A ding. My allotted time is up.
I’m just getting started.
Libby scowls at me. It’s on!
twenty-five. Libby
* * *
How dare you, Troy Ealing? What right d’you have to say that? I’m not running for head girl just to get back at all those who might’ve pissed me off in the past. I’m not that petty.
How dare you?
‘Our next question is …’ Mrs Paxton frowns slightly as she reads on without speaking. ‘OK … our next question is, “Name two good things and one bad thing about your opponent.” Troy, would you like to go first?’
This should be good. Eyes narrowed, I wait to hear just what he’s going to say.
twenty-six. Troy
* * *
Crap! Two good things? About Libby? That’s a tall order. Like Mount Everest tall.
‘Er … I hear Libby is loyal to her friends and that she’s good at history. The bad thing would be her ambition to become head girl for all the wrong reasons. Not for your benefit, but for her own. Libby has about as much political insight as a stale cheese sandwich. And she couldn’t care less about any student issues. She sees being head girl as a stepping stone, nothing more.’
OK, not my best effort, but all I could think of on the spur of the moment. Libby’s expression hardens like quick-drying cement. She’s going to let me have it – both barrels.
‘It’s hard to come up with one good thing to say about Troy Ealing, never mind two,’ says Libby. ‘But I can think of a bad thing. Back in the day, Troy’s mum got knocked up by a Nought extremist called Callum McGregor who was hanged for being a terrorist. Is that really the sort of person we want as head student representing our school?’
The shocked gasp that ripples through the hall is nothing compared to the crippling gut punch I feel at Libby’s words. Gut punch? Hell! It was more like being kicked in the nuts by a horse, then run over by a tank. My mouth falls open as I stare at Libby, unable to believe that she went there. She actually went there. She’s the one person I told in confidence when we used to be friends. Even when our friendship died, I still believed she’d keep my secret, just like I kept hers. Quid pro quo. I glance out across the assembly hall. The volume of the murmurs is steadily rising. I raise my mic.
‘My mum’s past has nothing to do with me. That’s her business, not mine. My mum was married to Nathan Ealing and he’s my dad. So at least I know who my dad is. Can you say the same, Libby? From what I hear, your dad could be any one of twenty different guys.’
More gasps from around the hall.
‘Right. That is quite enough of that from both of you,’ Mrs Paxton intervenes, her dark brown eyes flashing. ‘This is a serious debate about your proposed student policies and what each of you can bring to the role. This is not a race to the bottom where each of you shows just how low you can go. I won’t have it. Not in this school. Ever.’
‘Sorry, Mrs Paxton,’ mumbles Libby.
I was the one who should’ve received that apology, not the head.
Mrs Paxton turns to me, waiting to hear similar fall from my mouth.
‘My apologies, Mrs Paxton,’ I say clearly. ‘You’re right, I shouldn’t have descended to Liberty’s level.’ I look at my opponent with scorn. ‘When she went low, I should’ve gone high because both my parents taught me better. And I apologize to all of you in the audience. Just because most real politicians behave like Libby doesn’t mean any of us have to follow their example. I mean, I certainly don’t.’
‘I’m glad to hear it,’ says Mrs Paxton, still vexed. She dips into the box again. ‘I expect all of us to continue this debate in a civilized manner. The next question is …’
I look across the hall as Mrs Paxton asks the next question. Every student is now facing forward in rapt attention. The only thing missing is the popcorn. I turn to Libby. She’s looking at me with total loathing. I return her look with interest.
If we weren’t standing in front of hundreds of witnesses, I’d show her exactly what I think of her swipe at my mum. If it’s the last thing I ever do, I’ll make her pay for that.
twenty-seven. Libby
* * *
Total bastard!
twenty-eight. Troy
* * *
Toxic bitch!
twenty-nine. Libby
* * *
Well, that went to hell in a handcart real fast. Only the second question and Troy’s retort had me rattled. Maisie, Raffy and I spent a couple of lunchtimes in one of the music rooms, practising my responses in the debate. They asked me all kinds of awkward questions to make sure I wouldn’t get flustered or angry and I’d sailed through all that. But the moment Troy opened his mouth—
Damn it!
I didn’t mean to reveal stuff about his mum like that. Truly I didn’t. During our first year at the school, when Troy and I had actually been friends, he’d confided in me about his mum. He knew my greatest secret. I knew his. But one jibe during the debate from Troy and all that stuff about his mum came flooding out of my mouth. Why hadn’t he retaliated and told everyone about my arms? In his shoes, I would’ve – an admission that made me feel like an even bigger bitch. I hadn’t set out to do it. I’d just wanted to wipe that smug-git look off his face. But it was more than that.
Be honest, Liberty. You wanted to hurt him like he hurt you when he dropped you as his friend. Plus you wanted to win this so you could impress your dad.
The end result was I messed up – big time. The gasp that went round the hall when I said what I did … And Mrs Paxton looked at me with such disapproval and, worse still, disappointment. Even Maisie, who’s always had my back, shook her head at me from her chair in the assembly hall. I’ve let everyone down, most of all myself. I’m better than that, but now no one in school thinks so. I can’t understand it. I didn’t appreciate just how deep my hurt ran until I heard myself slagging off Troy’s family.
For the rest of the debate, I tried to stick to the issues, but the damage was done. Afterwards, I retreated to the girls’ toilets to be by myself for a while. On my way to the first empty cubicle, I caught sight of myself in the mirror, only to look away. Fast. I couldn’t bear to see myself, to see what I’d become. Sitting on the toilet seat, I tried to figure out just when I’d turned into the woman I despised most in the world.
During our first year at school together, Troy and I had been so close. He got me. I got him. I’d even begun to … well, never mind. Back then, Eden started calling us ‘the twins’, which made us both laugh, Troy being a Cross and me being a Nought. But that stuff was superficial – then. Troy promised me we’d be friends forever. I believed it – no reason to doubt him. But then he met my mum and found out she was a 12/NF supporter. A 12-words/Nought Forever paid-up member. I’d invited Troy round to my house for tea and Mum had been fine with that – until she’d seen that Troy was a Cross.