Faking Sweet (22 page)

I was greeted at the canteen like some sort of hero. Jess had saved a place at their table for me, and Saskia was already ordering my skinny hot chocolate.

‘You don't take sugar, do you, Hol?' Saskia called.

I did. In fact I preferred full-fat milk and about ten sugars in my hot choccy but I didn't think it was a very ‘it' girl thing to do.

‘No thanks,' I smiled sweetly.

‘Well?' Saskia said. All the ‘its' leaned forward in their chairs. ‘How did the night go with Scott? Tell us really. I noticed you two disappeared for a bit.'

The ‘its' all started giggling. So did I. I couldn't help it.

‘I think it went pretty good.'

‘It's such a shame he's not your type,' Saskia lamented. ‘You two were so cute together.'

‘Soooooooo cute,' the ‘its' echoed.

‘So have you heard from Calypso yet?' Isabelle enquired. ‘I mean, that is the whole point of this exercise, isn't it?'

‘Oh no, you haven't put the photos on your space, have you?' Jess pouted. ‘I want to be with you when Calypso sees them.'

‘It's only half done,' I lied. In truth, I'd finished putting the last photo on at midnight. For all I knew Calypso could've seen them by now. Unlikely 'cause it was a school day, but anything was possible with the unbalanced one. As a precaution, I'd left my mobile at home so I didn't receive a text at an inconvenient moment – like now, for instance. ‘I'll finish it later,' I said.

‘Goody.' Jess clapped. ‘Can I come to your house after school?'

‘Can I too?' Saskia jumped in.

‘I promised my mum I'd go furniture shopping with her this arvo. You know, for the new house.' That wasn't a lie. ‘Sorry.' I pulled a disappointed frown.

‘You have to ring me the minute Calypso sees it,' Jess instructed. ‘We'll do three-way chat again.'

‘Great!' Saskia squealed. ‘I can't wait.'

‘I mean three-way with Holly, me and Scott.'

‘Oh.'

‘So how come Scott cancelled ice-skating?' I could see the smirk sitting on Isabelle's face as she asked. Did she have the hots for Scott, or was it that she couldn't stand someone like me being part of their group? ‘I thought he wanted shots of
her
falling into his arms.'

‘God, you're being a bitch,' Saskia said.

‘Why? What have I done?' Isabelle said, batting her eyelashes. It was a wonder she could move them, they were so coated with mascara.

‘Scott and Holly, that's
her
name by the way, are pretending to go out. They're doing this for Jess, remember? Without going into any details, have you forgotten what Calypso did to Jess? Huh, Isabelle?' Saskia was in full swing: ‘Get over yourself.'

It seemed there was a blushathon happening at our table. Every ‘it' girl's face was red to the max. It was a tight race between Isabelle and Jess. I think Jess won by a shade.

‘Let's go,' Jess whispered to me.

Jess and I threw our bags over our shoulders and made our way to English class.

As we walked across the quadrangle and up the stairs, I could feel every girl in Year 9 watching us. I pulled back my shoulders and lifted my chin. ‘Yes, I am an ‘it' girl,' I wanted to shout. ‘Got a problem with it?'

It would've looked so much better if we were madly talking, like we were deep in a private discussion. But unfortunately Jess hadn't uttered a single word since leaving the canteen. The entire way to class, all Jess did was lick her lips over and over.

 

‘We are up to the last act,' Mrs Gideon announced in English. ‘The play has almost ended in tragedy. However, Act Five will see many things resolved.'

Melissa put up her hand. ‘What's going to happen to Hero? Is Claudio going to find out he got it all wrong with her?'

‘Let's start Scene One and see what happens. Melissa, you can play Claudio,' said Mrs G.

Some of the girls booed and hissed.

‘I'm pleased to see you're so moved by this play,' Gideon continued. ‘You see you've learnt that even though Shakespeare wrote
Much Ado about Nothing
in the late 1500s, it still has relevance in the twenty-first century.'

It was true. I had come close to causing tragedy. Now I'd been doing my best to reverse it. Hopefully in twenty-four hours the process would be complete.

Gideon gave out the roles. ‘Who wants to play Leonato?'

Someone from the back called, ‘Me, please.'

‘Okay,' Gideon nodded. ‘I need a Don Pedro.'

A hand up the front began to wave.

‘Borachio?' she continued. ‘Who wants to play Borachio?'

No one put up their hand. No one called out, ‘I will.'

‘Come on, girls,' Gideon laughed. ‘It's just acting, remember? Borachio, please?'

Still her request was met with silence.

‘Holly?'

I gulped. Was it really that obvious?

‘Could you please play Borachio?'

I kind of nodded, kind of shrugged, kind of shook my head, then heard myself say, ‘Okay.'

‘Sucked in!' Melissa called.

Act Five, Scene One was soooo long. It didn't help that Gideon interrupted every two minutes with a running commentary of what was going on.

Lower and lower I sunk into my seat. By the time we got to Borachio's part, all you could see of me were two eyebrows and a forehead.

‘Don John's men, including Borachio, are led in under guard,' Gideon told us. ‘Don Pedro will question Borachio. And what do you think Borachio will do?'

‘Lie,' someone shouted.

‘Well, let's see. Enter Borachio and the others.'

I wandered to the front of the class, crossed my arms and waited for my part.

Now it was my turn.

‘What has Borachio just done?' Gideon asked. ‘Did he lie? Did he say I had nothing to do with it? No, Borachio confessed: “
The lady is dead upon mine and my master's false accusation
.” Luckily his confession will help to turn circumstances around.'

‘He should've confessed,' Melissa said.

‘Yeah,' Jess agreed. ‘Does Borachio think just because he admitted to what he did everything will be all right? That he won't be punished?'

‘No, he doesn't,' Gideon told us. ‘Borachio says: “
I desire nothing but the reward of a villain
.”'

‘That's what he deserves.' Jess nodded to me. ‘Doesn't he, Holly?'

Droplets of sweat were pooling on my upper lip. My hand covered my jaw to stop it from trembling. Exactly what were they saying? Should I confess? Was that it?

‘This scene reflects the very heart of the play!' Gideon exclaimed. ‘What I said to you all in our first lesson was: how do we know that what we see or hear or think is true? We see the characters in this play judge the inner truths of others by outward signs. Self-deception and human fallibility mixed in with calculated and deliberate deception are what
Much Ado about Nothing
is preoccupied with. It is this much.' Gideon's thumb and finger almost touched. ‘Only this much between the play becoming a comedy or a tragedy.'

I looked next to me at Jess Flynn; her bright eyes, her white teeth, her blonde swishing ponytail. She had almost come to tragedy. But still I couldn't confess.

 

On our way home from furniture shopping Mum insisted we stop for a quick bowl of noodles. I was dying to get home and check my mobile for messages. The thought of eating only made my stomach roll around a little more.

I was not going to make a confession. I had come to that conclusion between Capt'n Snooze and Ikea. There was nothing to gain and everything to lose. Just because Borachio confessed didn't mean I had to. If Borachio jumped off the Harbour Bridge would that mean I'd have to as well?

 

I almost knocked Mum over in the rush to get through the front door.

‘Holly!'

‘Sorry. I'm busting.'

But I bypassed the toilet and went straight to my bedroom. I closed the door and grabbed my mobile from under the pillow.

6 missed calls.

Quickly I scrolled down the call register. One was from Jess. The other five were from Calypso.

What now? What now? I clutched my mobile and began to pace the room. Think! Think! Think! But my problem was solved in less than a minute when my phone began to ring.

Down the wall I began to slide. I gulped the air and stuttered, ‘H-h-e-ll-o?'

‘HOW COULD YOU!' It was Calypso. ‘How could you?' she spat. ‘I thought you were my friend.'

‘Calypso?' I squeaked.

‘No doubt I was meant to see those photos. You're not fussy who you're friends with, are you? As long as you don't have to hang around on your own like the loser you really are. To think I was stupid enough to even consider taking you on a holiday I'd won.'

That was it. I inhaled and calmly said, ‘You – haven't – won – a – holiday, Calypso. You don't even have grandparents.'

‘Haaa!' Her gasp echoed through the phone. ‘You, you two-faced …' she began to pant.

‘Your mother didn't tell you to have that party,' I continued. ‘She wasn't even there for it. You had that party with Miranda. So who's calling who two-faced, hey?' My heart was beating so fast but I was off and on my way. ‘Jess's dad isn't a dentist. In fact, every single thing you told me about Jess is a lie.'

‘No!' Calypso shrieked.

‘I'm afraid so, Calypso,' I told her. ‘Oh, and guess what I found out, on the day of the planting to be exact? I found out that Scott and Jess aren't boyfriend and girlfriend. They're
cousins
!' I yelled that bit. ‘Jess never shoplifted with you either.'

‘You don't know anything!' Calypso shouted.

‘Oh yes I do!' I shouted back. ‘I know that you liked Scott and he couldn't stand you. You stalked him like a psycho. You even turned up in his room in the middle of the night. Hey? I bet not too many people know that!'

‘Scott loved me,' she growled. ‘But Jess and all her stuck-up friends were so protective of him. They turned Scott against me. Don't think for a minute he likes you, Holly. Someone like Scott would never ever EVER go for someone like you. You're a try-hard. Joe couldn't wait to get rid of you. He told me that himself.'

‘Calypso.' My jaw was trembling but I wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of my tears. ‘I wouldn't believe a thing that came out of your filthy mouth. Everyone at St Clemmie's hates you.' My strength was returning with each word. ‘I know 'cause I'm friends with Jess and Saskia and Isabelle and –'

‘They're using you,' Calypso hissed. ‘Just like I used you. That's all try-hards are good for. Jess Flynn is a liar. A big liar. She's got you fooled there.'

‘You are so jealous of Jess,' I sniggered. ‘That's what this whole revenge plan was about.'

‘You can think whatever you want, Holly. But Jess Flynn stole that stuff with me. She just denies it 'cause she's weak. She saw the shop detectives coming for me – that's why she ran. Because if they searched her bag they would've found that skanky, stripy Zubi singlet she nicked.' I heard Calypso heave and take a breath. It didn't sound like a person. It sounded like a monster that'd been festering in a cave for centuries. ‘Jess Flynn watched me go to the school counsellor twice a week for six weeks and she still said nothing. So think what you want, Holly Hankinson, but that's the truth. Oh and the other one is that Scott would never go for you. Don't start thinking he likes you. There must be something in it for him. So remember those words, honey. I wouldn't want you to get hurt again 'cause don't expect me to pick you up off the floor this time. And by the way,' Calypso's tone changed to sickly sweet and she let a poisonous giggle escape, ‘when are you coming back to MLG?'

‘I'm not.' I kept my voice steady. ‘I'm staying at St Clemmie's – for good.'

After Calypso slammed down the phone, I didn't move. I stayed sitting on the floor for probably an hour. I didn't cry. I just sat quietly waiting for my breath to return so I could plan the three-way chat with Jess and Scott.