Erebos Read Free Page A

give it to me, Nick thought. What on earth was going on?
    How come no-one was talking about these packages that were being passed round? And why the hell didn’t he have one yet? It wasn’t like him to be left out.
    Nick watched Rashid, who had stuffed the package in his jacket pocket and was shuffling along the corridor. Now he was homing in on Brynne, who was saying goodbye to a friend. He started to speak to her, pulled the package out of his pocket –
    â€˜What are you gazing at, dreamy?’ Someone slapped Nick hard on the back. Jamie. ‘How was the gruesome Chemistry test?’
    â€˜Gruesome,’ Nick muttered.
    A few people had stopped in the middle of the corridor, and were blocking Brynne and Rashid from sight. Nick went closer, but the transaction was already over. Rashid was walking away with his typical dragging gait, and Brynne had disappeared around the corner too.
    â€˜Damn it,’ Nick swore.
    â€˜What’s the matter?’
    â€˜Oh, something’s going on. The other day Colin passed something to Jerome and he was being all hush-hush about it. Rashid’s tried the same thing with Emily, but she told him to get lost, so he started chatting up Brynne.’ He ran his hand over his ponytail. ‘I missed the rest. I’d like to know what it’s about.’
    â€˜CDs,’ Jamie said matter-of-factly. ‘Pirate copies of something, I’d say. Twice today I’ve seen someone dragging someone else into a corner and palming a CD off on them. It’s no big deal, is it?’
    CDs – that would explain the format of Rashid’s parcel. A pirate copy going around – maybe banned music. Then it would hardly be surprising that Emily didn’t want to have anything to do with it. Yes, that was possible. The thought appeased Nick’s curiosity a bit, but . . . if it was a CD, why wasn’t anyone talking about it? The last time a banned film had done the rounds it had been the number one topic. All the people who’d seen it held forth with wild descriptions, and everyone else listened enviously.
    This was different. As if it were a game of Chinese whispers, as if a secret password was going around. The insiders were keeping quiet, whispering, staying apart.
    Nick was pensive as he made his way to his English class. The lesson that followed was pretty boring. He dwelt on his own thoughts, and a full twenty minutes passed before he noticed that not only was Colin missing today, but Jerome too.
    Warm autumn light fell on Nick’s desk, turning the chaos of books, notepads and crumpled work sheets golden. The English essay he had been brooding over for the last half hour was only three sentences long; the margin, on the other hand, was strewn with doodled lightning, curls and wavy lines. Damn, he just couldn’t concentrate. His thoughts kept straying.
    In the kitchen he heard Mum clattering around and changing the radio station. Whitney Houston was singing I Will Always Love You. Really! What had he done to deserve that?
    He chucked his pen on the desk, jumped up and slammed the door. It couldn’t go on like this – he couldn’t get these CDs out of his head. How come he still didn’t have one? And how come no-one was telling him anything about them? He tried ringing Colin yet again, but there was still no answer – what a surprise. Nick left a few rude words on his voicemail, and scrolled down till he got to Jerome’s number. It rang once, twice, three times, and then the call was disconnected.
    Damn it all. Nick took a deep breath. This was ridiculous. He was all set to hurl his phone into his backpack, but stopped suddenly. An idea was teasing him, light as a feather. He had Emily’s number saved too.
    Before he could think of too many reasons why he shouldn’t do it, he had already dialled. Again he heard the phone ring once, twice —
    â€˜Hello?’
    â€˜Emily? Um, it’s me, Nick. I