She cackled loudly. Anger bubbled up through me as Cal’s face flushed beetroot-red, Ella’s mum and friends stared and all the other waiters stood awkwardly, not knowing what to do.
‘Actually, Ella,’ I announced, holding up my chin, ‘if I’m going to run this place one day, I need to know exactly how it works, from top to bottom. Isn’t that right, Cal?’
He hesitated. Catching his eye, I smiled encouragingly.
‘Yeah,’ he replied, ‘that’s right.’
‘Enjoy your starters, ladies,’ I continued, as Ella continued to sneer, ‘and let us know if there’s anything else we can get you. Welcome to Hotel Royale.’
And with that, I walked out confidently, under the intrigued gaze of everyone in the room. My mum was standing next to Audrey at the door, with a stunned expression on her face. And I could have sworn her eyes were twinkling as she watched me leave.
Hey, you going to Sky’s party next week?
Hey Ethan, I hope so!
How have you been?
Great. We can talk details about your guest vlog. See you then
Ella wasn’t speaking to me. Which made hanging out with my friends back at school really quite difficult. In fact, it was impossible. Any time I got near Grace, Ella would whisk her away from me as though I was spreading vicious germs, and whenever I walked past, Ella and her new minions would whisper something and then all turn to stare. On Monday, I just shrugged it off, telling myself it would be sorted by the next day, but it just got worse. By Friday, I resigned myself to the fact that whatever this was, it wasn’t going to blow over.
The whole thing was so stupid; if anyone should have been mad, it should have been me. Ella was the one who made the horrible comment;Iwas nothing but nice to her. Instead, there was a rumour going round that I’d lied about hanging out with celebrities – in fact I’d just been waiting on them.
Ella was meant to be my friend but she sure wasn’t acting like it. She seemed to be enjoying spreading rumours about me. I felt sad about Grace too. I missed our weird conversations, and I could tell she felt awkward about everything. She kept throwing me longing looks down the hallways and across classrooms, but couldn’t seem to find the courage to face Ella’s wrath and come to talk to me. It wouldn’t have been so bad if I had loads of other friends, but weirdly, even though I’d always known that I was the most popular girl in my class, I had no idea who to actually hang out with now. I had always been part of Ella’s pack – or rather,she’dbeen part of mine – and now I had gone solo, I came to the quick realisation that I didn’t know anyone outside that group, not properly.
I felt safe in the knowledge that as soon as I appeared on Ethan’s vlog or was photographed at Sky’s party, my friends would come flocking back and Ella would be stuck on her own. That didn’t make lunchtimes any easier in the meantime, though. I had no idea where to sit, so on Monday I just sat on my own, at the end of a table of boys from two years above, who barely noticed me because they were so engrossed in talking about computer games.
After another solitary lunch on Tuesday, I dreaded a repeat on Wednesday, so I bought some crisps and a chocolate bar from the vending machine and hid in the corner of the library. Mr Grindle was in the staffroom having his lunch so I could eat in peace – that is, until I was disturbed by Cal. The last person I wanted to meet.
He looked totally stunned to see me. ‘What are you doing in here?’
‘Reading.’
‘You don’t have a book.’
Damn his stupid logic.
‘I’m about to read. I was just having a sit-down first. Is that a crime?’
‘What are you really doing in here, Flick?’
I let out a long drawn-out sigh and then told him the truth about having no one to sit with at lunch. I thought he’d feel all sorry for me but instead he just laughed, which was incredibly rude and inappropriate. So I told him so.
‘That is incredibly rude and inappropriate.’
‘I’m sorry.’ He chuckled, not looking sorry at all. ‘But it’s just that, well, now you know how it feels.’
‘How what feels?’ I said angrily. ‘Being a loser?’
He shrugged. ‘Yeah.’
‘Huh?’
‘Come on, Flick,’ he continued, ‘this is how the other half lives. While you and Ella enjoy looking down your noses at everyone and acting as though you’re in some kind of elite club, this is how everyone outside it feels. Anyway,’ he added chirpily, ‘I’ve got to return these books. Enjoy your lunch!’
And then he had the cheek to just walk off and leave me there.
Even though he had acted outrageously and I considered never talking to him again, I slowly accepted that Cal may have had a point. The next day at school, I noticed that people tended to keep their heads down and speed up in the corridor as they passed wherever Ella and her gang were standing. Every now and then, Ella would see someone approaching and whisper something to the gang, who would turn right on cue to watch that singled-out person pass. And that person would always look nervous and go bright red. The only person who didn’t have that reaction was Cal. He passed them without taking any notice and, due to recent events, there was more whispering and pointing at him than ever.
