Earth and Fire by Janet Edwards

Author:Janet Edwards [Edwards, Janet]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wallam-Crane Press
Published: 2015-07-29T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

I slept the deep sleep of utter fatigue that night, not stirring until the alarm shrilled to call us for breakfast. I lay still for a moment, hands over my ears, before finally giving up and getting out of bed. My room sensor detected my movement and shut down the alarm.

I felt like I’d been hit by a transport sled, but if I tried going back to bed on a school day my room sensor would start the alarm again. Beating it to death wasn’t an option, because I’d be fined the cost of replacing it. Anyway, I didn’t want to miss breakfast. I wasn’t just hungry, but eager to tell everyone I’d passed my pilot theory test.

I showered, dressed, and headed to Commons. By the time I’d collected my breakfast, six of the other Seventeens were sitting at our table. I was wondering whether to wait for Maeth and Ross to arrive, or start telling everyone my news right away, when the background chatter of the room abruptly stopped.

I looked across at the door, thinking the Principal must have walked in, and was startled to see a stranger brazenly marching through Commons. Well, no, this wasn’t actually a stranger, I recognized Ben from when he’d come to dinner with us, but he was still an outsider and visiting hours didn’t start until …

“Stay away from me!” Ben was shouting the words even before he reached our table. “I never want to see you again, so stay away from me!”

Vina stood up to face him. “If you never want to see me again, why come to my Next Step?”

“You know perfectly well why I’m here. We split up eight days ago, but you still keep showing up at my home. I’ve sent you a dozen messages telling you to stay away. I’ve tried being polite, I’ve tried being rude, I’ve even tried threats, but nothing works. When I got back from school yesterday, there you were again, trying to talk my mother into going clothes shopping with you. I wish I’d never met you. Nuke off!”

Vina was shouting too now. “You’ve no right to come here and swear at me, and you’ve no right to stop me being friends with your mother.”

I stared down at my plate, eating my Karanth jelly on toasted wafers and trying to ignore their argument, but I couldn’t avoid hearing every single word.

Ben groaned. “For chaos sake, what does it take to get through to you? My mother doesn’t want to slam the door in your face, Vina. She grew up in residences herself, and she feels sorry for you, but the way you’re behaving is chaos embarrassing for her. My father is even angrier about it than I am.”

There was a squeak from Vina. I lifted my head and saw Ben was standing aggressively close to her now, stabbing his forefinger at her face.

“This is your last warning. If you come to my home again, then you’ll regret it.”

I dumped my last toasted wafer on my plate, and looked round the table at the others.

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