I didn't think it was any of William's business if I was talking to anyone, least of all someone on a placement who had authority over him. Even if I did have a bit of a crush on Gideon, it wasn't like I could or would do anything about it. Gideon wasn't that much older than me. He was technically still a student, but it wasn't like he was going to have the slightest interest in someone my age.
Gideon turned and followed my gaze to the pair. 'Afternoon, boys. Are you looking for someone?'
'No,' William retorted in a scathing tone. 'There's no one here we're looking for.'
I didn't know if I was being paranoid, but I could have sworn that William was directing his venom at me. We'd never really gotten along that well so it wouldn't have surprised me. Still, I'd thought he'd been trying harder for Charlie and Jenny's sakes recently. I supposed without my friend around he didn't feel the need to be courteous. He fixed Gideon with a deadly glare, then turned heel and stalked away.
Wow.
Talk about a drama queen.
Most of us had teachers that we disliked but that didn't mean we showed it to their faces. That was a very quick way to get thrown into detention. William's had climbed far up the social ladder up as far as I remembered. Perhaps he didn't think that he could be punished by anyone for being rude, least of all a bright-eyed twenty-something. If that was his line of thinking, then he was sadly mistaken. I knew for a fact that our head teacher's daughter had been punished frequently for her pranks.
If you could call turning the car park into an ice rink during the winter break a prank instead of a total death trap.
I put it out of my mind. A person could go mad trying to fathom what was going on in William's head. Anyway, he wasn't anything to do with me. There were more footsteps, which approached rapidly. Sure enough, Lisa barrelled into me. The girl had no idea how to apply the brakes, and she appeared keen to interrupt whatever Gideon and I were talking about. The younger boys weren't the only ones to suffer her amorous attentions. Handsome students who were unattached were also on the menu.
'Did you forget?' she asked breathlessly. Chrissy staggered along behind her. The girl was holding her side and practically doubled over when she joined us. Jenny and Meg were walking in a far more leisurely fashion in my direction.
It was safe to say that I'd entirely forgotten whatever it was Lisa was talking about. Every sensible thought and important engagement had fluttered out of my head the second that Gideon had whispered in my ear. The only other thing on my mind had been avoiding Wyatt, which was a vital use of my time and energy. Everything else came second to it. I shrugged at the others.
Thankfully, Chrissy was happy to remind me, 'We're going to Jenny's house tonight. Remember? Her Mum said we should celebrate her getting better.'
Ah, that.
It was a Friday night, and the school had permitted it only because Jenny's mother had offered to overlook their lapse in enforcing the school rules that night. Had they paid more attention to their wayward students, then her precious daughter wouldn't have been hospitalised. I wanted to go if only to get away from Wyatt for the night.
'We should go and get ready. Sorry again that I bumped into you, Sir,' I said.
'Call me Gideon. Sir makes me sound old.'
'Do you want to come, too?' Lisa asked. 'It'd be way more fun if you were there.'
'Lis'! You can't invite people to someone else's party,' I hissed.
Jenny smiled politely. 'You'd be welcome if you'd like to come along. It might be good for you to meet some of the parents and things, don't you think?'
'Well, if you don't mind,' Gideon said.
'Don't mind what?' Wyatt asked as he joined us.
I didn't do anything to hide my groan. He had to know how much he annoyed me. If he hadn't seen it already, then he was totally delusional. I'd been upfront about it since his arrival. I didn't want him to come with us. Gideon seemed like he was good fun. But my sort-of brother would suck all the amusement out of the evening.
I wanted to crawl into a hole and die when Jenny offered, 'Would you like to come along, Mr Collins? It's a party at my mother's house. Mr Wickham's going to be joining us.'
'Then, perhaps I should.' Wyatt puffed out his chest like a self-important peacock. 'Elisa should have a chaperone.'
'I don't need one,' I snarled at him. 'It's just my friends and their parents.'
'And Gideon,' Wyatt corrected. 'Don't worry about it being inconvenient to me. I think it'll be a good way to spend the evening. And I can keep an eye on you while we're enjoying ourselves.'
Yes, that was what I was afraid of.
'Mum's going to send a car for us all at six. They're going to pick us up at the entrance.'
Wyatt bowed his head a little to Jenny. It was so pompous and slimy a gesture that I wanted to smack him square in the face. 'I'll look forward to seeing you all there.'
'As will I,' Gideon winked at me and smirked just enough that the corner of his mouth twitched upwards. At least he understood the anguish I felt at having to spend an evening with Wyatt. He nudged me gently with his elbow and whispered, 'I'll do my best to rescue you.'
The man was trying to give me a heart attack; I was certain. A girl could only take so much whispering from someone like him before she keeled over.
Gideon took Wyatt with him when he left. The man didn't object. No doubt he was already forming a plan in his head that involved somehow endearing himself to everyone at the party, whether they wanted his company or not. So long as he didn't stick to me for the entire night, then I could cope with that. Though I knew I'd be totally humiliated if anyone realised that we had a familial connection. And they would. It was one of the things that Wyatt seemed most proud of and nothing could stop him from letting everyone know that I was his sister, that my mother was one of his greatest supporters, and how fortunate he was to know her.
God, I wanted to die just thinking about what a disaster it would be.
'So,' Jenny said when they were gone, 'what did we just interrupt?'
'We interrupted something?' Meg asked, as ignorant of the atmosphere as ever.
'I knocked him over. Nothing thrilling.'
Lisa fanned herself with her hand. 'Gideon is so hot, isn't he? What do you think he'll wear?'
'Oh my God, what are we going to wear?!' Chrissy exclaimed.
'It's a party, not a wedding,' I said. 'You'll find something. You brought half a department store along with you in that trunk.'
Chrissy and Lisa had never quite understood packing light. To them, that meant bringing clothes made of thin fabric. I linked arms with Jenny and let the two idiots run ahead to our dorm room. Meg took a little longer to realise we were on the move, but she soon caught up. She wasn't listening in on our conversation. She was content to follow up the rear of our little procession, lost in her own thoughts.
'Did I detect a little tension between you and Mr Wickham?' Jenny asked.
'No.'
'You've never been that good at lying, you know? I mean, except when it comes to the teachers.'
I smiled. 'True. I just think he's cute, okay? I have to have someone to look at. It's only fair. You have Charlie, Lisa and Chrissy have every other boy with a pulse, so I should get to have Gideon. Let's call it... an equal division of the eye-candy assets.'
'I don't exactly have Charlie. We're just good friends.'
'Good friends who can't stop making eyes at each other,' I muttered.
'What?'
'Nothing.'