The New Girl Read Online Free Page A

good to laugh again.
    â€œIt takes brains to play football too, you know,” Ollie insisted. “But you don’t hear me going around boring everyone about that, do you?”
    Lila and Polly both raised their eyebrows.
    â€œI seem to remember something earlier today, about a match where you thrashed the other side,” said Lila. “Seven nil, wasn’t it? ‘Of course, it’s a team game, but I scored most of the goals. . .’”
    â€œOK, bad comparison,” Ollie admitted. “But you know what I mean. Josh Taylor’s a pompous idiot.”
    â€œAnd you’re certainly not pompous, Ollie,” said Polly innocently.
    â€œExactly,” said Ollie, failing to pick up on Polly’s sarcasm.
    Polly grinned at Lila. Lila grinned back, sharing the joke. Suddenly she felt like maybe she could survive at Heartside after all.
    Her phone had landed near Ollie’s feet. He picked it up. Like it was happening in slow motion, Lila saw him take in all the texts from Santiago.
    â€œWhoa,” said Ollie. “These are, uh . . . pretty gushy.”
    Lila’s face was burning up all over again. Ollie was going to think she had a permanently red complexion. “My ex,” she said, snatching the phone from his hand.
    Ollie’s expression was a mixture of surprise and curiosity. “How ‘ex’ are we talking?”
    â€œVery.”
    Polly was looking interested now. “Same person who was texting you earlier?”
    Lila prayed that Ollie and Polly would lose interest in this line of conversation, and fast. But there was no chance of that.
    â€œThe guy still sounds pretty keen,” Ollie said.
    â€œWas it someone in London?” Polly asked.
    â€œDo you mind if we don’t talk about this?” Lila begged. “I can’t take much more drama today.”
    Ollie gave a slow smile. Lila had a flashback to the way he had looked when he pinned her against Mr Morrison’s door at the start of her whole disastrous day. It already felt a lifetime ago.
    â€œYou’re a mystery, Lila Murray,” he said. “I like mysteries.”
    â€œAs long as they aren’t too complicated,” Polly quipped. “See you in there, guys.”
    Lila spotted Rhi approaching Eve by the maths classroom door as Ollie handed her the last stray book that had fallen from her bag.
    â€œTime to get out of here,” she muttered. She looped her arm quickly through Ollie’s.
    â€œFine by me,” he said, looking pleased.
    As she towed him into the classroom, Lila risked a glance at Eve and Rhi. Eve’s face was thunderous at the sight of Ollie and Lila arm in arm.
    Suddenly, Rhi frowned at her in sudden recognition. Leaning towards Eve, Rhi whispered something in her best friend’s ear. Lila swallowed. Now Rhi had figured out who Lila was, what kind of ammunition was she giving Eve to use against her? She had plenty, Lila knew that much. She wasn’t proud of the way she had treated Rhi. She’d been a different person back then. But how could Rhi know that?
    Leaving the past behind was going to be much harder than she’d thought. When would the shadow of Lil go away? And with the way she’d just flaunted Ollie in front of Eve, she hadn’t exactly done herself any favours.

FIVE
    As the bell finally went for the end of the day, Lila struggled to pack away her books, get out of her seat and leave the IT suite. She dragged her feet down the corridor, hoping she wouldn’t bump into Eve or Rhi on her way out.
    At lunch she had sat with Polly. Although she smiled at the kids she recognized from her morning classes, everyone scurried past the table without even acknowledging her. She guessed Eve had made her feelings clear to the entire year. She could practically hear the Ice Queen’s drawling voice in her head, warning everyone off the new girl. Only halfway through day one, and she was already a pariah.