Read Say Her Name for Free Online Page B

sky.
    Bobbie saw spots of blood on her scarf where Naya must have splashed her. A third spot landed on the grey wool. That was when she realised it was coming from her own nose.
    ‘What the … ?’ She turned to see Caine dabbing at his nose too. A channel of blood ran from his left nostril to his full top lip. Bobbie held her fingers to her nose, but warm, viscous liquid trickled through the gaps.
    ‘Oh my God.’ Grace’s face contorted. ‘Have you been sniffing something? What did you take?’
    ‘Nothing!’ Bobbie cried, raising her already ruined scarf to her nose. The blood seeped into the wool, a fast-growing crimson cloud.
    ‘Oh give over,’ Caine snapped, wiping the blood away with the back of his hand. His didn’t seem quite so bad.
    ‘This is a thing,’ Tom explained. ‘It’s to do with high pressure. A lot of people get nosebleeds when a storm’s on its way.’
    Naya pulled her tissues away and examined the damage. Her face was covered in gore. ‘I think it’s stopping.’
    Bobbie felt her nose and gave an experimental sniff. Hers too seemed to have run dry.
    ‘Do you get nosebleeds too?’ Naya asked.
    ‘Never,’ Bobbie said. ‘I never had one before.’
    ‘Me neither,’ added Caine. ‘Except one time I got hit with a basketball.’
    ‘Are you okay?’ Caitlin looked horrified, holding her knees to her chin and grimacing through mascara-laden lashes.
    ‘I think so,’ Naya replied. ‘Man. Pretty intense.’
    Grace eyed them suspiciously. ‘That’s the freakiest thing I’ve ever seen. I’ve never heard of synchronised bleeding before.’
    ‘I’m telling you, man, it’s the weather.’
    Mark laughed and gave a slow hand clap. ‘Oh I get it. Very funny.’
    ‘What?’ Caine looked to his friend.
    ‘It’s a wind-up, innit? Cos of last night. Mate … you properly had me. How did you do it? Did you squirt the blood up there, or have you got like pellets, like on TV?’
    The penny dropped for Bobbie. The dare. ‘Bloody Mary.’ As she said it, blood ran into her mouth. Nothing else tastes like blood: coppery, oddly expensive-tasting.
    ‘Oh I see.’ Grace pouted. ‘Very funny. Psych.’ She didn’t sound impressed.
    A frown furrowed Caine’s handsome face. ‘Mate, it’s not a joke, I promise.’
    That half knocked the smile off Mark’s face, but his eyes said he was still expecting a raucous ‘GOT YA!’ any second now.
    Bobbie had to admit, it was a pretty big coincidence. If it had been just her and Naya, she wouldn’t have been too concerned, but
three
of them? The same three who’d said that name in front of the mirror. Her eyes suddenly stung.
    She chastised herself; that was what made coincidence a thing – you recognised them because they happened all the time. One time she’d run into her cousin outside Topshop on Oxford Street even though they’d had no idea that each were going to be in London that day. That had been pure coincidence and no one had blamed a ghostly curse.
    Nonetheless, the same mixture of fear, disbelief and smeared blood read on each of their faces – even Grace looked a little spooked. ‘It must have been a sympathy nosebleed.’ Bobbie tried to laugh it off, adopting her chirpiest tone.
    ‘Aw, you’re such a good friend,’ Naya said, trying in vain to clean her face – she looked like one of the flesh-hungry zombies from the books she liked reading. ‘You couldn’t let me have the spotlight, even for a minute, could ya?’ Naya winked, acknowledging the irony.
    ‘Come on.’ Bobbie took her friend’s hand. ‘Let’s go to the tea shop to clean up.’ As they walked away, Bobbie saw the look in Caine’s eyes. His expression was grim – the local boy unable to laugh it off. Saying nothing, he watched them go and Bobbie felt his eyes on her all the way down the path.
    On a Sunday evening, the girls of Piper’s Hall were expected to dress smartly for Sunday roast in the great dining hall, which was also attended by the school