by C. L. Stone
"Jacob Nethercott."
"Yo!" The lazy sounding voice caught her attention. She looked over and did a double take, two identical boys sat side by side.
"Joshua Nethercott."
"Here."
They were two seats over from hers, but it was easy to see they truly were identical. Straight, tousled, black hair fell into their eyes, touched the tips of their ears, and brushed the collar of their black jackets. They were like two gorgeous peas in a pod. They were sitting back in their chairs, bags on the desk. As one they looked towards her, as if they knew she was watching them. Her cheeks grew even hotter. Caught, she looked away quickly. She waited a beat and then chanced a sideways look back at them, but they were still looking over at her. In sync, they winked at her, identical smirks tilting their lips. Certain she was about to combust, she turned away abruptly, determined not to look back again.
“Okay, everyone, keep the noise down until the bell rings,” Mr Peters called out, and taking the register, he disappeared through a door that had Chapter House written on it in gold script.
"Hey, Lily." Two girls, one fair and one dark haired, turned in their seats to look back at her. “I’m Sarah. Where’ve you moved from?” The fair headed one spoke first.
“Brighton." Lily gripped her bag tightly in her sweaty palms.
"Cool, we went there for our holidays last year. It's a nice place. I'm Beth, by the way."
“Brighton was alright, I liked it there. We’ve moved into Trenance now; it's very pretty," she told them.
"My aunt lives there. It’s okay but too quiet for me," Sarah said, opening up her timetable. "What have you got first?"
Lily opened her own timetable. She’d completed one year of her A levels in Brighton, but come June, she would take her final exams.
"Maths and then English Lit," she said, looking up.
"I've got Art and Design, then Drama," Sarah said.
"I've Biology and Physics. What other subjects are you taking?" Beth asked.
"English Language, French, History, and Geography," Lily replied, checking her schedule.
"You'll be back here with old Peters then," Sarah said with a grin. She flicked her long blonde hair over her shoulder. "He's not so bad, but watch he doesn't catch you chatting or he'll throw balled up paper at you."
Lily smiled and looked over to where Mr Peters had emerged from the Chapter House and was in deep discussion with two boys at the front of the classroom.
"That's Wayne and Royston," Sarah said. "They're captains of the chess club. Competition level, and Mr Peters is the lead teacher. We're going up against Burnham College next month and then on to the county finals in the new year, if we get through."
"Do you play?" Lily asked, making Sarah snort with laughter.
"God, no. My brother used to when he was here. He left last year and is now at Exeter Uni."
"What's he studying?" Lily asked.
"Theology and Philosophy. He wants to teach Religious Studies."
The bell rang for the end of registration, and Lily got up along with everyone else.
"Do you know where you're going yet?" Beth asked her. "It's the opposite direction to us or we’d show you."
"Thanks, I'll find it. I have the map they gave me in the office—"
"Which was drawn by a drunk two-year-old." Sarah shook her head with a laugh. "You'll never find anything looking at that thing. Wayne said he has Maths first, follow him and you won't get lost."
"Okay, thanks." Lily gave them a relieved smile, and they waved as they joined the rest of the students leaving the room. Lily held back, trying to spot Wayne in the crowd leaving the room.
"Hey, Lily Newbie, where’re you headed?" She turned at the sound of her name and saw the twins heading towards her, bags over their shoulders.
"Maths," she replied, and they nodded, almost as if that was what they expected her to say.
"Same as us. We'll make sure you don't get lost, Lily Newbie.”
"Thanks."They smiled at her, and she found herself smiling back, feeling relieved again.
Close up, she could see grey eyes and a firm jawline. She really couldn't see a difference in them. She'd met identical twins before, but there were subtle differences between them. Differences, that when they stood together, she could tell which was which. But these boys? She couldn’t see anything that would help her work out which was which. And it didn’t help that they were dressed identically in the college uniform.
"I'm Josh, he's Jake. And we'll be late if we just stand here.”
She coloured up again and hastily made her way out of the classroom. They directed her left and then fell into step with her, one on either side.
"Where’re you from?" Josh asked her, or at least she thought it was Josh.
"Brighton." It wouldn't be the last time she said that during the day.
"Brighton Rock," Jake said with a grin. They led her through a maze of corridors, not saying any more. She didn't know if they were waiting for her to speak or not, but she didn't really have anything to say; first day nerves always stole her tongue. They were good looking, but there was something about them that unnerved her. She put it down to how identical they were.
"Here we are," Josh said, pointing to a door with Mathematics Department printed on it.
"You have a whole department for maths?" She was impressed. Her last college had one room for the entire school and only two classes in each year.
"Well, it likes to think it's a department. O'Connor is department head. He had that put up last year, when he finally managed to commandeer the walk-in storage cupboard from Computer Science. Gives him three rooms, which became the Department,” Josh replied. Or was it Jake? He pushed the door open and motioned for her to go first. She thanked him and went through, her eyes taking in the large room that held rows of tiered seating and fixed desks. They were arranged in a semi-circle that faced a giant whiteboard. The front seats and the back ones were already taken, but no one wanted the middle section, and they were all empty. She made her way up the steps and settled herself down, noticing that the twins took desks directly behind her. She looked around. There was a door on either side of the whiteboard. One was marked Trig and Calc and the other Foundation. Someone had tagged a piece of paper below the Trig and Calc sign saying, O’Conner’s Kingdom.
She turned back to the twins. “Thanks for bringing me here.”
“You’re welcome, Lily Newbie,” one of them said. But again, she had no idea which.
“What’ve you got next?” the other one asked her.
“English Lit.”
“We’ve Biology next; in the other direction. Have you got that map they give out?”
“Yeah.” She turned and drew it out of her bag. One of them reached forward and snagged it from her. He laid it out on his bag and took the pen his twin held out for him.
He snorted as he looked down at it. “You couldn’t find an apple in an orchard with this crap. Give me your timetable too,” he demanded, and she handed that over without even thinking about it.
The door banged closed, making Lily jump and turn to face the front.
“Right, you horrible lot! Once again we meet, so as you know you can call me Master Jedi, Sir, or Mr O’Connor. I’ll answer to any of those. Most of you reprobates I already know, some of you I may not. Newbies to this class, raise your hand, please.”
Lily put her hand in the air and wasn’t surprised when she was the only one.
“And your name is?” He looked directly at her, shaggy white eyebrows above black rimmed glasses wiggled impressively at her.
“Lily Adair, sir,” she answered him.
“You must be new to the whole area as I don’t recognise your face at all. Alright, stay there, I’ll be with you in two shakes of a lamb’s tail. Rest of you carnivorous lot, get your books from the shelf, you know the drill by now. Yes, Mr Watson?”
“Master Jedi, I turned vegetarian over the summer hols. I’m no longer carnivorous.”
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“Ah, do you eat fish still?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Right, Watson, you’re a pescetarian, get yourself over to the shelves then!” He clapped his hands, and Lily knew this was a teacher she was going to like. He was tall and thin with wild scraggly hair to go with his eyebrows. And it looked as if he dressed in the dark. She was almost certain his cardigan was inside out.
He took the steps two at a time and gave Lily some papers he had picked up from his desk first. He sat himself on the edge of the empty desk next to her. His cardigan was indeed inside out.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t know you or your abilities from Eve, and I have no desire to read any records which may or may not arrive before you graduate.” He smiled at her, his eyebrows doing that dance again. “So, for your benefit, but mostly mine, I want you to sit and go through this test today. If you prefer quiet to the mad ramblings of this crew, you can sit in the Foundation Room as it’s empty now.”
“I’ll be okay here,” she said quietly, reaching for her bag. “But thank you, sir.”
“No worries. If it gets too manic, just up and pop out there, okay?” He looked up and suddenly jumped to his feet.
“Ah, Nethercotts! Good to see you both back again. Which one are you?”
“Josh, sir.” Amusement coloured his voice, as Josh stopped beside her desk. He set a thick text book down for her, and she realised he’d fetched one for her as well.
“Wonderful! You know the drill, young man. Every class, don’t forget!” He held out an orange button badge that Josh took with a quick smile. She watched him put it on the front of his jacket where it could be seen clearly, and she realised it was so Mr O’Connor knew which one was which.
Josh sat back down, and Lily turned to him.
“Thanks for getting me the book.” She grinned at him. “Any chance you can keep the badge on for the rest of the year?”
“Not even one.” Josh smirked at her. “Where’s the fun in being identical if we can’t confuse people?”
She turned back to her test. Mr O’Connor moved off to talk to someone else as she drew out her pencil. She shut out everything around her and concentrated on the paper in front of her.
***************
She was finished before the end of the class, so she went back over the test to make sure she had it correct. A movement over her shoulder had her looking up. Two pieces of paper floated onto the top of her test. It was the map and the timetable the twins had taken from her before the start of lesson. The way it was changed made her grin. They’d marked the Maths Department with a big X and then they’d used different coloured pens to mark out the routes to each of her classrooms. At the top of the map was a colour coded key for the subjects she was taking. They’d even marked where the girls’ toilets were, as well as the canteen.
She turned to look over her shoulder at them. They looked at her and she mouthed thank you, giving them a thumbs up. All she got in reply was a smirk. It made her wonder if they’d tried to mess with her by putting in the wrong routes. She checked the map, tracing the route back to the tutor group. It was marked correctly. So far they weren’t misleading her. It would certainly make her life easier until she was more familiar with the layout of the school, and for that she was thankful.
The bell rang to signal end of class, and Mr O’Connor called out for them to try to have a good morning and to do their homework. She got up, grabbed her bag, map, and test papers and made her way down to his desk.
“Sir.” She held out the papers to him.
“Excellent, Lily. I’ll go through these, and tomorrow we’ll know where to kick off from. Where are you headed next?” He took them from her, his eyes already going over her answers.
“English,” she said, slinging her messenger bag over her head, freeing the hair that got caught under the strap.
“You know how to get there?”
“Yes, sir, thank you.”
“Excellent, off you go then,” he said vaguely, his attention solely on her paper. She left the classroom and closed the door. She followed the direction marked on the map, hoping the twins weren’t tricking her, and was pleased when she arrived at the correct classroom.
3
Touch
Lunch time found Lily sitting at the only empty table in the canteen. Her new map had got her there much more quickly than if she had tried to find it before they’d adjusted it for her. It was accurately drawn, and for that she was thankful.
“You called my name.”
A boy, about her age, was standing by the table, a tray of food in his hands. He was looking at her expectantly, his head tilted slightly to the side. A pair of wire rimmed glasses sat on his long, straight nose. The bluest eyes Lily had ever seen were behind those glasses, watching her intently. His face was thin, angular, and his cheekbones were pretty hot for a guy. No amount of sucking in her cheeks would give her cheekbones quite like that. His lips pursed slightly, and Lily realised she’d been staring at him. But in her defence, he was gorgeous.
“What?” she asked him, not remembering what he had said to her. Did he want to sit with her? She could go with that.
“I said, you called me; you called my name,” he repeated himself. He held an air of authority that made her think he might be on the staff, rather than one of the students. He could be a classroom aide and just look younger than he was.
“I didn’t call you.” She frowned and looked around her. The students at the other tables were paying no attention to either of them, more interested in their own conversations.
“Yes, you did.” He spoke clearly as if there was no doubt in the matter. “I heard you.”
“Hey, Nate! Who’ve you found?” Another boy came over, balancing his own tray in one hand whilst carrying a stack of books in the other. He was about the same age, with dirty blonde hair that looked as if he’d run his hands through it several times. It stuck up at odd angles, the front pushed to one side to stop it falling into his eyes. His eyes were a whiskey brown, warm and filled with a spark of friendliness that had her smiling without even realising it. His face was rounder than his friend’s, but he was just as good looking. He was taller by an inch, but he was slightly slouched as he came to a stop beside the boy. She realised that they were both students.
“She called my name,” Nate said quietly, not taking his eyes from her.
“No, I didn’t,” Lily repeated herself firmly. “It must have been someone else, because it wasn’t me. I’m new here, and I don’t even know your name.”
“You can call my name,” the other boy said with a wide grin. He plopped into the seat opposite her.
“Matthew.” Nate’s voice held a tone of censure that Lily didn’t understand.
“What?” He sent the other boy a wave of his fingers in dismissal and concentrated on Lily again. “You’re beautiful, aren’t you? And new. You have to be new here, or we’d be dating already.”
Lily snorted with laughter at his words. A few boys had flirted with her before, but nothing serious, just hand holding and end of year dance dates. She’d only been kissed once. Jimmy Price had asked her to the end of year dance in Brighton and stolen a kiss as he dropped her home. The lack of feelings it produced in her left her wholly unimpressed. They’d moved the following week anyway, so she never saw him again, and it didn’t upset her.
Nate sighed heavily and sat down next to his friend, setting his tray on the table.
“Matt, are you seriously going to hit on her straight away?”
“You snooze, you lose, Nate. You’ve been here for a good couple of minutes, and you haven’t even got the lovely lady’s name.” He looked at me. “Which is?”
“Lily Adair.”
“Welcome to Heathview College, Lily Adair. So, you want to ask me on a date?” Humour shone in his eyes as he grinned at her. “Because I won’t say no if you do.”
“No, she doesn’t,” Nate answered before Lily could even open her mouth.
> “Don’t answer for my girl,” Matt said and stole a chip from her plate. Lily looked at his plate, he’d taken the lasagne option with no chips.
“She’s not your girl,” Nate said with a smirk. “She hasn’t asked you yet.”
“I probably won’t either.” She knew they were only teasing her, there was no way he could be serious about dating her. He didn’t know her at all.
“Told you so,” Nate said, opening his can of Coke and taking a sip. She knew he was watching her closely, but she refused to be intimidated by his intense stare.
“She said probably, Nate. And probably means yes in my language.”
“That’s because you don’t speak English, Matt,” Nate replied smoothly, making Lily laugh.
Matt took another chip from her plate and she sent him a stern look, but he just winked at her and ate it.
“I’ll share my lasagne,” he said, after swallowing the chip. The lasagne was shining with grease, and Lily shook her head, grimacing.
“Yeah, it’s a toss-up between which food item will kill you quicker,” Matt said sadly, poking at his lasagne. “Anyway, where were we? Oh, yes. I know where this is going. You’re holding out for me to ask you instead, aren’t you?”
“She’s not holding out on you, and if she should date either of us, it should be me as it was my name she called,” Nate pointed out. There was something in his eyes that sent a shiver down her back. There was a calculating look in them that told her he was not as easygoing as he appeared. He was measuring her up, but what he thought of her she couldn’t guess.
“I didn’t call your name,” she told him firmly. “It was someone else, or maybe you need to get your hearing checked.” She saw his eyebrows lift slightly. He opened his mouth to reply, but before he could say anything Matt spoke up.
“So, what brings you to our humble little town? Apart from summer tourists, we don’t get many people coming here.”
