Girl In The Red Coat Page 6

  I grabbed a mat and took it back over to where Miss Hogg was sitting, I emptied my bag and handed her my homework. The journal by my ancestor accidentally came with it and before I could hide it away, she said, ‘Oh! May I have a look?’

  ‘Oh yes of course,’ I didn’t feel as if I could say no. ‘It’s just an old journal that belonged to one of my old ancestors. But it’s so fantastic, I think it’s more of a story. It reads like fiction. I thought I would bring it today to see if I can get some inspiration from it.’

  ‘What a brilliant idea! I do love the old leather on the cover. Your ancestor must have had some money to have been able to afford this.’

  As Miss Hogg took a look through the book, I went to look at the music CDs that were stacked up on a shelf. I found one that had a recent mixture of songs and inserted it into the player. I listened to the intros of each track until I came across a song that I quite liked. It started off slow then changed to an upbeat tempo.

  ‘That’s it!’ I said. ‘I love this song! This is what I will be dancing to for the show.’

  ‘What an excellent choice! But going by the lyrics, is this aimed at anyone in particular?’ she looked at me, curiously.

  ‘Not at this moment in time,’ I blushed. ‘I’ve never had a boyfriend.’

  ‘Oh, have you not? I had wondered if something was going to blossom between you and Daniel, the way you danced together. I could feel the chemistry.’ She grinned and winked at me.

  ‘Well…’ I smiled, shyly, ‘While we’re on the subject… He has asked me out on a date tonight and as I am new to all of this sort of thing, I don’t suppose you could give me any pointers?’

  ‘I will certainly be happy to help!’ she laughed. ‘When we have finished here today, I will discuss this with you then. Did he give you that lovely rose?’

  ‘Yes, he did.’ I looked over to the bloom. ‘It’s the first time I’ve ever been given a flower and I am just so besotted with it.’

  Just then, Natalie entered the room. There was something a bit different about her. As she approached I saw what it was. A huge, thick cut was on one side of her face, it almost looked like claw marks, as though she’d been scratched by an animal. They looked much bigger than the marks a dog might leave. Could it have been… from a wolf? The wounds seemed to be in the process of healing and she’d tried to cover them up with make-up. But even with the thick coats of foundation, concealer and blusher, and her hair brushed over in an attempt to try cover up half of her face, they were still visible. Poor girl was very pretty and now she looked so fragile.

  ‘Good morning, Miss Hogg,’ she said, breezily, as if nothing was wrong. ‘Hiya Grace. It’s lovely to see you again, I’m glad you’re better.’

  ‘Thanks Natalie,’ it is so nice to see you as well.’

  ‘I hope you don’t mind, Grace, but Natalie is joining us. She has also had quite a bit of time off to recover from a tree branch falling and catching her face.’

  ‘Oh no, Natalie, bless you hun.’ I felt really sorry for her, but my gut instinct told me that the tree branch story was not true at all. It looked so much more like an animal attack. I decided that if the opportunity came up, I’d try and talk to her about it and see if I could get the truth from her.

  She noticed the flower on my bag and attempted a smile.

  ‘What a lovely rose, Grace! It’s a shame I’m allergic to pollen, as I’d love to sniff it and touch it.’

  ‘Thanks, Natalie. It was gifted to me this morning by Daniel, along with a little note,’ I said, shyly.

  ‘Oh, how sweet! Perhaps at lunchtime we can catch up and you can tell me all about it.’

  ‘What a wonderful idea,’ I said, thinking, then at the same time I can ask you about the scratches. I just had to know for certain if there were any wolves in this area. After all, didn’t I see one when I was with Daniel that time..?

  ‘Right girls!’ Miss Hogg clapped her hands. ‘Less chatting, more planning as by tomorrow, I would like you to have at least a rough draft of your routines.’

  Chapter 9.

  I t was gone one by the time we stopped to have our lunch. We’d been working so hard all morning, Miss Hogg was happy for us to have an hour and a half lunch break to give us chance to get plenty of fresh air as well as something nice to eat. Luckily, town was only ten minutes walking distance from the college.

  By now the wind had stopped blowing, but there was still a cold chill in the air. I was so glad I had come with my red coat which just barely kept the coolness from me. I looked around to see if we were being followed but there was no one I recognised. With it being a Saturday, the town centre was very busy with crowds of people and traffic trying to get through. Natalie had suggested a little coffee shop, located in quite a secluded alleyway. It was quite dim inside, and the walls were of dark-coloured bricks, so any form of light struggled to illuminate the place. She promised that although it was hidden away, it was a lovely little goldmine as it served a range of delicious sandwiches, snacks and a variety of luxury coffees.

  As we entered, the aroma of coffee filled the air, along with sound of a barista machine grinding up fresh coffee beans and frothing up milk. We headed for a table and two comfy chairs, located right at the back of the room. Each table was decorated with cream-coloured tablecloths, decorated with a flowery pattern at their centre. There was a menu, a bowl of sugar cubes, and a small vase containing a mini, purple orchid. As we walked over, Natalie waved at one of the girls working behind the counter.

  ‘Hey, Natalie,’ the girl called.

  We sat, grabbed a menu each and perused the choices.

  ‘My cousin works here,’ Natalie told me. ‘My auntie owns this place, so she always reserves this table for me or my family.’

  ‘It’s such a lovely little place!’

  ‘It’s just a shame there’s no natural light,’ she sighed. ‘Still, it’s good place to come hide away from everyone. I especially need to be hiding away from everyone at the moment with how gross I look.’ Natalie frowned.

  ‘Oh, hun, you don’t look that bad!’ I tried to reassure her. ‘But, while we’re on the subject… I know I don’t know you well, but…’ I trailed off, trying to gauge whether it would be ok to question her about this.

  ‘Go on,’ she said. ‘I’d be asking too if I was you.’ She gave me a reassuring smile.

  ‘Did you really get hit by a tree?’ I felt bad for asking but it did seem as if she wanted to talk about it.

  ‘You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,’ she sighed.

  ‘Try me,’ I said, warmly.

  ‘Ok. I was attacked by an animal.’

  ‘Was it a wolf by any chance?’ I asked

  ‘Oh my god, how do you know? Have you seen one?’ she asked in hushed tones.

  ‘Well, this sounds so crazy, I know but…’ I hesitated but I felt as if I could trust Natalie now. ‘The first day I got sick I thought I saw a white wolf. Daniel was with me and… and I thought I saw his eyes turn black and then there it was standing right in front of me. A wolf.’

  We sat in silence for a few minutes.

  ‘I knew there was some weird shit happening in this town, Grace, I just knew it! Well, this is even more crazy and please don’t hate me for telling you this, but, I’ve liked Daniel for a very long time. We grew up together. Then a couple of weeks ago, probably about the same time you got poorly, I saw Daniel walking around on his own, no shirt on, his trousers were ripped and he was covered in blood. Feeling worried about him, I ran over but then what I thought was a white wolf appeared and then a moment later a black wolf and… no sign of Daniel. The black wolf struck at me before it charged right at the white wolf. Next thing I knew, I woke up in my bed at home and with this scratch down my face. Since that day Daniel has avoided me.’

  ‘Oh, Natalie I’m so sorry! that is awful and must have been hard for you to watch me dancing with him on that very first day. But holy shit, there could quite possibly be wolves in this town.’

/>   ‘Shhhhh keep you voice down about the wolves word, people in this town are spooked enough as it is. As for Daniel, It’s cool, Grace, it really is. I know he likes you. But I get the impression that you’re into somebody else. The mysterious Ben.’

  ‘Oh my god, how do you know?’

  ‘I’m very good at picking up these vibes from people. That first day we met, when Ben tried to kiss you, I saw the look on your face, that you actually wanted it. But then Daniel stopped it.’

  Natalie had really been observing me that day and she was right about everything. But I couldn’t help but wonder why she was so OK about the boy she liked being into me instead. This girl seemed too good to be true and very mature about the whole situation. I sensed there was more I needed to know and to find out about her, because I could l see us becoming really good friends. There were no signs of any jealously from her but perhaps it was because I believed her story that she was attacked by a wolf and then having no idea about getting home. I knew this would be a conversation to have with her another time in another place. This was not the right time or place.

  ‘Well it’s probably more awkward that I’m telling you this, but Daniel has arranged a date for us tonight, but I don’t know whether to go or not.’

  ‘That is sweet of you to be honest with me about it, but if you do go please be careful and don’t be on your own with him. I lost my virginity to him over the summer and he was very fierce with how he did it. Afterwards, he treated me like I was his property and not his girlfriend or even just his friend. Let me tell you a secret, I have been secretly going out with Dominic for the past couple of weeks. As soon as he heard about my incident, he was there for me and in those couple of weeks recovering, my feelings towards Dominic developed further than friendship. He still looks at me like I am still me even though I have these huge claw marks across my face.’

  Our conversation was interrupted when Natalie’s cousin approached our table to get our order. She looked very similar to Natalie in the face, and same coloured hair and told me her name was Jenny.

  ‘It is so nice to meet you, Grace. This is the first time Natalie has bought a friend in here.’ Then, turning to Natalie, she lowered her voice, closer to a whisper.

  ‘How’s Dominic? Your face is really healing well.’

  ‘Thanks. I tried to cover it up with more make up than I normally wear, as this is the first time I have been out in public. Dominic is cool,’ she smiled. ‘He was concerned about me hiding at home. I agreed with him that it was better that I get out and about.’

  I thought about what a nice guy Dominic was and how hard it must be for both of them to keep this a secret from Daniel. After hearing what Natalie had to say about the way Daniel had acted towards her, I wondered what it could be that made him like that. Could he have been the black wolf who attacked Natalie that night when she found him injured. Because she saw him at his lowest and maybe he was ashamed of this and that’s why he struck out at her? My thoughts were going to far into overdrive now, I needed to take a step back from these extraordinary accusations. I was going to have to be brave to be near him, but perhaps the date was a good idea as I could dig out some truths about Daniel, find out more about him? If I confronted him, would he come clean about who he truly was? Would he admit that he’d been stalking me?

  ‘Oh my god Grace!’ Natalie snapped me out of my thoughts. ‘Your lip is bleeding, are you ok?’

  I touched my mouth and saw a droplet of blood. ‘Erm yes,’ I said, embarrassed, ‘I have a tendency to bite my lip when I’m thinking.’

  Jenny ran over to get the first aid kit, just as the door to the café flew open. Who walked in was the last person I wanted to see me looking like this. Of course, Ben would choose this moment to appear. I watched him as he circled around the room until he spotted me. When he saw my injured mouth, his expression changed to a look of worry and he walked over, hurriedly. Jenny had already donned gloves and was dabbing at the wound with an antiseptic wipe. Then I held the cold compress she handed me against it, trying not to look Ben in the eye. I was even more embarrassed about this stupid habit.

  ‘Grace what’s happened? Are you ok? Did anyone hurt you?’ So many questions! Natalie could see I was mortified.

  ‘Yes, she’s ok. She just bit her lip. All under control.’

  ‘Oh, Grace, be careful. You can’t be damaging those pretty lips of yours.’

  I half-smiled, shyly and the cut stung. The bleeding had stopped but I could feel it swelling up. It was weird how he suddenly appeared like that. How it looked as if he was looking for me when he came in. How relieved he’d seemed to have found me before he noticed the bleeding. Had he been following me? Or us? I had no idea, but felt equal amounts of flattered and creeped out about it.

  ‘Grace will you please look at me,’ he said, sweetly.

  I still couldn’t meet his gaze, softly he put his hand to my chin and slowly lifted up my face so I could look into his eyes.

  Apart from seeing him in my dreams, this had been the first time I’d been up close to Ben since the first day of college and he was even more good looking than I remembered. As I gazed at him, I was not able to look away. Then, without warning he leaned in and tenderly kissed my lips. My lip healed in an instant. I put my fingers to my lips to feel them and they were as good as normal, no more sting or swelling.

  ‘I’ll see you later,’ he said smiling at me. I was speechless.

  I hadn’t realised that Natalie and Jenny had moved away to the counter and left me and Ben to it. I watched as Ben walked to the door, glance over his shoulder at me, and left. I whispered, ‘Please come back.’

  ‘Grace, do you want to order?’ Jenny called.

  ‘Oh, yes, sure thing,’ I stuttered, flustered. ‘I’ll come over.’

  When I got to the counter, I asked for a large peppermint latte and a BLT on brown. Jenny and Natalie looked at each other. ‘What?’ I asked.

  ‘I ordered the exact same thing!’ laughed Natalie.

  ‘Wow!’ I said, ‘that’s a bit weird! How much do I owe you, Jenny?’ I dug in my bag for my purse.

  ‘It’s fine, on the house. A friend of Natalie’s is a friend of mine.’

  ‘Oh, bless you, thanks so much.’ I really was touched.

  I was really glad to be making new friends. I looked at Natalie as we walked back to our table. She was actually very beautiful, and I admired her for coming out in public considering the damage to her face. I really felt sorry for her, for everything that had happened to her; being used by Daniel, being attacked. I was glad she’d found some comfort with Dominic, but it was such a shame she was having to keep it quiet. I wondered if she had any other secrets that she could share with me, perhaps to help me discover more what had been happening to me or if everything was all in my head. There was so much I wanted to ask her, but I would save my questions for another time.

  I took a sip of my latte and my stomach made a loud growling noise. Luckily, just then Jenny appeared with our sandwiches. I took my first bite and then realised I’d eaten the rest of it before Natalie had taken her second bite.

  ‘Woah girl! that is the quickest I have ever seen someone eat!’ Natalie was, rightfully, surprised.

  ‘Erm… yeah,’ I was again embarrassed, ‘I haven’t really eaten anything over the past few weeks, I think my body is trying to catch up.’

  ‘I must say, Grace, you do look quite skinny. Must be because you’ve been poorly.’

  ‘I was bed ridden, or so I think I was.’

  ‘What happened to you?’ she asked me, concerned.

  ‘I don’t really know. My Grandmother told Miss Hogg it was a severe allergic reaction, but she’d said nothing to me about that so I don’t believe her. A lot of weird stuff happened to me.’

  ‘Like what?’

  ‘Urgh, it’s so hard to explain.’

  ‘Try me,’ she urged.

  ‘Well the last thing I remember was Daniel walking me along the path towards my Grandmother�
��s house, then pretty much everything went black.’

  ‘So, you can’t remember anything from after that?’

  ‘Well, I had a few weird dreams. Like I was on this snowy mountain which was next to a forest so I must have been in some state of light sleep to have been dreaming things like that.’

  ‘Ooh, check you out remembering your dreams!’ she teased.

  As Natalie finished her lunch, I gazed towards the door. I sort of hoped that Ben would come back. Or even that Daniel would walk in. So much for trying to keep away from these guys and just focus on myself! I just felt so drawn to them.

  ‘Right, Misses, we best head back to college, we’ve a lot to squeeze in this afternoon,’ said Natalie.

  I looked at the clock and realised an hour had passed. How time flies when you are enjoying yourself and with Natalie I really felt like I had made a good new friend. I stood up and approached Jenny, as she had offered me a free lunch on the house I thought it would be best I gave her a couple pound coins as a tip to show how grateful was and how much I enjoyed my lunch. I still longed to see Ben again and if I would bump into him anymore today.

  Chapter 10.

  T he afternoon flew by. It had been a lovely but intense day trying to catch up on what I’d missed but I was so glad that I was not doing it all by myself. I had Natalie to support me and I also supported her. We’d both been through so much, lately.

  When Gran pulled up in her car, I had a big smile on my face and I skipped with joy to the passenger side.

  ‘Wow, Grace, you look so happy!’ Gran beamed.

  ‘I’ve had a really great day. I got so much done and made a new friend as well.’

  ‘How great! Who’s the new friend?’

  ‘Her name is Natalie. She’s taking part in these extra tutorial hours with me as she’s been off as well.’

  ‘That’s wonderful to hear that you’ve got company. I hope the poor girl is ok, though, if she’s had to take some time off from her studies.’

  ‘Oh yes, she is recovering,’ I said. ‘A tree branch fell on her and badly scratched her face.’ I said nothing about the wolf as I didn’t want to alarm her. ‘She’d been too worried about leaving the house like that. I thought she was very brave to have come today. We went out for lunch together as well. She has family who own a lovely little teashop. You know, the one that is up that alleyway,’ I gestured towards it.