Out of Your League

Chapter 18

With exams over, I had done alright enough – which was to say I would be allowed back to Barton's next year but I wouldn't be accepted into an exceptional uni any time soon, the end of term was fast approaching. It's funny – in some ways this term was the worse with the cold weather and long periods of night, but in other ways, it always sped by quickly. As it was the Lent term, the Truth and Lie Brigade would not be holding an extravagant, opulent event – they were reserved for the first and last term, but, of course, there would still be a few dinners to attend.

One of these events was nicknamed The Holler. No-one knew why, it had always just been that way even though it had nothing to do with the event itself. I suspected that the real name had fallen out of use a few centuries ago and been forgotten so, to keep tradition, the nickname was used rather than find a new name altogether.

The Holler was a simple event, the dress code wasn't even black tie. It was held in daylight and to any onlookers would just look like a group of friends together. In fact, all it was was the annual Truth and Lie Brigade golf game. Everyone took part and the winner was given £1,500 along with a trophy engraved with every winner's name. If you looked at the names, there were some recognizable, famous names of high profile individuals – unsurprisingly. Barton was renown for producing people who went on the rule the country, create high grossing companies or invent a product that dramatically changed something about society.

The event was started under a gazebo where the rules were laid out, even though everyone knew them by heart. The elders took the first shots, followed by the rest of the Brigade who's aptitude ranged from impressive to hopelessly incompetent. I was roughly in the middle – the worst were usually in the first year as they didn't realise this event was coming and were unprepared - after my bumbling inaptitude the first year, I vowed to get better so that the year after I wasn't a laughing joke. Much to my ire, Evianna seemed perfectly prepared for this event, all her shots were respectable enough that she wasn't laughed at, but not so good that the older years were cross with her for doing better than them. Even her outfit was perfect. Yet again, George leaned against any tree he could find and didn't try, he merely observed and amused himself at everyone else's competitiveness.

Due to the sheer number of us traipsing around the golf course, our game was limited to nine holes rather than eighteen holes to prevent the game from going on for hours. I was not a sporty person, and so I often playing found sports dull, but golf especially – there was too much standing around waiting rather than active running or tackling. So, as my boredom increased, so did my inaccuracy. My golf club left balls flying right and left me to have a vivid flashback to the trauma of my first year, this event was not my cup of tea. Speaking of tea, that was the good thing about this event – at the end a gorgeous high tea would be served complete with tea, cakes, mini sandwiches, crumpets and any other delicacy you could imagine.

As with any sport, Ed was getting fiercely competitive. This was completely expected, in fact it was just one thing that I liked about him, but it also meant that he was too focused on the game to pay any attention to me. So, somehow, I ended up trailing behind the group with George of all people. He smirked at me,

'You bored of your boyfriend already? I can help you out,'

'Ew, gross George. Leave me alone,'

'Relax, honestly. I wouldn't go there, Belle would kill us both,' I wasn't convinced that he wouldn't try to kiss with me, but what he said left a spark of hope in me. Not hope that I would ever be with George, god, that would be awful, but that wasn't the part that made me smile. Him worrying about what Belle would think showed that there was a shred of compassion left in him, maybe he and Belle would eventually work it out - that is if she ever forgave him.