Skulduggery Pleasant. Derek Landy

rumours about him. There were no whispers in the corridor as he passed, no wide-eyed stares, no clusters of girls giggling whenever he smiled. After a brief spell as an adventurer, he was returning to being that insignificant little speck of a boy he’d always been.

      Unless he did something about it.

      His stomach in knots, Omen went over what he was going to say once more in his head. He’d practised this conversation again and again, planning for all possible contingencies. A part of him wondered about the grade he would have got in the test if he’d devoted as much time to it as he had to rehearsing how he’d ask out Axelia Lukt, but he easily swatted such thoughts from his mind. He had more important things to worry about.

      Axelia sat in the common room, chatting and laughing with her friends. She was so nice, so smart, so pretty, and she had the loveliest accent and the happiest laugh Omen had ever heard. He could have listened to her laugh all day, as weird as that would have been.

      Omen stood up, took a deep breath, and walked over.

      He bumped into October Klein and mumbled an apology, turned round and went back to his corner.

      He took another deep breath, and another. And another. He went light-headed, and collapsed back into his chair.

      When he felt certain he wasn’t going to faint or fall over, he got back to his feet. Focusing on breathing normally, he made his way across the common room without bumping into anyone, and was about to open his mouth when a firm hand gripped his elbow and steered him away.

      “Hey,” said Auger, all smiles today. “How’d you get on in the test?”

      “Um,” said Omen.

      Auger nodded and then, in that casual tone he always used when he was hiding something, said, “That’s cool, that’s cool. Hey, have you seen Mahala around?”

      “I saw her right before breakfast,” said Omen. “Everything all right?”

      Auger’s voice dipped. “Yeah, yeah, just, when you saw her, did you notice anything different about her? Anything unusual?”

      “Like what?”

      Auger shrugged. “Like was she acting any different? Was she talking any different? Did she have glowing green eyes? Did she appear confused …?”

      “It’s funny,” said Omen, “out of everything you just said, it was the glowing green eyes thing that stood out.”

      “She’s, kind of, slightly possessed right now,” Auger said. “If you see her again, let me know. Stay away from her, but let me know.”

      “You need any help? I could help.”

      “No, really, it’s fine. I’ve got Kase. We’ll sort it out. If it gets too much for us, though, I promise I’ll give you the nod.”

      “Sure,” said Omen. “That sounds good.”

      “Anyway, sorry for interrupting. You looked like you were talking with Axelia.” He steered Omen back, depositing him in front of the most beautiful girl in the school and her friends.

      “Hey, girls,” he said.

      “Hi, Auger,” they chorused.

      Auger nodded to Omen, and walked quickly away, and Omen froze.

      Axelia looked at him and smiled. “Hi, Omen.”

      “Hi,” he said. His mouth was suddenly so ridiculously dry. “Could I talk to you for a moment?” he managed to say. “Maybe go for a short walk?”

      Axelia’s friends widened their eyes, like Omen had just dumped a dead bird at their feet, but Axelia had the grace to keep her smile.

      “Sure,” she said.

      Omen smiled back and they walked out of the room side by side. This was good. She hadn’t yet said the word no, and neither had she laughed at him. If he could keep that going, he was in with a chance.

      “What do you think of all those refugees?” she asked as they walked.

      “Yeah,” Omen said. “Aw, it’s really … It really makes you think, doesn’t it? Like, who … who are they?”

      “Um, we know who they are.”

      “Well, yes, but what I’m asking is … uh …”

      “You haven’t heard about them, have you?”

      “I’m not really sure what you’re talking about, no.”

      Her beautiful blue eyes widened a little in surprise. “You didn’t hear about the portal that opened up yesterday, right outside the city walls? It’s literally just over the west wall, Omen. It’s been on the Network all day. It’s all anyone is talking about.”

      “A portal to where?”

      “To the dimension where Mevolent still rules.”

      “Seriously?”

      “How have you missed this?”

      “I really don’t know.”

      “We spent all of last class talking about it. You were there.”

      “I was daydreaming. And there are people coming through?”

      “Thousands of them, all mortals.”

      “Do we know why?”

      “They’re slaves over there. Wouldn’t you want to get away from that if you could? I mean, it’s Mevolent.”

      Omen nodded. “He’s pretty bad, all right. Do you think he’ll come after them?”

      Axelia hugged herself. “I don’t want to think about that. We got rid of our Mevolent – we shouldn’t have to deal with someone else’s. Anyway, that’s all I know. You really should start paying attention in class, Omen. Especially after the result you got in the test.”

      “You, um, you know about that?”

      “I sit behind you. I saw your mark. Sorry.”

      “But I’m not the only one who failed, right? Like, there were a few of us. That was a hard test.”

      “Was it?”

      “Not for you, maybe, because you’re really smart and stuff. But for us ordinary people it was hard.”

      “I’m not that smart.”

      “Yes, you are,” Omen said. “You’re dead brainy.”

      She laughed. “What did you want to talk about, Omen?”

      They stopped walking. There was no one around. It was all suddenly very still and very quiet. Omen nodded again. He was aware of how much he was nodding. It was a lot.

      “Well,” he said, trying his best to keep his head still, “in the last few months, um, I’m really glad about how we’ve become friends. You know, with our little jokes and things.”

      Axelia’s brow furrowed a smidge. “We have little jokes?”

      “Yes. Don’t we? The little jokes? The little …” his mouth was dry again, “jokes? That we have. You don’t notice them?”

      “I’m afraid not, Omen.”

      His laugh sounded panicked. “That’s OK. It’s not important. Basically, what I wanted to say was: we’re friends. Aren’t we?”

      “Of course.”

      “And that’s so good,” he said, both hands covering his heart. “It’s so good to have friends. Real friends, you know? And I, I think you’re great. I think you’re funny, and smart, and, like, so cool.”

      “Aww, thank you.”

      “You’re way cooler than me.”

      “No,