by K M Pyne
He shakes my hand then drops it quickly. “Pick up your bags. I’ll show you to your room. You’re sharing with Dean. He’s, erm… interesting.” He laughs as he stops outside a door and knocks on it before opening it. “Dean, this is your new roommate, Jake.” Then he leaves me standing there as he walks back down to his own room. Weird.
“Are you coming in or not?” Dean looks at me then he takes one of my bags and throws it on my bed and sits down on his.
I close the door behind me and put all my bags on my bed before sitting down on it to have a good look around. The room is nice; small, but clean and tidy. When I look at Dean, I see he’s tall, has dark hair, and is smartly dressed.
“So…” I stare at him. “What do I need to know around here? Who is top dog and why?” I might as well start as I mean to go on. I can either shrink into the shadows or push my way to the top.
Dean doesn’t hesitate. He tells me about the bullies, the quiet guys, the secret societies and everything they get up to. I laugh. If Dad knew what really goes on at this school, he wouldn’t have sent me here, that’s for sure.
I hate the fact that they’re arranging a marriage for me. I’ve grown up watching their loveless marriage and I know I don’t want that for myself. I want passion; even the small bit that Ana gave me was more passion than my dad has ever seen. I don’t want that. I want more.
Dean tells me that The Boys Club meet off campus once a week on a Saturday when they have some free time. They’re not allowed to leave campus officially, but they haven’t been caught yet. It’s a long trek through the weeds on the property and away from prying eyes. If someone was to follow anyone then they would soon be found out.
“Is there any chance to meet girls around here?” I ask Dean.
“We get to go into town sometimes, but we don’t know when we’re going so it’s difficult to arrange to meet up with anyone. There’re some girls in the local town who are nice, but nothing to write home about.”
“I guess beggars can’t be choosers, huh?”
Dean laughs and slaps me on my shoulder. “You’re going to fit in here well. Welcome to Brunswick, man.”
He helps me to unpack my cases and then it’s time for dinner.
“Come on. Let’s go down and you can meet the rest of the guys.” Dean looks up and down the corridor before whispering, “I can put in a good word for getting you into The Boys Club.”
“Sounds good. Lead the way.”
I follow Dean as he shows me around on the way to the dining hall. It’s huge and could give Hogwarts a run for its money. I know I’m going to get lost and will definitely have to use the map they gave me.
“Come over and meet the rest of the gang. You’ve met Dom already,” he says, pointing to the blond guy who showed me to my room earlier.
Dom nods his head and I do the same.
“This is Jeremy, or Jez, as we call him.”
Jeremy has dark hair, tanned skin, brilliantly white teeth, and I’d say he’s a hit with the girls. “Hey. I’m Jake.”
He nods his head and doesn’t say anything.
“This is Matt, and last but not least, this is Frasier.” Dean points to the last two guys at the table.
“Hey.” I nod my head in their direction.
“Hey,” Matt replies, and Frasier does the head nod. I guess I’m going to have to perfect that nod if I’m going to be a part of this gang.
I sit down next to Dean and listen to what the guys are talking about when dinner is served. It’s okay; nothing special. Typical meat, potatoes, and veg. It looks horrible. I’m used to having gourmet food three times a day at home, but I’m not there anymore so I have to get used to this normal food. I don’t let on to my new friends that the dinner is awful; they all seem to be enjoying it.
When we’ve finished dinner and had our desserts, we’re excused, and we all congregate in the common room on our floor.
I watch the dynamics in the room and see that Dom is in charge of this group of misfits. He doesn’t appear to trust me or is he just scared that I might take his position from him? That’s probably what it is.
In the morning, I follow Dean down to our first class, English Lit. I love reading and have read most of the books in our extensive library at the palace. I love the old classics and some of the newer books out there. I also have a Kindle and try to read at least one book a week. I’m not sure I should get my Kindle out here though.
A guy comes into the classroom, who can only be the teacher. “Morning, boys.” He looks around the room and his eyes settle on me. “Ah, I see we have a new boy here today. My name is Mr Brighton. Stand up there.”
I stand up.
“So, tell us who you are, where you come from, and what book is your favourite. Hurry up. We don’t have all day.”
I clear my throat. “My name is Jake Wessex and I’m from Sweden. English Literature was my best class back home and my favourite book is The Great Gatsby.”
“Ah, we have a classics lover in our midst. You’re very welcome, Jake. Now take a seat and don’t talk in class.” He dismisses me.
I’m glad to sit down away from everyone’s glares. I hate being the new kid.
“Right, before we start looking at the book we need to know inside and out for our exams, I have some news for you.”
Everyone starts talking. Mr Brighton holds up his hands to stop everyone talking, and what do you know? They stop. Cool.
“Be quiet. There is an Olympiad for school children that we wish to join. Unfortunately, we have not been able to attend in previous years as the competition is co-ed. As you are all aware, this school is single sex. This year, we are proposing to team together with St. Bernadette’s to create a team.” Everyone in the class goes wild. There’s cheering, stamping of feet, and thumping on the desks.
I lean over to Dean. “What’s going on here?”
He smiles. “St. Bernadette’s is the local girls’ school and we never get to spend time with them. It’s so hard to get close to them that they have become quite the enigma.”
Mr Brighton continues, “There will be several rounds between our two schools until we find the best team combination. Please don’t ruin this opportunity by letting your seventeen-year-old hormones take over. If one of you acts up then the whole thing is called off.” He looks at each and every one of us. I don’t speak because, in my mind, I’m jumping up and down rejoicing. This is my opportunity to find a way out of here. And who knows, I might meet someone at the same time.
Chapter Four
ELLIE
I can’t believe a week has gone by since we were told about the boys from Brunswick coming over. We’ve all been excited because we’re usually starved of male attention, except old man Flynn, but no one would go near him with a bargepole. He’s about seventy and he tends to the gardens. I think he’s a real life scarecrow, he’s that scruffy and dirty. He’s the only male on our campus. Sometimes I think the nuns have done it on purpose to stop any interest in the opposite sex with all our hormones running riot around the place.
We’ve made extra strawberry wine; hopefully we can give some to the boys after the first round.
The nuns are making us wear our full uniform today. Long blue pleated skirt. Blue and white check shirt. Navy blue blazer. They tried to make us wear our white gloves and straw hats too but we balked at the idea. We aren’t allowed to leave the building, let alone the campus, so why should we wear our outdoor clothes? It’s one sure way of the boys laughing at us and not being interested in us.
Looking out of the dorm window, I can see the bus coming down the long, windy drive. “Hey, Alia. Look, they’re here.”
Alia runs to the window behind me and pushes me out of the way. “Move it, sister. I need to see me some boys. It’s been far too long.”
Laughing, the two of us lean on the window ledge, resting our chins in our hands.
Alia elbows me as the first boy gets off the bus. “He looks nice.” The guy doesn’t look up so I do
n’t know how she knows that.
We watch each boy getting off, laughing about their hair and wanting to get a better view. The bell rings throughout the school, signalling that it’s time for us to welcome our visitors. “Come on, Alia. We’d better get downstairs before they send old man Flynn to find us.”
“Yeah. We don’t want him in our room. God knows what he might want to look at.”
Just as I push away from the window, a boy gets off the bus and he is the only one to look up. It feels like he’s looking directly into my eyes. I can’t turn away from his stare. He’s drop dead gorgeous. Blond hair, long on top and short on the sides. He continues to stare until someone must call his name, because he looks away, then he reaches up and waves at me before sprinting off to catch the others.
I can feel a blush rising up my cheeks.
“Hey, are you okay?” Alia asks, grabbing my hand.
I look back at the window. “Yeah, yeah. Let’s go down before Mother Jude loses her knickers.”
We link arms and leave our dorm, closing the door behind us.
When we get downstairs, the boys are standing in the vestibule and we all scramble to get in line to greet them. My eyes scan the boys, searching for the blond guy. As my eyes roam the line, I feel his eyes on me. When I reach him, it’s like he’s already looking deep into my soul. His lip lifts up on one side as he smiles at me. I feel like I’m in a trance and can’t stop staring at him. Alia grabs my arm and pulls me to the line.
“Stop staring! Have you never seen a boy before? Mother Jude is coming. Look to the floor, Ellie.”
Her words bring me back to Earth, and as Mother Jude walks past us slowly, I look to the floor.
“Welcome, Brunswick boys. We trust you enjoy your visit. Please follow us to the great hall where we will begin the first round of the competition to find our Olympiad team. Dinner will be served after the competition and we are delighted that you can join us. It goes without saying that there will be no shenanigans between the two schools, and at the first sign of trouble, the co-ed partnership will be discontinued. I hope that is clear to both schools.” She looks up and down our lines, making sure we understand what she’s saying.
We all nod and reply, “Yes, Mother.”
The boys all reply, “Yes, Ma’am.”
“Follow me,” she says as she walks to the front of the line and opens the doors into the great hall. I can hear the boys gasp as they enter. It really is a huge room and I can see that they have laid out the tables for the competition. I seat myself at the girls’ team table and watch with interest who our competition is going to be. Of course, blond boy is one of the opposition competitors. He winks at me before sitting down.
Our tables are on a diagonal, looking forward to the rest of the two schools, so we don’t have a great view of each other unless we stare. That is not going to happen. I’ll find another way to get his attention though. I just know that I need to find out who he is.
Their principal stands and walks to the centre of the room. “Thank you, Mother Jude, for welcoming us here today. We are very excited about the prospect of having a co-ed team with your school in the upcoming Olympiad tournament. We rank in the top two schools, and realistically, we should win the tournament. There will be three rounds of questioning. The first will be an open buzzer round, where a question will be asked and whoever is fastest on the buzzer gets to answer the question. There is no conferring at this stage. The next round will be a quick fire question round. Each competitor will be asked a series of questions in the space of two minutes. The aim is to answer as many questions correctly as possible in the time span. The person with the most wrong questions is out and we will keep going until there is only one person left. The first person to hit the buzzer can confer with their team and decide if they want to answer the questions or pass onto the other team. The team will be given one minute to discuss the answer amongst themselves, and then they will have to give an answer. If they give the wrong answer then the question will revert to the opposite team. Does everyone understand the rules?”
He looks at both teams. We all nod and say, “Yes, sir.”
“Let the games begin.” He stands beside Mother Jude and they take in turns to ask the questions.
It’s exciting, exhilarating even. For the first time in years, I feel alive. Some of the girls are wrongly answering the questions so that the boys look good. Not me. I want on that team so bad I can taste it. This is my one chance at freedom and I’m not letting anything get in my way.
It’s down to the quick fire round. I’ve been watching blond boy all throughout the competition. He’s smart like me; he doesn’t take part in any of the banter like the others. His eyes are squarely on me as he answers the questions and in between rounds.
We are the last two students, and that means we’re pitted against each other. This should be fun. We answers questions alternately and then I get a question wrong. Damn, that was stupid. He looks at me, smirks, and then looks at the teacher for his question. If he gets this right then it’s game over. It’s an easy question. He’ll get this right for sure.
He looks directly at me when he answers, his lips rising slightly on one side. I hear a groan from the other students. He got it wrong. Looking into his eyes, I see a glint in them. He got it wrong on purpose so I can stay in the competition. We keep going like this, one messing up then the other throwing the question. When we’ve answered all the questions the teacher has, they declare us joint winners. Everyone claps and the girls rush to my side. The boys rush to his, clapping him on the shoulder. The girls all hug me and scream in my ear.
Mother Jude claps her hands. “Everyone back to their seats. What a close round that was. It was very exciting. Both Ellie and Jake are through to the Olympiad.” Everyone claps and watches us.
Jake. His name is Jake. It suits him. I want to talk to him. I feel a deep rooted need to talk to him. When I look over to him, he’s standing in front of me.
“Well done, Ellie. That was great fun.” He reaches out to shake my hand. I take his in mine and he squeezes it tight, shaking it up and down. I expect him to let go as soon as he stops shaking it, but he caresses the back of my hand with his thumb, ensuring I look up at him. I gasp when I see a real smile on his face. It reaches his eyes and they sparkle. “Can’t wait for us to be part of the same team. Somehow, I know it’s going to be fun. See you at dinner,” he says as he pulls his hand away, but not before squeezing it tight once more. My hand feels cold when he takes his away and I stare at him at a complete loss for words.
I can feel something in my hand, and when I unravel my fingers, I glance at a small piece of paper with a phone number on it. Blushing, I close my hand quickly and put it into my blazer pocket. My heart races as I look up to see him walking away. As he reaches his friends, he turns and makes the signal for a phone with his hand, his thumb and pinkie standing out as he holds it to his ear. Smiling, he turns back to his friends who welcome him into the group.
We aren’t allowed phones at St. Bernadette’s, so why would he give me his number? I smile because I know then that he’s just like me. He doesn’t follow the rules, he just makes his own. There’s always a way around these things as I very well know.
Life just got way more interesting.
Chapter Five
JAKE
Walking away from her in the great hall was hard. I don’t think I’ve ever been so captivated by a girl before. I want to know everything about her. As she answered the questions, I knew I’d met my match. She wasn’t just beautiful, she was smart too. Perfect. When we both kept messing up the questions so that the other wouldn’t lose, I knew I’d found someone special and I’ve got a feeling she isn’t a rule follower either.
I had scribbled my number on the edge of the notebook and tore it off, passing it to her when we shook hands. I hope she calls me; I’d love to get to know her better.
It doesn’t escape me that I’ve only been at school a week and I’m already breaking
the rules. Rules are for fools, and I’m not one of those.
St. Bernadette’s have put on dinner for us all. I was hoping they would mix all the students up so we could get to know them better, but no such luck. However, Ellie is seated at the table behind mine, and I’m sure if I lean back far enough, I’ll be able to talk to her. I don’t want to risk being thrown off the team now that I have a bigger incentive. Ellie.
Dom looks at me. “What’s with you and that dorky look on your face? Are you so overwhelmed by the girls that you keep getting a hard on?” He laughs and turns to the other guys.
“At least I know what to do with mine. I bet yours has only ever felt the palm of your hand.” I stand up to walk away. I don’t want to cause a scene because I want to do this competition more than anything. “See you later, loser,” I whisper in his ear.
He turns swiftly and reaches out for me, but I get away before he makes contact. “I’ll get you later,” he says, grinding his teeth and struggling to hold himself back. Part of me wishes he’d lashed out. I could do with releasing some of the pent up energy that meeting Ellie has given me. I’ve had self-defence training from the age of four. Being a royal, you can’t be too sure and need to be able to protect yourself in every eventuality. I could bring him down with a click of my fingers, but I don’t want to risk bringing attention to myself.
When I get to the door out of the great hall, I turn and see Ellie watching me. I wonder if she’ll follow me. The thought makes me smile. I turn back and walk out the door. I need some fresh air.
I’m standing against the wall, with one leg bent at the knee and my foot against the wall. My eyes are closed, but I still know when she’s standing next to me. There’s a sweet smell of strawberries surrounding her.
“Hey,” I say, still with my eyes closed.
“Hey.” I feel her leaning against the wall next to me. “I heard that idiot back there. Is he a tough guy or something?”
