I’ll hand it to her, Tori can bullshit.
‘So that’s why we can’t reveal it’s me,’ continues Tori. ‘Because I haven’t concluded the experiment yet. I want to see how far I can take it with my articles. But as you’re my writers, I thought now is a good time to let you know.’
‘So what you wrote about betrayal—’
‘I’m not ready to talk about my Secret Sender posts just yet,’ says Tori, overtly theatrically. ‘All shall be revealed in due course.’
The bell goes, and as the rest of the class filters in, some of the newspaper staff filter out, muttering secretly to each other. No doubt they think they have something juicy.
Never mind the secret they’ve uncovered is actually a lie.
Ms Harkness starts handing out essays she’s marked. She puts mine down on the desk. A shiny red A* marked on it.
‘Well done, Selena. Top marks in the class,’ she says, looking at me. I see Tori turn her head around at that, looking at me with surprise. I feel smug. ‘I saw you listening in on our newspaper meeting,’ Ms Harkness continues.
I shrug. ‘I got here early.’
‘Did you ever contribute anything?’
‘No,’ I lie.
‘Interesting,’ she says. ‘I could have sworn I’ve read something in there that sounds like your writing voice.’
And with that, she walks away to hand out more papers. I touch my forehead. I’m sweating.
Twenty-Five
A new day is coming
The golden glow of sunrise
Finally appears
I’ve been waiting
To make it here
‘New Day’ fromThe In-Between
On the Friday of the October half term, Rose Conrad releases a bonus track forThe In-Between. I listen to it first thing in the morning, as I finish packing for Manchester. The last week of school and the whole of half term have been uneventful, bar Tori continuing to keep up her Secret Sender charade.
So if anything, this is a sign. Rose Conrad only releases new music when something pivotal is about to happen in my life.
And today is the day when I confess how I feel to Ollie.
I look out of the living-room window; Ty’s not out yet.
‘You’re both going to be okay driving up?’ says Mum.
‘Ty is driving, and in America they apparently drive all the time. From when they’re fifteen. If you think about it, he’s more like a twenty-year-old driver here.’
Mum shakes her head and I laugh.
‘It’ll be fine. Ty’s driving us to Liverpool, I’ll get a train to see Ollie. Ty’s going to spend Saturday exploring Liverpool, then on Sunday we’ll meet up and he’ll drive us both back down. Easy.’
‘This does sound thought through,’ laughs Mum. ‘Just text me you’re okay, right? You’ve not really gone this far before.’
‘You went all the way to Greece around my age,’ I say.
