Everything We Keep, Di Walker [best pdf reader for ebooks txt] 📗

her. ‘It’s fine for you to say that, but they won’t call you names, they won’t look at you in disgust. That’s what it will be like for me.’ Mrs Sloane reached for a tissue box and held it out for Agatha. It was only then that she realised that she was crying. She snatched out a few tissues and put them to her face. ‘Please, call Katherine.’

‘No,’ Mr Brown said gently. ‘Not yet. Give us a chance, Agatha, to prove to you we’re different from all the others.’ Agatha looked at him. His face was so earnest.

Agatha shrugged.

‘I’ll tell you what,’ Mrs Sloane said. ‘Let’s just start the day, as normal. If things go awry, then yes, you come here to me and we will definitely call Katherine.’

Agatha gave in. There was no use arguing. In the past few years she had come to learn that people always thought they could fix things, just with a positive attitude or some simple plan. Mrs Sloane and Mr Brown had no idea and there was no point trying to convince them otherwise.

Agatha stood up, shoved the tissues in the pocket of her uniform and picked up her school bag. ‘Sure. Whatever,’ she said and left the office. Out through the doors, she put her school bag down and pulled her hair back into its ponytail. As she headed down the few steps and towards the grey building where her locker was waiting, she felt defeated, empty of courage.

They might not understand but Agatha knew exactly what was going to happen next.

36

As Agatha walked the corridor towards her locker, she noticed that a few students stepped back, out of her way. ‘They know,’ she said to herself. With each step her school bag seemed to get heavier. She could hear whispers but couldn’t make out the words. She caught glimpses of stares, each one the same as the next. When she finally made it to her locker, she saw Tully, Cora and Morgan waiting. She took in a deep breath, her mouth suddenly dry.

‘Tully told us everything,’ said Morgan. Cora nodded. Agatha looked around, ‘I think everyone knows everything now.’

‘Well, not from us!’ said Cora, looking around like Agatha did. ‘I don’t think anyone knows anything.’

‘Sure,’ Agatha said, sarcastically.

‘Seriously, Agatha,’ Tully said, stepping closer to her and lowering her voice. ‘Not from us. We tell each other everything but not anyone else.’

Agatha looked at Tully. She wanted to believe her, but Agatha knew better. People say you can trust them but really you can’t. She opened her locker and took out her workbooks, shoving in her school bag.

Tully put her hand onto Agatha’s shoulder, who shrugged it away. ‘Hey, I told you we are friends, and nothing’s going to change that. I told you,’ Tully said. Agatha could hear the hurt in her voice.

‘Everyone knows Tully. Everyone. I can tell from the way they look at me the whispers. You might think you want to be friends but pretty soon, you’ll just be like everyone else and you won’t want to be friends.’

‘Well, I think you’re wrong. I think you’re seeing things that aren’t there. We talked about it. It doesn’t matter to us, Agatha, does it?’ she turned to Morgan and Cora, who also had moved in close and were shaking their heads.

‘Couldn’t care less about all that stuff, Agatha, really,’ said Morgan.

Agatha eyed them all with suspicion. She wanted to believe them but a voice inside her head was telling her not to. She didn’t know what to do, what to say.

‘Look, why don’t we just stick together today, not talk about it, see what happens,’ Tully said. The others agreed.

‘What secrets are you lot keeping?’ Jax said, as he shoved Morgan and Cora to the side, breaking up the small group of friends. ‘Bet I know.’ He looked straight at Agatha. ‘Bet I know everything.’

‘Jax!’ Mr Brown was standing in the doorway of the Home Group room. ‘Can you come and move some tables for me? Grab a couple of others to help too, will you.’

‘Sure, Mr Brown.’ He turned back to Agatha, ‘Saved this time.’ He strutted off.

Tully let out a frustrated sigh. ‘Honestly, he drives me mad, like completely mad.’

‘He’s always been like that, since kindergarten,’ Cora said.

‘What does he know?’ Agatha asked as she watched Jax enter the Home Group room.

‘Nothing! He doesn’t know anything, but he says that just to get to you. He’s been saying it forever Agatha, really. But if you notice, no one pays any attention to him, which is part of the problem really. If he just was a bit nicer then he’d have a lot of friends.’

‘My mum says he’ll be gone from here anyway at the end of the year,’ said Morgan.

‘Why?’

‘I think she said he is going to a school closer to the city, his mum’s not happy with this school.’

‘She’s never happy,’ said Cora.

‘Well that’s the best news I’ve had all day!’ said Tully.

Agatha was pleased to hear that too, but the school year had only just begun. It could be a very long year if Jax finds out anything about her.

The bell rang out and everyone moved towards Home Group. The girls made a plan to meet at their usual spot and again promised Agatha that they would not say anything to anyone. ‘Everyone has secrets, Agatha,’ Cora said. ‘You’re no different from anyone else.’

Agatha watched Cora walk away and looked puzzled. Tully stood and watched too. ‘Her parents divorced a while ago, it got really nasty – she tries not to let it get to her thought. She gets pulled back and forth. And as for Morgan. . . well she can tell you. Come on.’

Tully turned and walked onto Home Group; Agatha followed closely behind.

Sitting beside each other they listened to Mr Brown as he read out the messages for the day. ‘And to finish with could Tully and Agatha please meet Ms Faber in the Science lab at lunch time.’

‘But, Mr