Princess at Silver Spires (9 page)

“Well, no…but I hated it!” I quickly reminded them all.

“I know what you mean, Naomi,” said Mia. “I'd have hated it.”

I felt grateful to Mia, but her little comment did nothing to stop my heart hammering as I started to build up to my big confession. “And Elise was really showing off about me and – you'll never guess – she actually admitted she'd only chosen me because I'm a princess and she thought that would make her win!” My voice sounded strange and high, even to me.

“That must have been horrible to hear,” said Mia quietly.

The others all nodded gravely, but I'd really been hoping they might go mad and say it was an unforgivable thing that Elise had done, and maybe one of them might even say I ought to quit.

But nobody spoke, so I carried on in my squeaky voice. “And guess what else, Kates, she even lied about the silver slides in my hair. I heard her telling her friends I was going to be wearing a tiara!”

There was another small silence and I looked at their wondering faces, feeling my confidence dissolving.

“Well she definitely shouldn't have been so deceitful about the tiara,” said Katy, wearing a big frown.

“That was bang out of order!” Georgie agreed.

Yes, keep going…

“But then she probably guessed you'd hate the idea of wearing it,” Katy went on.

“At the end of the day it's only a fashion accessory though, isn't it?” said Georgie. “It doesn't mean anything, Naomi, honestly.”

My confidence took a plunge then, because although everyone agreed Elise had behaved badly, nobody thought it was
that
bad. And what Katy said next made me really panic at the thought of having to make my admission.

“The other stuff Elise said is ridiculous, though! I mean, she'd never win just because one of her models is a princess! The judges are grown-ups, aren't they? They'll only be interested in the designs. They won't even know you're a princess. Who
are
the judges anyway?”

“I…I don't know actually.” I felt the last grains of confidence slipping through my fingers. Katy had said something amazingly obvious and incredibly true. And what I had to say next was going to sound so pathetic. It had to be said though.

“Anyway, you know how I can't bear people liking me for what I am and not for what I'm like…”

Georgie sat up straight as she took a slow breath and her eyes filled with suspicion. “What…have…you…done…Naomi?”

“I…I…told Elise I wasn't going to be in the show.” I looked down and braced myself.

“Not going to be in it!” squeaked Georgie. “What? The whole show? You've said you're not going to be a model, you mean?”

I nodded helplessly.

“You're mad!” Georgie pursed her lips in disapproval and slumped her shoulders dramatically.

Katy shook her head slowly, as if she was imagining the scene. “Whoa! Elise must have gone ballistic!” Then her eyes flickered and she spoke hesitantly. “Don't you think…you're kind of…committed, after all this time?”

Mia looked down and I guessed she agreed with that.

“Elise isn't exactly…happy,” I stammered. “But…I'm sorry, I have to stick to my principles.” I sighed and repeated, “Sorry,” with a crack in my voice.

“Poor old Naomi,” said Mia. “You have to follow your feelings, though.”

That little comment of Mia's gave me the tiniest ray of hope that my friends would understand why I'd done what I'd done.

Katy frowned. “Yes, you're right, Mia,” she said, nodding. A little sigh of disappointment escaped her and I knew she'd be thinking about how she was going to miss the textiles room.

I put on my most positive tone as a small shred of confidence came back to me. “You could still go along to the textiles room.”

“I might feel a bit spare,” said Katy. She had been staring thoughtfully at the table, but she suddenly sat up straight and smiled brightly. “Don't worry about me, though. The important thing is that you've done the right thing, Naomi. You've stuck to your principles.”

Mia nodded.

I looked at Georgie. Somehow I needed all my friends to approve of what I'd done, because that might help to take away some of the guilt and embarrassment I was still feeling.

Georgie wrinkled her nose. “I don't expect Elise'll have any trouble finding someone else, so…don't worry about it, Naomi.”

I was so relieved I wanted to cry. There were only Grace and Jess left to tell now, and they weren't half so absorbed in the fashion show as the other three.

Katy took her arm away but gave me a lovely smile. “Your food's getting cold. It's delish by the way!”

I realized I was starving, and was about to tuck in when I happened to glance up and see Elise marching across the dining hall in my direction. My fork dropped to my plate with a clatter and the hand holding my knife trembled. What had happened today wasn't going to go away in a hurry.

If ever.

My stomach felt knotted, especially as Katy and the other two had definitely spotted Elise, and it was clear that she was on her way over to me. The weird thing was that as she got nearer her face began to change, and by the time she'd reached our table she was wreathed in smiles.

“Naomi, hi,” she began, squashing herself on the bench between me and Katy. “Listen, sorry about earlier. I've been thinking about how you must feel and I just wanted to kind of reassure you that there's nothing to worry about. I mean, I realize you hate all the princess talk and I promise you, from now on, the ‘P' word is banned! Taboo!” She grinned as she made a gesture slashing the air with the side of her hand.

Now my stomach felt even more knotted, because it was obvious Elise was here to persuade me to change my mind about the show, and I didn't know what to do. I so badly wanted to do the right thing, but I needed time to think it through properly and I longed to talk to my dad too.

Elise suddenly swivelled round so she was addressing her next words to Katy and the others as well. “Anyway, the main reason I wanted to talk to you is because I never told you about my dad, did I?”

I shook my head, wondering what on earth she could be about to say. And it seemed such a coincidence when I'd only just been thinking about my own dad.

“Well, I deliberately didn't mention this before because I didn't want you to get excited and act any different from usual…” Her eyes were all sparkly, and it wasn't just the glittery eye make-up she was wearing.

I waited silently, but Georgie was too curious to keep quiet.

“So, yeah…what about your dad? Why would Naomi be excited? Is he a talent spotter or something?”

“Well, you've practically hit the nail on the head!” said Elise, looking mysterious. “My dad is very big in Topshop. He goes round to lots of fashion shows – I mean seriously important ones, all over the country, and abroad too. And every so often he spots someone who he just knows is going to hit the big time and be a supermodel…” Elise paused, as though to let her words sink in. Georgie sat up straight, looking totally impressed, and I felt myself shrinking in my seat. “Anyway, the thing is,” went on Elise, fixing me with a serious but excited look, “I told him about you…” She seemed to freeze for a moment. Maybe she saw the panic all over my face. “I mean, I didn't tell him you were a princess… No way!” She started to gesture with her hands, and her voice grew louder. “I told him how you're a natural on the catwalk and everything, and he wants to take a look at you at the fashion show, because, get this…” I felt a heaviness settling in my stomach where all the knots had been just a few moments before. “…He thinks you could be the second Naomi Campbell!”

“Naomi Campbell!” screeched Georgie. “She's the biggest supermodel of all time, isn't she?”

If Elise was hoping this would persuade me to come back into the fashion show, she couldn't have said anything worse. Mia and Katy were both looking at me anxiously. They knew me well. Even Georgie was biting her lip now.

“I'm sorry,” I began quietly. “I should never have said yes to you in the first place. It's all my fault, but I was so happy about the money going to Just Water that I got a bit carried away. The thing is, I hate the limelight…”

The twinkle had completely left Elise's eyes and I saw her lips going into a thin line. “So that's it, is it?”

I nodded.

“Right.” She stood up quickly and flung me a horrible look. “Thanks for wasting my time.”

“Sorry.”

“Sorry isn't good enough. I'll make sure you
are
sorry, Naomi Okanta! I've bent over backwards for you, getting Miss Owen to choose your precious Just Water. Other students put forward suggestions too, you know. Well, maybe she'll swap to one of those, so that it's at least a charity chosen by someone actually taking part.” Elise's voice was growing more and more sarcastic and mocking. “She's not going to be too impressed when I tell her that Miss Pritchard's little prodigy has decided she doesn't want to join in after all!”

I felt myself cringing from the mean look in her eyes before she turned and stomped off. A few seconds later her words sank in fully.

“Oh no!” I said in a panic. “What if she does manage to get Miss Owen to change her mind about Just Water?”

“She won't!” said Katy. “It's on all the posters, remember?”

She was right. Posters advertising the event had gone up on lots of the school noticeboards.

“Yes, but you saw how angry she was. And Miss Owen will probably be really cross with me too.”

Georgie gave me an apologetic look. “Are you sure you've made the right decision, Naomi?”

Despite everything, it was easy to answer her, especially now I'd really seen Elise's true colours. “Yes. I just made the decision too late.”

My one huge worry was the threat to Just Water, though, and I knew I must go and see Miss Owen as soon as possible. But first I had to see my housemistress, Miss Carol. I wanted to explain my side of the story before she heard it from someone else. But I needed her help too. Houseparents are the closest thing to real parents that we students have got at Silver Spires, and I was desperately hoping that Miss Carol would understand and support my decision.

When I told Katy where I was going, she immediately offered to come with me.

“I'll be okay thanks, Kates,” I said. “See you in prep.”

All the way to Hazeldean I planned what to say to Miss Carol, but the more I searched for the right words, the more worried I felt. How was I ever going to make her see why I'd pulled out of the fashion show at this late stage?

I knocked on the door of her flat, which is on the ground floor at Hazeldean, and prayed that she'd be in. It was really important to tell my side of the story before she got to hear about what had happened from Miss Owen.

“Come in.”

She was working on her computer.

“I'm sorry to disturb you…”

“That's all right, Naomi.” She smiled, taking her glasses off and moving over to sit in an armchair. “Come and take a seat. What can I do for you?”

My heart was racing as I sank into her lovely cosy settee. If only I was here to curl up and watch telly, instead of having to explain the impossible.

“You know the fashion show?” I began quietly.

“Uh-huh.” Miss Carol's face didn't show any sign of suspicion that I was about to break some bad news.

“Well…” I only paused for a second, then it all came tumbling out. “I've told Elise I can't be her model… You see, she was boasting today that she only picked me because I'm a princess and that was sure to make her the winner. She was talking about the tiara I've got to wear, which she'd never mentioned before. She didn't know I was listening, you see. She thought I'd gone out. But I hadn't, and I got upset and said I wanted to quit. And I know I've let her down, but I just didn't think she'd been honest with me. Only now I'm really worried, because she's furious and says she's going to get Miss Owen to change the charity to a different one, and I don't want Just Water to lose out.”

Finally I stopped. Miss Carol's face was very still and grave. She didn't speak at first, and it was tempting to cram a few more words in, but I knew I'd said enough – probably too much in fact – and I had to keep quiet and wait.

“Hmmm,” she finally said. “Difficult one.”

I nodded. “I'm really sorry, only—”

“You had the first rehearsal today, didn't you?”

“Yes.”

“And how did it go apart from what Elise said?”

“It was okay…” I was beginning to get that same uncomfortable feeling I'd had when I'd started to tell Katy and the others at supper.

“So you managed the catwalk all right?”

I nodded.