Maddox Academy: Grievous Beginnings - Wattys 2022 Shortlister

Chapter Twelve - A Touch to Silence Everything

"Flick! Wait a second!" Katie called after me.

I could hear her jogging down the hardwood floor behind me, but I ignored her. My bag slapped against my hip and I ran my hand along the bannister as I ran down the stairs into the main entrance. Not really knowing where I was going, but not wanting to be around another person, I pushed open the main door and stepped out into the sunlight. A bitter chill nipped at my fingers in the February air. I jogged down the front steps and rounded the side of the building.

Behind me, I heard the front door swing open and I pressed my back against the stone wall of the school. Katie's footsteps echoed on the stone and came to a stop on the grass, I could hear her breathing. I pressed my back a little closer to the wall, hoping she wouldn't see me, but I heard her slip on the grass near me and I knew that my hiding place wasn't all that secret.

"There you are. If you didn't want to be found, you should have kept going. There are some hedges you could have jumped into," she said.

"Why did you follow me?" I asked.

"Because you ran out of there quicker than Jo did when she found out we had liver and onions for supper." She smiled slightly. "Look, regardless of whether the assembly today was about you or not, Jo and I defended your accusations because we knew you were right. I saw the bruises myself so if we get into trouble, it'll be on our own head. Not yours."

"I still shouldn't have told her. Victoria was always going to twist the truth to fit her view of things and she has the rest of my year wrapped tightly around her finger that I'm surprised she still has circulation. We should have just left it."

"And what if we had? Next time she takes you up to the roof and tries to push you off? If Mrs Maddox was talking about you, she'll be watching you and Victoria for the foreseeable future which means Victoria won't be able to do anything. She'll be at risk of being discovered."

Katie put it so simply, so easily and yet I didn't think it would ever be that easy. Victoria didn't seem to care if she was being watched, something she had made abundantly clear when she pushed me into the pool in front of Mrs Leverton. There were no lengths she wouldn't go to to get me kicked out of the school. Whether Mrs Maddox was watching or not, she would never stop.

I dropped my chin onto my chest and looked at the ground, watching how the water droplets on the grass seemed to sparkle in the sunlight and how they moved in a gust of wind. Katie approached me and I could feel her lean against the wall next to me. She didn't say anything, she just stood beside me quietly whistling to herself and kicking her foot across the grass.

A thousand different thoughts zipped through my head at once, none of them making any sense and all seeming more confusing than the last. I tapped my fingers against the wall. Small stones trickled down from the wall and hit the grass, one getting caught under my nail, but I kept drumming them on the wall.

"Stop that," Katie said. She grabbed my wrist and pressed the palm of my hand lightly against the wall. "What have you got going through that mad little head of yours?"

"About a thousand different historical facts and the word goat," I said.

"Hm, funny. Stop deflecting, you do that to avoid telling someone the truth. Come on, out with it."

"Mrs Maddox said that anyone who makes a baseless accusation of bullying without the means of backing themselves up would be in serious trouble. We accused her without proof. I promised Dad I would stay out of trouble and he will be disappointed in me if Mrs Maddox tells him. I've never had a black mark against my name before."

Katie released my wrist and I felt her move away from the wall to stand in front of me, but I refused to look up. She placed a finger under my chin and lifted my head up. I looked into her eyes, watching the way they seemed to dance in the sunlight and noticing for the first time the small gold flecks. The sun reflected off her skin. There was something almost mesmerising about seeing her in that light.