Under My Skin (19 page)

No! That was you! It was you! Everything went black!

‘'Fraid not, darlin'. I guess you done saw red. Anyways, is this an argument you wanna be havin' right now?'

Molly Sue was right. Sally was halfway down the stairs when Mr Roberts appeared at the bottom, apparently heading back to the hall. He dropped his pile of marking and kneeled at Melody's side. He looked to Sally. ‘Jesus! What happened!'

‘You better lie real good,' Molly Sue told her.

‘She just slipped. The floor was wet . . . she must have slipped.'

He seemed to buy it. ‘Did you call an ambulance?'

‘No, it just happened like a second ago.'

Stan appeared in the fire exit door too. For an instant, Sally was reminded of his betrayal but, again, this wasn't the time. ‘Stan, call an ambulance!'

On seeing Melody, he pulled out his phone, dialled and turned his back to them. Sally couldn't drag her gaze from Melody's twisted limbs. ‘Is she . . . ?'

Mr Robert's tentatively felt for a pulse. ‘I don't think so.' His face was an ashy grey colour. ‘But I don't want to press too hard in case her neck is broken.'

Tears streamed down Sally's face.
What have I done? I pushed her down the stairs.
From outside, she could hear Stan giving instructions to the 999 operator. There were footsteps too, more teachers running to see what the commotion was. The world was tipping . . .
no, wait . . .
Sally felt her legs dissolve, her vision black out and she sank down against the wall.

The rest was a blur until her father got her home. There were snippets – brief snapshots of Melody being stretchered away, the paramedic checking Sally over for shock, Mrs Newell, the Head, trying to work out what had happened. In the end they'd called Sally's dad to come and get her, as it was quite clear they weren't going to get any sense out of her.

By the time she was home, she felt more like her feet were on solid ground. She excused herself and went straight to her room. She didn't want Stan looking over either, so she pulled the blinds down and put some music on to block the sound. Finally, Sally pulled her T-shirt off to see Molly Sue. The tattoo waited, coolly balanced on her hip.

‘I know you pushed her,' Sally said. In the mirror, she saw how pale her own face was, her lips grey, corpse-like.

‘Not guilty, sweetheart. I'm a-tellin' ya!'

‘No! I . . . I don't remember pushing her! Everything went black, just like before.'

Molly Sue shrugged, holding her hand open. ‘Then I guess you blacked out or whatever. You were pretty pissed-off, darlin'.'

‘I didn't push —' She lowered her voice. ‘I didn't push Melody down the stairs.'

Molly Sue stood and paced across Sally's stomach. ‘Whether it was you or me don't make a difference. They got CCTV up in there that'll show one of us pushing her. Oh . . . no . . . wait . . . it'll just show
you
pushin' her.'

Her head spun. ‘Oh my God! CCTV! I didn't even think of that.'

‘That's why
I
wouldn't have pushed her down the stairs in full goddamn view of a camera.'

Sally tugged back her hair. ‘What am I going to do?'

‘You are so lucky you got me, darlin'. I'm gonna take care of it.'

‘OK, what are
you
going to do?'

‘I'm gonna save your sorry hide and you ain't gonna ask questions, got that? Let me take over again.'

Sally hated it. Hated the idea of Molly Sue taking control again, but she also couldn't see how things could possibly get any worse. If someone saw that . . . it'd be murder. If Melody died, it
was
murder. ‘OK,' she said. ‘Just do it.'

‘We wait until midnight.'

This time Sally was more aware of Molly Sue's movements with her body. She wore androgynous, baggy clothes and a winter parka with a hood and took an insane route to school. They crossed through back gardens and across fields for an hour until Sally realised they were walking through the woods at the back of the football pitch. They'd avoided every CCTV camera in town.

Sally had no idea what the security was like at her school, but this was Saxton Vale, not London, so they weren't likely to have guards with ferocious Alsatians or anything. In fact, once they arrived on site, it was as still as a crypt. Like a shadow, Molly Sue stuck to the external walls of the school blocks, wary of the lamps on the pathways. She went from window to window looking for one that was open. Sure enough, after about sixty windows, she found one that hadn't been properly shut for the night. It took some effort, but she wrenched it open and slid inside like a snake.

There were no cameras in the classrooms, there was some legal reason about filming teachers, but they couldn't stay out of the corridors forever. Sally saw a burglar alarm above the door, blinking like a red eye. They'd been spotted and if she knew, Molly Sue knew too. Sally had no idea how the security worked, but some kids once set off a fire alarm and the brigade were there in minutes
automatically
. Molly Sue moved like a cat, darting through the corridors with the type of agility Sally would never have.

The offices were by the main entrance. All these weeks, Molly Sue must have been watching
everything
, taking it all in; she knew exactly where to go. She dived over the reception desk, dropped to the floor and pulled Sally's father's axe from her rucksack. It was a short, sturdy hatchet, the one they used for firewood. Putting it to good use, Molly Sue gained access to the admin offices and instantly located the cabinet housing the security unit. Inside, it was like a huge DVD player with a small flat-screen TV on top. Wasting no time, Molly Sue took the axe to the recorder, making light work of it. She couldn't hear an alarm but that didn't mean one wasn't going off somewhere. A security team, or even the police, were probably already on their way.

What if they already checked the CCTV tonight?
Sally asked.

‘I didn't see no police on your doorstep, so I'm guessing they didn't,' she hissed impatiently.

The CCTV system in scraps, Sally was horrified when Molly Sue didn't head back to the window they'd climbed in through. Instead, she went to the communal library space in the foyer, making a mess as she went; tipping bookcases and chairs over. She located the cabinet in which the research laptops were kept and smashed the padlock off with the axe. Molly Sue slung the rucksack off her shoulder and started ramming computers into it.

Sally figured it out; she was making it look like a robbery. She had to hand it to her, Molly Sue wasn't anyone's fool. She could fit four of the notebooks comfortably into the bag. Swinging them onto her back, she pelted back to their break-in point.

They had been in the school for less than ten minutes.

There were so many lies on top of lies on top of lies that Sally felt like her life was a game of Jenga, and a precarious one at that. All she could do was pretend everything was normal but she lacked faith in her acting ability. Molly Sue had to coach her just to make it to the shower and get dressed, but she knew that the only way they were going to pull this off was maintaining wide-eyed innocence.

She couldn't even confront Stan about his blabbing to Melody or he'd know they'd spoken right before the fall. So as she, Jennie and Stan walked to school, Sally had to carry on as if everything was fine between them, laughing at his jokes and sympathising about the new-born baby about to invade his nest. It blew her mind: how could he have been so spiteful? Was he that keen to see her miserable? Sally was so, so angry – more angry than she'd ever been about anything. The anger was the only thing stopping her from completely unravelling over what had happened to Melody – the anger kept her earthed somehow. It sounded melodramatic, but Stan had truly
betrayed
her.

‘Have you heard how she's doing?' Stan asked.

‘No,' Sally said, fighting to keep her tone civil.

Jennie was better informed. ‘I'd heard that last night the doctors put her in a coma because they were worried about brain damage.'

‘Whoa,' Stan said. Sally pinched her nose. She'd come to learn you can hold back tears that way. ‘I guess karma finally caught up with her,' said Stan.

Sally instinctively swiped at his arm. ‘Stan!'

‘That is literally the shadiest thing you've ever said!' Jennie gasped, although there was a faint smile on her lips.

‘Oh, come on, you were thinking it too.'

‘It's way, waaaaaay too soon for jokes. She might die.' Jennie did love to be the bearer of bad news.

‘Whatevs.' Stan shrugged it off. ‘There's no way Melody Vine would miss all this free attention. She'll be back from the brink and on morning TV talking about her survival miracle before you know it.'

School was a revelation. Sally quickly learned how fortunes can change. In twenty-four hours she'd gone from being the boob-flashing Whore of Babylon to centre of attention. The topless pictures were forgotten as everyone clamoured over her to get the eyewitness account of Melody's fall. Outside the library, people she'd never met seemed to know her name.

‘Sally, did you really see her neck snap? Did her head go right round?' one slavering ghoul asked.

‘No! God!'

‘Was there loads of blood?' asked Dee.

‘No. Hardly any.' Her own head was spinning.

‘Did the bone poke out of her leg?' someone else put in.

Keira and Eleanor pulled her out of the barrage and each gave her a hug. ‘Are you OK? It must have been
awful
? I heard you fainted.' Keira seemed genuinely concerned.

‘Yeah, it was pretty intense. Is . . . is she OK?'

Keira half shook, half nodded her head. ‘It's way too early to tell. The girl broke her actual neck.'

‘And both her legs,' Eleanor added with a little too much relish. ‘Well, I guess you'll be Audrey now.'

In all the chaos, Sally hadn't even processed that. ‘I . . . I don't know if the show will even go ahead . . . I mean, with what's happened.'

Kyle made his way towards the quad with some of his bandmates. As he passed her, he gave Sally a grim look. A grim, suspicious look. She didn't flinch; she didn't dare.

‘He can't prove a goddamn thing,' Molly Sue whispered. ‘Don't you worry about him.'

At the same time, a trio of uniformed police offers walked down the main drive towards a patrol car parked outside the gates. ‘Are they here about Melody?' Jennie asked, reading Sally's mind.

‘No,' Annabel Sumpter chipped in. Her mum was a geography teacher so she was always the first with inside knowledge. ‘Last night there was a break-in! I know, right?'

‘What?' Sally said, playing dumb.

‘Oh, just some kids probably. They trashed the Resource Library and took a couple of laptops.' Laptops which were now at the bottom of the river about half a mile behind Sally's house.

‘Wow.' Stan ruffled his hair. ‘All the dramz at Saxton Vale High School yesterday.'

Sally breathed a sigh of relief. For now, no one seemed to be suggesting that Melody's fall had been anything other than a nasty accident. The crushing sensation lifted slightly from her shoulders and she realised, shamefully, that it had been worry more than guilt.

By lunchtime, Mr Roberts sent a message for her to meet him briefly in the drama studio. In the five minute meeting, Mr Roberts, looking somewhat harassed, told her that he had no idea what was happening with Melody, but that the show must go on and she would fill in as Audrey until further notice. ‘Do you think you can handle it?'

Sally never thought she'd have wanted the glare of the spotlight, but so far she'd loved being Chiffon and Audrey had much more to say. Also, she'd watched Melody make a mess of it so was pretty sure she couldn't do a worse job. ‘Yeah, I think so.'

‘And can you learn the lines in a couple of weeks?'

‘I've sort of been picking them up anyway,' Sally admitted. ‘But I just feel really bad for Melody,' she added for good measure. It was true, the truth was rotting shipwreck at the bottom of her stomach.

Her weary teacher ran a hand over his buzzed hair and swallowed a huge gulp of coffee, clearly still unsure of how to proceed with the production. ‘Who knows, maybe there'll be some sort of miracle and she'll be OK, but it's not looking good.'

Sally just nodded. There was nothing else to say.
Did I do it? Did I push her?
She hadn't wanted this, she hadn't . . . she'd just wanted her to take the pictures down. That was all. But now she was Audrey and Melody was in a coma.

‘Girl, don't blow it now. Just leave the room,' Molly Sue breathed.

‘I'll see you at rehearsal later.' Worried the guilt was all over her face, Sally left the studio as fast as she could.

Amidst the bustle of students either heading towards the cafeteria or eating their sandwiches in the hall, Sally saw the familiar shape of Todd hurrying towards the exit next to the boys' toilets. She hadn't seen or heard from him since the fall.

‘Todd!' she called and took off after him.

He turned and she saw he looked shattered, like he hadn't slept a wink. That morning, he'd forgotten to put any product in his hair so it was fluffy like a baby owl or something. ‘Oh. Hi,' he said, a little impatiently.

Sally caught up with him at the exit. ‘Are you OK?' She followed him out onto the path. It was quiet at this time of day; students weren't allowed to eat lunch out there.

‘Honestly, no. I'm really not.'

‘How is she?'

‘A mess. She's stable, but she's a mess. I went to the hospital last night but I wasn't allowed to see her. They took her into surgery just as I got there.'

‘God, I'm so sorry.' Sally slipped her hand into his but he pulled it away at once and checked if anyone was looking.

‘What are you doing?' he snapped.

It hit Sally like a fist. ‘Nothing . . . I . . . wanted to make you feel better.'

‘I'm fine. I just need to get to the hospital. OK?'

Sally nodded, feeling a lot like a crumpled, discarded tissue. ‘Sure. I hope she gets better.' She was dying to hug him, to recapture the closeness they'd had at the lake. She longed to grab him and scream ‘
WHAT ABOUT ME?'
but knew she couldn't. All Sally could do was watch Todd walk away.

Oh wow. It turned out there was something stronger than guilt after all . . . and it was envy. It punctured her chest in red hot needles.
Great! I've driven Todd back towards Melody!
The sheer wickedness of the thought, and the readiness at which it entered her head, shocked her. Melody was broken, maybe even dying, and all Sally wanted was her hands back on Todd.

‘Relax, darlin'. Just give him a little time.' She felt Molly Sue slink around her torso. ‘And if that don't work, we can always put Melody out of her misery.'