“Right,” I say, determined not to let him make me cry a second time. “That’sit.”
“Ava.” FT speaks. “There’s a noise-cancelling application in the glass that I can easily activate. You won’t even know they are there. And the glass is built to withstand a sizeable earthquake. There is no risk of damage.”
“That is not the point!” I exclaim, as one of the kids notices me standing with my hands on my hips, staring at them, and starts waving. Once the others catch on, they begin banging on the glass, pressing in closer and closer to get a look at the lab and the hologram. Panic starts to bind itself around my ribs.
For one terrible moment, I’m dragged back to the hard and unforgiving asphalt of a school playground, balled up into a foetal position, arms protecting my head against the shouts, kicks, and punches of a gang of kids about that same age as this lot, kids who were intent on tearing me to pieces because I was different. Fear, panic, and fury bubble up to a boiling point. The feeling is so visceral, so real, that I do want to cry, a lot. But I can’t. I owe it to the girl I used to be, the girl who survived all of that, to become this woman, to get out there and give them what for.
I really don’t want to.
But I am going to anyway.
Opening the door, I program it to close right behind me to protect the equipment.
“What the hell are you doing!” I yell as loudly as I can at Forrest. The singing falls silent, as do most of the kids, muttering between themselves as they sense some new entertainment.
“Dr. Green,” Forrest says, haughtily. “Did we disturb you?”
“Did you disturb me?” I ask, aghast. “There are two hundred acres of land surrounding Castle Beaumont, and you decided tobring this mob to stand right outside my lab and make a racket? It’s pathetic, petty behaviour, Forrest.”
“What?” Forrest says. “No, there was a thunderstorm, and we just came in here to get out of the rain!”
“Right.” I cross my arms. “Of course you did. Pure coincidence.As if.”
“Miss is calling you a liar, sir!” someone shouts.
“Miss thinks you’re a wanker!” another kid shouts and they all laugh.
“Well, that’s true,” I admit.
“Fight! Fight! Fight!” the chant goes up.
“All right, all right!” Forrest raises his voice and hands, quieting the rowdy group much more quickly than I would have thought possible. “The rain has stopped! Your bus will be here in ten minutes, so go back outside and wait round the front for me. Donotwander off, are we clear? Losing one of you would not be a good look for my project.”
“Yes, sir,” they chorus more or less as one voice, streaming out of the orangery in a surprisingly calm and good-natured manner.
“And I told you, call me Forrest,” he calls after them. “I’m not your sir.”
“Yeah, but Forrest is a load of trees, not a name, sir,” a boy pipes up, making the others laugh.
Then it’s just me and Forrest Faulkner, scourge of niceness and not being a dick.
“Look, Ava...” He takes a couple of steps towards me. This time I will not be defeated!
“That lab cost millions,” I say, gesturing at it. “And you let yourdelinquents at it, like it’s nothing! Maybe money means nothing to you, but when you grow up with nothing, you appreciate the value of things.”
“Oh, come on.” Forrest shakes his head, crossing his arms over his chest. “They’re just kids in high spirits. It wasn’t a riot.”
His smile is so smug, and he is clearly so pleased with himself, that it presses all of my buttons, including the big red one marked “NUCLEAR OPTION.”
“You did this on purpose, didn’t you?” I ask, marching up to him. “I’ve met people like you before. You think you’re better than everyone, and you can’t wait to make someone else feel small and inadequate. Some role model you are.”
Forrest’s eyes widen.
“I honestly didn’t,” he tells me, with a dismissivelaugh. “I swear, had I known how furious a bunch of kids singing some pop songs would make you, then I might have, because what kind of idiot gets riled up by that?”
“How can you work with young people when you find it perfectly okay to speak to someone the way you speak to me?” I ask furiously. It might be too late not to let him see how he has got to me, but I will not let him see me cry.
“Well, this is insane,” Forrest says, taking a deep breath. “Ava, we were in here for ten minutes, max.”
