Good @ Games (Book Four, The Flirting Games Series)

by Wilkinson, Stella

  The boy’s eyes opened in surprise, but he didn’t stop playing. It was only when Jess became aware that he was watching her that she stopped singing and he in turn stopped playing. There was a long silence.

  Jess felt her ears turn red and was about to mumble an apology when he spoke. “Wow.” He smiled at her.

  “Wow yourself.” Jess nodded at the piano. For a moment he stared at her with an open and interested countenance; and then it was like he changed personality.

  The genuine pleasure that had lit his features while he was playing literally disappeared; a bored and affected look took its place. It was almost like she had caught a glimpse of the real boy, made vulnerable by his love of music, but now he was retreating firmly behind the mask of his public persona. It happened so quickly that she wasn’t even sure if she had seen it. She wasn’t sure she liked the superior confidence he was suddenly giving off.

  He leaned back and put his hands behind his head. “You must be the new girl Miss Bracken was raving about. But you didn’t hit top C.”

  Jess shrugged. “I know, but I wasn’t warmed up. I’m Jessica Chase.” She stuck her hand out, seeing as so many other people had shaken her hand so far.

  The boy stood up, and grasping her hand he pulled her right up to him. “I’m Italian; in Italy we kiss.”

  Before she could blink, he placed a kiss on her left cheek, then on her right,. “Hmm. Isn’t there a game called Kiss Chase?” he asked, then planted a kiss right on her lips.

  Jess jumped backwards in surprise. She had only just met him and he was definitely trying it on already!

  “Yes, it’s a game, and yes, I’ve heard that joke before, about a million times.” Jess wiped her cheeks as if grossed out. But the reality was that the boy was so incredibly gorgeous that she felt like she never wanted to wash her face again. She could feel exactly where his large soft lips had landed. And her own lips practically seemed to have gone all tingly at his last kiss. But she had already been warned this boy was trouble, and she was absolutely certain that he was the last person she would get involved with.

  His new personality was a clearly a bit of a puck character. She could see the fun dancing in his eyes; he was a good-time guy. His mouth was now curved into a sardonic smile as he eyed her up and down.

  “Well, you look much better than expected,” he said at last. “You came from a comp school, right? I guess I thought you’d be more of a chav.”

  Jessica narrowed her eyes, trying to decide if she had just been insulted or complimented.

  “I assume you are Benito Byron? You look exactly as I expected,” she shot back.

  His eyes twinkled some more. “Oh good, I see my reputation precedes me.”

  Jess groaned inside. She had been secretly hoping that the distracting boy in front of her would not be Benito Byron, but unfortunately it looked as though this was indeed her new music tutor – she was going to be fending off his charms for rather a large portion of her time. How was she supposed to concentrate on her music if he kept flirting with her? She would have to nip that one in the bud straightaway, make it clear that she was not available for a relationship of any kind with him. She just wanted to do well and avoid any other kind of complications. And Byron had “complication” written all over him.

  “Are you still up for tutoring me?” she asked, trying to keep her voice businesslike.

  “Sure.” He lounged back again. “When are you free?”

  Jessica pulled a copy of her new timetable out of her bag. “I’ve got tutoring already on Monday and Wednesday evenings, and I have to make time for my history tutor as well, but nothing else so far. I have free periods on Wednesday after lunch; Thursday morning, but that one is taken; and last lesson on Friday.”

  Benito looked thoughtful. “I’ll take after lunch on Wednesday; we can work through lunch break as well. We’ll also do Friday evening– that way we can stay as late as we need to until curfew – and shall we say either Saturday morning or afternoon depending on what’s on?”

  Jessica nodded, slightly impressed. She’d had the notion that Byron was lazy, but clearly not when it came to music.

  She said she’d see him the following day and made good her escape. She definitely wanted to regroup before facing that one again!

  When she got back to her room, Amy was waiting for her. “So how did it go with Byron?” she asked.

  “Fine. I get the feeling he’s quite a handful though.”

  “Yeah, but what a nice handful to hold.” Amy sighed wistfully. “Anyway, you’ll find Ellie Parkhurst easy-going. I got her internal email address so you can arrange to meet her.” Amy handed Jessica a slip of paper, which simply said EllsBells.

  Jessica smiled at the joke; her own mother had a habit of saying “Hell’s bells!” when everything went wrong.

  Off the bedroom she shared with the other three was a door to a study room. Inside were four desks around the walls, for the girls to use for prep time, and Jessica now set up her PC at one of the desks. She saw straight away that there was no Internet, but the school Intranet icon appeared. She signed into it as Soubrette and then sent Ellie a quick email explaining who she was and asking if they could meet the following evening in the library, just before her scheduled lesson with Eustace Reed.

  Then she noticed she had a new email from The Eagle.

  “So, I’ve been doing my research. I now know what a Soubrette is and I’ve come to the conclusion that you must be female and therefore not Pavarotti from Year Three. It would seem that there are seven new girls this year, if you don’t count the new first years, (and I sincerely hope that you are not a first year!) So it will be time-consuming for me to discover your true identity; therefore I must suggest you consider just telling me who you are so that I can give you a proper welcome to our school.”

  Jessica raised her eyebrows. Were all the boys in this school on the make? She was sure the email had a decidedly flirty tone, and he didn’t even know what she looked like. On the other hand, there was something nice about having a boy she could flirt with that would be safe because she had no intention of actually meeting him and taking it anywhere. It wasn’t as though she had much in the way of friends as yet at Compass Court, and she could do with all the ones she could get if she was going to make it through the year.

  “How about this,” Jessica typed back; “we don’t say who we really are, we avoid any discussion that would give it away, but we can chat by email?”

  “Hmm, interesting,” he replied. “I like it…”

  For the next two hours they chatted online about nothing in particular.

  Chapter Five

  On Wednesday Jessica felt totally lost. Each class seemed harder than the last. The kids she met were a blur of faces; most were friendly, but they already had cliquey friendship groups. Each time she walked into a classroom, Jessica found it best to wait until everyone was sitting down so she could find a seat that wasn’t already taken. All in all, it wasn’t her idea of fun. She hated being the new girl.

  It was with some relief that she grabbed a sandwich and some crisps in the cafeteria and then took them with her upstairs to the music room.

  There was no sign of Byron when she arrived, but Jessica relished the peace of the music room after the constant rush and buzz of the morning. She wandered around the room, eating her sandwich and reverently touching the keys on the piano, the piles of sheet music and the other instruments placed around the room, and breathing in the creative atmosphere. She liked this room, with its whitewashed walls and high ceiling. Big windows looked down on the river outside the school, and the autumn sunshine made the room warm and mellow.

  There was some giggling and a slight scuffling noise just outside the room, so Jessica opened the door. In the corridor she found Byron kissing a girl who was clinging to him like a limpet, and he had his hand up her jumper.

  “Uh hem!” coughed Jessica loudly.

  The girl looked all set to completely ignore her, but Byron rel
uctantly untangled the arms from around his neck. “Sorry love, I’ve got to work.” He told the girl who pouted, then flounced off without even a glance Jessica’s way.

  “Your girlfriend, I presume?” Jessica raised her eyebrows at Byron as he half-heartedly tucked his shirt back in.

  “What? God no, that’s just Melissa, or was it Melanie? I can’t remember.”

  Jessica laughed, “You must be kidding me! I mean, haven’t you been at school with these people for years?”

  “I suppose so.” Byron shrugged. “But I don’t really pay attention to anything except music. I’m failing pretty much everything else.”

  “And they let you get away with that?” Jessica eyed him in disbelief.

  “Mostly.” He grinned and pushed his hair out of his eyes.

  She could almost believe him; he had the looks to get away with anything.

  She perched on the edge of chair and opened her crisps. “So, Benito Byron. Those are names you hardly expect to hear together.”

  “Blame my parents,” he said, “my father’s English and my mother’s Italian.”

  “An Italian mamma, huh? Is she one of those ones that totally dotes on you, thinks you must be some kind of demi-god?”

  “You bet!” He grinned again. “She thinks I can do no wrong. My teachers complain to her all the time, but she just thinks they’re somehow deficient not to have noticed that I’m too bright for their boring subject. She thinks I’m a genius in the making; too bad my father doesn’t see it.”

  “But he must be proud that you excel in music?”

  “Compared to him, I don’t particularly. He was already taking the world by storm at my age.”

  “Oh!” Jessica clapped her hand to her mouth. “Is your father Everard Byron? The conductor?”

  “Yeah, that’s him,” Byron confirmed without emotion.

  “Hang on, that means your mother is Carmen Gianelli, the opera singer? Oh my giddy aunt! How could you let me sing in front of you when your mother is Carmen Gianelli? I must have sounded pathetic. This is so humiliating!”

  Jessica flopped back on her chair, muttering about his famous parents.

  “Look, Chase, we’re at a crappy boarding school, with a so-so music department. You and me, we’re the best this school has going for it, music-wise, so why not enjoy that – and we can work on being even better, okay? You have a good voice, but yeah, there’s a lot of room for improvement. I can help you, because I know what I’m talking about, but I won’t bother if you’re going to clam up just because my mother is a better singer than you are.”

  Jessica stood up with her hands on her hips. “What, and you’re all that, are you? Just because you can play Mozart on the piano. Loads of people can do that.”

  Byron sneered at her. “Really? Can they do this as well?” He plucked a beautiful violin from a presentation case, and proceeded to play the same piece of music from the day before flawlessly on the instrument.

  “Or this?” He repeated the part on a French horn, and then on a double bass electric guitar, followed by a flute. Finally he sat down at a percussion set, and even banging the drums it was unmistakably “Don Giovanni” as Mozart had never imagined it.

  Jessica held up her hands for him to stop. “Alright, I get it. You are a genius. Can you play every single instrument in here?”

  “Pretty much.” He rolled his shoulders dismissively. “But I can’t sing for toffee, so you got me beat there. You okay with that now?”

  Jessica laughed. “I suppose so. So is that the theme for today’s lesson, to learn to listen to you?”

  “If you like. Though there are plenty of non-musical things I’d be happy to teach you.” He waggled his eyebrows up and down suggestively.

  Jessica rolled her eyes. “And what would Melissa think of that?”

  “Who?” Byron looked innocently clueless.

  “Never mind.” Jessica laughed. “Look, Byron, I met loads of boys like you in my last school. Cool kids that think they’re somebody. I’m not interested, okay? I just want to get an A grade in music this year and steer clear of distractions like dating. So it would be very helpful if you dropped the suggestive comments.”

  “Are you sure, Chase? It would be a much more interesting way to pass the evenings – we could make beautiful music and then we could make beautiful music…”

  “Quite sure, thank you. Let’s just stick to plain old music, hmm?”

  “Alright.” Byron gave her one last cheeky grin, and then turned businesslike. “To be honest, music is the only thing that is way more important than girls, so I get that. Let’s start with the score to ‘Marriage of Figaro’. It came up on the exams for the last three years running, so it’s worth making sure we know it.”

  The two of them sat down together and then the next hour flew by. Jessica left the music room feeling confident that she and Byron were going to make a great team, as long as they kept it strictly platonic.

  ***

  Eleanor Parkhurst arrived late and breathless to meet Jessica in the library on Wednesday evening.

  “Sorry,” she panted, “there’s yet another birthday going on in our Common Room and I didn’t want to miss the cake.”

  Jessica looked at Ellie in surprise; she had expected a nerd, yet the girl in front of her was clearly anything but.

  “You’re Ellie? My history tutor?” she clarified.

  “Not what you were expecting, right?” Ellie grinned. “Don’t worry, I was total crap at history until I started dating my boyfriend; he’s the history geek, and forced me to become one too.” Ellie waggled her fingers flirtatiously at someone on the other side of the room. Jessica turned around and spotted the boy in question. He was blond and, quite frankly, rather easy on the eye.

  “That’s a history geek? Are all the geeks in this school good-looking?” Jessica asked in a bemused voice.

  “Nope, I got lucky.” Ellie blew her boyfriend a kiss, then turned her attention back to Jessica. “Why? Who have you met so far?” she asked curiously.

  “Well, this guy called Eustace Reed,” Jessica said, uncertain of what reaction she might get.

  But Ellie nodded understandingly. “Poor Reed. He was so skinny when he started at Compass, and with that unfortunate name, well, it didn’t take a week before they were calling him ‘Useless Weed’. Parents can be so cruel sometimes, but I guess they never considered that his name might rhyme with that. Anyway, he is kind of geeky, but cute, I think. Plus you can tell he works out now. He doesn’t look remotely weedy anymore. He’s a nice bloke though. He used to be in chess club with me, but I haven’t seen him there this year.”

  “You call him Reed?”

  “Yeah, a lot of the guys here go by their surnames, though mainly those who play sport, which Reed doesn’t; but wouldn’t you prefer Reed to Eustace if you had the choice? Oh, speak of the devil.” Ellie looked up and waved as Reed came in.

  “Hey, Reed. You can have my seat in a sec. So, Jessica, when do you want to meet?”

  “Would Tuesday evenings be any good for you?” Jessica asked.

  “Perfect; we’ll power through the boring stuff and then maybe have time to go to the games room afterwards – if you’re up for it?”

  “That would be great, thanks.” Jessica nodded enthusiastically, already feeling as though she and Ellie were going to be friends.

  “Cool, okay, I’ve got someone to do, so I’ll catch you later.” She gave a cheeky wink and headed off in the direction of her waiting boyfriend.

  “She’s nice,” Jessica said, as Reed slid into Ellie’s recently vacated seat.

  “She’s a cracker, everyone likes Ellie,” he agreed.

  “So, people call you Reed?”

  “My friends do. You can if you like.” He looked almost shy.

  “Yes, I will, if you don’t mind.” She smiled at him warmly, and he blushed again.

  Jessica liked the way he did that, but it wasn't very manly. She liked boys with more confidence. Her thoughts
slipped to Byron and then to The Eagle. Yes, they were both much more her type. Byron, though, was too good-looking and he knew it. There was a big difference between confidence and arrogance. She dismissed him. Instead she remembered her conversation the previous night with The Eagle. They seemed to have a lot in common, and he had just the right touch of confidence along with self-deprecating humour. Yes, the three boys were like the three bears. Reed was too shy, Byron was too confident, but The Eagle was just right. She was becoming more curious about him.

  “Do you know anyone in this school who goes by the nickname The Eagle?” she asked Reed.

  “No, who is he?”

  “Some boy I met on the school Intranet. We were chatting last night, but we agreed not to say who we really were.”

  “That sounds fun, but be careful, he could be anyone. He could be one of the teachers, or a hacker.”

  Jessica shook her head. “I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure he’s a pupil here and around our age.”

  “Okay, then why not just meet him?”

  “Maybe, but not yet. I like having a mystery man. It’s low-pressure, you know?”

  “Not really, no, can’t say it’s ever happened to me. Now, shall we start with physics?” Reed pulled some books from his bag and Jessica pulled a face, but got out her notepad and a pen.

  Chapter Six

  The days began to drift by and Jessica soon got into a pattern. On Monday and Wednesday nights she did science and maths with Reed, on Tuesdays nights she did history with Ellie, and on Wednesday lunchtimes, Friday nights and Saturday mornings, she did music with Byron. The rest of her free time was spent desperately trying to keep up with her other homework, or talking online with The Eagle. To be honest, apart from hanging out with Ellie after prep on a Tuesday, chatting with The Eagle was the extent of her social life. She was trying really hard to make schoolwork her main focus.