her friends had slowly melted away, one by one. It was probably her appearance, one side of her hair clumpy and short, a scar running like a bolt of lightning back from her temple towards her hairline. It was mostly covered now but you could see the raised line of white, her forever scar.
    Kara didn’t like to think about it. Right now she had better concentrate on being boringly normal for the day to avoid any more awkward stares. She hurried through the halls and into history class. As she eased herself into her seat the second bell rang. Her eardrums hummed with the fading sound.
    She concentrated on taking out her books before staring resolutely at the board. Ashleigh and Jenny were behind her. Words floated over to her in wisps of conversation. She tried to ignore them, to block them out.
    â€˜. . . her hair looks . . .’
    â€˜. . . I heard she died on the operating table . . . terrible accident . . .’
    â€˜. . . wow, did you see who’s back . . .’
    Kara closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on something apart from the chatter of her classmates. A noise to the side of her desk startled her. She opened her eyes and tried to focus. A girl, Heather something or other, was bending down beside Kara’s desk, picking up the folder that she’d just dropped. Kara reached down to help her, but the girl fired her a look of such distaste that Kara stopped mid-action.
    Unsure what had just happened, Kara turned in her seat and looked ahead as the teacher began. Her schedule sucked: history class followed by double English, then there was PE. She had a couple of study periods dotted through the day, perfect for all the catching up she needed to do. College applications went out in a few weeks.
    The bell rang signalling the end of English class. The prospect of moving through the corridors alone made Kara’s mouth go dry, but she had no choice. None of her friends had spoken to her since she’d arrived.
    She got up from her seat and pushed her way into the hall and along the corridor. She moved stiffly towards her locker. People jostled her from behind, rushing to get to the canteen, failing to recognise her. Over the buzz of the hallway crowd, she could hear soft laughter behind her, a sound she knew well.
    â€˜Hi, Kara.’
    The smooth voice trickled across the hallway, almost caressing Kara with its appeal. She swallowed once, feeling totally unprepared for this meeting, and turned to face her best friend.
    â€˜Hi, Ashleigh.’
    Kara looked at her feet and noticed that one of her socks had fallen down, making her look lopsided, unhinged.
    â€˜Good to have you back.’
    Kara blinked once and looked up at Ashleigh’s smooth face, wondering if she was being paranoid about the whole thing. She was, according to the doctor, suffering from personality displacement. Maybe she’d imagined the whole thing. Maybe Ashleigh wasn’t a complete bitch after all.
    Kara was unsure, glamoured by the girl in front of her. Ashleigh smiled, her perfect heart-shaped lips lifting at the corners. Jenny grinned at Kara, and Kara felt some of the knots loosen in her stomach. Maybe it would be OK.
    The prospect of the next few months – going to class alone, walking to the canteen alone, studying in the library alone – stretched out ahead of her. Would it be this easy? Could she just slot back into her old life?
    She searched their faces for censure, for something to hint at their disgust or disapproval. But she couldn’t find anything.
    Stop being paranoid, she told herself.
    â€˜You coming to lunch?’ Jenny inclined her head in the direction of the canteen. Kara nodded and moved along with the crowd of students.
    As they rounded the corner of the corridor, her undoing approached from the other direction. Ben Shephard. They hadn’t spoken since the day of the accident. Kara