The Ivy Lessons (14 page)

A silly, vain part of me is glad
Marc
isn’t accommodated on campus. I’d be embarrassed for him to see me wearing this wig, but he’s not here, so when in Rome ...

‘Thanks,’ I say, tugging on the wig. ‘I guess I’ll be needing some make-up too.’

‘And a beer,’ says Tom, reaching into a cooler box and throwing me a can of fosters.

‘At midday?’

‘You’re a student now,’ says Tom. ‘Prepare for alcoholism. This is just breakfast.’

He opens my can for me. ‘Drink, drink, drink!’

‘Okay, okay.’ I take a sip from the can.

Ryan comes over with a bottle of evil looking bright red liquid and a plastic shot glass.

‘She needs a shot too,’ he says.

‘She’s only just woken up,’ says Tom. ‘Give her a chance, she can probably still taste the toothpaste.’

‘
You
just gave me a beer,’ I laugh.

‘Sophia, my love. It’s F
osters. It’s practically a soft drink.’

‘Take a shot,’ says Ryan, pouring red liquid into the shot glass. He fills it so high that liquid spills onto the floor and stains the concrete.

‘I’m surprised smoke isn’t coming off the floor, the look of that stuff,’ says Tanya. ‘Ryan, it’s too early.’

‘No, she needs a shot,’ says Ryan, pushing the glass towards me.

I sigh. ‘Fine.’
I take the glass and down it, swallowing quickly so it doesn’t come back up again. Part of
me wants to get a bit drunk today
. Anything to forget about
Marc
and last night. My body is aching for him, but I know I won’t see him until Monday. And then, I don’t know what side of him I’ll be seeing ...

I feel wobbly as the red liquid take
s affect, and Ryan smiles
. ‘There’s a good girl. Take your medicine.’

Cecile comes marching up to him. ‘Ryan, what are you doing?’

‘Giving our little star pupil a shot. A little bit of truth serum. Maybe she can tell us what’s going on with her and Mr
Blackwell
.’

‘What?’ I say, feeling cold. Do they know about last night?

‘Cecile saw you coming out of the stationary cupboard, isn’t that right?’

‘What are you talking about?’ says Tanya. ‘Are you trying to start some horrible rumour? Why don’t you
two
just grow up.’

‘I saw her,’ says Cecile, with a smug smile. ‘She came out of the stationary cupboard, and Mr
Blackwell
was right behind her.’

I stand there stupidly, not knowing what to say.

‘So?
’ says Tanya.
‘
What are you implying exactly?’

‘What do you think I’m implying?
’ says Cecile
. ‘S
mall-town Sophia is up to no good with the teacher.’

‘Which is exactly what you’d like to do, given half the chance,’ says Tanya. ‘You said as much on our first night here. You’re just jealous because
Marc
sees something in Sophia that he doesn’t see in you. Or maybe any of us. She’s got something – any idiot can see that.’

‘We’ve all
got
something,’ says Cecile. ‘That’s why we’re on this course. Why Mr
Blackwell
would favour her, unless she’s doing something she shouldn’t -’

‘Stop trying to start rumours,’ says Tanya. ‘There are plenty of reasons to go into a stationary cupboard. You’re letting your imagination run away with you.’

‘Yes, stop being ridiculous Cecile,’ says Tom. ‘You’re just jealous.’

‘Of
her
.’ Cecile practically spits the word. ‘
Miss sweet and innocent? I don’t think so. Come
on
Ryan.’ She pulls him away.

Chapter 30

A tall female pupil with blonde hair shouts: ‘Okay, gang! Time to get tied up.’ She comes through the crowds with a box full of plastic handcuffs, giggling and passing them out. She pulls students back and forth, handcuffing students together.
She slaps a sticker on each handcuffed student – one sticker says slave, the other says gladiator.

‘What’s going on?’ I ask Tanya.

‘The theme is gladiator and slave,’ says Tanya. ‘Which means whoever you’re handcuffed to is either in charge of you, or you’re in charge of them.’

I feel a ripple of something in my stomach and between my legs, as I think of how
Marc
took charge of me last night.

‘So how does it work?’ I ask.

‘Whoever the gladiator is, they decide everything – where to go to raise money, when to stop for breaks, when the slave can go to the toilet, everything. But if you raise the least amount of money, then the gladiator gets thrown to the lions, as it were. They have to drink a gallon of beer in one go. Oh. Looks like I’m up.’

Tanya tu
rns to the smiling, blonde student
.

The student
pulls Tanya away, and handcuffs her to Cec
ile. Neither of them look happy, until Tanya is given a sticker saying: gladiator. Then she smiles from ear to ear and winks at me.

I stand close to Tom, hoping I’ll be handcuffed to him, but the blonde student is doing a good job of mixing everyone up. To my horror, she drags Ryan through the crowd towards me.
She grabs my wrist.

‘I saw him chatting you up earlier,’ she says with a wink. ‘I always like to play matchmaker.’ She hands a fundraising bucket to Ryan, and adjusts his wig.

Through the crowd, I see Tanya laughing and shaking her head. Cecile looks furious.

I expect Ryan to complain. To say he doesn’t want to be near me. But he
doesn’t say anything
.

The blonde pupil handcuffs us together. ‘There. You make a lovely couple.
Now. Who should be gladiator and who should be slave?
’
She looks from one of us to the other. ‘Oh wait – you’re the girl with a crush on Mr
Blackwell
, right?’

‘Why do you say that?’ I ask, going pale.

‘Cecile’s been telling everyone that you won’t leave him alone. But I don’t blame you. I mean,
who doesn’t have a crush on him?
’

I look
at the floor. I guess it’s better people think that I’m some crazy, love sick pupil than they know the
truth.

Tom is handcuffed to a short, black-haired girl who looks smiley and good fun, and the two of them are soon chatting away, Tom roaring with laughter.

I turn to Ryan, wondering what on earth we’re going to say to each other.

‘This is a turn up for the books,
’ he says, an unpleasant smile on his lips. ‘I bet you’d prefer I was
Marc
Blackwell
, though.’

I take a sip of beer, not knowing what to say.

‘So it’s true then?’ says Ryan. His face is broad and flat, and for the first time I notice tiny gaps between his straight teeth.

‘What’s true?’ I ask.

‘That you’re obsessed with
Marc
Blackwell
? T
hat you have a
crush on the teacher.
’

‘I’m not obsessed with anyone,’ I say, but I know I’m lying to myself. All I’ve been able to think about since I got here is
Marc
, and th
oughts of last night still send
trembles down my legs.

The handcuffed couples ahead of us start walking off campus.

‘Come on,’ says Ryan, tugging hard at my wrists
. ‘
We don’t want to be left behind, and I’m determined to win this. I won’t be the loser. And the couple
who raises the most money by the end of the day win free drinks all evening at the campus bar.’

‘I don’t think I need any more to drink,’ I say, still feeling a little giddy from the shot.

‘You take the bucket, slave,’ says Ryan. ‘I’ll hold your beer.
’

‘Fine
,’ I say, passing my beer over. The charity bucket feels nice and light, but I know it’ll get heavy soon.

Ryan tugs at my wrists. ‘I think we
should go on the tube. Ask
commuters for money.’

‘While we’re handcuffed together?’

‘Don’t answer back to me, slave.
I
t’ll give us the best chance of winning.’

‘
Y
ou’re taking this whole gladiator thing a little too
seriously,’ I say.
‘
Isn’t the tube
a little bit unsafe?’
I want to add:
since
we’re tied together and
you’re clearly already drunk.

‘It’ll
be fine.’ Ryan downs my
beer,
and shouts at the blonde pupil
: ‘Rachel, another beer. I’m dry.’ He throws the empty can on the floor.

‘Please
would be nice,’ Rachel says
, as she throws him a beer from the ice box.

‘One isn’t going to last me five minutes,’ says Ryan.

‘
Alcoholic in the making,
I like it!
’ says Rachel, handing him another beer. Ryan stuffs it in th
e pocket of his cargo trousers.

‘Okay, team
,
’ says Rachel. ‘Let’s get going.
’

Ryan drinks half the
new can in one go, and I notice he’s
swaying slightly.

‘Do you think you’d better take it a bit easy
?’ I whisper.

‘No I don’t
,’ he says,
chugging more beer
, and pulling at the handcuffs.

I follow him and the other couples through the campus gr
ounds, and onto the streets of London
. We walk past Great Ormond Street
Hospital, and towards High Holbo
rn, wher
e crowds of people are
flowing back and forth.

Ryan is unsteady on his feet, and
nearly
pulls me over a few times.
I’m left scrabbling to stay steady as he walks without the slightest regard for the fact someone is attached to him
.

‘Wait, please, you’re going to fast,’ I say, the bucket swinging in my hand.

‘If we’re not fast, we won’t win,’ says Ryan. ‘Where’s your killer instinct?’

‘I don’t h
ave one,’ I say. ‘We’re raising
money for charity
, not running a marathon
.’

‘Well I want to win,’ he says. ‘And I’m in charge of you. So you’ll do as I say and walk at my pace.’

I stumble behind him. When he sees Holborn tube station he
drags us towards the steps that say: ‘No Entry’.

‘Get out of the way,’ he shouts, as streams of passengers emerge
from the dark mouth of station
. ‘We’re on student rag week. For charity.’

He pulls me down and through the crowds, but I trip and fall
on the first step, and tumble down the rest
, landing on my rear end at the bottom. The bucket clatters away.

‘Ouch,’ I say.

‘Yo
u dropped the bucket,
’ says Ryan, dragging me across the floor.

‘Wait,’ I shout. ‘Please, le
t me stand up
.’

Chapter 31

Some passengers come to my defence, and I hear an elderly woman berating Ryan for going after the bucket.

‘Let her stand
up
, young man. Can’t you see you’re hurting her? And what are you doing drinking at this time of the day? You should be ashamed of yourself.’

Ryan looks at the woman with angry
, red-rimmed
eyes. ‘Mind
your own business
.
’

‘Are you okay dear?’ the woman asks me, as I struggle to my feet.
My ankle feels sore, but okay.

‘Just a little bump,’ I say. ‘I’m fine. Really.’

Ryan uses his oyster card at the tube barriers, then bundles us both through. The gates c
atch on my arm
.
Double ouch.
I never knew they shut so hard.

‘Don’t drop the bucket,’ Ryan shouts.

The gates open again, sensing an obstruction, and I’m free to be pulled towards the escalator by an unsteady Ryan.
I hold tight to the moving handrail, and when
we reach the platform, a train is just about to leave.

‘We can make it,’ Ryan shouts, tugging me behind him.

‘No, please Ryan. Wait.’

‘Do as you’re told.’ H
e mounts the crowded tube train
and tries to pull me on
,
but the doors are closing. There are tuts from passenger
s
as
Ryan jostles
them
aside.