‘Here, let me do that.’

She submitted to Lisa, her anger all fallen away, her arms slack at her sides while the apron was tied around her. Lisa’s fingers at the back of her neck, tying the apron strings – Beth felt her pause.

‘Can I look?’ she asked timidly, and Beth said yes, felt the small tug at the back of her collar, Lisa’s breath warm against her neck as she examined the ink flower that bloomed there.

‘Did it hurt?’ she asked, her fingers tentative against Beth’s skin.

‘Yeah. A bit.’

‘Why did you do it?’

‘I don’t know. I just felt like it.’ But even as she spoke the words, she knew it wasn’t true. She’d done it because Corinne had told her to do it. Was Lisa right? Had she surrendered all control to Corinne?

‘It’s very pretty,’ Lisa offered.

‘Do you think so?’

‘Yeah. And your hair is … well, it’s a bit full on, but I guess I understand why you did it. I think it’s kind of brave.’

‘You do?’

‘Uh-huh. I just miss the old you, a bit.’

She was trying to be kind, but Beth suddenly recoiled from it.

Her submission to Corinne’s suggestions – the severity of the haircut, the permanence of the tattoo – had been a statement. A testament of her love, her devotion. But it was also a way of protecting herself – a false front to her vulnerability. That Lisa had seen through this, had glimpsed the desperate longing inside her, made Beth suddenly ashamed.

‘Yeah. Well, you’re hardly one to talk,’ she said, heat suffusing her face. ‘The job Sasha and Nicole did on you. That severe little knot they’ve made of your hair. Just looking at it gives me a migraine.’

Lisa’s face moved with a flicker of sudden hurt. The kindness fell away from her eyes and Beth saw the swift recalculation there, the almost instant withdrawal.

‘There’s something wrong with you, Beth. Something broken inside you.’

The words were searing, causing her to lash out. ‘And you can tell that princess Sasha to watch her back. Soon she’s going to know what it feels like to be talked about like a fuckup. A freak. A dose of her own fucking medicine.’

‘What do you mean?’

But then Ms Quinn snapped at them to stop talking, and for the rest of the class they didn’t look at each other, the silence hardening between them.

26

‘What is this place?’ Ross asked.