Best Player: A Romantic Comedy Series (Dreaming of Book 1)

by Anne Thomas

  "Quit it with the 'sweetheart' act," I snapped, placing a hand on his chest and shoving him backward. "There's no one around right now, Billie. You don't have to pretend you're my boyfriend. Oh, actually, come to think of it – you don't have to pretend at all –"

  "I'm just helping you."

  "Helping? Helping? Christ, Billie, you're not helping anything! Nearly half of my school year –" Okay, that was an exaggeration – "have nicknamed me Hanky Panky, because of you! You've made things between me and Adam kind of awkward, and you know, I have to work with him in drama!"

  "Do you like Adam?" Billie questioned. "As in, like, like?"

  I paused. Did I? No, I decided quite quickly, thinking of Adam. I mean, sure, he was good looking, and he'd been quite nice to me as of late (or whatever adjective you'd use to describe his behaviour towards me). He was somewhat supportive and had tried to help me find away to deal with Glyn, as half-baked as his idea had actually been.

  "No," I said confidently, "I don't like him, not like that."

  "Then what's the problem?" Billie asked.

  "Because he's a friend?" I suggested as if it should have been obvious. I guess, to me, that it was. "Just be thankful he's not John, Billie. Otherwise I would have hit you by now."

  "I'll take your word for it. Personally, I think you're overreacting."

  And maybe I was, but that didn't lessen my anger in the slightest.

  "Look, Freckles." He ran a hand through his hair. "The way I see it, I'm doing you a favour. Has Glyn talked to you today?"

  I bit my lip. "No."

  "And is this the first time in ages that he hasn't tried to ask you out?"

  I didn't answer.

  "Well, there you go. I've actually helped."

  "What are you getting out of this, though?" I demanded, hand on hip. Billie's face lit up as he grinned in response.

  "I get a laugh," he said. "It's pretty funny for anyone watching, Freckles, trust me. I don't think anyone seriously believes that I and you are together, but hell, they all find it funny."

  "I don't," I muttered.

  "You've made that quite clear. But look – you get Glyn off your back for a while. If I were you, I'd go with it." Billie shrugged one shoulder and turned around, walking through the door.

  I shouted after him, "Fine, but you can stop with the whole walking me from lesson to lesson stuff!"

  He didn't.

  Immediately after dinner, I had Spanish. Mrs. Brooke told us almost as soon as we got into the classroom that we'd be heading down to the language department's computer lab to play on Spanish games. Now, normally, I'd partner up with John (there is never enough computers in the language department's computer lab), but he betrayed me by agreeing to be Louis' partner. I let him know of my disapproval by throwing a pen lid at him, to which he just grinned.

  But my ire (well, slight annoyance) swiftly evaporated when Antal Kiss approached me and asked, in that sexy Hungarian accent of his, if I'd like to be his partner.

  So obviously, I said yes.

  We were sat in the computer lab, waiting for the seriously ancient computers to boot up, not talking at all. In fact, Antal was looking somewhat worked up about something.

  "Is everything okay, Antal?" I asked, resting my chin in my hand.

  "Hm?" he looked at me, curiously, and then sighed. "Nerys, I have heard this thing today."

  "Oh?" I prompted.

  "Yes. I am friends with Gary Waites. He told me today that you are...how would you say it...with that boy, William?"

  "Billie, you mean?" I made a weird noise, halfway between a laugh and a choke. "No, no, I'm not...with Billie."

  "That is not what people are saying," Antal said softly. He had nice eyes, I thought. They looked like melting chocolate. Mmm.

  Anyway.

  "It's..." I paused, struggling in what to tell him. "It's difficult. We're not...together, as such. I don't really like him. But he's...he's helping me out. That's all. There's nothing...like, romantic about it, or anything."

  "No?" Antal looked somewhat happier. "I am happy, Nerys. I would not like it if there was anything romantic about it."

  I just smiled, but inside, I was dancing.

  At the end of Year 9, I remember having to choose my GCSE options. I chose Spanish, Drama, and History, and those choices were quite easy. So was choosing all my PE options – netball, aerobics and rounders. But choosing my Science option wasn't so easy.

  We had a choice, you see – Triple Award, Double Award, or BTEC. There was also a Foundation class, but I don't really think that was a choice. At the time when I was choosing, part of me really wanted to study Biology at college or some science, but I was deliberating over whether to choose Triple or Double. Both had their merits, but one would be significantly harder than the other.

  So what do I go and do? Yeah, I choose the hardest. Triple Award.

  On that particular Monday, then, I find myself sat next to Ann, and Sharon on her other side – they were the only other two out of our group to choose Triple – in Dr. Goodwin's lesson. I mean, this was nothing new, but it's a really crappy way to end a Monday.

  Dr. Goodwin was one of those teachers where you weren't really sure whether you liked her or not. On the one hand, she was a bit crazy in the sense that she wore gypsy skirts and lots of bangles and looked more like an art teacher than a science teacher, and she dyed her hair bright green and somehow got away with it. On the other, she could be brutally strict when she wanted to be and had this thing about respect. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm all for respect, but she goes kind of overboard with it.

  Dr. Goodwin started out the lesson by giving us a presentation on the subject matter – I'm not sure what it was, exactly; something to do with batteries – and then gave us a worksheet to work through for the remainder of the lesson.

  The thing about sitting next to Ann is that you find yourself just talking. She is, primarily, a listener, and then a giver of advice. She rarely interrupts (unless she's annoyed), and she doesn't exactly judge you either.

  Which was how I found myself telling her about how weird my day was, and how annoyed I was with Billie and so on. I left out the parts with Antal.

  By the time we got to question three on the sheet, I could tell that something was up with Ann.

  "Are you okay, Ann?" I asked, raising one eyebrow. Ann turned to look at me, and behind her, Sharon signaled a 'don't go there' by dragging a finger across her throat. I ignored her.

  "I'm fine," Ann said curtly. "A bit sick of you complaining, but otherwise, I'm fine."

  I felt slightly taken aback. "What's up?" I asked, my brow furrowing.

  "Most girls wouldn't complain about having three boys fancying them," Ann said after a few moments of silence, viciously dotting and 'I' in her book. "Which, they clearly do. Or that's the impression everyone's getting after today. You've got Glyn – which okay, you might not be so happy about – but then you've got Billie, who is like, universally adored by everyone but you –"

  "He doesn't –" I tried to interrupt, but she plowed on as if I'd never spoken.

  "And then you have Adam." She was glowering now, flicking through the science textbook as if she wanted to rip the book apart. "The boy who most girls would give their right arm to have him fancy them –"

  "Don't be so –"

  "But of course, he'd never fancy a girl like me, so why am I complaining?" Ann said, her voice getting slightly louder. She placed the book down and sat back slightly, eyes closing, before pinching the bridge of her nose. "Sorry," she said quietly, not opening her eyes. "I just..." She didn't finish her sentence.

  I looked at her. Now I felt bad. I knew she thought Adam had a nice arse, but...maybe it was more than just his arse she liked. Maybe Ann was more like the other girls at our school than she liked to let on. Of course, I wouldn't know, because she never really talks about herself...But I don't see why she'd think he wouldn't fancy her. She's prettier than me. She's quite tall – I'd say only an inch
or so shorter than Adam himself – and she's very slender and willowy. Her hair is auburn; quite a few shades darker than Adam's bright copper locks. And she has a nice face – full lips and large hazel eyes. Like me, she has freckles, but they're nowhere near as copious on her body. If it weren't for the glasses that perch on her nose, most boys would certainly look at her twice. Not that I've got anything against glasses – I don't think they make her look any less attractive, myself, but I get the feeling that most people would.

  So, going off looks, then I think Adam would fancy her. Personality? I would. I mean, she's very clever, but she doesn't go on about it. She never starts reciting random bits of mathematics theorems or whatever. In fact, if it weren't for her marks in lessons no one would really think of her as being particularly intelligent. When you get to know her, she's kind of sarcastic, very quiet and quite good at dealing with difficult people. And she's a good listener and can be really nice when she wants to be.

  "Ann," I said quietly, "I don't want Adam to fancy me. I don't like him like that. He's a nice lad and all, and I could see myself being good friends with him, but nothing more."

  Ann didn't respond; she just underlined something in her book with her ruler.

  "And if I were him," I continued, "I wouldn't fancy me, I would totally fancy you instead. Not that I'm a lesbian or anything. Oh, God, and not that there's anything wrong with being a lesbian because there's not –"

  Ann snorted. "Nerys, just be quiet," she said, a tiny smile quirking up the corners of her mouth. "Let's just pretend that this never happened, okay?"

  I left it at that, and by the end of the lesson, Ann was acting like her old self again. Pretty much.

  But as I left Science, I found not only Billie waiting outside (despite my request, he hadn't stopped with the waiting thing) but Adam as well. He was lolling against the wall opposite to Dr. Goodwin's classroom, no apple in sight but chewing quite clearly on bubblegum.

  "Nerys," he said, pushing himself off the wall. People were watching, and I felt self-conscious and all-too prepared to just bustle off down the corridor as if he hadn't spoken. "Wait for me, after form," was all he said, quite clear and loud enough for everyone in my Science class, Billie and anyone else nearby to hear. "You're in Miss Moore's form, yeah? Just wait for me outside there, and I'll come and meet you. There's something we need to talk about."

  He turned, sauntering off up the corridor, leaving me feeling kind of worried and everyone else feeling confused. I think.

  Oh, God. What did I have to deal with now?

  Chapter 11: A Warning from Cameron Roe

  I didn't need to wait for Adam, as it turned out. He was already there when I left my form, leaning against the wall. He nodded at Louis and his friends as they passed him, and grabbed hold of Aaron Lougher, his twin brother. "I'm not walking tonight," he said to him. "You go on without me."

  "Waiting for your girlfriend?" Aaron sniggered. Aaron is, to put it simply, a less-intelligent, less-attractive Adam. Sure, most of the girls still fancy him, and he only has a slightly lower social status, but he's...not Adam. None of the teachers like him, and he's not as friendly. Plus, he's got brown hair and lacks Adam's friendly smile and fondness for Pink Lady apples. He used to be very nasty to me in Year 7, so I never really liked him. I glowered at him as he said that.

  Adam quite calmly reached out and smacked Aaron, hard, across the back of his head. Aaron let out a kind of whimpering sound and glared at his brother. "Piss off," was all Adam said. Aaron did as he was told, taking off down the corridor with a thunderous look on his face.

  "My brother's a dick," he then said to me, as a way of greeting. "Ignore him. C'mon, let's walk."

  I hitched my bag up my shoulder and smiled at Beth.

  "See you tomorrow," she said to me, giving me a friendly tug on the sleeve as she passed me. She'd more or less been on cloud nine all day because she'd kissed Danny at the weekend. I was happy for her, but at that point, I was far too wrapped up in myself.

  Adam walked down the corridor and then turned the corner, in the opposite direction of nearly everyone else swarming towards the exits. I followed him, just a few paces behind until we reached the Humanities corridor. It's an unusual corridor, that. For some reason, it's nearly always deserted. Even between lessons, it's practically empty. And this was where he stopped, leaning against the wall. He fiddled with the zip on his rucksack for a few moments, dragging it open; he made me wonder what he was looking for. He finally pulled an apple from the bag's depths. Of course.

  "What did you want to talk about?" I asked, shifting my weight to my other foot. I began to play with a strand of hair that had come loose from my ponytail, suddenly nervous.

  "I don't fancy you," he said bluntly, examining his apple and avoiding my gaze. "You're a nice girl and all, but I don't want you getting the wrong idea."

  The wrong idea I had certainly got, and now I feel stupid. "Um. Okay," I said staring at the floor.

  "I realize that you might have got that impression, you see," he ploughed on. "John and Sian were talking about it at dinner. But trust me, I'm not interested in anything other than friendship with you, I'm not jealous over you and Billie –"

  "There is no Billie and me," I interrupted, tugging on my hair.

  The corner of his mouth quirked up. "I know. And, I'm not jealous of any attention Glyn's been showing you. I'm just...worried, that's all." And he looked it.

  "Why would you be worried?" I asked, leaning against the wall behind me and mimicking his casual stance. He bit into his apple as he mulled my question.

  "I've heard things," he responded. "That's all."

  "What things?" I pressed. He opened his mouth to answer when Mrs. Gibbs swept out of her Geography classroom. She eyed us curiously.

  "Don't you have homes to go to?" she asked.

  "I'm just waiting for my brother, miss," Adam lied easily. "He has detention tonight. Nerys is coming home with me so we can work on our Drama project."

  "I see." She smiled. "Bye."

  She hurried away, briefcase in hand, and Adam turned to me.

  "I've just heard things about Glyn," he said, slowly, "And I don't want you to get hurt. You're a nice girl, Nerys."

  "Things?" I echoed. "Hurt? Adam, tell me what the hell you're talking about. This isn't funny. Especially not if you've heard he's planning on killing me or something –"

  Adam chuckled. "No, no, nothing like that. It's just..." He raked the hand that wasn't holding an apple through his mop of hair and bit his lip.

  "Yes?" I prompted.

  "Right. Okay. You know that I play football outside of school, yeah?" I nodded. Everyone knew that. "Right, well, before I went to high school I played for a local Under-11's team, yeah?"

  "Hmm. Go on."

  "It's where I met Louis. He played for the same team," Adam continued. "And there were others, obviously who played for that team."

  "John did," I remembered. "But I don't think he was very good."

  Adam pointed his apple at me. "Yes, he did, I remember him. Anyway, another lad was on our team. Cameron Roe."

  "Yes. He went to my primary; he was John's friend. I used to get on with him quite well," I nodded.

  "He moved to Cardiff, yeah?" It wasn't really a question, more a statement, so I didn't answer. "I kept in touch. We were good friends. Probably be even better if he'd come to this school and hadn't moved. Well, anyway, I was on MSN a few weeks ago."

  I curled an errant strand of hair around my finger and nodded for him to continue.

  "I was talking to him. I hadn't been for a while, so it was like, you know, a catch-up. He was telling me about school, and I was telling him about school, and then I mentioned Glyn. Anyway, Cameron seemed to find this pretty funny and starts describing Glyn – you know, red hair, kind of short, geeky looking, yeah? And he says that a Glyn left his school at the end of Year 9, and we both figure it's the same lad."

  I raised one skeptical eyebrow. There must be millions o
f Glyns in Wales.

  "Go on," I finally said.

  "And then Cameron says, 'has he met any girls yet?' So I say, 'What d'you mean?' And he goes on to tell me about how the Glyn from his school had this thing of a girl named Lucy. He said that Lucy was a really nice girl, really well liked and friendly, and she was the only person who tried to be nice to Glyn – you know, made an effort. Cameron said that everyone knew Glyn fancied Lucy and that he had done since Year 7 because he made it so obvious. Cameron said that he was constantly asking Lucy out and shit – you know what I mean?"

  Boy, did I know?

  Adam continued. "And then, in Year 9, she starts going out with this lad, and Glyn like proper backs off, although he freaks them all out because he gets a bit angry at first, you know? And then she breaks up with that lad, and Glyn goes back to being full-on stalkerish towards her. And then, right at the end of Year 9, she starts a thing with this lad named Dave."

  Here he paused and took a large bite out of his apple. He chewed and swallowed before starting again. "According to Cameron, Glyn flipped. He went mental, one day, in the schoolyard, screaming all sorts at Lucy and calling her all sorts of names and all this crap, 'I thought you liked me' and stuff. Apparently, Lucy was crying, and everything and Glyn were being really aggressive. So this Dave, he starts telling Glyn to back off, and then Glyn swings for Lucy and breaks her nose. Anyway, Cameron said that Glyn was expelled, and then he heard that Glyn was moving away," he finished, shrugging.

  "But – but they could be two different Glyns," I pointed out.

  "Sure," Adam agreed. "They could. Doesn't it all sound a bit familiar, though? How many ginger Glyns who develop small obsessions with girls can there be in Wales?"

  I sighed and didn't answer.

  "I'm sorry, Nerys," Adam then said, looking somewhat sheepish. "I came up with that idea of having you date someone because...well, of what Cameron told me, I understood that Glyn backed off – mostly – when that Lucy had a boyfriend. It was just an idea. But now I seem to have really upset you because of Billie, and that wasn't my intention, I swear."