“Er… right, yes. Not always the first thing I think of to discuss.”
“Well, it should be,” Ozzie said in disbelief. “I love snacks. Especially Jaffa Cakes.”
I suppressed a smile again. “Right, I’ll lead with the snack info in future.”
Margot huffed. “Okay, Ozzie, you’re forgiven. I’ve taken you off my list.”
Before I could ask her any more about the ominous list, she turned to flounceaway.
“Feeling better about it all now?” I asked Ozzie once Margot was out of hearing distance.
“Yeah,” he said, managing a small smile.
“Wanna play Awesome Alliterations?”
He perked up even more at that. Ozzie was responding really well to the games I’d started with him last week. The alliteration game helped dyslexics sort out letters and identify sounds. He was getting pretty good. I smiled at him and reached over to grab the stack of cards that we used for this game. Unfortunately, this caused my sleeve to ride up my arm.
“What’s that purple blob, Miss Clara?” Ozzie asked, and I quickly pulled my jumper back down over my wrist. I cleared my throat as I kept my eyes focused on the cards I was sorting out.
“Oh, it’s nothing, love,” I said with a shaky smile.
Ozzie narrowed his too-intelligent eyes at me. “It looked like a big bruise. I got one like that the other day cause that di––” I gave him a sharp look and he rolled his eyes, “that punk, Lucas kicked me in the shin at football. It really hurt.” He glanced around to check the coast was clear and lowered his voice. “I even cried it hurt so much, but I pretended that I got a fly in my eye. Daddy covered for me.”
“It’s okay to cry, love.”
Ozzie rolled his eyes. “Not on a football team, it’s not. Anyway, my bruise went that colour, but it wasn’t even half as bad. Did someone kick you too?”
I opened my mouth and shut it again, struggling to come up with an excuse. I was usually much more adept than this at excuses, to be honest, but having the question come from a child threw me somewhat. “I… fell.”
“You fell?”
“Yes, silly of me. I tripped and fell down some stairs. My arm took a big hit. But I’m okay.”
Ozzie was still staring at me. It was a little disconcerting. “Is that why you had a puffed up face at the start of term? Did you fall then too?”
“Um… yes. Yes, I… fell into a door then.”
“You must be super clumsy, Miss Clara,” Ozzie said. When I looked at him he was frowning up at me. That tightness in my chest was back again.
I forced a laugh. “Yes, I’ve always been a bit flibbertigibbet. They called me Clumsy Clara at school.” I lowered my voice then. “To be honest, I’m a bit embarrassed about it, so don’t tell anyone, okay?” I winked at him.
“Okay, Miss Clara,” he said slowly, and I quickly pulled out the Awesome Alliterations cards to distract him.
I knew you shouldn’t lie to children. And I knew you shouldn’t ask them to keep secrets. Iknewthat.
But some lies were necessary, and some secrets needed to be kept.
Chapter 2
Like a ghost
Rafe
“Miss Summerfield,”I clipped, very close now to losing my fucking patience. What was wrong with these people? Anyone with this level of incompetence would have been fired from my chambers immediately. “Unless your first name isClara, I’m afraid you can’t help me.”
Miss Summerfield narrowed her eyes at me and stood her ground. I was mildly impressed. Most people did not stand their ground with me; quite the opposite.
“No, Lord Sterling, my first name is not Clara, it’s Lily. But Iamyour son’s form teacher and, as such, am perfectly capable of answering any questions you may have pertaining to his education here.”
