Voices in Stone - Emily Diamand Page 0,50
holding seances and pretending you can see ghosts?”
“No!” said Jess. “The Year Sevens must be telling each other stories.” Mr Gerard scrutinised her, then read aloud from his notes.
“‘They summoned this ghost to haunt up the girls’ toilets.’” He looked at Jess. “‘Jessica Manning invites people to seances, mostly from the upper years.’” His glare turned to Isis. “‘Isis Dunbar said everyone in school is going to die.’”
“I didn’t… I mean, that isn’t what he meant to say,” Isis blurted. “It came out wrong.”
Mr Gerard raised an eyebrow. “He?”
She had no saliva, it had all evaporated.
“Isis is the one who started it!” said Chloe suddenly. “She says she can see ghosts and she does this old man voice to make it sound creepy.” She stepped away from the others. “No one likes her cos she’s so weird. She must be doing this to get her own back or something.”
“No, I…”
Mr Gerard turned to look at Isis. He waited, and she tried to think how to explain, but her mind couldn’t piece together anything sensible.
I just wanted people to like me.
It wasn’t my fault – a hundred-year-old ghost made me do it.
“Does anyone else want to speak?” asked Mr Gerard.
“I only went along with stuff,” said Nafira, “because Jess was so into it.”
“That’s a lie!” said Jess, turning on her. “No one made you!”
Mr Gerard returned to Jess. “Did you invite people to take part in seances?”
Jess shrugged.
He looked at Isis. “Did you pretend to see ghosts, and put on voices to scare the younger students?”
“I…” didn’t pretend. For the first time in her life, Isis had actually told the truth about her ability. She had opened herself up and stopped hiding.
“You do realise how serious this is?” said Mr Gerard. “But you can reduce the severity of your punishment by accepting your responsibility and admitting to your role in this business. If you explain that you made up these stories, it may help calm the situation.”
“But everyone will hate us!” squeaked Hayley.
Isis tried to think through the thudding of her heart. The other girls were all popular, they’d probably survive, but her reputation would be destroyed, especially with the way the others were already blaming it on her. She’d be the butt of every joke again, worse probably. No one would be friends with her after this.
“You can’t make us,” said Jess, defiantly tipping her head back.
Mr Gerard tapped his pen on the notebook. “Let me spell this out. You can admit that this was all a game, a joke, or whatever it was, accept your punishment and face the other pupils. Or I will be forced to exclude you.”
All the girls gasped.
I’ve never been in any trouble before, Isis wanted to say. How can I go from nothing to exclusion?
The group broke into pieces.
“Isis started it!”
“Jess was sucking up to the Year Elevens, that’s why it happened!”
“It’s not fair punishing me, I didn’t pretend I can see ghosts!”
Illusions of friendship swiftly dropped away. Jess didn’t join in the accusations, but she didn’t stick up for Isis either, and she took a small step to the side so that Isis was by herself. The others were back in their original group, with Isis outside it, her heart beating fast in her throat.
They’d made her admit she was psychic, and now they were calling her a liar!
She lifted her head up, and spoke into the hubbub. “I didn’t make anything up. I can see ghosts.”
“I told you!” cried Nafira.
“That’s what she’s like all the time!” said Chloe.
Mr Gerard held up his hand, bringing silence. He looked at Isis. “So, you have been telling other students you can communicate with ghosts?”
Isis nodded. No more lying. “Because I can.”
“And you did tell a large group of students they were all going to die?”
Isis opened her mouth to deny it, but what was the point? He’d obviously rounded up and interrogated the younger children from the alleyway.
She nodded. “Mandeville didn’t mean it as a threat. He only meant that everyone gets old and dies in the end.”
Mr Gerard was tapping his pen again. “Do you genuinely believe this, or are you just an extremely good liar?”
“It’s true, that’s all.”
She smiled, even though it was probably the worst thing to do, because it felt so good telling the truth. As if she were standing straighter, her head closer to the sky. She’d been carrying silence so long, she’d forgotten how heavy it was.
“There’s quite a few ghosts in school, actually.” She watched Mr Gerard’s eyebrows