Chapter 5

Rain is sitting alone at a battered, wooden table in the very furthest corner of the schoolyard, eating a depressingly soggy and ridiculously overpriced vegetable pasty from the canteen, when a dark purple rucksack comes hurtling out of nowhere and almost takes his head off.

"Oops.” Kali winces as she strides towards him, “I wasn’t actually aiming to kill you.”

"No harm done.” Rain shrugs, turning back to his lunch. Kali reaches the bench, immediately clambering up onto the tabletop, retrieving her bag, and searching around inside until she pulls out a takeaway box. The contents smell warm and spicy, much more appealing than the limp pizza slices and burnt chips that the school sell. "Where did you get that?” Rain blurts out jealously.

Kali grins, “My brother passed it me through the fence. I’m not eating the crap that they serve here.” She pulls a face as she looks at the school building, “I bribed him with chocolate.”

“Lucky you.” Rain scowls, wishing that his brother could bring him a lovely takeaway to school.

“You don’t mind me sitting here, do you?” Kali says suddenly, looking a bit guilty, “I figured I’d be safe over in this depressing little corner.”

“Safe from what?” Rain snorts, “Surely you can’t have made that many enemies already?”

Kali raises an eyebrow, “Well, for a start, there’s that ogre, Gregory, and his irritating little sidekick.” She wrinkles her nose, “And Ivita Davies with her stupid phone and ridiculous questions. Not to mention her sly herd of sheep. If anything, they’re worse than her, because they’re so thick I can barely even believe it’s not an act. And I should be in a detention right now, so I don’t want any teachers to spot me either.” She turns back to her delicious-looking meal, while Rain begrudgingly takes a bite of pasty and questions her with his mouth full,

"How come you’ve got a detention already?”

"Because the teachers here are harsh!” Kali sighs dramatically, “Honestly, at my old school, you could get away with anything! The teachers let you have your phone out all the time, and you could sit with your mates in every lesson!”

"Sounds like heaven.” Rain mutters flatly, “If you’ve got any mates to sit with, that is.”

Kali frowns, her amber eyes narrowing, “All I’ve managed to gather is that everyone thinks you killed someone from this school? Even though there’s no evidence? And you clearly don’t have the guts to do something like that?” He’s a little offended, but her comment makes him realise something. She really does believe him. He takes a deep breath and begins to explain.

"My best friend died in an accident during the summer. You know the huge storms around the end of July?”

“Yeah.” Kali nods seriously, “A tree fell on our old garden shed and practically flattened it into the ground.”

“Right, well, my friend Zoe, was upset during one of the worst ones, on 31st July. She’d got into a huge fight with her whole family, and wasn’t answering my messages, so I went out to look for her and found her alone on the pier. And I managed to convince her toat least get out of the storm, if not to go home. But when we were walking back…she, um, tripped, and fell through the railings, ‘cause they’re really old and rusty out there, so one of them broke. She was in the water, obviously, and it was high tide, and the rain was so heavy I could barely see. I was trying to help her get out, but it’s really difficult to climb up from there, because it’s just a vertical brick wall straight into the sea, and she cut her hand pretty bad when she fell so I couldn’t get a grip ‘cause of all the blood. I thought I was making the right decision when I…” he trails off. He really, really, doesn’t want to say it.

"You don’t have to say if you don’t want to.” Kali says, as if she read his mind.

"Yes I do.” He has to force himself to continue speaking, “I left her. I ran off to go and find help, and left her there in the water, bleeding and scared, and that’s how I’ll always remember her because when I came back she was gone.” Rain’s eyes are aflame with tears, but he’s not going to let them fall, not in this place.

Kali blinks very, very slowly, and her voice is icy when she speaks, “Then why the actual Hell is everyone blaming you? Do they think you pushed her in or something, because that’s just stupid!”

'No,” Rain shakes his head, “It’s because the police never found her. All they found was me, the only witness, standing there with her blood all over my hands. The moment her brother, Lester, saw me, he made his mind up. That’s why everyone thinks I killed her. Because they listened to him. Now he’s out for revenge, Ivita wants to solve the ‘case’ as she calls it, and Gregory…well, Gregory’s always hated me actually, so not much has changed there.” He shrugs, “It’s alright. I’m used to it, I guess.”

Kali turns her glare on him, “It is absolutely NOT alright.” She counters, “And clearly you can’t stick up for yourself, so I'm afraid I’m going to have to do it for you.”

“You really don’t have to–” Rain splutters awkwardly, not sure whether she’s trying to be kind or making fun of him.

Kali holds up a hand dismissively, “You’re the only half-decent person in this horrid school. I’m sticking with you.”

"I…I don’t know what to say.”

Kali laughs, “How about ‘yes, that’s the best idea I’ve ever heard in my life, lucky me!’ Or just ‘yeah, sure.’ But there’s one thing you definitely cannot say.”

"Which is…?” Rain raises an eyebrow.

"Thank you.’ I forbid you from thanking me. That’s not how friendship works. It may surprise you to know that I used to have friends at my old school.”

Rain is in such a state of confusion that he doesn’t know whether to say that friendship also doesn’t really work by just appearing out of nowhere and telling someone they’re your best mate now and they'd better deal with it, or that it’s not that surprising she used to have friends. However, he doesn’t actually get to say anything at all because Kali is still talking. He’s starting to get the feeling that she does a lot of talking.

"Me and my best friend Paris ran away together once, for a whole week. We survived in the woods, eating berries and nuts, and she taught me how gut a rabbit with a rock.” She sighs wistfully, as though this is the fondest memory she has, and stares up at the grim, grey clouds looming in the sky.

"She sounds…nice.” Rain swallows his last mouthful of pasty, hoping he doesn't sound too disgusted.

Kali grins, “She’s great, like, the coolest person I’ve ever met in my life! I miss hanging out with her. Moving halfway across the country sucks. I don’t recommend.” Her smile falters and she starts examining her thumbnail.

"I wouldn’t mind.” Rain replies immediately, “Halfway across the country no one would think I’m a murderer.” Kali opens her mouth to reply but a harsh shout cuts through the air before she can speak.

"YEAR 10 ASSEMBLY IN THE HALL, NOW!” Mr Greaves hollers across the yard, striding towards a group of boys who are kicking a football at a graffitied wall, “Give me that thing, Sunil! It’s the end of lunch break and you’re violating school policy! AND WHAT IN GOD’S NAME IS THAT DRAWING DOING ON THE SIDE OF OUR STATE-OF-THE-ART SCHOOL BUILDING?” He roars.

"Jeez. Does he ever stop shouting?” Kali mutters, as she zips up her bag and jumps down from the tabletop.

"No.” Rain shakes his head, “Greaves is the deputy head. And he wants everyone to be very aware of it. I wouldn’t cross him if I were you.”

"Oh, I’m sure I will anyway.” She shoulders her rucksack and turns around, “Are you coming or not?” Rain scrambles to grab his own bag, and hurries after her. He’s still not entirely sure why this strange, random girl wants to help him out, but this is his one, single chance at having a friend again, and he is NOT about to pass it up. Not if he can help it, anyway.