Great. So much for my intention to catch Tori at the first good opportunity and ask if we can talk. In my experience, there’s just as little time between assembly and breakfast as there is between breakfast and first period. And I want to get this conversationright. Not in front of the others, just Tori and me. Like she deserves.
She hesitates at the sight of me. I see the disappointment on her face and it’s like a punch in the guts. I want the old Tori back, the one who’d come up to me without a second’s pause to whisper something to me like I was the most important person in her life. I wantusback. I hate being the one who screwed it up. And I’m the only person who can fix it.
She doesn’t say a word as she stands beside me. Mum steps up to the lectern.
‘Tori?’ I gulp, and then I force myself just to say it. ‘I’m sorry. Can we talk later, maybe?’
She doesn’t reply, she just keeps staring motionless, dead ahead. The room is buzzing with voices, but she must have heard me. Or are we ignoring each other now?
‘After breakfast? Or this afternoon? Please, Tor.’
Her arm touches mine, I turn to face her and realize she’s swaying. My blood runs cold as she grabs me.
‘Tori?’ Her fingers are freezing. ‘Are you OK?’
I look at her, Mum’s starting to speak.
‘Do you need to sit down?’ I suggest, but I’m not sure if Tori can hear me.
My stomach cramps as her fingers dig deeper into my forearm. ‘I think I should . . .’ she murmurs weakly.
Her chair scrapes as she stumbles back. I grab her and pull her towards me but it’s too late. Her body grows heavy, her head falls against my chest. Henry reaches out to us but everything happens so quickly that I stumble to the floor with Tori. The next moment, I’m kneeling beside her. A gasp runs through the room as the others turn to look.
‘Hey, Tori. Tor, look at me.’ I grab her head but her eyes stay shut. My heart is thumping, my hands are shaking. Her cheeks are burning when I touch her face.
‘What’s happened?’ Mum’s voice is on the sound system, cutting over the swelling chatter. ‘Will someone please fetch Dr Henderson?’
Henry leans over; he and Emma push the chairs away a little. Mr Acevedo and Ms Buchanan are coming over, and the others are making room, but Tori’s still not moving.
‘She’s fainted,’ says Mr Acevedo. ‘She just needs some fresh air.’
I nod, on autopilot. Everyone’s eyes are on us as I lift Tori and carry her down the aisle. She’s heavy, but what does that matter? Valentine Ward appears out of nowhere; Ms Buchanan stops him getting in our way. Henry goes ahead of us and opens the double doors. Dr Henderson is already heading our way.
I walk, I hear people saying things, and I can’t take anything in. Everyone’s calm, nobody’s freaking out the way I am on the inside. Tori just keeled over and I’ve got so bloody much to say to her. My arms are burning by the time we reach the sick bay. Dr Henderson tries to send us out again almost as soon as I’ve laid Tori on a bed. I don’t move as he and Nurse Petra bend over her.
Henry tugs on my shoulder.
He’s saying something but I can’t hear him. I can’t breathe. I’ve never seen my best friend in this state. I can’t stand it.
‘Hey.’ I jump as Henry speaks to me again. ‘Look at me.’
He’s staring at me insistently, as only Henry can, and somehow it works. I calm down. ‘They’ll look after her,’ he says, leading me out. ‘Everything will be all right.’
I resist the urge to shake my head because how the fuck does he know that? Could he stay this calm if it had been Emma just fainting in his arms? I doubt it, but then he doesn’t know what it’s like. Emma was the one who was standing on the rugby pitch in a panic, barely able to move, when he had that accident at the end of last year. I get it now. It makes perfect sense. Because if Tori’s not well, I can’t breathe.
‘Charlie?’
I turn as I hear Mum’s voice and the click of her heels on the stone floor. Seems like assembly ended early today, for obvious reasons. Henry lets go of my shoulder and steps back.
‘How is she?’ Mum sounds anxious, and something about that makes me want to cry.
‘I don’t know,’ I begin. ‘They sent us out.’
‘I see.’ Mum nods, walking past us. ‘I’ll make enquiries so that I can let her parents know.’ She stops as I try to follow her. ‘You two wait out here, please.’
‘Mum,’ I beg, but she shakes her head ever so slightly.
‘I’ll be right back.’
