by Kylie Key
But William, whose parents lived in Hong Kong, liked nothing more than a standard hamburger with fries. He’d been at boarding school since Year 6, a fact that had shocked us all when we first met him. Being sent six thousand miles away from your home, away from your parents seemed outrageous at the age of 11. It was bad enough being fifty miles away from Langley Estate. I might have sniveled into my pillow on the first night or two of boarding school, even though I’d prepared for it my whole life.
Lily and Blaire shared a cinnamon covered donut and sipped on their lattes. I hated coffee, probably the only person on the planet who did. Hot chocolate was much nicer, sweeter.
Like Blaire’s lips.
Looking up from my burger I watched her sipping on her coffee with the utmost concentration. I was dying to know what was going on in that head of hers. It was infuriating that she was totally ignoring me, after kissing me like...she was in love with me.
Man, my head was a mess. I’d come to River Valley to escape scandal and take stock of my life, not to get involved with a girl. That couldn’t be on the agenda. I was only here for three months. I’d go back to England, do my A-Levels and go on to university, resume my life as Lord Alexander Radclyffe. I couldn’t be forming any relationships with girls, temporary or otherwise.
“You know, I’m just going to use the bathroom,” Lily said quietly, her head turning from Blaire to me. “Does anyone want anything while I’m up?”
“Thanks, no” Blaire said, while I said, “No, thanks.”
“See you soon,” Lily said with a smile. Her coffee cup was half full. I suspected she didn’t need to go at all.
“It’s strange you call it a bathroom,” I said.
“Strange?” Blaire put her cup down, her tongue sweeping over her upper lip as if checking for a milk mustache.
“At home a bathroom has a bath in it. Lily’s not going to have a bath, is she?”
She smiled, like I was being silly. “Of course not. She’s just using the bathroom.”
“The loo?”
She frowned. “The what?”
“The loo. The toilet.”
She laughed, her eyes brightening. “We don’t call it that.”
I didn’t want to be talking about bathrooms or toilets. “Why’d you kiss me?”
My directness took her by surprise, and she brought her hands up to cover her face, knocking her glasses askew. Her cheeks turned crimson as she straightened them.
“I’m sorry,” she said in a hoarse whisper, her eyes focusing on the table.
My breath rushed, my heart pounded—I wanted her to look at me. Her hands were now on either side of her cup and I reached out, a gentle prod of her index finger. I had no idea what I was doing, only that it brought a surge of sensations.
“Hey.” I twiddled with her finger, my finger running up her hand to her wrist, and then back again. She looked up fleetingly. “I’m not,” I said, “I’m not sorry you kissed me.” Her gaze returned, a look that told me she was as affected as I was by a simple touch. “Unless you didn’t mean to.”
Her lips pressed, then separated, but no words came out. Her right hand reached out, covering my roaming finger, capturing it.
And she smiled.
And in that moment I had an exhilarating feeling that things were beyond my control.
Chapter 11
I wanted Lily to come back...but I didn’t.
My heart was pitter pattering, Alex’s finger caught between mine, a connection that didn’t need words. He wasn’t sorry I kissed him!
And I wasn’t either.
But that didn’t mean I knew what to do about it.
Of course, Lily did come back.
I reclaimed my hands as I saw her weaving through the tables, a slow release savoring his warm touch. Alex had a glance over his shoulder, smiled and resumed eating his burger.
Lily looked from me to Alex and smirked with satisfaction.
I spent the evening with Margaret drafting a pattern. It was exciting to see my vision come to life, Margaret helping me cut and measure. I was surprised at how competent I was, and I stayed up late so I’d have something to show Lily.
About half of the kids had a costume at the next rehearsal. Lily was impressed that I’d managed to finish it. I explained how hers would have a fur trim around the skirt and hood to make her stand out. Chloe was wearing an elf jacket as a dress, a very short dress, while Olivia was wearing a more traditional outfit, probably from the dollar store.
I saw them murmuring behind their hands looking at me, no doubt ready to denounce my home made effort. But I had no time to worry about it. Alex and the zombies came out on stage and I had to stop myself from laughing out loud. In his rolled up camouflage pants and with his boots on, his hair tousled up with wax and red lipstick around his mouth, I couldn’t help but smile. He came over to me after the lesson, admiring my sewing handiwork.
“Hey, love the lipstick,” I said, resisting the urge to run my finger along his mouth.
“Not the best?”
“Good first attempt,” I said.
“How do you know it’s my first attempt?” he said with a flirty raise of his eyebrows.
“Oh, excuse me,” I apologized, rolling my eyes at him. “Good job then, you’ve done well.”
He put a hand on my shoulder. “You’re gonna do my makeup, yeah?” A friendly touch was all it was, but a shiver ran through me, a nice shiver. “You know, I can’t believe this was a plain piece of material yesterday.” He moved his hand down my costume, fingering the gold buttons on the front. They’d come from Margaret’s button box which had contained an assortment of thousands. It had been like a treasure trove. Finding four that matched had been unexpected fun. Gah, a girl who had spent ages sorting through buttons...I was turning into the nerd that I now looked and dressed like. I’d already selected three large red flower buttons for Lily’s, they’d look so cute. “It looks amazing.”
“Thank you,” I said, wishing his hand had lingered a little longer. “Uh, I’ll start on Lily’s tonight. We’re going to do measurements later.” Lily smiled and nodded.
“Ahh, I guess that means—”
“Hey Alex!” Chloe appeared behind him, jumping up and placing her hands on his shoulders.
Alex flinched and pulled away from her.
“Cute, Alex,” Olivia said, playfully touching at his makeup. I think he flinched again.
“Yeah, cool outfit,” Chloe said, “But maybe the makeup needs work.”
“Luckily Blaire and Lily are helping me,” Alex said, casually sweeping his arm back around my shoulder and leaning into me. I physically had to brace my weight to stop from tumbling over. Not that I’d mind tumbling over with Alex.
I waited for it...a cruel commentary that Lily and I were incapable of applying makeup, were the least capable of doing so.
“Well,” Chloe directed her look to me, “If you need a hand, let us know.” It sounded like she was trying to be kind.
“Sure,” I nodded, the weight of Alex getting to be a strain against me, but there was no way was I going to shove him off.
“Blaire, I love your dress,” Olivia said. “Did you really make it?”
I was about to reply, but Alex jumped in. “What? This old thing?” He lowered his arm to my waist. “Uh, she just whipped it up last night. You know, Santa’s best elf.” He gave me a squeeze, and being ticklish, I giggled, but I didn’t move from his touch.
“Uh, um, Blaire,” Olivia was stuttering, “I know I said I had a costume, but this looks kinda...lame.” She scrunched up her nose at her uninspired, oversized costume and then smiled at mine, “And yours is so cute.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“It would be cool if the four main elves were all the same,” Chloe said, her eyes honed in on Alex’s fingers on my waist.
“Yeah,” Olivia said excitedly, basically repeating what Chloe said, “it would be awesome if we were the same.”
Their change in stance im
mediately had me suspicious. These girls had dissed me and Lily yesterday and were now doing a one eighty turn. I couldn’t quite believe it was genuine. Alex’s hand hadn’t moved, so there was the chance that my brain cells lacked clarity.
“Lily’s one is going to have a fur trim, because she’s the chief elf,” I stated, patting her shoulder in affirmation.
“Oh yeah, of course,” Olivia said, obviously desperate to lose the cheap chainstore costume. “I could help, if you needed it. I can sew a little, but I’m not that good.”
It felt like my eyes were bulging—Olivia being humble and offering to help? Had I misjudged The Blonde Brigade?
“We could go after school to get the material,” Chloe suggested.
“Lily and I are doing measurements,” I said, looking to my friend, my only friend.
“Well, well...we could go together and then go back to my house, and do all of the measurements,” Chloe said.
Olivia clapped. “Good idea, Chlo.” She begged for Lily and me to join them. “Please! I so don’t want to wear this!”
I could sense Lily was dubious; I was too. And I didn’t want to put Lily in a vulnerable situation; I had to be sure that things weren’t going to backfire and we’d be made to look like fools.
And then Lily said quietly, “We’d already made plans to go back to my house.”
“Oh.” The disappointment from Olivia and Chloe was evident.
“Uh, I could check with Mom,” Lily said tentatively, “I’m sure it would be okay if you all came...and...maybe we could get pizza?”
Alex interceded. “I’m in!”
“Who invited you?” I joked, playfully nudging him. He took his hand from my waist and tapped Lily’s shoulder.
“Lily did! Eh, Lily?”
“We could practice your zombie makeup,” Lily said, a thrill going through me at the thought of spending more time with Alex.
Chloe and Olivia acted so friendly that you would have thought we were a bunch of long time best friends. Olivia didn’t have her purse, so Chloe paid for their fabric. And as I measured Olivia, I noticed that on closer inspection her jeans and sweater were the same brand as my chainstore ones. And she didn’t have a car either—she’d gotten a ride with Chloe.
I was thinking that we would all pitch in to pay for the pizzas, but Mrs Bloomfield wouldn’t hear of it. She was a pediatric nurse at the hospital and was happy for the excuse not to cook. With her hair tied up in a short ponytail and dressed in sweat pants and a chunky sweater, I couldn’t help but think how different she was from Mom. If I was having friends over Mom would make sure she was dressed up, either tight sexy dresses or skinny jeans and crop tops like she was a teenager. And she’d hang around, never wanting to miss out on any action or gossip. Mrs Bloomfield warmly welcomed all of us, and I could sense how happy she was that Lily had friends over. She brought us snacks and drinks, but then disappeared, leaving us to our own devices.
I was quite surprised by the beautiful house that Lily lived in. It overlooked the river with a view of Covington Heights—where I lived—or my family did. Our house was further around the river bank, but it was amazing how a bridge divided the town and I’d assumed that people on this side of the river were poor. Lily said her father was a firefighter, and was on a 24 hour shift, so wouldn’t be home.
While I did the measurements, Lily and Chloe trialed Alex’s makeup, making me a little jealous that I wasn’t the one up close and personal. I intervened at one point, when Chloe was trying to make it look like blood was coming out of his mouth. I used a cream blusher to smear around his chin, just so I could touch him. And she praised me!
With the pizza eaten and all the measurements done, I knew I should go home to start on the sewing. I had thought that Chloe and Olivia would race off being a Friday night, but it seemed they didn’t have dates, or any other plans. And when Olivia spotted a stack of boardgames on the living room shelf, she begged to play Twister. I had to admit it sounded fun; my last game of Twister had been at Troy’s party where most of us had been drinking. But now I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to entwine with Alex.
Alex declared Twister a kids game, but we protested bitterly and made him join in, telling him it was an American tradition. He couldn’t go back to England without playing it, Chloe convinced him. We had turns being the referee, and then Olivia said we should play as 2-person teams. Lily was agile and balanced and it made me happy to see Olivia choose her as a partner. Chloe got stuck with me, and of course I wobbled and fell, but we both laughed as we tangled and crashed down together.
If anyone had told me I’d be playing Twister, without being drunk, with River Valley High kids a month ago, I would have said they were insane. But that’s precisely what I was doing—and having the time of my life.
Mrs Bloomfield came in when we were a breathless heap on the floor, and said she had hot chocolate and her special butterscotch brownies for us. Another tradition that Alex needed to experience.
I remembered how he’d said he liked hot chocolate and took note of how he added two spoons of sugar and floated three marshmallows on top.
As Chloe and Olivia prepared to leave together, Mrs Bloomfield was chatting with Alex about England and his host family. I wanted to listen in, but Chloe asked if there was anything else she needed to get for the costumes. She wondered if I would have it ready for tomorrow afternoon’s rehearsal. Olivia offered her assistance again, and both girls shared their phone numbers.
Even though we’d had a fun night, I was a little hesitant to accept that we were all miraculously besties, and most of all I didn’t want things to crumble for Lily. I felt a need to protect her, after all I had started off this whole chain of events—first making her audition, then suggesting the costumes. It was all on me, and I would hate for Chloe and Olivia to somehow be taking advantage of her kindness.
Blair P would have no trouble speaking her mind, but as Blaire Ashley, my confidence lacked and Chloe intimidated me more than Olivia. Maybe because she projected as self assured, cocky and conceited. Kind of like Blair P. Yet, she’d been none of those things tonight, except during Twister when she’d had to do an impossible move and nailed it. Cheerleading did have its benefits.
“So, were there no parties to go to tonight?” I asked, my question directed at Chloe, but I was looking at Olivia.
“Parties?” Olivia asked.
“Yeah,” I said, “parties.”
“Rebecca had invited us over,” Chloe said, “but...”
“She’s a cow,” Olivia finished, with an undisguised tone of loathing. My eyelashes fluttered in surprise. I had thought Rebecca and the girls were tight. “She thinks we’re just dumb cheerleaders, and she thinks she’s so great, the school’s top sports star.” I was dumbstruck. Olivia wasn’t holding back. “She thinks she’s so wonderful at everything, and that dating Josh Perry makes her some sort of royalty.”
“Yeah,” Chloe sucked in her lips and blew out a sigh, “she looks down on you if you’re not taking AP classes.” She then mimicked Rebecca’s squeaky voice, “And I’ve got fifty scholarships on offer. Every college wants me, you know. Oh, which one will I choose?”
I burst out laughing at her imitation. Maybe she could act. Maybe she’d just sucked at her audition. But I made myself come back to the present. How quick we were to judge others. Rebecca judged Chloe and Olivia by their cheerleader status, I had judged them on looks and hair color. And maybe they’d judged Lily and me on our appearance.
“Tonight was so much fun,” Olivia said.
“Yeah, it was,” I agreed.
“Is there something going on with you and Alex?” Chloe asked.
“What?” I gasped, a flood of color rising up from my neck. Thank goodness we were standing in the dim light of the front porch.
“You and Alex. I think he likes you,” she smirked.
“He’s cute,” Olivia said.
“We both started on the same day,” I said matter-of-factly, as if that
entitled us to be friends. But her words, I think he likes you, filled me with such hope, such happiness. Was it obvious Alex liked me? Me, Blaire Ashley?
Olivia reminded me to text her if I needed help with the costumes and they waved goodbye when Alex came wandering out with Lily. My heart faltered a little as Alex led me to his truck.
Because now I had a new dilemma: What if Alex really did like Blaire Ashley?
Yeah, it would be so nice, so flattering if he did, but there was no way I could consider getting close to Alex Lord.
Because Blaire Ashley wasn’t a real person.
Chapter 12
Alexander
I slept in my parents’ bed that night. Yes, with them. Squeezed up on Mum’s side, pushing her into the middle next to Dad. There were a dozen other bedrooms Dad could have gone to, but he didn’t.
All three of us needed each other that night.
When I closed my eyes, all I could see was William’s dark hair floating like he had a spiky haircut, and Niall’s trembling hand.
The paramedics worked on William for some time. Thirty or forty minutes the report said, but it had flown by in the blink of an eye.
I remembered all of it,
but also none of it.
Mum and Dad had been at a dinner party at their friends’ house in the village. It had taken them less than twenty minutes to get home. They were supposed to fix everything. That’s what parents do.
When they arrived, William would miraculously breathe on his own again, his heart would beat willingly. Everything would be all right.
But for the first time in my life, I realized that my parents were only as human as the rest of us. A royal lineage couldn’t help us here, it didn’t grant us special abilities. My best friend’s lifeless body remained pale and still and my mother wept as if it were her own son.
