by Katy Cannon
Ten Things I Never Knew About Love (first draft), Matilda Frost
The initial part of the plan relied on Rohan and Anja being out and about without me, so I spent the following day mentally drafting my next conversation with Zach. I came up with six plausible discussions we might have, depending on how well the plan worked, and figured out what I’d say in each of them. (I was absolutely not going to be taken by surprise and lose control of my mouth again.)
I did some planning for the book, too, coming up with lists of possible scenes and events for Will and Eva, all of them lying flat on the page for now. I wasn’t worried. I knew, once my plan started to work, I’d have the experience to bring them to life.
In between times, I taught Freddie to say ‘more story please’ and Finn to say ‘chocolate cake now’, which I thought were important life lessons for the two of them. (I also fashioned a barricade for my bedroom door from my desk chair and the beanbag, in an attempt to keep their soggy, naked, wriggly selves out of my bedroom after bathtime but that was more for my own benefit.)
All of that took me to Friday of half-term, at which point I had the option of:
a) finally doing my homework or
b) checking in to see how my plan was doing.
(I’ll leave you to guess which I chose.)
When I called Anja, she told me that Operation Challenge was well under way.
“Great. Time for Phase Two, you think?”
“Definitely,” Anja agreed. “What would work best? Shopping centre or coffee shop?”
I considered for a moment. “Shopping centre. I need new jeans, anyway.”
Anja sent a message out that night, asking who was up for a shopping trip the next day, and by the next morning there was a group of eight of us meeting at the bus stop. Given that normally it was a struggle to get three of us to agree what to do on any given day, I assumed this meant the plan was working really well.
Of course it was Lola who brought it up first, before the bus had even pulled away from Westerbury.
“So, Tilly, what’s the deal with you and the new boy?” Lola twisted round from the seats in front, her gaze suspicious.
“What are you talking about?” I kept my eyes wide and innocent. The most important thing about the plan was that it mustn’t seem to come from me.
The whole point was to make me look like a challenge to Zach – someone he’d have to work to win over and would be admired for doing so.
Sitting next to Lola, Rebecca rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on. Everyone saw that moment in English class – your eyes met across the crowded room and all that. Plus I heard he came and found you in the library the next day.”
Anja and Rohan had been doing their jobs well. Rebecca wasn’t even in my English class, and only Drew and a few other students had been in the library that day. But I’d asked Anja and Rohan to make sure that everyone had at least heard the story. That way, people would ask me about it. And then I could say:
“He’s new at the school and needed help getting hold of the books for his courses. Where else would he go?”
“You’re honestly trying to tell us it was just about books?” Lola crossed her arms over her chest. “He didn’t try it on or anything?”
Oh, this was perfect. Because it didn’t matter if he had or hadn’t (and, of course, he hadn’t). Lola’s question gave me exactly the opening I needed.
“What if he did?” I said nonchalantly. “Everyone knows I don’t date guys from school.”
“That’s true,” Rebecca said, eyeing me like she was trying to figure out what species I really was. “I guess Zach would have to prove he was something really special to be the exception to your rule.”
I didn’t even have to answer that one. The challenge was set – and knowing Rebecca and Lola, I was pretty sure it would get back to Zach before school started up again on Monday.
“How did you do it?” I asked Anja, as we browsed clothes in my favourite shop later that afternoon. The others had headed off to the food court already, so I didn’t have to worry about them overhearing.
Anja shrugged as she held up a sea green top to her body and looked in the mirror. “Honestly? It was easy. I just asked Rebecca if she’d heard about you and the new guy having a moment. Obviously she pretended she had, even though she hadn’t, and got the whole story out of me in seconds flat by asking what you said had really happened. At that point, all I had to do was wait for her to tell everyone else we’ve ever met.”
“Which probably didn’t take long.” Anja had made a good choice by talking to Rebecca first. She’d never heard a story she didn’t instantly spread around. “Think Zach’s heard it yet?”
“Probably.” Anja hung the green top back on the rail. “I did a social media check and I’m pretty sure he’s already connected with a few of the guys on the rugby team – including Rebecca’s brother’s friends, so that’s a good start. Have you been watching him in action on that show yet?”
“Maybe once or twice.” Or every episode ever made. Even the ones at the start where he was performing with his probable girlfriend. (The fact she disappeared halfway through the first series made me feel a lot better about my plan.)
I felt oddly philosophical about the whole thing. We’d put the plan in motion – now I just needed to wait for Zach to catch up with it.
That was Phase Three. After the Meet Cute, and Forced Proximity (which I figured was basically covered by being at the same school and having at least one class together) came Getting to Know Each Other, which would start when Zach took up the challenge and became as invested in this could-be relationship as I was.
And in the books that always led to the stage I was most interested in – The First Kiss.
School went back on Monday, and I could tell from the whispers and the not-so-subtle glances in my direction that word had definitely got around. I ignored them all and went about my day as normal – or as normal as it could be when my whole body was buzzing with the excitement of seeing Zach again.
That afternoon, I sat next to him in English and used my rehearsed conversations to make general small talk – and not mention the fact that I’d spent half-term watching him sing duets with his pretty ex on my computer.
“Any sign that he’d heard the rumours yet?” Anja asked afterwards, as we grabbed our bags.
“Inconclusive.” I’d thought he’d looked at me with a little more interest, but it was hard to tell if that was just because he found me interesting, or because he’d heard what people were saying. “He did share my copy of Hamlet, though.”
“It’s a start,” Anja said.
On Tuesday, Anja and I met Rohan in the sixth form common room before school, after Anja had finished swimming training.
Sliding into the seat next to him, I clocked Zach across the room. He had a guitar case propped up against the wall behind him and Maisey was trying to persuade him to play it.
“Keeping an eye on Mr Romance Hero?” Rohan asked, not looking up from the screen of his phone. “How’s Campaign Flirt going, anyway?”
“Slowly,” Anja said, sounding frustrated. Anja seemed to be taking the glacial pace of Campaign Flirt (or Operation Challenge, or whatever we were calling it today) very personally. She never did like anything forcing her to deviate from a plan once it was made. She was ridiculously militant about her training schedule, even when it meant swimming at six a.m. every morning in the middle of winter. As she told me every time I groaned at the idea, that was why she won medals.
But right now, she just needed a little more patience.
“Give it time,” I told her sanguinely. In truth, I was starting to feel slightly nervous about the whole thing myself. I’d been re-reading The Billionaire’s Bride Challenge again to make sure I hadn’t missed anything.
But when I looked up again, Zach was staring over at me and Maisey was sulking off to the side somewhere. I smiled and he grinned back. Warmth filled me. So this was what it was like to really like someone – s
o much that just their smile could make you happier.
“Well?” Rohan asked, having obviously watched the exchange. “Aren’t you going to go over and talk to him?”
Breaking eye contact with Zach, I reached into my bag for the history homework I hadn’t finished the night before. “Not yet. Another couple of days and he’ll come to me.”
At least, that was what happened in the book.
Wednesday afternoon was our Free Choice afternoon so, as usual, I prepared to report to the library after spending lunch with Anja, Lola, Rebecca and the other girls and their assorted boyfriends (Rohan had extra brass lessons on Wednesday lunchtimes, before band practice in the afternoon). Once again, I’d been asked about Zach – this time by Maisey, who’d spotted us whispering together in English. (I didn’t tell her he was just asking which page we were on, obviously.)
“You know, you could come with me before you go to the library,” Anja said.
I slung my bag on to my shoulder and frowned at her. “Books and swimming pools don’t really mix, Anja.”
“Yeah, but the Sports Pavilion is right next to the swimming pool, and the rugby team will be getting ready for practice…” Of course. Zach had chosen rugby as his Free Choice for Wednesday afternoons.
“I’m waiting for him to come to me, remember?”
“But what if he doesn’t?” Anja’s frustration leaked out in her voice. “And anyway, don’t you want to see him in his rugby kit?”
“He will.” I didn’t answer the other question. No need to let on to Anja that I’d already seen it – he’d played rugby at his last school, too, and The Real Star School had helpfully caught it on film. God bless the internet.
“How can you be so sure about this?” Anja asked.
“Because that’s how romance novels work,” I told her, with full confidence. “Just trust me. I might not have the personal experience but I know the stages. This is going to happen.”
Just like it did for that Billionaire’s Bride.
I was right.
It took one more day for Zach to cave.
On Thursday lunchtime, Rachel had left me in charge of the lower school Book Club again. (“Since you did such a great job of it before half-term. Think how good it will look on your university applications!”)
This week, we were discussing Alice in Wonderland, one of my favourite books ever since I was little – even if it didn’t have any romance in it. They were supposed to have read the first few chapters but, as ever, our bookworm Jessie Hyde had read on to the end – and she had questions. As usual. (Luckily, most of the others seemed to have at least seen one of the movie versions, so didn’t have the ending spoiled.)
“What I don’t get is, why does she wake up in the end? I mean, it couldn’t really have all been a dream, could it?” Jessie looked so hopeful, so ripe for the crushing, I could barely bring myself to tell her the truth.
“Because Charles Dodgson had written himself into a corner,” Drew said, half under his breath, from the table next to me.
I gritted my teeth. “The thing is, Jessie—”
But Jessie had already turned round in her chair to face Drew. “Who’s Charles Dodgson?”
“The author.” Drew didn’t look away from his screen.
Harry scoffed a laugh. “Shows what you know. Alice in Wonderland was written by Lewis Carroll.” He pointed at the book cover as proof.
Drew gave me a ‘what are they teaching these kids’ look, and left me to explain.
“Lewis Carroll was a pen name,” I told Harry. “The author’s real name was Charles Dodgson. And he chose to end the book with Alice waking up from a dream because…”
I trailed off. Why had he?
“Some people think it’s because it symbolizes Alice growing up,” Drew said, pushing aside his laptop. “Like, Wonderland was her childhood and waking up is her becoming an adult.”
“Putting away childish things,” I murmured. “Like white rabbits in waistcoats and mad tea parties.” That made sense, I supposed.
“Personally I think it’s because he’d left himself no other way out,” Drew went on. “He’d taken the story as far as he could and written Alice into a situation she couldn’t get out of. So he pretended none of it ever happened. It’s a cheap trick, is all.”
“I heard it was about drugs, really,” Harry said, and Drew and I exchanged a bored glance. The lower school always thought everything was about drugs.
I was about to come up with an answer that would hopefully satisfy him, when the library door opened and, just like the week before half-term, Zach Gates walked in.
My heart gave a quick double beat. All week I’d been waiting patiently for this but now he was here I was suddenly nervous.
“Drew, you can take over here, right?” I said, pushing my chair away from the table to get to my feet.
Drew scowled – although whether at me or Zach, or just the world in general, I wasn’t really sure.
Leaving Drew to listen to Harry’s drug theories, I crossed to where Zach waited by the door, desperately trying to remember all those conversations I’d rehearsed, ready for this moment.
“Hi. Looking for more books?” Yes, fine, not my best. But we were in a library, so it made sense, and it also referenced the last time we spoke without confusing him. So, better than most of my previous attempts, really.
“Actually,” Zach said, giving me the sort of smile that made my insides a little wobbly. “I was looking for you. Tilly Frost.” He strung out my name, emphasizing the fact that he’d remembered it this time. I took that as a good sign.
“Oh? Why?” I didn’t want to sound too eager – or too desperate. I glanced back at the Book Club, to check if they were listening, but they were all deep in discussion with Drew.
Zach shrugged, his broad shoulders raising his blazer collar almost to his ears. “Couple of reasons, really. First, I have to ask. Frost … that’s an interesting surname. Any relation to Westerbury’s most famous resident – and my mum’s favourite author?”
I filed away that information in case it came in handy later. Maybe I could show up with some signed books for his mum, a sort of welcome to our town gift? Would that be sweet or creepy?
I was getting ahead of myself. “She’s my grandmother.”
Zach gave a low whistle. “I had no idea St Stephen’s was hosting such a celebrity student.”
I felt the heat hitting my cheeks. “My gran is the superstar. Not me.” Not yet. But if things went well with Gran’s plan … well, then, who knew?
“For now, anyway,” Zach said, like he knew something. Like he could read my secrets in my face.
“Besides, you’re the star everyone’s been talking about the last few weeks,” I pointed out. “The Real Star School or something, wasn’t it?” I’d practised sounding nonchalant as I said the show’s name in the mirror, ready for this moment. The rehearsals helped, it seemed, as the words came out smoothly.
“You watched it, then?” Zach asked, eyebrows raised.
I shrugged. “I caught the odd episode.” Or, you know, mainlined every single one of the three series over the last fortnight.
“What did you think?”
My body froze. Why hadn’t I prepared for that question? Of course he’d want to know my thoughts on the show – if he was really interested in me, that is. So this was a good sign. Except I hadn’t got a clue what to say.
“I liked the duets,” I blurted out after a moment, and Zach’s eyes grew a little shaded.
Oh God, because I’d just mentioned his ex-girlfriend. Idiot.
In the silence that followed, I heard Jessie over at the Book Club table say, “Drew! I thought you were supposed to be answering our questions.”
“Then ask better ones,” Drew replied, sounding grumpier than ever. I was going to have to go and take over again soon but first I needed to fix things with Zach.
“Um, you said you had a couple of things you wanted to talk to me about?” I said, desperatel
y hoping that whatever the other thing was it would be easier for me to discuss.
Zach shook off his frown and relaxed, looking more like the easy-going gorgeous guy I really wanted to get to know better again.
“Um, yeah. I wanted to talk to you about the project Mr Evans assigned in English,” he said. “I wondered if you didn’t have a partner for it yet, maybe we could work together?”
The English project. Well, it fitted the Forced Proximity thing nicely but it was hardly the epic romance I was aiming for. Unless that wasn’t what Zach really wanted to ask me.
In The Billionaire’s Bride Challenge, the hero used all sorts of excuses to spend time with the heroine, when in reality he was just trying to win her over. Was that what Zach was doing? And if it was, should I take the chance of calling him on it?
Behind me, the Book Club were growing rowdy. I didn’t have long to fix things with Zach and I couldn’t afford to screw it up by saying the wrong thing again.
Fortunately, since Anja had suggested working with him on a school thing, I’d already thought my way through this possible conversation ahead of time. I just hoped he followed my script.
“The English project.” I tilted my head to the side a little and raised my eyebrows as I looked at him, just like I’d practised in the mirror. “You came all the way over to the library to ask me if I’d work with you instead of, oh, I don’t know, asking me in class? You know, the one we had together this morning?”
Zach gave me a charming smile. “Well, let’s just say I didn’t want too much of an audience in case you turned me down.” That sounded more promising – and exactly what I’d hoped he’d say.
“For the project?” I asked innocently.
“For the second part of my proposition.”
My eyebrows went higher. That was a little more than I’d expected. “This is a proposition now?”
