‘Jesus fucking Christ.’ Conway didn’t move, but the line of her spine said she was ready to shoot through the ceiling. ‘This wasn’t about someone smoking in the jacks. This was a
Julia’s eyes and her palms turning up to the ceiling. ‘Hello? Have you noticed where we are? You found out about Joanne’s key, so the first thing she did was turn it around on me. If anyone had told you about her and Chris, she’d have done exactly the same thing: got back at them by dragging them into the shit with her. Who wants that?’
‘So how come you’re telling us now?’
Julia gave Conway the teen slouch-stare. ‘We did civic responsibility this year.’
Conway had her temper back. She was focused on Julia the same way she’d been on that sandwich. ‘How do you know they were together?’
‘I heard it around.’
‘From who?’
‘Oh, God, I don’t remember. It was supposed to be this big secret, but yeah, right.’
‘Rumour,’ Conway said. ‘I thought even first-years knew not to believe everything they hear. Got any proof?’
Julia scraped something off the frame of her Max’s poster. Balancing things inside her head again.
She said, ‘Yeah, actually. Sort of.’
‘Let’s hear it.’
‘I heard Chris gave Joanne a phone. A special phone, so they could text each other without anyone finding out.’
‘Why?’
Another shrug. ‘Ask Joanne. Not my problem. Then when he dumped her, I heard she made Alison buy the phone off her. I’m not swearing on my mother’s life or anything, but Alison got a new phone after last Christmas, all right. And I’m pretty sure she hasn’t changed it since.’
‘Alison got a new phone? That’s your proof?’
‘Alison’s got a phone that Joanne was using to do whatever she and Chris did over the phone, which I don’t even want to think about. Obviously I bet she erased all the texts after Chris died, but can’t you guys do something about that? Get them back?’
‘Sure,’ Conway said. ‘Why not. Just like on
Julia put a finger to her chin, gazed into space. ‘You know, I honest to God can’t think of anything.’
‘Yeah,’ Conway said. ‘I figured. You let us know if you do.’ And opened the door.
Julia stretched, slid off the bed. ‘See you ’round,’ she said to me, with a little grin and a wave bye-bye.
We watched her down the corridor and into the common room. Julia didn’t look back, but her walk said she felt our eyes. Her arse was mocking.
Conway said, ‘Joanne.’ The name fell into the silence. The room spat it back out, snapped tight shut after it.
‘Means, opportunity, motive,’ I said. ‘Maybe.’
‘Yeah, maybe. If everything pans out. If Chris dumped Joanne, that’d explain why she was such a bitch about him liking Selena.’
‘Specially if he dumped her for Selena.’
‘It’d explain why Joanne’s gang hate Julia’s, too.’
I said, ‘They’re using us. Both lots.’
‘Yeah. To get at each other.’ Conway, hands shoved in her back pockets, still staring where Julia had been. ‘I don’t like being some little rich kids’ bitch.’
I shrugged. ‘As long as they’re giving us what we’re after, I’m grand with them getting a bit of what they want as well.’
‘I would be, too. If I was positive we had a handle on what they want. Why they want it.’ Conway straightened up, took her hands out of her pockets. ‘Where’s Alison’s phone?’
‘On her bed.’
‘I’ll confirm with Alison where she got it. You search this.’
The thought gave me the heebie-jeebies: left alone here, surrounded by teenage girls and knickers that said maybe on the arse. Conway was right, but: we couldn’t leave Alison’s phone for someone to get rid of it, couldn’t leave this room till we’d searched it, and Conway was the one who knew her way around to look for Alison. ‘See you in five,’ I said.
‘Any of them come in here, you go straight into the common room. Where you’re safe.’
She wasn’t joking. I knew she was right, too, but the common room didn’t feel like such a safe place either.
The door shut behind her. For a stupid split second, I felt like my mate had abandoned me in the shit. Reminded myself: Conway wasn’t my mate.
I got my gloves back on, started searching. Selena’s phone spilling out of her blazer pocket onto her bed, Julia’s on her bedside locker. Rebecca’s on her bed. Holly’s missing.
I started on the bedside lockers. Something about the Julia interview was poking at me. It was stuck in a back corner of my mind, where I couldn’t get my hands on it: something she’d said, that we’d let go by when we should have pounced.
Julia shaking info in front of us like a shiny dangle, to keep us from questioning Selena. I wondered how far she would go, to protect Selena or what Selena knew.
