Page 55 of Cruel Shame

“M-maybe he was,” Elizabeth said.

My shoulders slumped. “Now the stupid cow’s gone on the offensive.”

“What do you want E-liar-beth?” shouted Maeve from the other side of the room.

The younger students burst into giggles. I reached across the table and picked up a piece of garlic bread. Name-calling wouldn’t work on someone who had jumped down the rabbit hole of insanity and downed four bottles of liquid psychosis. I crunched the warm, buttery bread between my teeth, waiting for her to finish her announcement and bugger off.

At last, she spoke. “When I associated with Myra Highmore’s slimming business—”

“Your business, you mean.” Maeve stalked across the room with a gang of girls at her back. “Myra had nothing to do with it. We paid you for the capsules, and we know you supplied those boys with the magic ingredient for the curry.”

“You’re mistaken.” Elizabeth’s voice rose to a squeak. “Myra made them.”

I leaned across and whispered to Maxwell, “You said she regretted all the trouble she caused Myra.”

“All the trouble Lady Liddell caused Myra,” he whispered back. “Myra’s followed her around since the first year, but Elizabeth never made a move on her because… You’ve seen her. The only reason they were together was because Myra made herself so available.”

I picked up my water glass and took a long sip, washing away the taste of garlic and herbs. Myra was probably lying on a thin mattress, wondering how her life came to facing jail for attempted murder.

The girls formed a tight circle around Elizabeth, driving her out of the dining room. Up on the head table, Mrs. Campbell raised her chin, her face etched with a look of naked hatred. When Maeve and the others returned, they closed the double doors and returned to their table to a round of cheers.

* * *

Elizabeth must have called home crying because the next morning at breakfast because Lady Liddell sat in Mr. Burgh’s place, looking like a blow-up baboon with her over-inflated red lips. With her surveying the quiet dining hall, nobody dared to start shit with Elizabeth. Elizabeth sat alone close to the head table and ordered every item on the menu.

The servers shot her disapproving looks, especially since she kept distracting them from handing out dishes to the other students, but nobody dared speak up.

I shook my head, hoping we could get this plan together. The night before, Mr. Burgh and I had swabbed the insides of our cheeks with cotton buds, placed them in paper envelopes with our initials, and into another envelope addressed to his solicitor. Even if Mother refused to help us, he had a plan in place to sue the Liddells for harassment and libel.

As Gideon was explaining to the table how his father got to travel around with the oil company, Lady Liddell appeared at my side, filling my nostrils with a sharp, floral perfume.

“Miss Hancock?” she said. “Please join us immediately for an emergency hearing with the Board of Governors.”

My stomach dropped. I raised my head to meet her gaze, but the woman was already halfway to the head table.

“What’s happening?” asked Orlando.

“Remember I told you about the text I got from the academy yesterday morning?”

He frowned. “The one about the indefinite leave?”

I nodded. “It looks like she wants me to spout a stream of bullshit to keep my place at the academy.”

Kendrick’s lips tightened. “An ambush.”

“Depending who’s there, we might be able to take advantage of it.” Maxwell pulled out his smartphone and tapped a few buttons. “This model has a better microphone than yours. Even if you slip it into your pocket, the audio is crystal clear. I have no idea what they’ll say, but you’ve got to be prepared with these bastards, right?”

I glanced at Gideon, who gave me an approving nod.

“Thanks,” I whispered.

Walking to the conference room was like walking to my own funeral and knowing that immediately afterward, I’d be dispatched to the pits of hell. Maxwell and Orlando flanked me on the left and right, their large bodies providing me with the strength I needed to put one step in front of the other.

This would be an inquisition. Lady Liddell had probably already prepared a bunch of rubbish that proved Mr. Burgh was unfit to be the headmaster, and no one would give a shit that her daughter introduced drugs to the school or she supplied a girl with a gun.

Rapid footsteps followed us down the hallway. I turned to find Mrs. Campbell hurrying after us. We paused, allowing her to catch up, and she offered Maxwell and Orlando tired smiles.

“Go to class, boys.” Even though she pulled back her shoulders to straighten her posture, the strain of recent events showed in her eyes. “I will escort Miss Hancock to her hearing.”