Secrets at St Jude's: New Girl Read Online Free Page A

you heard what you heard. It’s just that the three of us have known each other for ever. We weren’t really wanting to share with anyone else.’
    ‘Oh,’ was the best Gina could offer, followed by,
    ‘I don’t really want to share with you .’
    ‘Well . . . at least that’s honest. This is Min, by the way’ – Big Nose pointed to the Asian girl, who gave a slight smile – ‘our superbabe, Amy’ – this was directed at the sophisticate, who just twitched an eyebrow –
    ‘and I’m Niffy.’
    ‘Niffy?’ Gina repeated.
    ‘Her real name’s Luella and she’s always said it stinks,’ Min explained.
    ‘So, you must be Gina, the Yank?’ Niffy asked.
    ‘Yes,’ Gina replied simply. The Yank?! She decided on the spot that if they weren’t going to be friendly, 25
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    then neither was she. She didn’t need these dorky girls. She would just keep her head down and try and get out of this terrible place as soon as possible.
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    Chapter Three
    ‘That’s your bed over there, by the way. And your chest of drawers,’ instructed the girl who went by the ridiculous name of Niffy.
    She pointed to a narrow iron bed covered with a pink towelling bedspread. When Gina pulled the bedspread back, she saw pink woollen blankets and white sheets pulled criminally tight round a thin mattress.
    ‘If you fly to school, you can’t bring a duvet, so you get blankets. It’s grim.’ This came from Min, who gestured at her similarly made-up bed. She had an unexpected accent; it took Gina a moment or two to place it: South African, maybe? A South African Asian girl?
    ‘Just buy yourself a duvet, Min! I can’t believe you’ve been coming here for two years and you still haven’t bought yourself a duvet! They’re cheap as chips.’ Amy’s voice was unmistakably Scottish. ‘I’ll buy 27
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    you one. Meet me in Debenhams at the weekend.’
    ‘OK, Miss Moneybags!’ Niffy teased. ‘We don’t all have your dad paying our allowance every month!’
    ‘Your dad still too busy trying to keep the leaky ancestral roof above his head, is he?’ Amy shot back.
    ‘What I want to know,’ Niffy went on, ignoring the dig, ‘is why Gina’s been sent to us all the way from California?’ She cupped her face in her hands and looked ready to listen. ‘Boy trouble?’ she prompted.
    ‘Not doing well at school? Pushy mother? Or all of the above?’
    ‘Well . . . ummm . . .’ Gina was not ready to give anything away. She pulled her bags to a standstill in front of the rickety little chest of drawers and wondered how on earth she was going to fit everything she’d brought with her into this old-fashioned bit of junk. One of the drawers was half open and inside she saw several items, brand new, still in their wrappers.
    She pulled out the first one: a folded cardigan, the most revolting shade of sludge green. Then came a white shirt and a grey skirt. There were socks in there too – green, scratchy woollen socks – and other things she didn’t even want to investigate just yet.
    ‘The Neb’s been shopping for you. That’s a very bad thing,’ Niffy informed her.
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    The Neb? Did Niffy Big Nose mean Mrs Knebworth?
    ‘Because our housemistress is, let’s be honest, the size of a beached whale, she thinks a fourteen is small.
    Your skirt will be massive,’ said Amy, looking almost pleased at this.
    ‘Just like mine.’ Min held up a grey sack with box pleats which looked big enough to provide temporary shelter for a whole family. ‘Don’t worry, I’ve got safety pins.’
    ‘OK, unpack, Gina, fair enough, but at least give us a clue as to why you’re here,’ Niffy urged. ‘Then we’ll show you round before supper.’
    ‘Well . . .’ Gina wondered what the shortest way out of this