‘No, come on, drop it. I can’t be arsed to fight with you.’
I open my mouth, but lose the nerve to say anything. Because I know perfectly well that, whatever I say, Val will turn it against me.
‘Did you have a nice weekend?’ I ask, in the end.
Val groans, then shrugs. ‘I dunno. I kept wondering if you were with him . . .’
‘With Sinclair?’ I ask, in disbelief. ‘Why would I be with him?’
‘I don’t know. Why was his name the first thing that occurred to you?’
Shit. So that was a trap. ‘Val, I was with my parents,’ I repeat. ‘I didn’t see Sinclair all weekend.’
He stares at me so long that I’m about to start explaining myself again, but then he sighs. ‘Fine, I mean . . . you’re the only person who knows if you’re telling the truth. I can’t check up on you. But forget it.’ He pushes me aside into one of the alcoves in the corridor. ‘Friday evening, in the Dungeon?’ he asks, out of nowhere.
I feel the mood plummet again. ‘I’ve got plans.’
‘Then cancel them.’
I don’t answer and he huffs with irritation. ‘OK, what about Saturday?’
I nod hastily. ‘That would be better.’
‘What plans, anyway?’ he asks.
Oh, please, no. You really don’t want to know . . .
I sigh, and seriously consider lying, but there’s too much gossip at this school – Val’s going to hear about it sooner or later either way. And I don’t want to think about what would happen then.
‘I’m going to the scriptwriting club.’
Val laughs. He actually laughs. My hot rage returns.
‘Wow, OK, you seriously mean that?’ He goes silent as I pull away from him a bit. ‘Why? Does Sinclair need help with his script for Eleanor? Don’t worry, she doesn’t usually take too much persuading.’
Enough is enough.
‘Are you kidding me?’ I snap.
Val laughs, like he cracked a real funny.
‘You can’t say things like that, Val.’
‘Why not? It’s true.’
‘Sorry, but do you actually listen to yourself?’ I mutter, and I want to pull away but Val gets hold of my wrist.
‘Hey, it was a joke, OK?’
‘Not a very funny one.’
‘God, come on . . . What are you allowed to say then?’
‘Not stuff like that.’
‘Tori, she’s my ex.’
‘Yes, and it says more about you than it does about her if you talk about her like that.’
