someone like him to want someone like you! Have you seen yourself?’
‘What do you mean, it’s not possible? We have a special bond between us, something you and your moron of a fiancé will never grasp, because the only thing you two have in common is money.’
Rebecca let out a nasal, treacherous laugh. ‘And what binds you exactly?’ she asked. ‘Come on, let’s hear it . . .’
Penny stood up as tall as she could, summoning all her courage, then pushed Rebecca back as she made a run for the bathroom door. A moment before exiting, she declared haughtily, ‘Love with a capital L. A deep kind of love – the kind you’ll never experience.’
After leaving the bathroom, Penny shut herself in one of the bedrooms. She had to wait until her breathing went back to normal. Her face was burning, her hands were shaking and her legs had turned to water. Rebecca was mean and clever. She was sure to go and spread doubt among the other women, and then they’d all be laughing at Penny behind her back for the umpteenth time.
Penny realised she had entered a large, luxurious master bedroom, belonging perhaps to Tucker’s parents. She looked at herself in the full-length oval mirror supported on a pedestal in the shape of a lion, that was possibly even cast from pure gold. There she saw a pathetic-looking girl, persecuted for years by a coven of witches with silky ponytails instead of brooms, who had insulted her because she came from humble beginnings, took the bus to school, always wore the same shoes and was not even particularly good at anything. She hadn’t excelled in any particular subject, the boys didn’t notice her, and above all, she hadn’t suffered their harassment in silence. She’d reacted by expressing her hatred in return, staring them right in the face without dropping her gaze, and whenever possible she had practised acts of subtle revenge. Once, they had locked her in a dark closet, hoping she would beg them to let her out, but Penny hadn’t screamed, begged or even cried. Instead she had waited in silence for the janitor to find her by chance and let her out, and by then it was so late that she’d missed the last bus and had to walk all the way home. Only God knew how afraid she’d been in that small dark space. She had wanted to be sick, to pass out, to crawl out of her own skin, but she had not given them the satisfaction of her tears and her despair. A few days after that, however, the cheerleaders’ uniforms were stolen and later found in tatters in the schoolyard.
Revenge had always made her feel better, but not this time. No one could ever believe that Marcus was her boyfriend. It was all too clearly an act. Couples like Penny and Marcus didn’t exist in the real world, where men like Marcus ended up with women like Francisca, and in the meantime fucked almost everyone else – including the Rebecca type – but certainly not someone like Penny Miller.
She sighed, falling back on the king-sized bed with its pearly-white wooden canopy and bronze-coloured silk bedspread.
At that moment she heard a knock at the door. Fearing it was the lady of the house – even though she’d have no reason to knock if it were – Penny jumped to her feet, even redder and more uncomfortable than before. She was just coming up with possible excuses when Igor walked in.
‘I was looking for you,’ he said with a smile. ‘I saw you come up here with that bitch and then I saw her come down by herself. Everything all right?’
Penny nodded mechanically and sat back down on the bed.
‘Did she make you cry? Your eyes . . .’ Igor went on.
‘Nobody makes me cry.’
‘I know – I’ve always admired that about you – but you look upset.’
‘When did you ever admire me?’ exclaimed Penny.
‘Back in school – you were tough, and even though I have no proof and can’t begin to imagine how you did it, I’m sure it was you who wrecked Rebecca’s brand-new phone. How did you manage to get it into the toilet in the boys’ bathroom?’
Penny shook her head. ‘Even if it was me, I wouldn’t tell you. You were always her accomplice.’
‘That’s not true – I was just there. I never participated in her bullshit.’
‘The fact that you define her crap as “bullshit” shows you have no