Veiled Dreams Read Online Free Page A

there!’ demanded a voice. ‘What on earth doyou two think you’re doing?’
    Christina looked up to see Mr Reynolds the headteacher, standing in the doorway. Behind him looking quite stern was the relief teacher who sometimes took classes when other teachers were absent. Pity he hadn’t turned up earlier. Then none of this would have happened.
    Christina felt another pain in her ankle. She looked down and saw that it was bleeding. Susanne’s mouth was open in a wide grin and her teeth were covered in blood.
    ‘Bitch! Slut!’ shouted Christina. ‘What do you think you are, a bloody vampire?’
    ‘Whimp! Toffy-tart!’ retorted Susanne.
    ‘Enough!’ yelled Mr Reynolds. ‘My office, now, both of you.’
    Christina fidgeted in her seat. It was hot here in the head’s office. The sun was shining right into her eyes, giving her a headache. She wished they would get this over with.
    ‘We will not tolerate fighting at this school,’ said Mr Reynolds. ‘There is no room for people who behave like that.’
    Her dad gave her that look, which always made her want to cry. She hated letting him down. She hated disappointing him, and Mum looked as if she was about to cry.
    ‘However,’ Mr Reynolds continued. ‘As this is a first offence, we shall allow her to stay here. But she will have a detention every night after school for a month. We have expelled the other girl involved as this was the latest in a long line of misdemeanours.’
    Mr Reynolds turned to Christina. ‘I am so disappointed in you, Christina,’ he said. ‘You have been such an excellent student up until now. Let’s get these detentions done, and put this behind you. Can you do that?’
    ‘Yes,’ mumbled Christina. She supposed she could. Nothing really mattered anymore, now that she had lost Jan.
    Her mother was staring at her. She had a look on her face aswell. Hers said,
See what getting involved with older boys does for you
.
    ‘Thank you,’ said Mr Grant, standing up and shaking Mr Reynolds’s hand.’ Thank you for being so understanding.’ He looked at Christina. There seemed to be a question in his eyes.
    Christina had to bite her lip hard to stop the tears coming. There was a huge lump in her throat, which stopped her swallowing. ‘I’m really sorry,’ she managed to whisper to no one in particular as she followed her parents out of the room.

Chapter Five
The White-tiled Room
    Christina watched the bus turned round and make its way down the opposite side of the road. She could see Paul’s red jacket. He was sitting about halfway down the bus. He was just staring out through the window. She waved frantically. Neither Paul nor the bus-driver saw her.
    ‘You absolute toerag. Typical!’ she muttered.
    She had told her Paul that she would be late, as she had a detention, but that she would still be in time for the second school bus. There were always plenty of seats on the second, and they didn’t mind the locals using up the extras. Now there wouldn’t be a service bus for another fifteen minutes and by then she wouldn’t be able to use her school bus pass, as the rush hour would have begun. She didn’t want to use her own money, because she wanted to go and raid Pandora’s Potions. Why did she have to have a younger brother? They really were no use. He could have asked the driver to wait. Oh shit! She would just have to walk.
    She picked up her bag. It weighed a ton – all those IB textbooks. That was another thing, she had plenty of studying to do. The exams were only a few weeks away. She really didn’t have time for this, but she must go to Pandora’s Potions. There was nothing for it but to walk. Perhaps Mum would be in when she got back and could lend her the tram fare. She could pop up to Kalverstraat quickly and be back for a long evening of study.
    As if it wasn’t depressing enough, being stuck here in Buitenveldert. She loved Amsterdam, but not this particular part. It was a concrete jungle with the little boxy