“I’m only fifteen too; and anyway, we’re both sixteen this term. And it always worked for you, didn’t it? You and Vanessa were hardly subtle about it when she stayed here.”
Gabriel shook his head. “Mikey, you are an idiot! You don’t rush this kind of thing. You’ve got a great girl; take it slowly.”
Michael looked unimpressed. “You slept with Vanessa the same night you met her!” he pointed out.
“But Vanessa was nineteen, and pretty experienced already. Flora is nothing like her.”
“Yeah, I know.” Michael said glumly, clearly wishing Flora was more like Vanessa.
Gabriel sat down on Michael’s bed. “Listen, Mike, I’m going to tell you something, and it is the absolute truth. At the academy I’m surrounded by girls just like Vanessa. Beautiful, confident girls who want to date me. But what would be the point? They would want me to run in circles for them, they would want gifts and adoration and my precious time. I broke up with Vanessa because I don’t have room in my life for that kind of girl right now. I’m selfish and I’m occasionally insecure, and I want a girl like you’ve got. Someone who puts my needs first, someone who is just kind and sweet. She’s worth waiting for, damn it!”
Gabriel sighed as Michael shrugged. He knew he hadn’t gotten through to him. He tried one last time.
“Look, I know it’s different for me. I’ve been at a school with girls since I was eleven and I’ve had a lot of girlfriends. For you, this is the first time in your life where you are at school with girls and you’ve suddenly realised that they like you, right?”
“Right.” Michael nodded, his attention back on Gabriel.
“It’s true, Michael, you’re good looking, and just like me you can have your pick of the girls. But as someone who has done just that, I do have a piece of advice for you: the sexy easy ones won’t keep you happy for long. They’re not girls you fall in love with. Girls like Flora are the ones you fall in love with in the end. That’s the kind of girl you hope to end up married to one day. Do you understand what I mean?”
“But you loved Vanessa,” Michael said, “and she was sexy as hell.”
Gabriel sighed, fairly sure his advice had gone in one ear and out the other. But he’d done what he could, and now it was up to Michael and Flora to work it out between them.
Over dinner that night, Gabriel couldn’t help looking at Flora with fresh eyes. She wasn’t a stunner the way Vanessa had been, but there was something very attractive about her. Her lack of guile, her warm open countenance, her corn-coloured hair plaited down her back, which he knew hung in soft waves around her shoulders when she left it loose. How sick was it that she had liked him and he had rejected her, but now he was suddenly really drawn to her and she was his brother’s girlfriend!
Chapter Eleven
When Reed got the text message inviting him for a ride, he briefly considered declining, just to make a point. But the feeling quickly passed. She knew he wouldn’t say no, he never had. Every holidays he got the call; she’d stopped making up excuses to see him years ago, now she just let him know when and where.
He saddled up his horse and set off to the lake that lay at the edge of his family estate.
He arrived first and tied his reigns, letting Bluestone, his horse, wander around as he pleased. Bluestone wouldn’t wander far. Reed skimmed pebbles across the lake, wondering if he should have packed a picnic or some drinks at least, but he figured they could easily go back to his house or hers if they got too thirsty. His parents were always pleased to see her, even if he wasn’t.
He heard the sound of hooves approaching, and squinted against the warm sun to watch her arrive.
He smiled as she came to a stop and he looked pointedly at his watch.
“So, it’s been what, less than forty-eight hours since we left school before you could resist availing yourself of my body?”
Bianca’s fingers tightened on the reigns. “Shut up, Eustace, I can still change my mind.”
He reached up and helped her dismount. “Yes, but you’re not going to, are you? You called me, not the other way round.”
“Well, you didn’t call me.” She pouted.
Reed closed his eyes briefly, as if seeking inner peace. “I never know where I stand with you, Bea. You ignore me at school, treat me as though we don’t even know each other, and then act like I’m your boyfriend in the holidays.”
“Well, you never seemed to mind that before. Or have things changed now that Jessica Chase is on the scene? Do you want her more than me? Or is it Amy? I’m losing track of how many girls you kissed last term.”
Reed laughed. He’d never seen Bianca actually look insecure before. She’d always been so sure of him, confident in the fact that he had loved her for years, and now suddenly she was panicking over the fact that he wouldn’t be waiting for her forever. He decided it would do her good to wonder.
“People change, Bea. Maybe it’s time I grew up and moved on?”
She looked furious. “With that common piece of …”
“Hey, watch it!” he cut her off.
“No, no, that’s fine. If that’s what you want then I’m sorry I wasted your time.” Her voice rose shrilly.
She moved to remount her horse, but Reed lifted her off her feet and carried her to the soft grass.
She smiled up at him and wound her arms round his neck. “So you still want me the most?” she said smugly.
“God knows why,” he muttered as he lowered her down. “But yes.”
Then he thoroughly kissed her with well-practised ease.
***
Jessica’s parents were in raptures when she got home at the start of the half-term holiday. Mrs Frost, the Headmistress, had sent them Jessica’s first report card, raving about how hard she was trying and how fast she was progressing. The fact that she spent every night and even her weekend nights studying had been noticed, and the Head was impressed. She wrote at length about Jessica’s diligent application to those subjects that needed the most work, saying that her tutors spoke highly of her efforts and that she was now on a par with most of the other students. She could now drop the extra tuition if she so chose. The Head hoped, though, that she would choose to continue with her extra music tuition, as it was such an important subject for Jessica – and not least because Jessica also seemed to be having a beneficial effect on her tutor himself, who had also improved dramatically during their collaboration.
Jessica’s parents instantly became convinced that her previous school had been entirely to blame, and that Jessica herself had merely been a victim of it. While Jessica knew that to be completely untrue, it was so nice to have her parents thinking well of her that she decided not to disillusion them. Instead she basked in their approval and lapped up their praise for her hard work.
It was lovely to be home, and to spend time with her sister, but in truth, Jessica already missed her new friends. She missed Amy and Reed. She also missed Byron far more than she expected to; once they had gotten over the initial flirtation that was his trademark, they had become rather good friends. During the last seven weeks she had opened up to him about her past, and even shared regular updates on her relationship with The Eagle.
Byron seemed to think that the whole email relationship thing was extremely amusing. He quizzed her endlessly for small details that The Eagle had let slip and then speculated at length on who he might be. In return she made him share all the details of his various conquests. At first she had found it all rather sad, but his attitude to life was somehow infectious, and soon she found herself laughing along as he told her how he snuck into the room of the wrong girl, who didn’t mind a bit and didn’t bother to tell him, and how it was only later when he got a cross text from the girl he was really supposed to have been meeting that he realised his mistake.
Byron’s general take on life was rather like that. He cut classes and then charmed the teachers into forgiving him. He was caught drunk several times and once found climbing the walls into the
school after he missed curfew, but the threats to tell his parents had no effect on him. He knew he would have to do something fairly awful to get expelled, as he was the star pupil when it came to music; but his attitude seemed to be that even if he did get expelled it wouldn’t really matter, because he already felt he was good enough to pass an entrance exam into any music school in the world when he turned eighteen. Jessica just hoped he wasn’t setting himself up for a huge fall, but with such famous parents it was rather unlikely that he would go for long without work in the industry.
The one person she didn’t miss was The Eagle. That was because they remained in near-constant contact. There was just one thing bugging her: what if he wasn’t a stranger, what if he was someone she already knew?
Chapter Twelve
On her return to school, Jessica decided to canvass the opinions of her friends on whether she should meet The Eagle face to face.
Their emailing and texting had become more and more personal, and she felt like they were falling in love without ever having met. She didn’t think she was a shallow person, but she did wonder about how she would feel if he was totally unattractive. Right from the start she had suspected that he was good-looking but something that Reed had said made her question her assumption. It was in the conversation she’d had with Reed about the heroes in comic books wearing a mask, how they could be someone else with it on. Wasn’t technology sort of a mask in this situation? Could he even be hiding his normal personality, safe behind the mask of anonymity? She would have to meet him to know. But the problem was that she and The Eagle had become so close through their messages that she would feel like the worst kind of person if she was put off by his looks. They were practically dating, but dating in the dark.
She asked Reed first, discussing her theory about the superhero masks.
“Have you read ‘Cyrano de Bergerac’?” asked Reed after some thought.
“No.”
“There were two men who both loved the same woman. One man was very ugly but a beautiful poet, and the other very handsome but kind of dumb. The ugly man wrote love letters for the handsome man and the woman fell in love and married the handsome man. But the thing is, it’s clear all the way through that she was really in love with whoever wrote the letters; she just didn’t know it was someone else.”
Jessica pondered his point. “So you’re saying that I like The Eagle because of his emails and his looks shouldn’t matter?”
“Basically, yes. Either you really like him for who he is, or you don’t.”
Jessica exhaled impatiently. “That’s all very well in a play, but in real life I really want to fancy him as well! I’m not looking to get married to my soul mate, I’m just thinking about meeting him in person and if I will actually want to kiss him or not.”
“Fair enough.” Reed tapped his finger against his chin. “What if he turns out to be me? Would you be pleased or disappointed?”
Jessica blinked and her heart sped up a little. She looked at him for a long minute. “Is it you, Reed? Are you him?”
“It’s a hypothetical question,” Reed said, giving nothing away.
There was another long pause while Jessica scanned his face for some sign.
“Fine!” he said at last, breaking the tension. “I promise it isn’t me. I honestly don’t know who he is.”
Jessica gathered her books as they had reached the end of their study time. “Thanks for the advice. And no, I wouldn’t have been disappointed.” Jessica winked at him as she left the room.
***
Gabriel was on a date. He had met a cute American girl on the London underground, and she had instantly reminded him of Flora. She had that same sun-kissed complexion that an English girl could never attain, and the same natural honey-blonde hair. But that was where the similarities had ended. He had assumed from her ready smile when they’d met that she would have the same cheerful personality as Flora, but it turned out that the smile wasn’t a permanent feature. Instead she had spent both the starter and the main course of their dinner date moaning loudly about British bathrooms, and she had been rude to the waiter. Gabriel absolutely hated people who were rude to waiters or waitresses, and he had considered ending the date straightaway, but he decided to politely suffer through until at least she finished eating.
An hour later, after she had thankfully refused a dessert on the grounds that there were too many calories in British food, he had dumped her back at her hotel and made his escape before she could even think about trying for a kiss.
Returning to his rented room near the London Acting Academy, Gabriel wondered what on earth he had been thinking. Why was he even looking for a girl like Flora anyway? She was the total opposite of his type. He’d realised a long time ago that he needed a girl with a forceful personality by his side, otherwise he tended to walk all over them. He didn’t mean to, it was just that they let him. It was only now occurring to him that maybe he just hadn’t cared enough about any of the girls to be gentle with their feelings and considerate of their needs as well as his own.
He had to admit that he hadn’t enjoyed all the stress and rows that went with dating a demanding girl. He had secretly often wished that Vanessa had been softer and needed him a little more.
Common sense told him that he should just stay single. It wasn’t as though he had space in his life for a girlfriend – his workload was increasing all the time – but he just wished he had someone undemanding who could be there for him.
It was times like these that he most missed his mother. She had died when he was ten years old, but she had been so loving. So supportive and always ready to drop everything for her darling sons.
But he wasn’t alone in the world, he reminded himself. He didn’t get on brilliantly with his dad, but he and Michael had always been really close.
Even though it was late, he picked up the phone and rang his brother.
“Hi, Sugarlips.” Michael’s voice was low and sultry.
“That’s a new one,” Gabriel joked, “I didn’t think we had that kind of relationship. Were you expecting Flora?”
“Gabe?” Michael’s voice rose several octaves, “No, I was expecting … someone else.”
Gabriel frowned. “You’ve split up with Flora?”
“Uh, no, not exactly.” Michael sounded defensive.
“Not exactly? Mikey, please tell me you aren’t stupid enough to be cheating on her? Compass is a hotbed of gossip, you’ll get caught and then she’ll dump you, you idiot! You don’t want to let a girl like that go!”
“What’s it to you? You didn’t want her. She told me how long she liked you and that you rejected her. She even told me about the time you kissed her just to scare her off.”
Gabriel’s lip curled up into a smile at the memory. “She told you about that, did she? I wondered if she had.”
At the time he had thought he had remained totally aloof and detached from the kiss. But remembering it now, he thought only of how soft her skin had been, the smell of freshly cut grass in the air, and the way she had quivered when his lips had touched hers. He hoped it wasn’t just a bad memory for Flora.
“Yeah, she did. So don’t tell me how great she is. You didn’t want her, so what’s the big deal? Plenty more just like her, right?”
Gabriel exhaled with exasperation. “Actually no, Mike, there aren’t plenty more just like her. Trust me on this.”
“Whatever. I reckon I can do better. There are some stunning girls at this school, and some of them are actually older than me and seem pretty interested. There’s even this girl in Year Seven who is your age; in fact she would have been in your year. Do you know a girl called Pam?”
“Mikey, I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. You’re an idiot. Just think very carefully about what you’re throwing away before you actually do, okay?”
Gabriel hung up a minute later, feeling frustrated, yet at the same time just a tiny bit hopeful. He knew Flora wasn’t meant for him; he just couldn’t bear
the idea that Michael was planning to cheat on her. He wanted to race down to Compass Court and comfort her. He told himself that he felt responsible for her, that he had played a part in getting her and Michael together. But really, he knew his protective feelings stemmed more from his own need for her than from any concern about Michael.
She was so sweet, like a tonic for the soul. London was full of people just looking out for themselves, rushing about pushing and shoving, being around Flora was like being back in the fresh air of the countryside.
Being out in the real world had changed him somehow. Compass Court was a small insular world, like any boarding school, and he hadn't seen the bigger picture. But life was different now, he wasn't surrounded by the same friends he'd had for years, instead he was studying side by side with people of all ages from all kinds of backgrounds. Living in London was great, but at the same time it made him appreciate a lot of the things he had always just taken for granted.
He lay on his bed and watched his curtains gently blow in the breeze caused by the open window, but all he kept thinking about was how it reminded him of the wispy blonde tendrils of Flora’s hair, and how they had danced around her face when she sat in the garden telling him of her troubles with Michael. He should never have introduced them. Michael would probably still be at the local grammar school and Flora would still be single at Compass Court, patiently waiting for him to realise how special she was.
He thumped his pillow. He was the idiot.
Chapter Thirteen
Byron wasn’t sure of the exact moment that his feelings towards Jessica really began to change, but he certainly noticed that she was starting to influence his decisions.
One Saturday morning in November, the two of them put in a great tutoring session and were both feeling high from the success.
“You know what?” Jessica said, “I think I’ll go to the local pub this afternoon. Amy has been on at me for ages to join her there for a drink and a gossip, and I actually feel like I might deserve some down time. Do you want to join me?”
Good @ Games (Book Four, The Flirting Games Series) Page 6
