Free Falling (30 page)

Beth shook her head, her eyes glistening with tears. “But
Chester’s going to be okay, isn’t he?” she squeaked.

I nodded, patting her knee. Beth was an animal lover at the
best of times but she adored Chester. “The vet said he was doing well,” I
confirmed.

Charlotte cleared her throat to get my attention. “You don’t
still think it was Sandy, do you?”

I groaned and closed my eyes. “Yes. But apparently no one
else does,” I snapped, pushing myself to my feet. I didn’t want another person
telling me I was wrong about her, I didn’t want to hear it anymore. I turned
and marched into the school, leaving my two friends in stunned silence behind
me, still sitting on the grass. I was vaguely aware that Alex and Luke were
still trudging along behind me. I looked over my shoulder and frowned. “I don’t
need a babysitter,” I barked, waving my hand dismissively.

“I just want to check your locker and make sure there’s
nothing in there,” Alex replied, not seeming bothered by my harsh tone. He was
probably used to it, growing up with me and all.

I groaned in frustration because they were treating me like
a child. “Well, it doesn’t take everyone to look into my locker,” I grunted.

Luke frowned and nodded. “I actually need to go and speak to
Mrs White about my history essay that I haven’t done,” he said, wincing a
little. “I’ll meet you outside your last class of the morning, and then we can
get lunch together, okay baby?” I nodded in agreement, knowing that I would
have probably eaten with him anyway had all of this not happened, so I couldn’t
exactly be annoyed with him for wanting to babysit me. I guess I was just going
to have to put up with being babied until the police arrested Sandy. Luke
smiled and touched the back of my hand softly, his eyes doing that melting my
heart thing that they usually do, so I felt a reluctant smile tugging at the
corners of my mouth too.

I watched him walk off up the hallway and then I trudged
over to my locker. As I approached it, worry started to cloud my mind. Would
there be something in there? Some typed note or a flower? Was some reference to
Chester going to fall out and land at my feet? Unlike seconds earlier, I was
silently grateful that I felt Alex’s presence at my side. As I raised a
tentative hand I tried not to notice that it was shaking a little. I held my
breath as I twisted my locker combination in and slowly pulled open the door.
But nothing happened. Nothing fluttered out, nothing was in there that wasn’t
supposed to be, my locker was just as I left it the day before.

I breathed a sigh of relief and looked over at Alex who was
busy peering in, shoving my books to the side and checking every square inch of
it. I let him route around in there, obviously satisfying his brotherly
instincts while I leant against the locker and looked up the hallway. Zach was
walking towards me, a smile on his face as he sauntered through the crowd, not
having a clue about what had happened either.

Luke’s words suddenly rang in my ears. ‘What about that Zach
guy? How much do you know about him anyway?’ My eyes searched Zach’s face, his
lazy grin, and his laidback attitude as he walked towards me.
It couldn’t be
him that was doing this, could it? No. No, Maisie, you’re being stupid! Zach
wouldn’t do that, he’s a nice guy.

“Hey,” he greeted, stopping at my side. “All ready for
another boring school day?”

I laughed humourlessly and shrugged. I was already wishing
today was over with. “I guess.”

“Everything okay?” he inquired.

Thankfully Alex had obviously had his fill of checking my
locker so he turned and pushed the door to. “All fine here, Maze-Daze. I’m
gonna leave you with Zach, and I’ll catch you later. You have your cell,
right?” Alex asked, patting his pocket, checking that he had his with him. I
nodded, knowing that it was in my pocket from this morning when I called the
vet’s. “Okay good. If you need me today then call me. Luke’s eating with you at
lunch time, and then you’re with Zach this afternoon. I’ll meet you here at the
end of school and we’ll go visit Chester.” His arm looped around my shoulder,
giving me a quick, reassuring squeeze before he turned and walked up to his
friends.

“What was that about?” Zach asked, stepping closer to me and
leaning against the locker next to mine as I pulled out the books I would need
for my morning classes.

I sighed, wondering how much I should tell him. Probably
everything. Alex was obviously entrusting my safety to him too today so he’d
need to know why. I opened my mouth to answer, but a flash of brilliant blonde
hair caught my attention seconds before a tinkering little laugh filled the
air. My breath caught in my throat as I turned in that direction. Sandy was sashaying
her way towards me, flanked by two of her little cheerleader minions.

The anger tasted vile in my mouth as I watched her and the
way she moved so fluidly, the way each step was like she was gliding in her
four inch high heels. I hated every single thing about her. I bit the inside of
my cheek, hoping beyond hope that she wouldn’t stop near me. My restraint was
fading fast. All I wanted to do was scream at her that she was a psychotic
bitch and that the police were going to be busting down her door for what she
did.

Unfortunately for me, or maybe unfortunately for her, I wasn’t
quite sure yet, she stopped in front of me. A smug, sarcastic smile stretched
across her perfectly painted pink lips. As if expecting a confrontation, the
people around us seemed to hush and turn in our direction, eager to watch
another showdown. Anger heated my face as she twisted a perfectly straightened
lock of her hair around one expertly manicured fingernail. 

“Well you look like shit today. Bad night?” she asked,
chuckling to herself quietly as her eyes raked over my body with obvious
distaste.

“You know I did,” I spat. My voice barely even sounded like
mine where I was so angry. I tried desperately to hold on to the thought that I
wasn’t allowed to start a fight and that the police had told me to stay away
from her while they investigated everything. But it was hard. My hand was
itching to smack the satisfied grin off of her face.

She smiled sweetly. “What’s up, princess, didn’t sleep too
well or something?”

She was taunting me, trying to get me to crack. I knew her
game plan, but I couldn’t help but go along with it. The words burst from my
mouth before I could stop them. “Why did you do that? You’re sick in the head,
Sandy! Who does that to an innocent dog?” The tears were building, making my
vision swim as I struggled to maintain my composure.

Her mouth snapped shut as she frowned at me, seeming taken
aback by what I’d said. “What dog?” she asked. Her confusion was clear across
her face as she said it, and for a second my conviction wavered.
Maybe she
really didn’t do it like the boys were saying, and I have it wrong…

But then I remembered seeing her in the school play a couple
of months ago. She was a damn good actor. “Don’t play stupid, I know it was
you!” I hissed, righting myself to my full height as I glared at her
confidently.

She took a half step back, shaking her head, her eyes
questioning as she looked at me. “What are you talking about?”

“You snuck into my house last night and poisoned my dog.” I
pointed at her accusingly, jabbing my finger into her chest for emphasis. The
spectators gasped, looking between the two of us with wide eyes. I saw Zach
stiffen and stand up straighter next to me.

Sandy laughed incredulously, batting my hand away as her
eyes turned hard. “I’ve never even been to your house. Get a grip of yourself.”
She sneered at me hatefully, looking down her nose at me as if I was something
nasty she’d just stepped in.

“It was you! The police will be able to prove it’s you
somehow. Your fingerprints will be on the meat wrapper or something,” I said
confidently, lifting my chin confidently.

“Someone gave your dog poisoned meat?” she questioned. Some
sort of emotion flicked across her eyes, but it was gone before I could work
out what it was. She shook her head incredulously. “You seriously think it was
me? You’re crazy.
Crazy-Maisie
,” she mocked in a sing song voice, smugly
looking around at the people that were gathered to watch. When some of them
gave a little half chuckle, obviously appreciating her stupid rhyme of my name,
I ground my teeth from anger. “I think that should be your new name.
Crazy-Maisie. It fits you even more perfectly than
Can’t-keep-a-boyfriend-Maisie,” she teased, pursing her lips as she folded her
arms across her chest.

A sob was fighting to break out of my throat but I swallowed
it down, not letting it escape. “You just stay the hell away from me and my
family, you hear me? Or… or…” I gritted my teeth, still trying to maintain some
degree of control over myself.

She raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow as a smile twitched
at the corners of her mouth. “Or what?”

I growled in frustration. I’d never wanted to hurt anyone in
my life, but for her I was willing to make an exception. Chester’s face came to
mind as my eyes burned with tears. I knew I should walk away. I knew I
shouldn’t have even said anything in the first place, and that I should have
just left it to the police, but my feet seemed to be rooted to the floor as the
last of my restraint slipped. I couldn’t stop myself. It was like someone else
was controlling my limbs. That smug smile of hers was my undoing. My hand
collided with the middle of her chest, hard. She stumbled backwards a couple of
steps, gasping from shock, before righting herself and looking up at me with
disbelief clear across her face.

“You little slut!” she hissed as she launched herself at me.

One of her hands went straight to the back of my head as she
gripped my ponytail, pulling roughly. Rage boiled in the pit of my stomach as
every single bad thing that had happened in the last couple of weeks seemed to
taunt me. I pushed forward against her, using my bodyweight as leverage. We
both slammed into the lockers beside us making a resounding crash that seemed
to echo in the hallway. Gasps erupted around us immediately, just like last
time as everyone watched with excited eyes. Her hand connected with the side of
my head making me grit my teeth so I didn’t squeal from the pain of it. My hand
shot to the back of my head, gripping her hand that held my hair. My scalp was
starting to burn where she was pulling so hard, so I dug my nails into the back
of her hand as hard as I could, feeling her blood wet my fingertips as she
gasped and jerked her hand away. Taking advantage of her momentary shock, I
lifted my hand and slapped her as hard as I could across the face making her
head whip to the side.

The name calling started then as she threw herself at me
again, wrapping her arms around my waist and tackling me to the floor. Pain
coursed up my back as she landed on top of me, straddling me quickly and
slapping and scratching at my shoulders as face as I struggled to grip her
wrists and fight her off.

The fight probably lasted just over a minute before hands
came down and lifted Sandy off of me, just like last time. I sat up quickly,
preparing myself to go after her again. I wasn’t exactly doing well, but I
wasn’t ready to give up yet. Unfortunately, a pair of hands grabbed me too and
lifted me to my feet.

“Let go of me!” Sandy screeched, struggling and wriggling,
trying to get out of the arms of the person holding her. In the back of my mind
I vaguely recognised that it was Zach that had pulled her off of me and now had
her in a vice like grip opposite me.

“Calm down, Maisie,” a voice I recognised as Alex, hissed in
my ear as the hands tightened on my waist.

“I hope your stupid dog died!” Sandy screamed, still
thrashing wildly.

Rage built again inside me. “I’ll kill you! You stay away
from me or I swear you’ll regret it!” I shouted, swinging wildly, hoping that
one of my blows would come into contact with her face. Unfortunately, she was too
far away from me, also swinging blindly in an attempt to reach me. “You
spiteful little bitch! I’ll kill you!”

“Maisie, stop it!” Alex growled, pulling me back a step or
two just as Sandy’s foot came up about to hit me in the stomach. “Get her out
of here, Zach,” Alex ordered.

Zach nodded; turning a red faced Sandy away from me and
giving her a little shove up the hallway. “Just go to class,” he instructed,
stepping to the left so that he blocked her path to me in case she attempted to
make a dive for me again. He gripped her upper arm, nodding up the hallway,
motioning for her to walk.

The shock of what had just happened and the pain of her
blows were only now starting to register. My scalp burned, and my shoulder and
back hurt where I had hit the floor.

Sandy then seemed to turn her frustration on Zach. “Get your
filthy hands off of me! I don’t want your scumbag hands on me!” She twisted,
slamming the palms of her hands on his chest. Her voice was full of acid as she
sneered at him, her eyes hard and calculating. “I know all about you. My cousin
goes to the school you used to go to. He told me all about you and what you
used to get up to at school. I know all sorts of things that you probably don’t
want common knowledge here. Now get the hell off of me!” Sandy spat, shoving on
his chest again.

Zach’s eyes widened as he let go of her this time. “You shut
your mouth,” he growled through his teeth as his hands balled into fists.

“Why? You gonna make me? I’d heard that about you. Fists
first, brain second,” Sandy taunted, raising one eyebrow in invitation.

Zach’s hand tightened even more. “Screw you,” he snorted.
“You think I give a shit what you’ve heard? You’re some slutty little girl who
takes pleasure in seeing others miserable. Maybe it makes your pathetic little
life more interesting or something. Just go to class and stop embarrassing
yourself.” He didn’t move as she glared at him for a couple of seconds. Then
all at once she huffed and span on her heel, marching up the hallway with her
gaggle of followers trotting along behind her.