Casting Shadows by Sophie McKenzie Page A

in every class I ’spect.’ He turned back to me. ‘Don’t look like that, Riv,
it wasn’t anything.’
    ‘But you’re hurt,’ I said, all my old anxieties rearing up. Had Flynn lost his temper?
    ‘Nah, I’m fine.’ Flynn touched the cut on his lip. ‘It’s just a scratch. Look. It’s freakin’ dog eat dog out there. Most of them have been at school
together since they were eleven – and they’ve
all
been here the whole of last year. I’m the only new person in my upper sixth tutor group. You can’t let them think
you’re afraid. Not for a second.’
    He dragged me over towards a queue for sandwiches and started fishing in his pocket for the tokens Dad had given him. I’m starving.’
    I looked at him, still feeling troubled. ‘I thought the anger management classes were going to stop you doing things like this,’ I said.
    ‘Things like what?’ Flynn laughed, picking up a ham and mustard sandwich. ‘I told you. It was just a bit of pushing and shoving. Me making sure nobody’s going to start
having a go at me in the future.’ He leaned down suddenly. I could feel his breath, hot and steady, as his lips brushed across my ear. It’s a one-off, Riv,’ he whispered.
‘Seriously nothing to worry about.’
    We ate our lunch on our own. Leo had vanished somewhere between us buying our sandwiches and finding somewhere to sit down. I saw a few guys give Flynn wary looks. I was sure a small group of
girls on the other side of the room were talking about us too. They kept looking over, then giggling and whispering.
    I swallowed uncomfortably. I’d been at the same school for years before coming here. But even if I had moved around every term I was pretty certain that I would never draw attention to
myself in the way that Flynn always seemed to.
    Sometimes – if I was really honest – I didn’t understand him at all.

13
    As the first week turned into the second, we gradually settled into life at Norton Napier. I really liked Ms Ransome, who was the English and Drama teacher as well as my tutor.
Mr Shukla turned out to teach History. He was strict but fair. I thought his lessons were a bit boring, though Flynn seemed to enjoy them – and to get on with Mr Shukla himself. In fact,
Flynn got on with all his teachers. As he’d promised, there had been no repeat of the ‘pushing and shoving’ from our first day. And, like me, Flynn enjoyed the way Norton Napier
allowed its pupils far more independence than either of our previous schools had done.
    The other students were mostly nice too. I made friends with one of the few girls who hadn’t grown up in the area. Kirsty was small and red-haired and her family had just moved here from
Scotland. We quickly got in with the main group of girls in the tutor group and spent quite a lot of time doing girly stuff like trying on each other’s make-up in the bathrooms at break
time.
    I wished Leo could have made some friends. But his weirdness seemed to stand out even more at college than it did at the commune. To be honest, he and I didn’t really spend much time
together. We only took English classes at the same time. Our other subjects were different, and I spent most of my free time with either Flynn or the girls I’d made friends with.
    Flynn didn’t make any close friends, not that he seemed bothered. Instead he hung out with a largish group of boys from his class, spending most of his time when he wasn’t working or
with me playing football in the park close to the college.
    Part of me missed my old school and Emmi and Grace, especially on my birthday, which took place halfway through our second week. At Langton all my friends would have remembered the date and made
a fuss of me. Here, no one knew except Flynn and Leo and I insisted they promise not to tell anyone at college; it was just too early in the term for me to put myself forward like that.
    It really didn’t matter. We had a good time at the commune that evening. Mum and Stone