I wanted to leave Bennington so badly it was all I could do not to scream and run out of the gates and up the road. It was only Oliver’s consistency and calm insistence that kept me there.
“Hey, Sil,” Lance said gently, “Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t think any less of you when I thought what they were saying might be true. Nor did Merlyn. I swear it! Hey, please don’t cry…”
But I couldn’t help myself.
“Oh, screw them!” Alexander put his arm around my back set his face close to mine, “Silvia! Listen to me! There is not one of those people talking who’s not a complete arsehole! SCREW THEM!” He said it very loudly, loudly enough for most of the room to turn and look.
“Come on, Love,” Oliver whispered into my other ear, “What they think doesn’t matter. We know the truth and our friends know the truth. Who gives a damn what those morons say?”
“It’s degrading!” I tried to get a hold of myself, but I couldn’t. I put my hands flat against the table, but my fingers were trembling, “It makes me feel as if I’m some vile, disgusting creature!”
That was it for Alexander.
“Could you be any crueller?” He demanded. He was looking straight at someone, but I could not tell whom. “You need to grow the bloody hell up! She’s a person! They’re people, these two!” He stood up, sending his chair skidding across the floor with an angry scrape. He was so livid his face was turning red like Edmond’s. I could see the vein in the side of his neck pulsing, “Who the hell do any of you think you are? Saying all you’re saying! How about we put you hypocrites under a microscope?” His eyes darted around the room and settled on the table to our right, “You! Vincent Todd! Yes, you! Oliver shouldn’t have bought the cow when he was getting the milk for free, eh? You’d have done the same and chucked her, eh? Excellent, Mate! Tell me, smoked any weed in your dormitory today? Wait! No! You had some down by the lake! Yes, I saw you! Dare you to put out your pockets!” He turned his jacket pockets inside out and mocked the guilty face Vince was making, “And you, Nick Porter, over there saying that Silvia’s all banged up this afternoon in class and laughing about it! You‘d like to have a piece of that, too, eh? Yeah, that was funny when you said that about my sister in law!” He clapped his hands and then snarled, “You’re lucky Professor Nickels walked in or I’d have knocked your teeth down your fucking throat! Oh, speaking of throats, did you and Dan Simms ever decide whether you were gay? You two lovers work it out? Or are you still playing make believe with that girl from Ebbw Vale? What is her name? Oh, yeah, Karenna McNeil! Nice girl, Karenna! Did you know that she’s my cousin on my mum’s side? I’ve been meaning to ring her. I’ve learned a few things since the last time we talked!”
There was a collective gasp and some hushed laughter throughout the hall. Nick and Dan both went white as chalk.
“Alexander!” Meredith spoke from a table away, “Stop it! Sit down!”
“No! Shut your hole, Meredith Ainsworth! It was you that started this rubbish! It’s the only reason why you could understand them getting married, eh? She’s pregnant! Well, if you’re so virginal I don’t suppose anyone would believe my recollection of how you spent your holiday with your knickers off and me on?” Meredith immediately began to cry. Alex didn’t even acknowledge her, “Or you, Jennifer Eisenberg, saying how Silvia’s such a whore! She’s been with both Oliver and me according to you! Well, let me tell you something! Silvia’s been with only one man and she was married to him! I’d slice my cock off before I’d betray my brother! But let’s not damage my reputation, eh? How about I tell everyone about you and me and our great adventures in the equipment shed while you were still engaged to Ted Guinness? As I recall, he graduated and you came straight for me! Didn’t mention he was buying a cottage for the two of you in Chepstow, did you? I got my arse beat over you, did you know? Old Ted and three of his rugby fucks found me in my own town and knocked the living shit out of me in the gully behind my house. Nearly broke my jaw, those bastards! But he dumped you just the same, didn’t he? Did me a favour, too! Got me free of you before John Christiansen gave you his disease! Still itching? You’re a lying, two timing, unfaithful, useless, cum swallowing tramp!”
Again, collective gasps and assorted laughter. Alexander glanced at John and he ducked as if something had been swung at his head.
“You’re a liar!” Jennifer swore, but there were streaks of pink in her face. “You’re a liar, Alexander, and everyone knows it!”
“Am I? Let’s see if I am! Got one tit larger than the other, do you? Come on, Dear, whip out the silicone cup you wear on the left and show us the difference!”
“It’s true!” A female voice rang, “I’ve seen her in the dressing room!”
A wave of malicious giggles filled the room. Jennifer was not one of the better-liked girls at the school. She was well known for spreading unkind gossip and bullying the under-classmen.
Jennifer crossed her arms in front of her chest and turned scarlet. She glared at the girl who had spoken, a second year that I did not know, “You’re a bitch! “ She told her and then turned back to Alexander, “And you’re a bastard!”
“Damn straight I am! And you’re a lopsided slut! Look at the lot of you girls!” He waved a hand toward the tables filled with the older female students, “You’re all so perfect with your knees glued together? Christ, I’ve banged half of you foul bitches!”
Oliver and Merlyn burst out laughing. Lance and I, however, just sat there with our mouths hanging open in horror. Moreover, Alex was not finished yet. Oh, no. Not even close.
“I don’t have to make anything up about you people! You tell lies! Lies! Well, I have the truth! And you can say what you want about me and if it’s horrible and disgusting it’s probably right, but at least it’s the truth! You’re all so full of shit! Silvia’s not pregnant! She’s a nice girl and she married Oliver for every good and true reason there is! You people make me sick! The lot of you gives me the shits!”
Headmistress Pennyweather burst through the doors and rushed toward Alex, waving her arms in the air, “Mister Dickinson!” She shouted, “Mister Dickinson!” She held up her hands to stop him. “That is enough!”
“I’m not through!”
“Yes, Mister Dickinson, you are through!”
“No, Ma’am, I am not! I have a lot more to say!”
“No, Mister Dickinson, you do not!” She stopped where she was and squared herself. “Anything you have left to say is better left unsaid! Do you understand me, Alexander?”
Alex glared at her and she glared right back. After a moment, he sat down, but his face was still a deep purplish red. I could hear his breath rattling in his chest like he’d just run a marathon at a sprint.
Our headmistress glanced around the room quickly, “Go back to you meals!” She shouted. “All of you!” She turned back to us and lowered her voice, “I see the gossip running amuck at Bennington has the lot of you very upset. I was afraid of that. Rumours and ignorance are unfortunately unavoidable when people do something unexpected.” She looked over her shoulder and then back, “Oliver, I want you to take your missus to the boardroom in the great hall. She does not need to be subjected to further examination. Alexander, you, Mister Crosby and Mister Pierce may join them there if they wish.”
“Thank you, Ma’am,” Each boy mumbled in turn as they stood and gathered their trays.
Madame Pennyweather glanced around again and then shooed us with the back of her hand, “Away! All of you! Clear off! It’ll give you an hour or two to cool your heads! I want you in your common room by curfew!”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Oliver answered mildly, taking my hand to help me stand, “Thank you.”
She nodded at him,
“Thank you, Ma’am,” I said quietly as Oliver and I passed her on our way out.