The Magpie Effect - The Magpie Chronicles Book 1 (#Wattys2015)

Chapter 17.1

Debbie narrowed her eyes at me. “Oh, please. We both know that if I presented you with a bottle of nail varnish and a bottle of Tipp-Ex, you wouldn’t know the difference.”

“At least I’m open to variation. You know, black isn’t the only colour in the world, Debbie.”

I could see Debbie’s nostrils flaring, her fists bunched up into furious cannonballs at her side. Our argument trailed off until there was nothing left between us except an indissoluble animosity. I glared at her like I’d glare at an enemy, like I’d glare at Carmen.

Debbie made a horse-like noise in my direction, I made a horse-like noise in hers, and we both went our separate ways like defiant mares who’d had a territorial disagreement over a tuft of grass.

I’d glared at her like I’d glared at Carmen, I reminded myself in the hours that followed.  It was only now that she was gone that I could taste the severity in my words like bitter poison on my lips. The thought tempted a stab of guilty pain in my abdomen. By lunchtime my stomach was in such upheaval that I wasn’t even hungry. I decided to abandon any notion of food and hole myself up in the library, in the most isolated study-corner I could find.

After around twenty minutes of self-torturing silence, somebody tapped my shoulder.  I spun around with a yelp so loud that I half expected to attract the attention of the omnipresent librarian. 

Behind me, Jet leapt into the air. “Argh!”

“Jet!”

“Saffy, you scared me!”

“I scared you? You snuck up on me!”

Jet brushed himself down and gave me a shrug. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to give you a fright or anything. It’s just that you looked so, I dunno, meditative.”

I stared at him for a moment, and then I started to laugh. It was a controlled snicker at first, but within ten seconds it had snowballed into trembling hysteria. I was definitely going to get us chucked out.

Jet looked at me like I was crazy, which admittedly seemed like a reasonable assumption. “Did I say something?”

“No, you didn’t,” I finally managed to gasp, settling back into my seat. “It’s just been a really, really bad day, and it’s either laugh or cry.”

“Well, that’s sort of good, isn’t it?” Jet smiled his crooked smile, the smile that made my heart skip as though it were dodging bullets. “About the laughing thing, I mean. It’s a good philosophy to have. Hakuna Matata and all that, you know.”

“Was that a Disney reference?”

“It was,” Jet confirmed.

“Wow.”

“Do you mind if I sit here?” Jet asked, gesturing to the empty seat next to me.

“Go ahead.” He sat down, ran a hand through his ruffled black hair. “How did you know where to find me?”

“Well, I caught up with Debbie and Wes in the canteen and you weren’t with them. Then, when they told me about what happened-”

“Oh, great,” I started, but Jet waved his hands at me.

“Don’t worry, I took everything she said with a pinch of salt. Anyway, I jumped into a school-wide search for you, and this was the last place I looked. Could you believe it?”

“Very chivalrous,” I nodded. “Although, it is quite insulting that the last place you thought of looking was the library. Do I not look academic to you?”