What the fuck? My stomach drops.
She knows who I am.
ChapterSeventeen
FIREWORKS
My mouth opens and shuts. I have no idea what to do. Then calm descends. I am Raven, just like she says. What could she possibly do? Tell my parents? It won’t change the fact that I am who I am, and she is who she is.
Then I’m ashamed of myself.
All this runs through my mind in the few seconds it takes for the girl to cross the room to the sinks. She washes her hands, running her damp fingers through her hair. I’m still stunned. Then adrenaline kicks in.What the hell are you doing, Emelia? Get out of here!I reach for the door, but before my fingers make contact with the grubby paintwork the girl speaks.
‘I wouldn’t.’
‘What?’
‘Go out there.’
‘What?’
‘What?’ she mimics me, making a face in the mirror, her reflected gaze holding me in place as though she’s a snake and I’m the mouse. She turns, leaning against the sinks, picking at her nails.
I swallow. ‘What’s your problem?’ I mean it to come out tough-sounding, like girls I’ve seen in films. But it’s more of a mouse squeak.
‘You are,’ she says, pushing herself off the sinks and strolling towards me. ‘This is my territory. And I don’t really like your kind.’
‘My kind?’
‘Ravens.’ She draws out the ‘s’, like a hiss.
My fists clench. ‘I can’t help who I am.’
‘Kyle wasn’t very smart, really, bringing you here.’
Kyle?
I reach for the door again. The girl puts her arm on the wall, stopping me.
I snarl at her.
Her eyes widen and she steps back, hands up. ‘Your choice.’ There’s a faint tremor in her voice now. ‘But, if I know who you are, how do you know I haven’t told everyone else?’
‘So what if you have?’ I don’t know where the snarl came from. It felt natural, though.
‘There aren’t many in here who are fans of Raven. It could be quite bad for you.’
‘Have you? Told them?’ Despite my bravado, I’m aware of being very, very alone.
She laughs. ‘No. Not yet, anyway. I’m giving you a pass tonight.’
‘A pass?’
‘Yeah.’ She narrows her eyes. ‘A pass tonight and then—’ she leans in close to me ‘—I don’t see you here again.’
Screw her. ‘Like I’d come back here anyway. Not really my scene.’ I cast a derisive eye over the cracked sinks, the broken mirror. ‘But if I want to, you can’t stop me. I can have the whole fucking place burned down if I wanted to.’ I know I sound like an entitled asshole, but it might be the only thing that gets me out of here in one piece. I draw myself up to my full height, looking down my nose at her, trying to channel my mother. The girl flinches. Actually fucking flinches. But my brief moment of elation passes when she grabs my shoulder, her fingers digging in as she pushes me up against the wall.
‘Bitch! Take your stupid boyfriend and get out of here before I do something you’ll regret.’
