Say Her Name Read Online Free PDF Page B

guys from last night. They seemed fun, right?’
    As the image of Caine’s face ran through Bobbie’s mind, her cheeks became so hot, she knew they must have blushed a deep crimson shade. ‘Yeah, they seemed nice.’
    Naya seized on her red face. ‘Roberta Rowe! Do you have a little crush? You wanton tramp! Which one?’
    Bobbie couldn’t look her in the eye and lie. ‘No! You know what I’m like.’
    ‘Babydoll, we gotta do something about your boy issues or people will start to think you’re same-sex oriented, which, by the way, is fine. I totally support your life choices. Speaking of which … ’
    At that moment, Sadie Walsh entered the dining hall, a pale imitation of her usual outdoorsy self. ‘Sadie isn’t a lesbian.’ Bobbie had no idea why she was defending her.
    ‘She is! I’m not judging, but everyone says she has an internet girlfriend in New Zealand!’
    Bobbie rolled her eyes. ‘Well then, it
must
be true!’
    Sadie, dark shadows circling her eyes, shuffled to the servery and took a meagre breakfast before walking towards them, zombie-like.
    ‘Girlfriend is looking busted,’ Naya whispered. ‘You think she’s sick?’
    ‘Ssh! She’s coming!’
    Sadie flopped her tray onto their table. ‘Can I sit here? I don’t have the energy for The Elites today,’ she said listlessly.
    ‘Sure,’ Naya said.
    ‘Are you okay, Sadie? You look a bit peaky.’
    Sadie looked for a moment like she was going to bite her head off, but clearly lacked the energy. ‘I’m not sleeping very well.’
    ‘What’s up?’
    ‘Weird dreams.’
    ‘Can you remember them? My mom says all dreams have a meaning,’ Naya offered.
    ‘Yeah, but isn’t your mum a Scientologist?’ Bobbie couldn’t resist.
    ‘Thanks, Bob.’
    ‘No, I can’t remember, but the last two nights I’ve woken up in like a fever, covered in sweat. Maybe I’m getting flu or something.’
    ‘Must have been quite a nightmare … or maybe it’s one of
those
dreams. About anyone in particular, Sadie?’ Naya grinned salaciously.
    ‘Ha ha, very funny. I don’t know. And there’s a leaky pipe somewhere near our dorm – it’s been dripping for days now. It’s completely doing my head in.’ She pushed her soggy cereal away. ‘I’m not even hungry, and I’m always hungry.’
    ‘Look.’ Bobbie cleared the bowl onto her tray. ‘Why don’t you go back to bed? It’s Sunday.’
    ‘I can’t. I coach under-16s hockey, duh.’
    ‘Don’t take it out on her,’ Naya snarled.
    Bobbie lifted the tray, ready to clear it. It was way too early for a Naya bitch-off. ‘I’m going to get ready. Come and get me when you want to head into town.’
    Naya backed down at once. ‘I’ll come with you now.’
    Excellent, catfight avoided. As they walked towards the exit, Bobbie chanced a look over her shoulder. Sadie really did look gaunt and grey, and the writer in Bobbie couldn’t help but think of the word ‘haunted’.
    A single-decker bus rolled through the windswept, lonely moorland that backed Piper’s Hall. The sky and road were matching shades of melancholy grey and the air was ripe with the petrolic whiff that follows a thunderstorm. Today a mist lingered over the moors, part fog, part drizzle.
    The bus itself was roasting hot from those foot-level heaters that feel like ankle hairdryers. Bobbie wondered if there was steam coming off her soggy duffel coat as every window fogged up. She and Naya shared one iPod, the headphones hanging between their heads like a telephone cable. They skipped duds and repeated favourites all the way into town in companionable quiet.
    On arrival at Oxsley, they headed straight for the library and Naya hoodwinked the librarian into thinking they were eighteen so they could borrow
Psycho Killer
,
Rage
and
Hatchling 3: The Spawn
. There was a tea shop in Oxsley, but it was a proper tea shop with scones and Earl Grey rather than venti mocha fraps so there was little else for them to do other than enjoy the