Free Saving Silence by Gina Blaxill Page B

easy target. I had briefly considered telling my parents about the text, but they’d just complicate
everything. Mum would huff about me bothering her and tell me the threat wasn’t worth taking seriously. Dad might say we should go to the police, but what could they do? We had no idea
who’d threatened me and no way of finding out, as far as I could see.
    Deciding to ignore Dad, I perched on the side of the table by Benno. ‘Hey, what have you got on today after school? Stay safe, OK?’
    Benno gave me a strange look. ‘Just playing computer games at home.’
    ‘Good,’ I said, and picked up a bowl. I hadn’t forgotten last night’s text. What had happened in the park guaranteed that I was going to take the threat to hurt Benno
seriously.
    I’d arranged to have lunch with Nadina in Greggs. She had free periods on Fridays and usually only came in for the afternoon. We could have met in the sixth-form canteen,
but what I had to say wasn’t something I wanted others overhearing.
    Nads was waiting at one of the breakfast-bar seats by the window, sandwiches and doughnuts spread out in front of her.
    ‘Hey you,’ she said as I stepped in. ‘Got you your favourite chilli chicken bloomer. Last one left. There was this bloke eyeing it so I nabbed it. Thoughtful, eh?’
    I felt a pang inside and ignored it. I slid into the seat next to her.
    Nads frowned. ‘Whoa, who pissed you off?’
    ‘Let me tell you a story,’ I said, and filled her in about what had happened with Jessie. I showed her the texts.
    Nads swore. ‘What d’you think’s going on?’
    ‘Who knows? What I do know is that I’ve enough crap to deal with without Ollie going mental cos he knows I’ve been going round Sam’s!’
    Nadina didn’t even flinch. ‘You can’t blame him,’ she said. ‘I’d be pissed off too if my girlfriend had been going round another guy’s house. You have
been kinda obsessed with Sam since the accident.’
    ‘I wouldn’t have this problem if
you
hadn’t told him!’
    ‘Eh?’ Nadina looked flabbergasted. ‘I never said anything to Ollie.’
    ‘Yeah, right. It wouldn’t be the first time you’ve spilled secrets.’
    Nadina reddened. She knew exactly what I was talking about. Two years back, I’d told her about a boy I’d fancied. Within a week everyone knew – including the boy. I’d
never been vulnerable like that at school before. I’d hated it. ‘I only told Kimmie and Justyna,’ Nads had admitted. Like that had made it better! She just couldn’t resist
gossiping. Why hadn’t I learned from that?
    Nadina pushed her half-eaten lunch to one side. ‘Well, I didn’t blab this time! I’m your best mate, Im. I’ve learned my lesson.’
    I crushed my napkin into a ball. I hadn’t intended to get this angry or be so mean but somehow I couldn’t help myself. ‘Most of the time I don’t call you on gossiping.
Usually it doesn’t matter. But this time it does. I don’t know why Sam bugs Ollie so much, but I don’t want to lose him over this, because I
do not
fancy Sam. I’m
just interested in him, which is entirely different. This is getting blown up all out of proportion!’
    Nadina leaned forward. Slowly and emphatically she said, ‘
I. Didn’t. Tell
.’
    ‘So how did Ollie find out?’
    Nadina grabbed her bag. ‘Y’know what? I’ve had a tough week and I ain’t sitting here listening to this. I don’t know how this got out, but it’s a nice world
when your own best friend won’t trust you!’
    The words stung. ‘You’re a fine one to talk about trust. Past evidence speaks for itself.’
    ‘Past
evidence
?’ Nadina raised her voice. ‘You just love your facts and figures, don’t you? Here’s some news: they ain’t always right! Sometimes you
gotta go with what your heart tells you. Even if the facts say otherwise.’
    ‘You saw those messages. Maybe I wouldn’t be so mad if I wasn’t freaked out!’
    ‘So bloody what? I’m scared about what happened to Hamdi,