I looked at her. ‘What are we going to do?’
‘We have to get in, somehow,’ Zoe said, twisting at the padlock. ‘A whole bunch of people will be here for the party in a few hours. I can’t turn them all away. It’d be mortifying.’
‘But how on earth will we get through all that?’
We heard some footsteps making their way up the stairs and turned, half-expecting to see the police or some council rents man. In fact, it was Dave. ‘Ah,’ he said, with his stupid grin. ‘You’ve seen it. You’re locked out, girls.’
‘Thanks for that,’ I said, nodding toward the padlock. ‘We couldn’t tell.’ I could have kicked him.
‘How did you know?’ Zoe said. ‘Did you see them doing it? Couldn’t you have stopped them?’
‘I’ve got a mate in the council works department,’ Dave said. ‘They had a tip-off that someone was squatting in here and they were sent round to make it secure. Nothing I could do about it, gorgeous.’
I swallowed, to stop myself telling Dave how disgusting I thought he was. But Zoe took a step towards him. ‘Dave,’ she said, in pleading sort of a tone. ‘We’re supposed to be having a party tonight. And anyway, all my stuff’s in there – clothes and everything.’
‘Have they cleared it out?’ I asked.
Dave shook his head. ‘Usually they would, but there’s no point – the flats are being bulldozed in a few weeks’ time. They were sure anyone in there was squatting and not meant to be there, so all they had to do was lock it up. No need to worry about any stuff in there – that’s the squatters’ problem. Oh – and there mightn’t be any power. Or water. They’ll probably have switched them off.’
Zoe sighed. Then she smiled at him. ‘I bet you could get in. And get things back up and running, like you did before.’
Dave laughed and shook his head.
‘Please,’ Zoe said.
Dave took a step closer to her. ‘Why would it be worth my time?’
Zoe put her head on one side and blinked at him. ‘I’d be really grateful.’
I dug her in the back.
Dave went down to his own place and a few minutes later he was back with a bag of tools. ‘You girls will get me into trouble,’ he said, with a leery smile. While he crowbarred the metal bar on the door, Zoe pulled me aside.
‘There’s only one person who’s spiteful enough to grass us up to the council,’ she said. ‘This is Kerry’s work, I bet you.’
‘You can’t be sure,’ I said. ‘It could be someone else in the flats who’s seen us going in and out.’
Zoe spread out her hands. ‘Like who? This whole top floor is empty. And there are only a handful of other flats in the whole block that still have people in them. And we don’t do any harm. We’re not noisy or anything. No one here cares about us. There’s only one person who’s bothered. Because she’s jealous.’
I closed my eyes. ‘But you can’t be certain.’
‘Yes, I can. This is too much, Anna. I’m going to get her back.’
With a deep cracking sound, Dave pulled the metal bar off the door and then used another tool like a big flat screwdriver to force it open. ‘There you go,’ he said, pushing it wide, splinters of wood falling onto the floor. ‘Door’s not safe now, though. Don’t leave anything valuable in here.’ He winked at Zoe and gave her a nudge. ‘I’ll expect a thank-you sometime soon.’ Zoe gave him another fake smile and I forced myself to do one too.
We were lucky – the power and water were still connected, for now. We spent the afternoon preparing food and Zoe made a brilliant Halloween soundtrack. She came out with me when I went home to get changed.
‘I don’t want to leave the flat unlocked, but Mum’s pestering me on the phone,’ she grumbled. ‘I won’t stay long. Just make sure you’re back at the flat by seven. People should start arriving by then.’
For some reason, I felt anxious. When Mum tried to give me my favourite cheese on toast, I couldn’t face it.
‘Please – try to eat something,’ Mum asked. She put a hand on my shoulder. ‘I’m not stupid, Anna. I was fifteen once, and it doesn’t even feel all that long ago. If you’re going to a party I expect there’ll be drink. I’d like to tell you not to touch it, but I know what I was like when I was your age, so there’s no point in saying that. But you could at least try to be safe.’
‘You’re wrong,’ I said. ‘Well – I’m not saying I’ve never had alcohol. But I just don’t really like it.’
‘Good.’ Mum looked me up and down. ‘But you’re so thin these days, too. It feels like you hardly touch your food. It’s starting to frighten me, along with all the sleep problems.’
She was right, of course. Food was something I only picked at, these days. I knew my clothes were looser. ‘There’s nothing to worry about,’ I promised her. ‘And I need to go. I said I’d meet Zoe at seven. Don’t stay up.’
At the door of the flat, Zoe looked so beautiful, all in black with a spiderweb top that she’d made herself, based on the one in the shop, and black ribbons plaited through her hair. But she was as white as the moon and a coldness came off her, as if I was standing next to an open freezer.
‘Everything all right?’ I asked. ‘Your mum OK?’
I noticed she was trembling. I gave her a hug. ‘Hey. What is it?’
‘Nothing. Nothing at all. I just... the whole day’s been going wrong. I wanted this party to be so good. But...’ I could still
