‘What? You going to throw us out of an illegal rave because we’re underage? That’s mental!’ Chloe stropped, flinging her arms in the air. Her hip jutted out sharply to one side, emphasising how bent out of shape she felt by the injustice.
‘Yeah, maybe we should call the police, report that you’re breaking the law,’ joked Beth. That would teach Alison for making that crack about sucking her thumb.
Alison threw her a look that skewered the rest of her words in her throat.
‘I wouldn’t joke about calling the police if I were you. Things wouldn’t go well for you if you told the police.’
‘Beth, what is your problem? Do you want to stay here, or go running back to Mummy and Daddy?’ Chloe added.
Aleksy stepped between them. ‘Hey, chill out. Beth, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.’
He was only trying to help, but his involvement made things worse. Chloe looked ready to flip out completely, her mouth narrowing to a mean little hole, her eyes flashing. Beth made a snap decision.
‘Alison, I’m so sorry for making a big deal of this. I know you’re just trying to be nice. Thanks for the offer; we’ll take a tablet.’
A single lilac pill with the shape of a flower pressed into one side dropped into her outstretched hand.
‘Enjoy,’ Alison smiled, turning away with a smirk on her face.
Beth, Chloe and Aleksy stared at the pill.
‘Maybe we could take it later?’ Beth suggested weakly.
She looked around, as if searching to be rescued. And sweeping through the crowd came the answer to all her prayers. SSG, James Harvey, the love of Beth’s life, was headed straight towards her.
She had daydreamed about this moment countless times. Tonight was the night he would see her for what she truly was, not some kid he taught guitar to. She’d dance with him and they would kiss. A proper kiss. Not the stupid close-mouthed stuff she had done with Oliver Reece last year, behind the cricket pavilion, accompanied by the smack of willow against leather and the muffled cheers of the crowd. This would be the real deal.
Who needed drugs when there was true love?
Seventy-One
I parked on the drive at home and didn’t move from my seat, not knowing what to do next. Shaken by what I had seen at the Clarkes’ house, from Chloe’s hysteria to Steve’s desperation, I went to call your dad, Beth. Then saw the time. It was only lunchtime; Jacob would still be at work. I longed to tell him everything that had happened, though, and realised it had been a good while since I had felt that urge. Shutting him out like that had been unfair of me. No wonder he had turned to someone else for comfort. I would call him, despite the time, I decided.
But what was there, really, to tell him? Jill had been arrested; but that didn’t have anything directly to do with your attack. Something terrible had obviously happened to Chloe as well as you; but once again I had no real proof.
No; best to wait until there was concrete evidence.
Instead I called Detective Sergeant Devonport. She sounded distracted and stressed – something hard to picture as she was such an ice queen generally. She didn’t have time to talk, she informed me. But when I told her I had been talking to Chloe about James, she snapped.
‘Mrs Oak, for the last time, I need you to stay away from this investigation. It is imperative that you do nothing else. Go home and wait.’
I felt so stupid. Only hours earlier I’d given her my word that I would do just that, and had gone back on it almost immediately. I gave my word again, realising that something big was in the offing.
‘You’re about to make an arrest?’ I asked.
‘Yes. And you could endanger everything.’
Once they had got James Harvey, they would have time to persuade Chloe to testify, I was sure. It was hard to take in. Once charges were made, once the person who had shattered my family was properly identified and facing justice, it would surely be the push you needed to wake, Beth. We could get back to normal: no affairs, no investigations, no useless police. We could pretend none of this had ever happened. Couldn’t we?
All the hope I had been sitting on for so long, trying to crush it because it hurt too much to acknowledge, came flooding back. Overwhelming, joyous, suffocating. I could hardly catch my breath, and sobs caught me, heaving at my chest. I folded over the steering wheel and, for the first time since this nightmare had started, I truly gave in to the tears at last and allowed myself to hope.
It won’t be long until we see your smile again, Beth. Not long, Beans.
Seventy-Two
BETH
FRIDAY 22 JANUARY
‘What the hell are you doing?’ SSG snarled. Only he didn’t look like SSG any more. The man of her dreams. He looked like Mr James Harvey, who got annoyed with her when she mixed up her sharps and flats and made her drill chord changes until her fingers were almost bleeding.
‘What? Just having a laugh. I’m old enough to be here,’ she said. Jutted her chin out like Chloe did. Born to rule.
It didn’t work.
‘I saw you buying drugs. Are you insane? If you don’t go home right now, I’ll tell your parents.’
What was he so riled about? He must really care about her to be so upset, she decided.
The music, the euphoric atmosphere, hope and a dash of desperation made her fling her arms around his neck and plant a kiss on his lips. She felt them give way beneath hers, his hands slide onto her shoulders; smelled his aftershave. This was the first kiss she had been waiting for, hoping for.
A shove on her shoulders pushed her stumbling backwards, hitting some dancers. They turned and pushed her back again, a pinball heading back towards James’s mortified face.
‘Beth. I’m sorry, I… I don’t feel that way about you,’ he said.
Stuttered, in fact. That was what hurt her more than anything: the fact that he was clearly so embarrassed he couldn’t speak properly.
‘You kissed me back,’ she insisted. ‘You love me, like I love you.’
He shook his head. ‘Love? No, I care about you. You’re my pupil, of course I care about you. You’re a nice girl.’
Her eyes widened. Nice?
‘But I certainly don’t love you, Beth. You have to tell people that you kissed me but I wasn’t interested – you must tell them the truth! People saw! This could ruin me, destroy my chance to become a teacher.’
She ran from the building. From the crowd. From Chloe, who screamed her name. She threw a quick glance over her shoulder before she went through the door. Everyone seemed frozen in place, like a film on pause. Alison giving her a calculating stare, ever the clever weasel. Chloe’s face twisted in disappointment. Aleksy’s angry humiliation, arms hanging loose at his sides; the intensity of his eyes making her tremble once more. His mates grinning and circling like sharks behind his back. And James Harvey holding his head in his hands, fingers clutching his hair, mouth slack, looking as if his entire world had come to an end.
Beth had never felt so embarrassed in her entire life. How would she ever face any of them again?
Seventy-Three