Bet Your Life (11 page)

“Mind if I sit here?”

“Yes. Go away.” That was Immy, waspish as usual.

I narrowed my eyes. “Just trying to work out what’s different about you. Your hair. It’s—is it
pink
?”

She glowered. “Drop dead.”

“I’m guessing fake blood’s not that easy to wash off.”

“She’s right. Your hair
is
pink,” Darcy said.

“I know, OK?” Immy turned back to me. “I notice you’re still here. You’re not welcome to stay.”

“Sorry,” I said, meaning it. I really needed to be more diplomatic. “I think pink hair actually suits you. Maybe you’ll start a trend.”

“Look, what do you want?” Immy asked, but she looked marginally less hostile.

“Have you heard about Seb Dawson?”

The three of them looked at one another for a moment.

“He’s in hospital,” Darcy said.

Claudia raised her eyebrows. “How does it concern you? Or us, for that matter?”

“He’s not very well. His sister’s asked me to find out what happened to him.”

“He got run over.” Immy was scrabbling through her handbag, hunting for a mirror. She held it up, eyeing her hair. “It’s not pink. It’s just got a bit of a strawberry blonde tint.”

“He did not get run over. Not with those injuries. I know you don’t like me, and that’s fine, but his little sister is breaking her heart over him and you lot are friendly with Seb. Can you tell me anything that might help?”

“Of course,” Darcy said enthusiastically.

“What sort of thing do you want to know?” Claudia got a look from Immy for that, and rolled her eyes. “So what? I used to babysit for Beth. I’m not doing it for her.”

Her
being me.

“It would mean so much to Beth if you could tell me anything about Seb. Do you know what he was supposed to be doing on Saturday?”

“I know where I saw him,” Claudia said slowly. “At the party in Guy’s house before the disco.”

“What party?” I asked.

“Guy had everyone round for drinks because the disco is always dry. They’re too good at spotting booze at the door.” I’d noticed. They’d been checking everyone’s bags for drinks.

“I wasn’t there,” Darcy said. “It took me forever to get my hair right. I missed it.”

“We had a few drinks at Guy’s place. Then we all went to the rec together.”

“Was Seb there?”

“N-no.” Claudia looked at Immy. “Was he?”

“I didn’t see him after Guy’s.” She frowned. “I think he left early.”

“I didn’t see him at the fireworks,” Darcy said. “And I was looking.” She caught a glower from Claudia. “What? He dresses really well, that’s all.”

“Did you see him with anyone at Guy’s?” I asked Immy. “Was he talking to anyone in particular?”

“Not really. He got there late. I saw him in the kitchen getting a beer out of the fridge, talking to Guy. Then I didn’t see him again, I don’t think.”

“I saw him with Guy and Ryan and a few other people,” Claudia said. “All the boys. I don’t know what they were talking about. Boy stuff.”

So of course the girls hadn’t tried to do anything as radical as join in. It occurred to me that one reason why Ryan liked me was that I was prepared to speak to him and his friends without having an attack of the vapors.

“Do you know if Seb had done anything to upset anyone lately?”

Immy laughed. “Seb? That’s all he does.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s a joker,” Claudia said, running her thumbnail along the edge of the table so she could look at it rather than me.

“What does that mean?”

“He gets his kicks from making fun of other people. He’s not a nice guy,” Darcy said.

“What kind of making fun?”

“You name it. He makes up nicknames for people.” She looked at Claudia, obviously uncomfortable. “Mean ones.”

“If you hear people calling me Horsey, it was Seb’s idea originally.” It was not possible for Claudia to look more like a sad horse than she did at that moment. I didn’t feel like laughing, though.

“Did you ask him not to call you that?”

“No. What would be the point? He’d just have known it upset me.”

Immy leaned in, lowering her voice. “Olly Penrose asked him to stop calling him Olly Bignose. He put up posters around school—Olly’s face with different noses stuck on it. He had Gonzo and a toucan, and an elephant’s trunk…”

“It was really clever,” Claudia said quietly. “But Olly was upset.”

“Do you know if he came up with any new nicknames recently? Maybe he teased someone he shouldn’t have.”

“I can’t think of anyone. I mean, the one thing about it is that he does it to everyone. It’s almost like a sign of being popular to have a Seb Dawson nickname.” Claudia didn’t even look as if she’d convinced herself, though.

“He calls me Assy.” Darcy sniffed. “SO original, I don’t think.”

“What about you, Immy? What does he call you?”

She bit her lip. “Nothing very clever, actually.”

I could tell she wasn’t going to say it, and Claudia shook her head when I looked to her. “OK. Fine. Well, what about his personal life? Was he seeing anyone?”

Claudia answered that one. “I don’t think so. Not properly. He tends to turn up with someone new every time.” A look passed between her and Immy and I wondered what I was missing.

“Was he with anyone at the party?”

“I didn’t see.”

Immy stirred the coffee in front of her, which was black and had stopped steaming a long time before. “If you must know, he was supposed to be going to the disco with me. Then he ignored me at the party and I was so not bothered.”

“Why were you going with him when you don’t even like him?” I was genuinely baffled.

“I don’t know. He could be sweet. And he’s so good-looking. I thought he actually liked me.” She gave a little laugh. “I mean, that’s how he gets away with it.”

“Gets away with what?”

“Treating girls like dirt. And we fall for it, every time.” Coffee slopped over the side of the cup as she whirled the spoon around in it, not even seeing what she was doing.

“Careful,” I said, putting a hand on her arm. “You’re spilling it.”

She looked at the mess and pulled a face. “I need the toilet.”

“I’ll come with you.” Darcy jumped up.

“Claudie?” Immy raised her eyebrows expectantly.

“I’ll be there in two secs.”

They got up without saying anything else to me and wobbled through the tables to the toilets, Immy unsteady on her high wedge trainers.

“She’ll be throwing up,” Claudia said. “It’s the smell I can’t stand.”

“Does she do that often?”

“All the time.” She sounded tense. “I wish she wouldn’t.”

“I don’t see the attraction myself.”

“You wouldn’t.” A deep sigh. “She’d been doing so well. Now she’s in there constantly.”

It was no big deal in Port Sentinel for a girl to throw up after every meal. The school toilets were pretty much a no-go area after lunch.

“If that’s what she wants to do, it’s her choice.”

Claudia stared at me. “You don’t get it, do you? It’s not a choice. She’s ill.”

I felt stupid, and thoughtless. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“You’re not like her so you don’t understand. You wouldn’t fall for someone telling you you’d be pretty if you could just lose the last ten pounds, or commenting on your thighs. You’d tell them to get stuffed and never think about it again.”

“Did someone say those things to Immy?”

“Seb did. And now she’s completely obsessed with her weight.” Claudia leaned toward me. “Do you want to know why Seb was taking Immy to the disco? He told her it was to apologize for tricking her before. He calls her Dim-ogen, Dimmy for short. He completely fooled her into going to a party with him and doing all this stuff, just because he asked her to.”

“What sort of stuff?” I asked. “Sex?”

She looked shocked. “No way. Immy’s not like that. Stupid stuff. She didn’t realize his mates were texting him, betting him he couldn’t make her do all these random things.”

“Like what?”

“He got her to bark like a dog—I still don’t know how. He made her hold a pint of beer for him for an hour. Every time she went to put it down, he came up with some reason why she had to keep holding it. Everyone was in hysterics.”

“Including you?”

“I wasn’t there at first, and then I didn’t know what was going on. No one would tell me because they knew I’d stop it. I happened to overhear someone suggesting another prank and I worked it out.” She pressed her lips together. “I had to tell her everyone was laughing at her. She is a bit of an idiot but she’s too sweet to be treated that way.”

“That sounds seriously unpleasant.”

Claudia gathered up her stuff and stood up. “You know, Seb Dawson had it coming. I’m sorry for Beth, but whatever happened to him, I bet he started it.”

I went back to the others as Claudia headed for the bathroom and her date with Immy’s lunch.

“What was all that about?” Hugo asked.

“Research.” I told them the highlights of what I’d found out.

“He’s so awful,” Ella said. “How does he get away with it?”

“Girls will forgive anything,” I said. “I think Immy wanted to believe he really regretted being mean to her. She thought she’d changed him, but apparently not. And he is ridiculously handsome. Charming if he wants to be. I can see how you might let yourself be fooled.”

Hugo tapped the table. “Less of that, please. You have enough man trouble without including Seb Dawson.”

“Seb In-a-Coma Dawson is not exactly in a position to woo me. Calm down.” I leaned back against the fake leather, thinking. “So the next thing I should do is talk to Guy, I suppose. He might know why Seb left his party. We know he never made it to the disco, so we really need to know where he went instead.”

“Guy will be at Harry Knowles’s house tonight, I guarantee you. They’ve been mates forever,” Hugo said.

“Then I’ll go there.”

“You can’t. You don’t have an invitation.”

“But if I just turn up—”

“Harry doesn’t let just anyone in to his parties. You have to be with someone he knows unless you’re actually on the list.”

“There’s a list?”

“You’d have a list too if you had Harry’s reputation. After the third time the house was trashed, his dad told him he’d have to stay at school for the holidays unless he made sure it didn’t happen again.”

“Why don’t his parents just take him with them when they travel?”

“He’s terrified of flying.” Hugo saw my eyebrows go up. “It’s true. You can’t get him on a plane. They have to leave him behind and they can’t stop him having his friends over. All two hundred of them. Music, drinking, and bad behavior, every night this week.”

“Sounds like fun.” Ella grinned as Hugo turned, surprised. “Not really. But I’d like to see a proper Port Sentinel house party before I go.”

“You can come with me,” I said.

“Let’s recap. You’re not invited.” Hugo was looking distinctly put out, probably at the thought of Ella going anywhere without him. They were sitting so close together, they touched at the knee, hip and shoulder.

“Well, I’ll have to get in somehow. I’ll find a way.”

“Good luck.” Hugo’s voice was skeptical.

I smiled at him sweetly. “I won’t need luck, Hugo.”

“Why’s that?”

“My invitation just walked through the door.” I waved as Ryan detached himself from his friends and headed straight for me, like a girl-seeking missile. Seb Dawson, master of manipulation, had absolutely nothing on me.

8

Life is full of compromises. I’d sworn I wouldn’t, ever, but I met Ryan halfway across the café and asked him out on a date before I could think better of it.

“You want to go out with me.” He turned to his mates, who were sitting down in the corner, and yelled, just slightly louder than he needed to if he wanted to be heard over the noise of the café, “She wants to go out with me.”

They cheered as he held his hands in the air, celebrating. I yanked on his sleeve to get his attention.

“You said you’d take me to Harry Knowles’s party the other night. I want to take you up on the offer. If you’re going, that is.”

“I am now.” He frowned at me, though. “What’s going on? Why the sudden interest in Harry?”

“I felt I was missing out. Everyone’s been talking about his parties. I wanted to see for myself.”

“Curiouser and curiouser.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that you don’t usually pay attention to what other people talk about.”

Damn. I always forgot that Ryan was not one of your dumb blonds. “I know, but it’s all part of the settling-in process. I need to live like a local.” I lowered my voice. “And my friend Ella really wants to see a Port Sentinel party while she’s here.”

He looked over my shoulder. “Is that her?”

“Yep.”

“Pretty girl.” His eyes came back to me. “Not as pretty as you, but pretty. I’m sure I can find someone to take her.”

“They’ll have to fight Hugo for the privilege. Not that they should be scared, or anything.”

“I reckon Hugo could handle himself in a scrap.” Ryan grinned. “Runs in the family, from what I hear.”

“If you mean me, I haven’t fought with anyone.”

“Not strictly true. I don’t know if you remember my crazy ex-girlfriend…”

“Oh, her. I don’t count that.”

“She would not be pleased to hear you say that. Seriously, though, you’ve done your share of damage. You haven’t done much more than look at me and I’m a broken man.”

“Looking surprisingly well on it,” I commented. “Broken is not the word I’d use.”

He looked interested. “What word would you use?”

Walked into that one …
I couldn’t think of anything except “fit,” which I obviously couldn’t say, so I ended up blushing, which was actually worse.

The bell jangled as the door opened and Ryan turned to see the two boys who were walking in. “Ah. The man himself.”

I’d already recognized Harry Knowles, though I didn’t know his companion, who was short and cute, with sandy hair and little round glasses. He slid into a booth, leaving Harry to come over toward us. Behind big sunglasses, Harry’s face was pale, but he was grinning.

“Dude. How’s it going?”