The Circle (Hammer) - By Elfgren, Sara B.,Strandberg, Mats Page 0,134
An adult in the eyes of society. A year is nothing, he’d said. He’s prepared to wait.
It’s almost unbearable to have to see him every day now that she knows he loves her, too. One fine day she won’t be able to stop herself running up to his desk and kissing him in front of everyone. It’s just as well he’s leaving by the summer.
Minoo follows the flow of students out into the stairwell. She’s checked Gustaf’s schedule. They have lunch at the same time. Should she speak to him when she sees him in the cafeteria? Or should she wait until after school?
She’s managed to avoid him ever since that afternoon by the viaduct. He’s tried to approach her a few times at school, but she’s always slipped away. Now she’s been racking her brains for what she should say to him, but she decides it’s impossible to plan a conversation. She’ll have to improvise.
When she reaches the ground floor and turns down the corridor leading to the cafeteria, she spots Linnéa.
She’s standing with her back to a row of lockers. Erik Forslund and Robin Zetterqvist are in front of her. When Linnéa tries to leave, Erik’s hand flies out and hits the locker next to her with a bang. She’s trapped.
The other students pretend not to notice as they walk past. No one seems to remember any more Erik wetting himself in the playground or Robin begging for crumbs from Anna-Karin’s table. They’re back on top.
Minoo adjusts her backpack and moves closer.
‘How much do you want, then?’ she hears Erik ask.
‘Get out of my way,’ Linnéa says, and tries to shove him aside.
‘Or maybe you’ve started doing it for free now.’
Suddenly Minoo is afraid. Everyone else has disappeared into the cafeteria. She moves closer, tries to get her footsteps to sound resolute.
‘Answer me!’ Robin says.
‘Leave her alone!’ Minoo shouts.
The words echo in the deserted corridor. Erik turns and looks at Minoo in disdain.
‘I didn’t know you had a girlfriend,’ Robin says to Linnéa.
‘What – are you jealous?’ Linnéa says. ‘You know you’ll never get to see a pussy in real life.’ She smiles at him.
For a moment Minoo thinks Robin’s going to hit her. It’s obvious he’s dying to wipe the smile off her face with his fist. Instead he grabs Linnéa’s bag and dumps the contents on the floor. Makeup, cigarettes, mobile, pens, schoolbooks and Linnéa’s black notepad scatter everywhere.
Linnéa tries to throw herself over her things, but Erik holds her fast while Robin kicks them around. He stamps on her mobile so the screen cracks.
‘Let her go,’ Minoo says.
Robin picks up the black notepad and flips through it. Minoo glimpses densely written pages, red, blue, green and black ink. Drawings and patterns.
‘What’s this?’ Robin asks. ‘Your diary?’
Linnéa tries to break free of Erik’s grasp, and when she doesn’t succeed, she throws her head back in a failed attempt to headbutt him. That pisses Robin off even more.
‘Now let’s see …’ he begins.
Minoo goes up to Robin and tries to snatch the book, but he laughs and easily holds her at a distance with one outstretched arm while he flips through it with his other hand and starts to read: ‘All the others were sitting with their eyes twinkling, like perfect little children on Christmas Eve and AL was Santa Claus. I can’t take it much longer. M is the worst, always so fucking eager to be the best in the class. She gives me a headache.’
Minoo has no doubt who ‘M’ is. It stings, but the most important thing is to get hold of that book before it exposes them all. She makes another lunge at Robin and manages to touch it. A page is almost ripped out under her outstretched fingers, but Robin shoves her away.
‘Doesn’t it say anything about how she fucks for heroin?’ Erik asks.
‘Wait a minute, wait a minute …’ Robin says, and continues flipping through the notebook.
Linnéa twists, jerks and pulls at Erik’s arms in a wild attempt to dislodge him. He just laughs and holds her closer.
‘You like this, don’t you?’ he pants in her ear.
‘Let go of me,’ Linnéa barks.
Robin carries on flipping. ‘“I’ve got to tell the others,”’ he reads. ‘“Everything’s so fucking complicated.”’
He looks at Linnéa and smirks mockingly. ‘Oh, I think I’m gonna cry soon,’ he says, and returns to the book. ‘“I should have said something from the beginning. Now it would just ruin everything. They’d hate me if they knew.”’