Silent Treatment (6 page)

For a moment she couldn’t think what he meant. She was barely over the shock of him telling her that he was leaving England.

“Me? You don’t have to worry about me. My shoulder will be fine by then.” Her heart was banging in her chest, threatening to explode through her school shirt.

He
suddenly laughed at her and then grabbed her hands. He wrapped his huge palms around her fingers and squeezed them gently.

“You idiot.
I don’t mean just because of this injury. I mean because I’ll miss you. Really miss you…” He paused and looked deep into her eyes.

“You’ll miss me?” Carrie squawked in shocked delight. “I’ll miss you too Dan.” She lifted her face to look up at him.

He suddenly dropped her hands and slowly raised his to her face, touching her cheeks with his fingertips and leaning in close, his warm breath wafting over her.

And then his expression changed again. His fingers dropped from her face to her shoulder and he sat back again as he sighed deeply. He gave her shoulder one
more quick rub as he spoke.

“Look,
don’t worry about it if you can’t get out tomorrow, I’ll come over to your place. I’ll say I’ve already had the bug so your mum will have to let me in to visit my sick friend. We can do some exercises to get it moving then. Come on, I’m sending you home now so you can start pretending to be ill.” He stood up quickly and pulled her up gently from the sofa.

Carrie stood looking up at him, but he avoided her gaze and turned abruptly towards the front door. She followed him, confusion curling through her stomach. She had been sure he had been about to kiss her a moment ago, and she wondered what had put him off. She tried to shrug, but stopped as she gasped in pain again. He turned quickly as he heard the stifled sound, but she smiled valiantly and walked past him as he opened the front door for her.

“You going to walk me up the road?” She asked as he came to a halt by the front gate. “Just in case I feel faint again.” She added, the corner of her lip lifting as she spoke.

He grinned down at her.

“Do you feel faint then?” He took hold of her hand and gave it a squeeze.

Carrie looked down as he intertwined his fingers with hers and she squeezed his hand back.

“Not really.” She smiled. “But you never know with an injury like this, it might come over me all of a sudden. I wouldn’t like to take any chances.”

Dan
iel laughed and let go of her hand.

“I suppose so. Come on then.” He walked out of the gate in front of her and they fell into step.

They only took a few minutes to cover the distance and they didn’t speak again until they were almost at her gate. Just before they reached her house, he turned towards her and lifted his hand to her shoulder. He rubbed it gently and then picked up her hand. He turned it over in his and lifted her arm slightly, watching her face carefully for any signs of discomfort.

“Okay?” He asked, his eyes searching hers.

She nodded as she stared up at him, unable to speak again as she thought about him leaving. She gulped back the constriction in her throat.

“I’ll give you a call later if everything is going to plan. What’s your number?” She asked him quickly.

He fumbled in his pocket and brought out his mobile. He read out the number and then chuckled.

“
Not many people have this. It’s mostly only the team. You are highly honoured, you know.”

Carrie raised her eyebrows and laughed as she tapped
his number into her phone, but then her face fell again as an impatient hoot caused her to turn quickly.

They both stepped aside as Carrie’s father pulled his car into the driveway and she deliberately ignored his furious expression as he glared angrily at Daniel
.

Chapter Thre
e

The Same Evening

“I don’t believe her Helen. She’s not sick. She’s never sick. She didn’t look sick earlier. I saw her holding hands with that great gorilla of a kid who lives up the road.
The one that makes all that flipping racket every night. She looked fine when she was making eyes at him. Goofy even… I thought he was gay for God’s sake! I’ve never seen him with another girl. He’s always hanging out with those other huge apes from the rugby team. She’s puked up twice now. Christ! You don’t think she’s pregnant do you?”

Carrie fumed as she lay in bed
listening to her father whispering loudly to her mother, just outside her bedroom door.

Her mother gave a startled gasp.

“Jim! How can you even think that? You should wash your mouth out with soap. That’s our daughter’s reputation you’re maligning.” Her mother sounded furious and Carrie gave a grim smile before she settled her face into a martyred expression as she heard a gentle knock. Both her parents walked in through her door.

“Hey, sweetheart, h
ow are you feeling now?” Her mother walked over to her bedside and laid a cool hand across her brow.

Carrie coughed dramatically, unsure of how
convincing it sounded. She had never won a part in any of the school drama productions. She wiped her mouth on a tissue before she spoke.

“Awful. I was sick again ten minutes ago. I just want to go to sleep.” Carrie kept her voice faint.

Helen glanced up at her husband before she concentrated on her daughter again.

“What have you eaten at school today, or did you have anything later at Daniel
’s house? Dad seems to think you were with him this afternoon.” She sat down on the edge of the bed and Carrie thought hard about how to fend off the coming inquisition.

She gave her father
a withering glare.

“I was only at Dan’s because I felt a bit odd after the exam. You know, sort of light headed. He gave me a glass of water after we walked home, and then he came
right to the door with me just in case I felt faint, that’s all. I thought it was just the stress of the exams but now I think it must be a bug. Daniel said he had it last week. He was ill for a couple of days. It wouldn’t be so bad if it didn’t make my head ache so much.” Carrie fluttered her eyelids dramatically as she laid it on thick.

Jim pursed his lips, still looking unconvinced.

“Hmm, and you spend a lot of time with this Daniel do you? I wouldn’t have thought he was your type.” He frowned down at her.

Carrie shrugged and winced as she had a
sudden reminder from her shoulder of why she was lying in bed faking being ill.

“It has nothing to do with him being my type or not, dad
. We walk to school together and sometimes home together too, that’s all. We always have, right from primary school. You probably don’t remember because you were always at work and you might not remember Daniel from then anyway. He’s only grown so tall in the last couple of years.”

Her mother glanced up at her father
.

“See Jim.
I told you that you were making a mistake. There’s nothing in it at all. Daniel was just bringing her home because she felt poorly. Isn’t that nice of him?”

Jim was still frowning.

“Yes, well so long as it is just a bug. I don’t want you mucking about with that great oaf Carrie. He looks dangerous to me. He obviously has enough hormones in him for the whole street.”

Carrie struggled to sit up and defend Dan
iel.

“Dad, don’t be ridiculous. He’s my friend and I really like him.
It’s not his fault he’s grown so big and it’s nothing to do with his hormones, more like his genes. Dan’s father is really tall too. You would hate it if someone didn’t like you just because you’re bald like grandpa. It’s a hereditary thing not a failing.”

Jim took a shocked breath and rubbed his hand self-consciously over his shining head.

“Now wait just a minute young lady! There’s no reason to be so rude. I’m only saying that someone that huge is going to have trouble along-side him somewhere. I don’t want you getting too involved. He’s so massive his hormones must be running riot. He’s got to have that much testosterone raging round him. He’s going to have to give it an outlet sometime and for someone his age, that means either fighting or having sex. I don’t want either of them to be with you, okay.”

Carrie was outraged.
She ignored the pain in her shoulder as she shot forwards.

“I don’t think Dan
iel has ever had a fight in his life and I am certainly not having sex with him! I’m not having sex with anyone! Yet!” She added furiously. “Not that it’s any of your business if I do. I am sixteen you know and it’s quite legal, but just so you know, he’s never even mentioned the subject to me. We’ve walked to and from school together almost every day since I was six. There’s nothing in it at all.” Carrie crossed her fingers under the duvet, desperately hoping that there would be. “He plays rugby or some other sport all the time. He gets rid of all his testos…stuff there. He’s a really nice guy dad, and so are his mates. You shouldn’t let appearances sway your opinion so easily.”

Her father
took a step back from Carrie’s onslaught and raised his hands in surrender.

“Okay, I beli
eve you, I’m sorry I spoke. You had better rest if you are going to rehearsals tomorrow. Antonio is going to be as mad as hell that you are going to miss tonight, better not make him madder.”

Carrie was about to protest about the being sick rule when her mum spoke up for her.

“She can’t go to rehearsals tomorrow either Jim. They have to have forty-eight hours clear before they go back to training, otherwise it’ll go round the group like wildfire. It’s the warm, sweaty atmosphere in the studio that does it. It won’t matter too much anyway, Carrie has the routine down to a tee. I’ll give Antonio a call in a moment. Why don’t you go and relax Jim. Go and pour us both a sherry. I’ll just help Carrie clean up and be down in a jiffy.”

Jim left the room after kissing Carrie on the forehead but her mum stayed sitting on the bed.

She waited until she heard the television downstairs and then she spoke to Carrie again.

“Are you really sick Carrie? You look a little flushed, but not ill and you don’t have a temperature. Come on honey, you can tell me if anything’s bothering you. You’re not getting cold feet
about the dancing are you?” Her tone was full of genuine concern.

Carrie smiled weakly and laid her head back on the pillows. She suddenly felt awful for being so deceitful. She couldn’t meet her mother
’s gaze. Instead she made a big drama out of plumping the already plumped pillow.

“Don’t be silly mum. I could do the dance standing on my head. I just feel ill,
that’s all. I think I was stressed about the exam and it’s given me a nervous stomach.”

But her mother
wouldn’t leave it.

“And Daniel?
Are you telling us the truth about him.” She flapped her hands as Carrie jumped forwards in the bed again. “Look, don’t get mad at me. He’s eighteen and you’re a very pretty girl. He wouldn’t be normal if he didn’t have thoughts about sex. I just want to know that if anything is going on, that you’re being safe. There’s nothing like a baby to cramp your style.”

Carrie had to laugh.

“Oh mum, was I that bad?”

Her mother
shrugged and smiled.

“No, but then your dad is quite a bit older than me. He
already had a good job and was able to provide for us all. I was quite happy to stay at home with you. This is a bit different for you, what with everything that’s going on in your life. It’s probably not a good time to have a relationship.”

Carrie lay back on the pillows again and thought about the situation miserably.

“I know mum. Dan and I do like each other, but even if it was more than just liking, which it isn’t, it’s not going to go anywhere. He was just being kind ‘cos I felt so ill, and anyway, he’s going to America in September. He only found out yesterday. He won a Sports Academy scholarship in Atlanta. It’s fantastic for him, but it’s a three year placement. We aren’t going to be seeing each other for a very long while.” Carrie covered her mouth with her hand as she nearly cried out with the intense pain that suddenly caught at her chest.

Her mum whipped up the bucket from the floor and Carrie made some convincing gagging noises and spat in it. She pulled a tissue from the box on her bedside table and made a big show of wiping her mouth.

Helen took the tissue and grimaced.

“Ewh!
I think you’ve gone past bile now. You’re gagging on nothing. That’s so bad for you. Your stomach will be raw.” Her mother looked into the bottom of the empty bucket. “Maybe you need something to eat. What about some buttered toast?”

Carrie moaned in longing. She was starving but she knew she would have to suffer for a few more hours if she were going to pull off this deception convincingly.

“Maybe later mum, I couldn’t stomach anything at the moment. I’m just thirsty. Being sick has made my throat sore. Is there any coke left?”

“I think there’s a bottle in the fridge. I’ll go and get you some. I’ll give Antonio a quick ring and then bring a glass back up.” She walked towards the door and closed it quietly behind her.

Carrie lay down and slipped her mobile phone out from under her pillow. She sent a quick text to Daniel, telling him how the first part of her plan was going, and had a smiley face reply within seconds. Then she put the phone back under the pillow as she heard her mother coming back up the stairs.

She handed Carrie the
glass of coke and waited while Carrie sipped at it. Then she took the glass from her hand and put it on the bedside table.

“I’ll leave that here in case you want any later. I spoke to Antonio and he says you’re to stay in bed for the next two days. He’s going to come over on Saturday evening to see how you’re getting on, but he’s not rehearsing over the weekend anyway. I said you’d probably be okay for Monday, but he said don’t come in until you’re strong enough. If you’re still weak, the dancing will make you worse.
Better to have a few days off now than in the middle of the tour.”

Carrie
turned her head slightly and smiled in relief against the pillow. She lifted her head and spoke weakly.

“Thanks mum. I’m sure I’ll be fine in a couple of days.
If it is that bug going round, Dan said it took him a while to get over it.”

Her mother
looked at her suspiciously one more time.

“Yes, I’m sure it did. Well, whatever it is wrong with you, I daresay he’s going help you get
over it. Your dad just saw him hanging around the gate still. He went out and asked him what he wanted. Apparently he says that he’s coming over tomorrow to see if you’re any better. Your dad says Daniel looks a lot sicker than you.” Helen caught the hint of a smile that curled the corners of Carrie’s mouth. She smiled indulgently as she walked back to the door and closed it gently behind her.