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  “I’ll go,” Joey volunteered. “Wouldn’t mind one myself.”

  They left together, Tammie throwing me a sneaky wink as she walked away. Their need for a snack might be worth facing the now steady rain outside, but there was no way I was willingly going to let my hair get wet over a bar of chocolate. Besides, I got the feeling that Tammie wanted to be alone with Joey. I had homework to get through while she tried to… whatever.

  I attempted to concentrate on my French homework, but without Tammie and Joey’s chatter, I was hopelessly distracted by thoughts of the new boy, Nathan. I glanced around the room as I tried in vain to memorise a list of verbs and noticed a girl I had never seen before walking across the canteen while struggling to carry a mountain of books. I didn’t know her, so she had to be new.

  She looked very young and innocent. Sort of like a pretty little china doll. Her hair was dark and wavy, and as she turned her head I saw it reached her waist. She wore a long, vibrantly coloured gypsy style skirt and noisy bangles on her wrists.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dawn and her friends pointing in the girl’s direction. I instantly knew they would hassle her. For some reason, my hackles went up. I felt strangely protective of the kid. She was all alone and dressed differently to Dawn and her crowd, which made her a prime target.

  The group of girls strode arrogantly toward her—predators confident of the power they held over their prey. They surrounded her, doing their best to intimidate her as they giggled together. She looked so uncertain that I felt a pang of pity for her. Before I had time to even think about it, I was already standing up.

  Abbi pushed roughly against the girl’s shoulder while Dawn swung her bag toward the pile of books the girl carried. The new girl lost her balance from the impact and fell backward as all of the books slipped out of her hands. Dawn and her cackling friends moved on. I was already hurrying over when Dawn glanced back over her shoulder to admire her work.

  “Whoops. So sorry,” she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

  How dare they? I forgot about hiding away in my outrage.

  “Oi!” I shouted at the girls, a little too loudly. People started to look in our direction. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

  The girls turned and stared at me in disbelief. Dawn’s eyebrow lifted as she looked me up and down.

  “Excuse me?” she said.

  “Something wrong with your hearing?” I snapped back. Everyone in earshot laughed as Dawn’s face turned from red to purple. The laughter was mostly down to my unusual reaction. Everybody loved seeing someone lose the plot. For once, I didn’t even care.

  “So, what is it then? Do you lot feel all big and brave when you pick on someone? Safety in numbers and all that. One girl, who’s obviously younger than you all, isn’t going to do much against six of you, is she? That how you get your kicks? Pathetic. Sad pack of sheep,” I said, wanting to throw something.

  Dawn laughed without humour. “As if I care what a freak like you thinks!”

  “I’d rather be a freak than have to put other people down to feel good about myself.” I turned to the new girl and helped her up before picking up some of her books.

  “You okay? Don’t pay any attention to the Queen Bee and her drones over there. This is the best it’s going to get for them, so they have to make the most of it the only way they know how. By acting like spineless little bitches. You should be flattered that they don’t expect you to be just like them, actually.”

  I suddenly realised that a lot of people had gathered around us to listen. I lost my nerve and shut up, but it was too late, people were already clapping. A lot of them had been Dawn’s targets in the past. Dawn looked horrified, but she bit her lip and let her friends lead her out of the canteen. Some of them had the decency to look ashamed, but they still didn’t stand up to her or apologise to the new girl.

  The crowd wandered away once they realised the mini drama was over, leaving me and the girl in the centre of the canteen. She grinned at me in such a friendly way that I couldn’t help grinning back. I was a little startled to see that her eyes looked familiar, too. I really needed to get over the eye obsession. I carried on picking up the girl’s books before putting them on one of the tables so I could shake the hand she extended.

  “Thanks for the help,” she said. “I’m Amelia. I just started here.”

  I couldn’t place her accent, but it definitely wasn’t Irish. I didn’t want to throw a load of questions at her if she was only new.

  “Hey, Amelia. I’m Perdita… but everyone calls me Perdy, unfortunately.”

  She smiled at me broadly, making me feel totally at ease, which was a rarity for me.

  “Pretty name,” she said.

  I shrugged. “What’s your next class? I’ll walk you and help carry your books. We should probably find your locker first so you can ditch some of them though.”

  “Oh, right. I’ve P.E. next, so I need to head to the gym hall, but my locker is on the way,” she said. “I started school today, so I’m a bit lost. Thanks again for the help. I was beginning to think that nobody could pass for friendly in this place.”

  I gathered up my own things; we divided her pile between us, and then headed toward her locker. “Those girls were just bored. They’re like that with all of us, so don’t take it personally. I’m pretty sure they’ll leave you alone now though.”

  “Yeah, maybe,” she said, sounding unconvinced. She looked shaken, and I didn’t get the impression she was used to that sort of treatment.

  “So, do you live nearby?” she asked.

  I nodded. “Yep. With my Dad and Gran. My Dad works in the hospital.”

  “He’s a doctor?”

  I nodded. “Anyway, not much goes on around here. We’re only living here ‘cos we stay with my Gran, and my Dad’s job is nearby. Just waiting until college, and then I’m outta here.”

  She laughed. “I’m sure it isn’t that bad. I’m not really used to anything special anyway.”

  We dumped most of her books in her locker. I decided to walk her to the P.E. hall just in case Dawn tried to make trouble for her. She still seemed really shy, so I felt as though I should be more welcoming.

  “Um, so… if you need any help with anything else, just ask. And hey, if you’re not busy tomorrow, you could always join me and my friends at lunch. There’s only the three of us, so if you have other plans don’t worry about it.” I added the last sentence hurriedly and managed to make myself sound lonely and desperate. But she thanked me, smiling, and we swapped mobile numbers.

  I left her at the gym, promising to see her the next day, and hurried off to my own class which I was now late to. I still had a smile on my face from chatting to Amelia when I realised Nathan was standing in my way. Even though I knew that, logically, he wasn’t the boy from my dream, I still felt jumpy when I saw him. My stomach flipped whenever I looked at him. Dream eyes or not.

  I moved to walk around him, but he sort of put out his arm to block me. At least, that’s what it looked like.

  “Hi,” he said, so low I could barely hear him. He stared at me in a way I didn’t understand. As his eyes searched mine, my cheeks grew hot and, predictably, my mouth dried up. Lo and behold, my brain turned to mush. I mumbled something back at him and scurried past, cursing my social awkwardness.

  By the time school ended, it was raining quite heavily, so I was relieved to see my Aunt Stella’s car outside. She was always up for giving Tammie and me a lift home, especially in bad weather. Her pet dog, Dolly, took up most of the back seat, but the dog’s head was out of the window, panting heavily. I saw lots of people avoiding the car in case she jumped out. She wasn’t dangerous, but her size made her look intimidating. Moreover, she drooled a lot. People tended to avoid dog drool.

  She whined softly in anticipation when she noticed me and practically squeezed half her body out of the window to get to me. I shoved her back in, with difficulty, before joining her in the back. Stella turned ar
ound to talk to me, but Dolly flipped out. She launched herself at the window, almost squashing me in the process. The hackles on the back of her neck rose as she gave a low warning growl. Hushing her, I glanced out the window, but all I saw was Nathan standing a few yards away looking at the car. Dolly sat back down but kept her front paw on my leg protectively.

  “That was weird,” I said to Stella who nodded in agreement. I looked back out at Nathan, but he was gone. I wasn’t sure if Dolly had been growling at him, or if he had stopped walking because of the noise she was making. Tammie and Joey got into the car so Stella started the engine and set off. Dolly had calmed down, but she was still acting strange. She wouldn’t move away from me for even a second, so I felt as if I was stuck in a corner.

  When I got home, Dad and Gran were both around and making a show of being nice to each other. I couldn’t concentrate on them because I was too busy thinking about Nathan and how many times he had caught me looking at him throughout the day. I pushed my dinner around my plate distractedly as my family members tried to prove they liked each other and could get along. I ended up going to bed early just so I could think in peace. Before I fell asleep, I realised I had only heard Nathan say one word, but I had spent the entire day obsessing over him. That was crazy. Even for me.

  That night I had one of my recurring dreams again. This time the eyes came with a distinguishable face. Nathan’s. In my dream, I had the overwhelming sense that he was mine. He belonged to me. I sat up straight in the darkness, sweat dripping down my back, completely unnerved all over again. I wasn’t sure if my dream had changed because I had spent so much time thinking about him or not. Either way, those dreams were affecting every part of my life. It took me a long time to fall back asleep that night.

  Chapter Three

  The next morning, I met up with Tammie at the bus stop. Another cold day. It had rained throughout the night.

  Tammie was far too hyper for my liking. I wasn’t a morning person at the best of times. I hadn’t had enough sleep the night before between waking up from strange dreams and then tossing and turning while worrying about said dreams.

  “So how were the odd couple last night?” Tammie danced on the spot to keep warm. I mentally prepared myself to hide if anyone saw her.

  “Fine, I suppose. Pretending to get along. Long may it last.”

  “They could be worse,” she said.

  “How?”

  “I dunno. Just could be.”

  “Whatever.” I rolled my eyes. I knew for a fact Tammie would go insane if she had to live by my Dad’s rules. “Oh!” I said, remembering something I was supposed to tell her. “I invited a new girl to sit with us at lunch today.”

  Tammie raised her eyebrows. Maybe because she knew I couldn’t string a sentence together in front of someone I don’t know.

  “Come on, Tams. Give her a chance. She’s younger than us, and she got hassled by Dawn and her crowd, so I said she could sit with us. She’s nice though. I promise. Her name’s Amelia.”

  “Hmm, we’ll see,” she said, before grinning mischievously. “Speaking of nice, did you see the fine specimen of a teenage boy who joined history yesterday? Yummy. Oh, wait, silly me, of course you saw him. Your bloody jaw dropped when he walked in. What was that about?”

  I blushed. “That’s not what happened. Don’t be ridiculous.”

  “Oh, please,” she scoffed. “For once I agree with Dawn. It was only obvious you liked him. Bit of a relief that you finally noticed a boy actually. I was starting to think you must fancy me.”

  “Oh, whatever. Joey!”

  “Cheap shot, Perdy.” It was her turn to blush.

  The bus rattled up the road before she could think of anything else to embarrass me with. We sat in our usual seats, ignoring the filthy looks Dawn threw our way. The windows were so full of condensation that I couldn’t see a thing outside.

  We had been on the bus for a few stops when I was surprised to hear somebody call my name. Amelia sat down on the double seat facing us. I tried to say hello but stuttered to a stop when Nathan sat down next to her. I looked at Tammie in confusion, but she was too busy giving Nathan an appreciative glance to notice.

  He smiled at us, his knee tipping off mine, and I froze. Oh, crap. Those few seconds felt like eternity as I had a mini panic attack in my head, not knowing what to say. Dawn saved me, sort of, by calling to Nathan very loudly in an incredibly snobby tone of voice.

  “Nathan! We’re all sitting back here. There’s a space right by me, so you don’t have to sit next to them.” She spat out the word them as if we were rotting with some contagious disease. The implication was clear. We were not worth sitting next to or near, and we weren’t the type of people he should mix with unless he wanted to catch the outcast gene.

  I was a little annoyed on behalf of Tammie and Amelia and even thought about answering Dawn back, but Nathan got in there first.

  “No, thanks. I’d rather sit here next to my sister. You know, one of them. I’d introduce you, but I think you’ve already met,” he called back, even louder than Dawn.

  Dawn blushed furiously, slumping low in her seat as if it would hide her away. An eerie silence filled the bus—only broken when Tammie burst into husky laughter. I gazed at Amelia and Nathan, marking the similarities. Now they were both in front of me, I could see the resemblance.

  They had different colours and textures to their hair, different builds and skin colour, but their features were alike after all. His accent was pretty similar to hers too, I just hadn’t heard him say enough words to notice before. I couldn’t stop looking at him—again—as he glared at Dawn, but I realised his eyes weren’t angry. In fact, they twinkled with amusement.

  He caught my eye and winked. I bit my lip and looked away, anything to be able to speak again. I knew I had to be the one who started the introductions.

  “Well, um, this is Amelia… Amelia, this is my best friend Tammie… and erm, that girl at the back of the bus kicking herself is Dawn.”

  They all laughed, shattering the tension.

  “Ah, yes, I recognise Dawnie Dearest now,” Amelia said, still giggling. “This is my big brother, Nathan. Nathan, this is the girl I was telling you about yesterday, Perdita.”

  “Perdy.” I rolled my eyes as Tammie corrected Amelia with the shortened version everyone else used.

  Nathan shook his head. “Perdita is much better.” He held my gaze as his eyes seemed to pierce into mine, and all of a sudden, I found it hard to breathe. My lips parted of their own accord. I couldn’t even look away. I felt as though I was being hypnotised. I forgot the others were sitting there and just stared back at him, my stomach fluttering all over the place. My skin tingled with goose bumps, but he broke the spell by jumping to his feet and mumbling something under his breath. He hurried down to the back of the bus and sat there instead, leaving me wondering what just happened.

  “Wow,” Tammie said. “He’s almost as bad as you, Perdy. Soul mate material or what.” She burst out laughing at her own so not funny joke while Amelia looked at me as if I had done something to make her brother run off.

  When we arrived at school, Dawn sidled up to Amelia.

  “So sorry about yesterday,” she said in her silkiest voice. “Just a little friendly teasing is all. No hard feelings, eh? I hope you sit with us at lunch today. We’d love to get to know you.” She gave Amelia a winning smile, but nothing could penetrate the stony expression on Amelia’s face.

  “No thanks, I have plans,” Amelia said, before linking arms with Tammie and me and walking into school with us, leaving Dawn standing there, open-mouthed with surprise. I saw Nathan shake his head at Amelia, looking amused. I didn’t know if it was better or worse that he was the brother of my newest friend seeing as I had the beginnings of a major crush on him. Beginnings? Who was I kidding?

  Whenever he looked in my direction it felt as though he was generating massive heat waves and directing them straight at me. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one he wa
s having an effect on. The people who normally surrounded the likes of Dawn and Aaron had suddenly chosen him as their new leader or something. It was kind of creepy how they latched on to him. Maybe I was jealous that they got to spend time with him, but it was all very sheep like. I didn’t have much of an identity, but at least I didn’t share one with anyone else.

  True to her word, Amelia sat with us at lunch. Joey was doing some sort of extra homework in an empty classroom, so he didn’t show up, which gave Tammie and me the opportunity to get to know Amelia. Nathan stopped by our table and said hello but soon carried on across the room to sit with Dawn’s crowd. They were more than happy to accept him into their fold. I hoped I hadn’t been staring up at him as longingly as I had felt.

  “No offense, Amelia, but your brother doesn’t have the best taste in friends,” Tammie said, looking mildly disgusted.

  Amelia glanced over at her brother. “He’s probably just trying to get to know as many people as possible.”

  “Where are you from, Amelia?” I asked, desperate to change the subject. I also desperately wanted to talk about Nathan, but I had to show some sort of self-control.

  “Yeah, I can’t tell by your accent,” Tammie said, curious in spite of herself.

  “We’ve moved around a lot. I’ve lived in Switzerland, South Africa, Canada, Austria, and Denmark. Plus we’ve stayed in France and Germany a lot to visit where my grandparents came from. We spent the last few years in England,” Amelia said, rattling off countries as if they were nothing.

  “Oh, you lucky thing,” Tammie said.

  Amelia shrugged. “It’s nice seeing different places, but it would be better if we settled down, I think. It’s hard to keep friends when you move on so much.”

  “Why did you move here?” Tammie asked. “It’s not exactly buzzing with life.”

  “I’m not sure why we moved here in particular, but I like it, and the weather’s pretty mild.”

  “Feels cold and wet to me.” Tammie didn’t bother hiding the scorn in her voice, and I worried in case Amelia would hate her.