Plan B

Chapter Forty-seven

“You were sleepwalking last night,” Rico said.  “Do you do that a lot?”

Fran’s heart sank.

“Where did I go?”

“I got you back to bed before you managed to unlock the door,” Rico answered.  “I’ll ask Carson if we can get the lock changed, or get a bolt or something.  It’s probably not a great idea if you can wander off anywhere in your sleep.”

Nodding, Fran bit her lip.  I need Brookie back.  On the pretext that it was getting cold outside, she’d taken to wearing a hoodie to bed.  It made her feel marginally safer around Rico, as she couldn’t sleep with her chest compressor on without severe health repercussions.

It helped a lot that Rico was a bit awkward about sharing a room with her.  He usually got up half an hour before she did and went across to the main school for breakfast, so Fran often found herself on her own when she woke up, and she was able to get changed in peace.  In the evenings, he tended to stay in the common room until after Fran’s lights out, and if he was around before then, he largely stuck to his side of the room.  This had resulted in several rather awkward, stagnated conversations that usually ended with “I’m going to take a shower”.

Part of Fran wished he was more talkative and around a little more, but the distance he put between them suited her fine and lessened her anxiety.

One week.  Fran breathed out steadily.  So far, so good.

“See you later,” Rico told her as he passed through her side of the room with his violin across his shoulder.  Fran smiled and waved at him, then ducked her head, flushing.  Who waves when somebody leaves the room?

As soon as he was gone, Fran slid her chest compressor on and zipped it up.  Conrad had been right: it was getting a bit tight, and she probably did need a size up.  She sat on the edge of her bed for a few moments, trying to take deep breaths.  When she was sure she was going to be able to move around without getting lightheaded, she stood up and headed for the cupboard.

The door opened.

Fran whipped around and shrieked.

“Oh my God!”  Arthur covered his eyes.  “Sorry, Frankie.  I didn’t realise you were changing.”

Fran put a hand to her chest, trying to get over the mini heart attack.

“Jesus,” she said faintly.  “Knock next time?”

Arthur nodded.  “Maybe you should lock the door as well?”

Fran blinked.  “Whoops.”

Arthur lowered his hand and looked everywhere except at Fran, his face burning red.

“Yeah.  Whoops.  Don’t want you walked in on by somebody without one of these awesome watches.”

Fran attempted a smile and failed.

“By the way, Aaron also wants one of these watches,” Arthur said.  “He seems to think it’s part of being Frankie’s fan club and he wants in.”

This time, Fran did manage a smile.  “I’m not telling him I’m a girl.”

“He’d be heartbroken,” Arthur agreed.  “Anyway, do you have any painkillers?  My arm still absolutely wrecks and matron’s not in yet.”

“Sure.  Just check in the bathroom.”

“And seriously,” Arthur said as he crossed the room, “if you’re going to leave the bedroom door unlocked, at least get changed in the cupboard.”