Sunshine Girl Read online

  ‘What did happen with Finn?’

  Finn was Niffy’s big brother, and for a few weeks Finn and Amy had looked like one very hot item, despite Niffy’s complete disapproval.

  ‘I dunno, really. It just seemed to fizzle out.’ In dramatic voiceover mode, she added: ‘They laughed, they kissed, they promised to keep in touch … And she never heard from him again.’

  ‘Amy?’ Gina gave her friend a very serious look. ‘Honestly, right down in your heart of hearts, what do you think I should do?’

  ‘Ha! You’re asking me? When I’m just desperate to be with whoever will have me!’

  ‘Don’t say that. You are very special. Only someone very special will do for you.’

  ‘Sometimes you are just too Californian to be true, Miss Very Special.’ Amy smiled, sat down on the edge of her bed and gave Gina and her problem full attention. She spoke seriously now. ‘You like Dermot, but you don’t like him enough to stop liking Callum a lot. Right?’

  ‘Ermm … I think so.’

  ‘So, I think, to be fair to Dermot, you have to let him go. You don’t want to stop seeing Callum, do you?’

  Gina shook her head.

  ‘And Dermot is far too nice to cheat on, agreed?’

  Gina nodded.

  ‘So there you are. You have to let Dermot go. Even if it’s really painful.’

  Chapter Five

  ‘Good morning, girls.’

  The headmistress of St Jude’s, known to just about everyone in the school as Banshee Bannerman, looked down from the stage at her 430 day girls and boarders with her usual bright, brisk enthusiasm.

  ‘At the start of the summer term, we’re going to hold a charity fundraising month here at Saint Jude’s. We all need to think of those who are not as fortunate as we are. This year, I have decided to delegate. I want you to come up with wonderful ideas for raising money and even more wonderful ideas for where to donate it.

  ‘We’ll do this as a competition. The best fundraising idea earns an extra hundred pounds for the charity of their choice.’

  Niffy glanced sideways at her friends. ‘For the Banshee that is generous and almost quite nice,’ she whispered under her breath. ‘What’s come over her?’

  ‘What’s her idea of a good cause, though?’ Amy countered. ‘Latin teachers in distress?’

  This made both Gina and Niffy, who were on either side of her, start to giggle.

  Min, who liked to keep to all the school rules, even the one about silence in assembly, nudged Niffy in the ribs.

  The Banshee held forth about public duty, civic responsibility, good citizens with charitable intentions and then it was time for the morning’s prayer followed by the morning’s hymn. Finally a chorus of scraping chairs and footsteps meant it was time to head for lessons.

  Someone was loudly telling their friends: ‘We are so going to win this competition with my genius idea. We are so definitely going to win! Oh, look, it’s Amy McCorquodale … are you going to set yourself up as a charity? Then maybe your friends could try and raise some funds for you?’

  Amy didn’t have to turn round to see who had made this casually cruel remark. She recognized the sneering voice straight away.

  Penny Boswell-Hackett was a day girl in Amy’s form; she was in Amy’s English class, in Amy’s French, history and maths classes too. Unfortunately, Penny also played hockey in the A group, along with Amy, Niffy and Min.

  For reasons established way back when Amy was brand-new to St Jude’s, Penny saw herself as Amy’s enemy and took every opportunity that she could to tease Amy, make fun of her and generally put her down.

  But Amy always stood up for herself. She knew that Penny was just a mean snob who shouldn’t be allowed to get away with any of the things she said.

  Now Amy stopped walking and turned on her heel, even though this meant holding up the whole line of Upper Fifths trying to exit the assembly hall.

  ‘Did you just call me a charity case? Someone who needs my friends to raise funds for me? Did I just hear you properly?’ she snarled.

  ‘You don’t need to look so surprised,’ Penny snapped back. ‘Everyone knows your dad’s gone bust and you’ll only be here till the last of the money runs out.’

  For a moment, Amy just gasped. This was so mean and nasty, it was like a bucket of icy water landing on her head. ‘How dare you, Penny Boswell-Hackett?’ she hissed. ‘How dare you? You are the biggest cow I have ever, ever had the misfortune to meet, and as for calling me a charity case!! You know what? I am going to come up with the biggest, best fundraising idea you’ve ever heard of and it will wipe the floor with yours.’

  Amy turned and hurried away, before Penny could take the astonished look from her face and think of something even more horrible to say back.

  As Niffy settled down at her desk beside Amy for the start of their first class, she couldn’t help telling her friend: ‘OK, so that’s just great … you’ve thrown down the challenge and all we have to do now is think of the biggest and best fundraising idea anyone’s ever heard of. Don’t suppose you’ve got any suggestions?’

  ‘No, not really,’ Amy admitted.

  Chapter Six

  Min filed into the biology lab with a bundle of books and papers under her arm and a heavy school bag over her shoulder. In the summer, she’d sit exams in nine subjects.

  She and a handful of other very clever Upper Fifths were the most overworked pupils in the entire year. But Min liked it that way. She loved to learn and she had big, big ambitions.

  Her parents were both doctors in her home country of South Africa and they were sending Min to the best school they could afford in the hope that she would get into medical school and follow in their footsteps.

  Min loved the idea of helping people and she was really good at science, but unfortunately she just didn’t think medicine was going to be her thing, because whenever she saw blood she fainted.

  But this didn’t make her feel any less ambitious. She dreamed of going to one of the best universities and becoming a world-famous researcher.

  ‘Are you giving your talk today?’ her friend Zarah asked as soon as she walked into the room.

  ‘No!’ Min looked at her in surprise. ‘No, I’m Wednesday. I’m sure I am. I mean, I’ve written my talk but I’m not ready to give it yet.’

  ‘OK, no worries. I was just asking if it was your turn.’

  ‘Is it yours?’

  ‘Yeah … I’m a bit nervous, though.’

  ‘Don’t be silly, you’ll be fine. This is Mr Harrington’s accelerated learning group. All his students get As.’

  ‘Do they?’

  ‘Apparently so. Apparently he just doesn’t accept anything less than your best work. Plus he’s such a good teacher, everyone does really well.’

  ‘Wow.’

  Mr Harrington came out of the lab’s supply room and walked down to the front of the class. ‘Hello, Upper Five.’

  He was a small man with a ginger beard and heavy glasses. His woolly tie and jumbo cords looked a bit shaggy and beardy as well. His white lab coat was a little too big for him and he kept having to push up the sleeves.

  ‘So, I have three names on my list of girls who are going to give talks today … Yes, Asimina?’

  Min put her hand down and asked Mr Harrington the question she’d been longing to ask ever since she’d read his degree qualifications. ‘Mr Harrington, is it true that you went to Cambridge University, sir?’

  ‘Yes, Asimina. A long, long time ago now. Probably before you were even born,’ he joked, causing a light ripple of giggles, because despite the shaggy clothes and the beard, he was still youngish, maybe around the thirty mark.

  ‘So you must be really clever, because it’s very hard to get into Cambridge, isn’t it?’ Min went on.

  ‘Well … I suppose, yes, it’s quite hard. It depends what subject you do, though. I mean, if you wanted to study Ancient Greek, you’d probably find it’s not too difficult to get into Cambridge. But math
s, for instance, that’s hard. For a start, you’re competing against all the brilliant Taiwanese students.’

  Another light giggle rippled through the room.

  ‘Did you do biology?’ Min asked.

  ‘Natural Sciences, yes.’

  ‘So, how did you get in?’

  ‘Well …’ Mr Harrington paused for a moment and scratched his head. ‘I studied hard, I got good grades, but I think it was because I had a real passion for the subject. A university like Cambridge has so many great students to choose from that they pick the people who really eat, sleep and breathe the subject they want to study. They choose the students who spend their spare time reading more and more, working on extra projects and discovering just as much as they can about it.’

  This was provoking groans from some parts of the classroom. But for Min it was very interesting information. She wanted to go to one of the famous universities. She wanted to be able to look at her parents – who’d spent so much money on her education – one day and be able to tell them: ‘Mum, Dad … I got into Cambridge.’

  It would be the ultimate.

  ‘Do you think anyone you’re teaching at the moment is good enough to get into Cambridge?’ Min asked, her voice faltering a little. It was so weird to hear herself say out loud, for the very first time, the thing she wanted most in the world.

  ‘Well, Asimina …’ Mr Harrington paused. He gave her a long look.

  Min felt her heart speed up a little. Was he about to name her? Was he going to tell her that already he thought she might be good enough to go?

  ‘There are a lot of very clever, very hard-working girls right here in this class and you’re one of them. You should all set your sights high and aim to do really well. But I think it’s a little too early to tell where you’ll be going to university. Asimina,’ he reminded her, ‘you’ve not even taken your Standard Grades yet.’

  Chapter Seven

  It was noisy and cosy in the boarding-house dining room that evening. Despite the heavy rain lashing the big windows, the lights were lit and the warmth of a room filled with eighty chatting, gossiping, bickering voices kept the bad weather at bay.

  ‘What are you doing at Easter?’ Gina was asking Niffy.

  ‘Staying at home, riding Ginger, studying for my exams. Same old boring stuff as just about everyone else, I think,’ Niffy told her. ‘Oh, happy days, it’s steak pie,’ she added, as the oven dishes with the main courses were brought down to the long tables.

  ‘What about you, Amy?’ Gina wondered.

  ‘I’ll be in Glasgow: studying in the rain and hopefully working at one of the River Island shops there, part-time. I’m going to get my Edinburgh boss to put in a good word for me. But totally jealous of you and Min going home to the lovely warm spring sun of California and …?’

  ‘Durban,’ Min reminded her. ‘It’ll be autumn there. But still warm.’

  ‘What is Durban like? I can’t really get a picture of it in my mind.’

  ‘It’s a big, busy city with a beach. I’ll show you photos upstairs after supper if you like … but really, you should come and visit.’

  This made Amy smile. ‘Thank you! I can’t tell you how nice that would be. But the current state of finances …’

  ‘I know,’ Min said gently, not wanting Amy to have to spell it out.

  ‘What’s the gossip?’ Rosie leaned over from her seat several places down to ask.

  ‘Just discussing Easter holidays,’ Amy answered.

  ‘I think you mean Easter study leave,’ Min corrected her.

  There was the sound of a glass being ting-tinged with a spoon and Mrs Knebworth stood up at her head table in the large bay window at the end of the room.

  ‘This is it,’ Niffy hissed. ‘She’s about to announce her engagement.’ Many heads snapped in Niffy’s direction, followed by whispered comments:

  ‘No!’

  ‘You’re joking!’

  ‘No way.’

  ‘Have you heard?’

  ‘It must be love. She even looks younger.’

  ‘You’re a nutter!’

  ‘Good evening, girls, I hope you’re enjoying your delicious supper,’ Mrs Knebworth began. ‘I know that Mrs Bannerman told you all about the fundraising month at assembly this morning. Wonderful news. I want everyone to have a think about how the boarding house can work as a team to raise money for a good cause. I’m going to put a suggestions box out in the hall and everyone with a good idea can drop it in: either with your name on the suggestion, or if you’re modest, without. Thank you.’

  ‘Phew!’ Niffy said, once Mrs Knebworth was back in her seat. ‘I heard that Jaguar man has popped the question and Mrs K is currently considering. Look how cheerful she is … she’s smiling, not scowling, and so far this term she hasn’t told me off for anything. A record.’

  ‘Who told you about her engagement?’ Amy asked, eyes now widening with interest.

  ‘Well … not exactly a reliable source,’ Niffy had to admit.

  ‘Who? Oh, not Mel?’

  Niffy nodded.

  ‘You can’t believe anything from Mel.’

  ‘But it’s obvious the Neb is enjoying herself, and she does look younger. She’s even bought herself those trendy glasses.’

  ‘Yes, I know, but it’s only been a few months. The Neb is hardly going to rush into getting married, is she?’

  ‘But Mel said—’

  ‘Never mind what Mel said. By the way, have you heard what happened to her?’ Amy gave a tiny point in Mel’s direction.

  Niffy, Gina, Min, Rosie and everyone else within earshot looked over. They could see Mel from behind. She seemed to be sitting very stiffly upright; she also looked much wider than usual.

  ‘Back brace,’ Amy said, spooning a small mound of mashed potato onto her plate, as she enjoyed being the centre of everyone’s rapt attention. ‘When she was out clubbing on Saturday in those really, really high boots she was wearing … well, spiky heel met damp Edinburgh moss. She skidded up into the air and fell right down six very large, very cold stone steps. Landed on her bum.’

  ‘Ouch,’ Min sympathized.

  ‘You are a good person,’ Amy told her. ‘Apparently Mel has cracked her coccyx, slipped some sort of disc and will have to wear the brace for three weeks.’

  ‘Yikes, that puts an end to her Saturday-night street-dancing,’ Niffy added.

  In a tiny whisper, Amy also had to say, ‘Not to mention her s.e.x. life.’

  ‘Where else are we going to go for our information?’ Niffy wondered.

  ‘Cosmopolitan?’ Gina suggested.

  ‘Maybe you could write to the problem page and ask them if you should dump Dermot?’ Niffy chipped in.

  Gina shot Niffy a glare. ‘Very funny. It’s OK. I’ve decided what I’m going to do.’

  Chapter Eight

  The following Sunday, Gina dressed up carefully and thoughtfully. She pulled on her nicest jeans and a bright, silky top. Then came boots, a fitted jacket and a woolly snood to keep the weather at bay.

  She applied berry-coloured lipstick and a little flick of waterproof mascara, then put in her favourite earrings shaped like silver leaves.

  Finally there was a little squirt of perfume.

  She wanted to look nice, but she didn’t want to look too adorable. Just normal nice would be fine. She braided her hair into a loose plait, then looked at her watch and realized it was time to go.

  She was supposed to meet Dermot at the Modern Art Gallery at 3 p.m. It was already 2.40, and if she didn’t leave now she would have to run most of the way to be on time.

  But before she left, she had to find Amy and just go through it with her once again, so she hurried out of the dorm and down the many flights of stairs to the Upper Fifth common room where she hoped to find her.

  As she opened the common-room door, several heads turned in Gina’s direction.

  ‘Hi,’ she said, spotting Amy, ‘can I talk to you for a minute?’

  ‘Sure
,’ Amy said, patting the arm of the sofa she was sitting on.

  ‘No. In the corridor. It’s private.’

  ‘About you going off to ditch Dermot?’ one of the other boarders asked. All the other girls in the room laughed. ‘It’s about as private as the size of Mrs Knebworth’s nose,’ the girl added. ‘Don’t be surprised if there are spectators at the art gallery café.’

  ‘Amy!’ Gina exclaimed. ‘How could you tell everyone like this?’

  ‘I didn’t tell everyone. Everyone knows! You must have told some people, and you know what this place is like – it’s spread like wildfire.’

  Gina was so annoyed at this she slammed the common-room door shut and stomped down the corridor to the housemistress’s sitting room. Anyone going out of the boarding house had to get Mrs Knebworth’s permission in advance, then sign out and back in again under her or Miss McKinnon’s watchful eye. There were many things which sometimes made the boarding house feel like prison. This was definitely one of them.

  ‘Ah, Gina,’ Mrs Knebworth said, lowering her newspaper as Gina came into the room.

  ‘I’m just heading out to the Modern Art Gallery to meet Dermot for an hour or so, remember? You said that would be OK.’

  ‘Oh dear, Gina …’ Mrs Knebworth shook her head.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Dating is delightful, but breaking up is never easy. Good luck.’

  Gina’s mouth fell open with surprise. Everybody knew. Every single person knew. This was a nightmare. What if she got to the gallery and suddenly felt just as crazy about Dermot as she had when they’d first started going out? Then everyone would keep asking why she hadn’t dumped him. And what if he got to hear about her plan?

  What if he already knew?

  This was horrible.

  She scribbled her name onto the sheet, then left the room without another word.

  ‘I’ll expect you back by six at the latest, and there’s no need to be huffy!’

  Mrs Knebworth’s words rang in Gina’s ears as she opened the big wood and glass door, closed it behind her and ran away from the boarding house as quickly as she could.