The Circle (Hammer) - By Elfgren, Sara B.,Strandberg, Mats Page 0,11

her.

‘Promise that nothing will ever happen to you,’ she says, in a low voice.

Gustaf hugs her a little harder and puts his lips to her ear. ‘I promise,’ he says. He kisses her cheek.

Sometimes Rebecka still can’t believe they’re together. Gustaf has always been the most popular boy in school. The one whose name gets scribbled in the margins of girls’ notebooks over and over again in class. Rebecka had been one of those girls, but she’d never thought he’d notice her. She’s never stood out as anything special. It had almost given her a sense of security to be so sure that she would never get Gustaf. Local football star. A year older. Handsome as a Hollywood actor and almost as far out of reach.

But then at the year-nine spring ball, everything had changed. They’d kissed. And a week later, the night after term had ended, they’d kissed again. Rebecka had had two bottles of cider and was just drunk enough to have the courage to ask, ‘Are we together now?’

‘Of course we are!’ he’d answered, and flashed his wonderful smile. ‘Of course we are!’

Over the summer, her life had changed completely. Everyone knows who Rebecka is now. But, above all, she has changed. It almost scares her, how dependent she’s become on Gustaf. He’s so beautiful. She never tires of looking at or kissing him.

She is more torn over having become ‘someone’. She feels as if the rug could be pulled out from under her at any moment. She can see it so clearly in front of her – how one day everyone will realise that she’s not particularly smart, funny or pretty. More than anything, she’s afraid of the day Gustaf realises that.

A collective gasp runs through the throng of students as the school doors open and the paramedics emerge, carrying a covered stretcher. As they move towards the ambulance, the crowd closes in behind them. Students crane their necks, trying to catch a glimpse of the person lying under the sheet. The paramedics lift the stretcher inside and close the doors. Then they walk calmly to the front of the ambulance and climb in. The sirens whine. Presumably to clear people out of the way, Rebecka guesses. There’s no reason to hurry when you’re transporting a body.

‘It’s him,’ says a panting voice.

Ida Holmström is with her constant shadows, Julia and Felicia. Together they form a blonde version of Huey, Dewey and Louie.

‘It’s Elias Malmgren,’ Ida continues.

‘How do you know?’ asks Gustaf.

‘We heard some teachers talking,’ Julia says.

Ida gives her a murderous look, clearly upset at being interrupted. This is her moment. She looks at Gustaf with puppy dog eyes. ‘Sad, isn’t it?’

Before Rebecka and Gustaf got together, Ida treated her like she didn’t exist. The day after term ended she had called and asked Rebecka if she wanted to go swimming in Dammsjön Lake. As if they had been friends for ever. Although Rebecka realised the absurdity of the situation, she didn’t dare refuse – because she’s terrified of Ida.

‘I don’t understand how anyone can just kill themselves,’ Felicia mumbles.

Ida nods. ‘It’s so incredibly selfish. I mean, like, think of his parents.’

‘He must have been depressed,’ Rebecka says, feeling an instant urge to smack herself for sounding so wimpy.

‘Of course he was depressed,’ Ida says. ‘But everyone’s got problems. It doesn’t mean you have to kill yourself. If everyone felt that sorry for themselves, there wouldn’t be anyone left.’

‘I think he was gay,’ Felicia says.

‘Yeah – I read they often commit suicide,’ Julia adds.

‘He was being bullied, for fuck’s sake,’ Gustaf cuts in.

Ida meets his gaze and flashes her most charming smile. ‘I know, G …’

Rebecka struggles to suppress a grimace. ‘G’ is a nickname Ida came up with. No one else uses it.

‘… but seriously,’ she continues, ‘nobody was forcing Elias to dress like that and wear makeup to school.’ Julia and Felicia nod as Ida continues, encouraged by their support. ‘I mean, he could have made more of an effort to fit in and act more normally. I’m not saying it was his fault he was bullied, but he didn’t do much to stop it either.’

Rebecka stares at Ida, whose expression seems full of anticipation as she looks at Gustaf.

‘Jesus Christ, Ida,’ he says. ‘Don’t you ever get tired of being a bitch all the time? Take a day off once in a while.’

Ida flutters her eyelashes. Then she lets out a forced laugh. ‘God, you’re so funny, G.’ She says and turns to