Esme stopped in her tracks, anger rippling through her and the sparks lingering just within her reach. It would be so easy, it would be so easy to turn and shoot them at the girl that had abused the secrets she carried. But that would not do. She needed to control her anger, shield herself away. Des was right, she didn't trust. But she knew a mutually helpful partnership if she ever saw one. You didn't need to trust to have someone watching your back, you just needed someone that needed you alive. Esme closed her eyes and breathed deeply, the power edging away from the surface. 

She set off walking again, her face a schooled mask of indifference. It was time to lie her way into this school. She just had to find the headteacher