The second day was more rushed, as I had to paint everything. Truth be told, I wanted to oil paint it, but I knew the drying would take too long. It had to be acrylic. The result was still the thick, sweeping surges of colour I wanted, bright in some places and horrifyingly dark in others.
“You have half an hour left,” the proctor said, the first time she’d spoken since starting us up again after our break earlier in the morning.
I panicked, looking at what I had left. I’d painted my background, painstakingly carefully, making sure each part looked how I wanted it to, but I was only half through with myself in the centre. It meant painting faster than I intended, but the frenetic strokes and slight overlap of lines ended up looking deliberate, like I wanted my central figure to blend messily into the background and into herself.
I finished with barely a second to spare.
“Can you believe that’s done!” Sally cried as we all walked out of the art rooms after we’d finished. “It felt like it would never end.”
Last to leave, I turned back to look at the proctor. She was meant to go around and check our work, but she was busy fiddling with something in her bag and came out pretty much straight after us, clearly eager to get away. The door shut behind her with a buzz, locking automatically.
“I don’t know how I did,” Jayla mumbled. “I think I messed it up to be honest.”
“At least you weren’t sitting where I was,” Ebbie said. “It absolutely stank. They keep saying they’re going to do something about them and they don’t. Boys are gross.”
The art rooms share a wall with the boys’ toilets, which are notoriously unpleasant, especially now in the summertime. Everyone tried to avoid sitting near that wall if they could. It wasn’t great—but it had the most privacy, so I put up with it, choosing my corner knowing I’d have to grin and bear it.
“If it isn’t the art buddies!”
Annabel, Chloe, Esther, and Tanya were standing together in the hallway as we all came towards them. Most people were intimidated by them. It was hard not to be when they looked like supermodels and the rest of us silly schoolkids. But since prom and the afterparty—I felt like I was okay. Not one of them. I’m not that crazy. But we’d had fun together. It was almost like we could be friends. So I didn’t cower away like I would before.
“How was the art exam, Poppy?” Chloe asked.
As they all focused their attention on me, everyone else managed to carry on walking past. Chloe winked at Ollie as he went by, which made him blush furiously, and then he stopped near the corner, doing something on his phone. Was he waiting for Chloe to chat to him again? He couldn’t be that delusional.
It was only me left standing there. I should have walked with the rest of them, pretended I hadn’t heard them. But I was just as delusional as Ollie. I still thought they might actually want to be friends with me, that they might actually have asked out of care for how I did.
I’m a sucker for punishment, clearly.
“Hello? Is anyone in there?” Chloe said when I didn’t answer straight away, grinning. “I asked you a question.”
“It went fine.” My voice was croaky from being unused for so long.
“Huh?” Esther stuck a hand behind her ear and leaned forward. “I didn’t quite catch that. Did any of you?”
“Nope,” Tanya said.
“Honestly, Poppy,” Chloe said, shaking her head.
I laughed nervously, unsure whether they were joking or being mean again.
“Guys, shut it.” Annabel rolled her eyes, then smiled at me. “I’m glad it went well, Poppy. You’ve been doing so great lately, haven’t you?”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“The belle of the ball last Friday. Now smashing it in your exam. Don’t be modest! I bet you’ve done fantastic.”
My cheeks flushed with pride. “Thank you.”
“Something totally out there, right?” Esther said. “We’ve all seen your art in the corridors. I bet you’ve gone totally experimental.”
It was as if she’d read my mind, but I was confused when Tanya elbowed Chloe and they both giggled.
“Exactly,” I said. “I’ve tried to take all what I’ve learned so far and put it into this one piece and really showcase something surreal.”
“I’m sure it’s surreal,” Tanya said. “Well done, Poppy.”
It felt good hearing that from her. She looked sincere, a wide-open smile on her face and nodding encouragingly at me.
I should have remembered how good Tanya is at acting.
“Well, we can’t wait to see it,” Annabel said. “We’ll be able to, right? They’re going to show your artwork to people?”
“I think so,” I said. “I can’t wait for you all to see it too. Thanks for being . . . thanks for being cool this past week. It’s been great.”
“You certainly made yourself cosy at the party,” Chloe said. “You really came out of your shell and we saw who you really were.”
I frowned. I wasn’t quite sure what Chloe was getting at.
Annabel cut across her smoothly. “Anyway, you should really get going. Mr. Edwards wanted to talk to you about your exam. That’s what we came to tell you. Looking forward to seeing your art soon. It’s going to be . . . surreal, for sure.”
I hurried off, almost bumping into Ollie, who was still lurking on the corridor, ignoring them laughing behind me. They laughed at everything. They wouldn’t be laughing at me, not now we were almost friends. It didn’t matter that when I found Mr. Edwards he was confused, saying he hadn’t told Annabel that at all.
I didn’t understand at the time what was happening. But it soon became obvious later.
That afternoon, we were in a mock exam for Maths. Our last mock exam, in real exam conditions. I was the only person who took Art as well as Maths, so I was told it was unfortunate timing for me that I had had a real exam on the same day, but they couldn’t change it just for me, and I had to still do it. Which was why I was stunned when Miss Wersham walked into the hall, murmured something to Mr. Holmes, and then came and told me to collect my stuff and come with her.
“Now?” I whispered. I became very aware of everyone looking up from their exam papers, intrigued. Annabel and Esther were smirking, pleased with themselves, and I started to get a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach.
Miss Wersham nodded, face serious. “Now, please, Poppy.”
I had to follow her out in the full view of everyone. It was so silent the only sound was our shoes as we walked out. As soon as the door to the hall closed behind us, I tried to find out what was going on.
“Has something happened at home?” I asked, horrified. “Are my mum and dad okay? Is it Wendy?”
“It’s nothing to do with home,” Miss Wersham clarified, but she still looked solemn. Even angry. “I’m so disappointed in you, Poppy.”
“Disappointed in me?” I echoed with a squeak. “What have I done? Am I in trouble?”
“You’ll see. I thought you knew better by now.”
She said nothing else as we walked along together, and soon enough I realised where she was taking me. Back to the art rooms.
Had something happened with my exam?
Annabel, Chloe, Esther, and Tanya immediately appeared in my mind. Their cryptic comments. Their glee. Their proximity to our exam room.
Could they have done something?
To my shock, we arrived at the art rooms and found not only the proctor from earlier, but the head teacher, Mrs. Hargreaves, and one other serious-looking man in a suit with a visitor lanyard around his neck.
My face went pale. This was serious.
“What’s going on?” I said, the tremble in my voice making it clear how scared I was.
Mrs. Hargreaves sighed, folding her arms. “When Miss Wersham came in to assign marks to the exam pieces this afternoon, she found yours in an unfit state. She had no choice but to inform me, and I called the exam board. Fortunately, they were able to send a moderator relatively quickly.” She indicated her head towards the man in the suit, whose mouth was set in a thin line. “He confirmed what Miss Wersham suspected. Your final piece project is not only inappropriate and inconsiderate, but downright offensive, not only in its creation but also to poor Miss Wersham, who has worked so hard with you all these years. The moderator has had no choice but to disqualify it from consideration for the A Level.”
My mind was racing. “What do you mean?” I barely understood what she said. “How is it offensive? I cleared it with Miss Wersham—”
“You most certainly did not clear this with me, Poppy,” Miss Wersham cut in sharply. Her face was filled with disappointment. “I’m so surprised you would do this. After everything with your GCSE. I thought you had learned from that. You know full well I did not clear you to add those disgusting pieces to your painting. If only you had left it as it was, it would have been incredible.”
Now I was even more confused. “What disgusting pieces? The painting of blood? The rotting fruit? You said that was fine!”