Midnight Read online

  I fell in love with her instantly.

  Dear C.D.,

  I keep thinking about that blonde woman who accepted your prize.

  I know you like blonde women. Nearly all the fairies and nymphs and dryads in your books are blonde, from moonbeam white to tawny yellow. I so love your picture of the Violet Fairy, but she is blonde too. I’ve always longed for you to create a fairy creature with long dark hair, black as midnight.

  But I do understand. Blonde hair is so beautiful.

  With love from

  Violet

  XXX

  From Magical Creatures by Casper Dream

  The Enchantress

  A sorceress; a woman versed in magical arts; a woman

  whose beauty exerts irresistible influence.

  Five

  WE ALL STARED at this exotic new girl. She was like a lovebird amongst a flock of sparrows.

  ‘What does she look like!’ Marnie whispered to Terry.

  ‘Who does she think she is?’ Terry whispered back.

  Mrs Mason was taken aback too. She narrowed her eyes as she looked at the girl, wincing slightly as if in pain.

  ‘I know there’s not much point you getting school uniform as you’re only here a few weeks, but maybe you could wear something more suitable for school tomorrow?’ she said.

  ‘Sure,’ said the girl, smiling.

  ‘Only here for a few weeks? I bet she’s a gypsy,’ said Terry, so loudly that the girl looked over to our front row.

  ‘Shut up,’ I hissed, blushing. ‘She’s too fair to be a real Romany gypsy – and anyone else you call a traveller.’

  ‘I’ll call her whatever I want, Miss Bossyboots,’ said Terry.

  ‘Right, girls,’ said Mrs Mason. ‘I’d like to introduce you all to Jasmine.’

  ‘Jasmine,’ I whispered. It was the perfect name for her.

  ‘Where are you going to sit?’ said Mrs Mason, glancing round the room.

  ‘I’ll sit here,’ said Jasmine pleasantly, and she walked over to my desk and sat down in the empty seat beside me.

  Mrs Mason frowned. She hadn’t meant that Jasmine should choose for herself, but there wasn’t much she could do about it. The only other spare seat was right at the back. Jasmine sat herself down with a swish of her purple skirt and a clink of her bangles. She smelled appropriately enough of jasmine scent, sweet and strange. She smiled at me. She had the most beautiful big blue eyes, outlined with kohl so they looked even larger.

  ‘Hi,’ she said. ‘What’s your name?’

  I swallowed, my throat nearly too dry to talk. ‘Violet,’ I whispered.

  Jasmine laughed. ‘You’re kidding! Well, us flower girls had better stick together.’

  ‘Shh, Jasmine!’ said Mrs Mason. ‘You’re not supposed to natter in class. You’re only meant to talk when you’re answering a question, and then you must put up your hand.’

  Jasmine said nothing, but she raised her eyebrows expressively.

  ‘And I don’t care for dumb insolence,’ said Mrs Mason, going pink.

  Jasmine blinked at her, looking innocently wounded, but when Mrs Mason started calling the register Jasmine muttered, ‘Daft old bat.’

  She had a beautiful red notebook studded with beads. She opened it and started drawing a startlingly accurate cartoon figure of Mrs Mason, adding vampire fangs and outspread bat wings.

  I looked on in utter delight. She saw me staring and smiled. Mrs Mason started giving us back our English homework. Jasmine peered over my shoulder to see what mark I’d got. I was pleased that I’d got an A–. English was my best subject – well, the only subject I was any good at, apart from art and needlework. I’d tried especially hard analysing Mercutio’s Queen Mab speech because it was about fairies.

  Jasmine was reading what I’d written. I was suddenly scared she’d think me a sad swot.

  ‘Romeo and Juliet?’ she said.

  I tried to raise my eyebrows the way she’d done. ‘We had to comment on any Shakespeare passage. Boring!’ I whispered, though I actually loved Shakespeare.

  ‘Yeah, triple-boring,’ she said. ‘Though I don’t mind the death-bed scene.’ She started muttering Juliet’s last speech. She did it beautifully, looking utterly stricken, as if she was truly heart-broken. Her eyes even filled with tears.

  I stared at her. She blinked and then grinned.

  ‘What?’ she said.

  ‘You know what! You did that like a real actor.’

  ‘I am a real actor,’ she said. ‘So are my mum and dad. Miranda Cape and Jonathan Day.’

  She said the names as if they were household words. I hadn’t heard of either of them but I didn’t like to admit this. I nodded, trying to appear impressed.

  ‘You haven’t got a clue who they are, have you?’ said Jasmine.

  ‘Well . . . Are they on television?’

  ‘No! Well, Miranda was in EastEnders ages ago, and Jonathan’s been several different telly cops in his time, and a few criminals too. But they’re basically stage actors. They’ve both got big parts at the moment. Miranda’s touring in a Noël Coward and Jonathan’s about to open in San Francisco.’ She saw my face. ‘The musical, stupid, not the place.’

  I didn’t like her calling me stupid – even though she made me feel stupid. She talked very fast but softly, so that Mrs Mason couldn’t hear. I couldn’t hear properly either. It was difficult to concentrate anyway. I breathed in her strong scent and stared at her palely perfect face, her deep blue eyes, her long blonde hair. I wondered if I’d have her airy confidence if I looked like her. But maybe she could feel a little bit anxious sometimes too. I saw her nails were bitten right down to the quick. She sawme staring at her tiny chewed nails and quickly balled her hands into fists.

  I didn’t know what to do when the bell went for morning break. I wanted to stay with Jasmine but I didn’t want her to feel she was lumbered with me all the time. Maybe she was dying to make friends with some of the other girls. She didn’t belong with me. She could be friends with anyone – Alicia, Gemma, Aisling, Lucy, all the pretty cool clever girls with designer clothes and boyfriends.

  Marnie and Terry were hovering, their eyes bright with malice. I knew they were all set to have a mammoth bitch about Jasmine.

  ‘Come on, Vi,’ Marnie called.

  ‘Over here,’ said Terry, beckoning impatiently.

  ‘Oh,’ said Jasmine. She looked at me. ‘Are they your friends?’

  ‘Yes. Well, not really.’ I hesitated. ‘I haven’t got a real friend,’ I blurted out.

  She didn’t laugh at me or look at me pityingly. She gave me this big beautiful smile.

  ‘Can’t we be friends?’ she said.

  I was so thrilled I started blushing like a fool. I had to hide my red face behind my desk lid.

  ‘Violet!’ Marnie yelled.

  ‘You two go on ahead,’ I shouted. ‘I’m going to show Jasmine round.’

  I walked her around the school, showing her everything I could think of, the cloakrooms, the art room, the PE changing rooms, the science block, and each and every classroom. She tried to concentrate at first but as we went along corridors and up and down each staircase she shook her head.

  ‘It’s no use. It’s a complete maze. I’ll never remember it. I get all these schools mixed up.’

  ‘So do you keep going to different schools?’ I thought about my first day at Ashstead High. I’d felt sick with nerves all day, even though it was Will’s school and he’d told me all about it. He did look out for me at lunch time that first day but I wouldn’t go with him to the canteen because I was too scared to eat.

  ‘Don’t you mind?’ I asked Jasmine.

  She shrugged. ‘You get used to being the New Girl. And I don’t really get fussed about fitting in.’ She looked down at her clothes. ‘As is obvious!’

  ‘Are you going to wear clothes like that tomorrow?’

  ‘No, I’ve got an ordinary old outfit, a grey top and a green skirt. I wear that as a kind of scho