The New Girl by Cathy Cole

any more, OK?”
    â€œVery touching,” sneered Eve, dragging Rhi away from Lila’s embrace. “You know how to milk an audience, new girl – I’ll give you that. But stay away from my friend. You’ve hurt her enough.”
    â€œBut—” Lila began.
    She felt a hand on her arm.
    â€œThat was quite a speech,” Polly said, smiling.
    Lila decided to try and find Rhi later. They had a lot to talk about. “Did I make any sense?” she asked Polly. “My head was spinning so much. . .”
    â€œYou sounded great,” Ollie butted in. “Doing that really took some courage, Lila. It was amazing, what you just did,” he said, in a husky voice.
    Lila felt almost blinded by the admiration in his blue eyes. She glanced around for Josh, but as usual he had disappeared.
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    â€œSo what did you do?” Polly asked after school. “In London, I mean?”
    â€œI didn’t rob any footballers,” Lila said. She felt lighter than she had in weeks as they walked down the corridor towards the lockers. “I had a party that went wrong. Santiago’s friends turned up and got really drunk. I lost control, the house was wrecked, and Dad nearly lost his job over it. It almost ended up on the news. It nearly ruined everything. That’s why we moved here.” She still felt a hot wave of shame at the thought of that night. But it really was behind her now.
    â€œSomething tells me you didn’t polish your shoes or brush your hair quite as much as you do these days,” Polly remarked.
    Lila turned her head upside down and gave it a vigorous rub. Then she flipped her head back again, rumpling the top of her hair one more time. The curls and mess that resulted felt comfortable, and familiar. “I looked more like this,” she said. “Only all over.”
    Polly laughed. Smiling, Lila opened her locker.
    A note sat looking at her.
    The secret admirer! was Lila’s first tumbling thought. Had he forgiven her? She snatched up the note and unfolded it.
    Sorry we couldn’t talk earlier. Meet me at the end of the pier after school? Message me if you can’t make it. Rhi xx
    Lila stared at the number Rhi had scribbled at the bottom of the note. She didn’t have her phone; it was in her dad’s desk. She was supposed to go straight home after school, but she couldn’t let Rhi down – not now they had turned such a major corner. Could she meet her and just get home a little later? There would be hell to pay. Without her phone, she couldn’t warn anyone that she would be late.
    Deciding it was worth a telling-off, Lila folded the note and put it in her bag.
    â€œI have to go,” she told Polly, whose head was deep inside her own locker.
    â€œSure,” said Polly, pulling her head out again. “See you tomorrow. And Lila?”
    â€œYes?”
    Polly grinned. “Well done again, for today.”
    It was blustery outside today, and bitterly cold. Lila walked as fast as she could, mindful that every minute would count. The road to the beach was getting more and more familiar these days.
    She saw Rhi standing alone at the end of the pier several minutes before she reached her. Seagulls dived around Lila as she jogged the length of the old wooden boards, ducking to avoid the worst of the sea as it smashed loudly against the struts of the pier.
    â€œSorry about this,” Rhi said, waving at the windswept pier. “It’s kind of cold for a meeting place. But I didn’t want anyone to overhear us.”
    Rhi’s face had grown thinner since London, Lila thought. She could still see the grief in her old friend’s eyes.
    â€œI really am sorry about your sister,” Lila said, feeling for the right words. “I didn’t know what to say to you when she died. I should have been a better friend when you needed me.”
    Rhi smiled sadly. “We were kids,” she said. “Like you