by Paige Toon
Chapter 20
On Monday morning, I have to drag myself down to breakfast. I would’ve stayed in bed, but my new tutor starts this morning, and I want to make a good impression.
‘Over your jet lag, then?’ Meg asks with a smile as I walk into the kitchen and almost stumble into the chair at the end of the table.
‘Yes.’ I nod, trying to stifle a yawn and then giving up, letting it damn near break my face in half. Meg laughs.
Last week my jet lag had me waking at the crack of dawn, but, since Saturday night, I haven’t been able to sleep. I didn’t doze off until the early hours of this morning, so it’s not surprising I’ve overslept.
To my intense annoyance, I haven’t been able to get Jack off my mind.
We barely spoke for the rest of the party. After his DJ set, he resumed his conversation with Comic Book Girl. In the end, I left early, freaked out that if I stayed I’d catch him kissing her.
‘You’re all dressed and ready, then?’ Meg says.
I nod. I just threw some clothes on, but didn’t bother with make-up. I might go for a swim after my lessons. Apparently I’m only being tutored for four hours a day. I guess I’ll have extra lessons if I need them, but one-on-one is allegedly quite intense.
‘What do you want for breakfast?’ Meg asks, picking up Phoenix’s spoon from the floor. He bashes it against the table and then lets it fly again.
‘Phee!’ she snaps, swooping down to pick it up.
I smile at her use of the nickname I came up with. She notices.
‘I told you it would stick,’ she says with a grin.
I root around in the cupboards for some cereal, amused as always at the sight of the super-sweet kiddie stuff. The boys don’t eat any of it – it’s all for Meg.
I pour some muesli into a bowl and sit at the table. I miss Gramps already. He was only here for a few days after I arrived, but his presence was cheery. I hope he comes back soon. If I don’t go home first.
‘How are you feeling today?’ Meg asks me.
‘Tired,’ I reply with a yawn.
‘You seemed quiet yesterday,’ she comments carefully. ‘Are you OK?’
‘I’m fine,’ I say. ‘Just settling back in.’
‘You know that Stu can come and stay any time he likes.’ She’s mistaking my quietness for homesickness. ‘We’ll cover his ticket.’
‘Thanks, that’s really kind,’ I say and sigh.
Meg cottons on. ‘You miss Tom and your friends.’
‘Mmm.’ I nod, aware that my thoughts last night were centred predominantly on Jack. I need to refocus.
‘What’s he like?’ she asks.
‘Gorgeous.’ I glance up at her and smile. ‘You want to see a picture?’
‘Yes, please!’ she says eagerly.
I get my phone out and scroll through my photos. My heart clenches at the sight of my sexy, brown-eyed boy. I hand over my phone wistfully.
‘He’s lovely!’ Meg exclaims.
‘Who’s lovely?’ Johnny asks crossly, wandering into the kitchen, looking almost as knackered as I feel.
‘Jessie’s boyfriend.’
‘Aah.’ Johnny smiles sleepily and ruffles my hair. ‘School today, hey?’
‘Yep,’ I reply, feeling a familiar warmth at the attention from him.
‘What time’s she coming?’ His eyes dart between Meg and me.
‘Nine o’clock,’ she replies. ‘And it’s a he.’
‘A he?’ He looks taken aback. ‘I thought you said her name was Jan.’
‘I said his name was Jan,’ Meg replies deliberately. ‘He’s Polish. And it’s actually pronounced Yann. That’s the problem with emails,’ she says to me.
‘Hang on, are you telling me that Jessie has a male tutor? How old is he?’ Johnny wants to know.
‘What’s your problem?’ Meg replies, slightly outraged. ‘Don’t be sexist!’
‘You had a crush on your French teacher,’ Johnny accuses her. I suspect a run-in with the green-eyed monster. ‘Don’t think I’ve forgotten,’ he adds.
‘Oh, no, you never forget anything,’ Meg says sarcastically. ‘It’s just as well my memory isn’t so good, or God knows where we’d be.’
That shuts him up, and then the doorbell goes. ‘I’ll get it!’ I cry, shoving my chair back.
I’m keen to see this tutor of mine now. I hope he is hot. That would make lessons more interesting.
I wrench the front door open and my jaw nearly hits the floor. Standing in front of me is a buff, olive-skinned hottie with short black hair and dark eyes. He’s wearing long shorts and a tight vest that does little to cover up his taut six-pack, or his well-defined biceps.
‘Jan?’ I ask weakly. I am never going to be able to concentrate in lessons!
‘Hello,’ he replies with a pearly-white smile. ‘I, er, I’m here to do the pool?’ he says uncertainly.
‘Oh! I thought you were my new teacher!’ I stupidly tell him.
‘Er, no,’ he confirms, shaking his head, while I blush profusely. ‘I’m Gino.’
Behind him, a car pulls up in the driveway, revealing a middle-aged, dour-looking man in the driver’s seat.
Johnny appears at my shoulder.
‘Aah, Jessie, I see you’ve met Santiago’s cousin,’ he says with deep amusement. ‘He’s covering for Santiago while he’s on holiday. You know what you’re doing?’ Johnny asks Gino while I wish the ground would open up and swallow me.
‘Yes, sir,’ Gino replies.
‘Give me a call if you need anything.’
Gino nods and sets off without so much as a backward glance at me.
‘Bad luck,’ Johnny murmurs to me with a cheeky smile as the person who I can only assume is Jan climbs out of the car, old-fashioned briefcase in hand.
‘You must be Jan!’ Johnny calls merrily.
‘Hello!’ he calls back in a thick Polish accent.
I inwardly groan. There goes my eye-candy moment.
‘Oh, God, it was awful.’ I laugh down the phone to Lou the following Saturday.
‘I’m still jealous of you,’ she snaps jokily. ‘I can’t believe you finish school at lunchtime.’
‘The hours drag, believe me,’ I tell her with a groan. ‘I even miss Maths class with Stu.’
‘Aw, Mr Taylor,’ she says fondly. ‘I can tell he misses you, you know.’ She sadly adds: ‘We all do.’
‘I miss you, too. How are things going with Chris?’
‘Good,’ she replies and I can tell she’s smiling. ‘We hang out every lunchtime.’
‘With Tom, too?’ I hate the thought of him feeling left out.
‘Sometimes. He’s been playing a lot of football, though,’ Lou reveals. ‘Chris hurt his foot so he’s not playing so much.’
‘Oh, no!’ I say. ‘Is he alright?’
‘I think so. It’s only his big toe.’
‘At least he has you. How are you?’ I ask, worrying about her being on her own in classes.
‘I’m OK, actually.’ She pauses. ‘Libby and I have been hanging out a bit,’ she says hesitantly and I immediately stiffen.
‘Really?’ I try not to show how much this bothers me.
‘She’s not friends with Amanda any more, so I felt kind of sorry for her. You don’t mind, do you? She really is very sorry for letting you down,’ Lou says quietly. Her voice trails off and we both fall silent.
‘It’s fine,’ I force myself to say, wishing I’d called Tom first. ‘Listen, I’d better go. I want to catch Tom before he goes out.’
‘OK,’ she says uncertainly.
‘Good to talk to you.’
‘Jessie, are you sure you’re alright?’ She sounds worried.
‘I’m fine,’ I lie.
After we end the call, I sigh deeply and give myself a minute to chill out before dialling Tom’s number. It rings and rings and my heart sinks. But then he picks up. I feel weirdly nervous suddenly.
‘Hey!’ he practically shouts down the line.
‘Home.’ He sounds breathless. ‘I just got out of the shower. I’m dripping water all over the carpet.’
‘Oh!’ An image of his fit body streaked with water comes to mind and I flush. ‘Do you want to get dressed?’ I ask.
‘No,’ he replies, ‘but can you hang on a sec?’
‘Sure.’
I hear rustling in the background. Finally he comes back on the line.
‘That’s better,’ he says.
‘What did you do?’
‘Got into bed. It’s freezing here. What’s the weather like in LA?’
‘It’s, like, twenty degrees or something. It’s all Fahrenheit here. It’s hard to work it out. Warm, though.’
‘It’s alright for some,’ he mutters good-naturedly.
His familiar voice makes my stomach squeeze suddenly. ‘I miss you,’ I blurt out.
‘Aw,’ he says gently.
‘I hear Lou’s been hanging out with Libby.’
‘Mmm, yeah,’ he replies.
I don’t bother to moan to him. He’ll just think I’m being bitchy. The thought makes me feel lonely.
I change the subject. ‘Have you still got paps hanging out on your doorstep?’
‘Nah, they’re long gone,’ he replies.
‘Everything’s back to normal, then.’ I feel oddly empty.
‘Not with you on the other side of the pond it isn’t,’ he says firmly.
I hear someone calling to him.
‘Coming!’ he calls back.
‘Is that Becky?’ I ask, recognising her voice.
‘Yeah, she’s back for the weekend. We’re just going to grab a quick bite to eat.’
‘Why quick?’ I ask.
‘A few of the lads are going out in Marlow for Dave’s birthday. I said I’d drive,’ he adds. ‘Teach me to get my licence before anyone else,’ he mutters.
‘Well, have a nice time,’ I say quietly. ‘I might give Nat a call.’
But the person I call instead is Agnes.
‘Oh my God, you have to come over!’ she shouts down the phone. She has to shout because the noise of music pounding in the background is deafening.
‘Why? What are you doing?’
‘All Hype are auditioning for a new singer!’ she yells. ‘It’s damn entertaining!’
‘I’ll be there in half an hour,’ I tell her.
I need a distraction. I don’t have to be asked twice.
Chapter 21
Jack and Agnes live on a hill overlooking the city in a huge Spanish-style villa with sandy-coloured walls and a red tiled roof. The house is hidden behind a tall white wall, a section of which forms a camouflaged gate that slides open to allow access into a tiled courtyard-cum-driveway.
I text Agnes when I’m almost there and she comes out of the large, intricately-carved wooden front door to let me in. Johnny agreed to let me come without Lewis. Davey will pick me up later.
Agnes and I walk along the right-hand side of the villa, under fat, shady palm trees towards the back of the house and the games room – or ‘game’ room as Agnes and Jack call it, with their American accents.
The back garden has a view similar to Johnny’s, but the grounds are even larger, set on a hill with three flat expanses of green lawn, each separated by a steep slope. A swimming pool is situated on the first flat expanse, within a terrace of peachy-coloured floor tiles.
One set of the four double doors of the games room are wide open and music is spilling out. I recognise this song, but it’s not one of All Hype’s. I think it’s by Metallica.
My confidence wavers as we approach. Will Jack mind me coming here to watch? He doesn’t so much as look my way as we walk in; he’s too busy pounding on his guitar and watching the guy singing, his brow forming a slight frown.
At the head of the raised platform that makes up the small stage is a skinny blond dude wearing a lot of leather. His shirt is open halfway down his chest and he has long, seemingly blow-dried hair. He looks like he’s making out with the microphone.
‘It’s going from bad to worse,’ Agnes says with a giggle, leading me to the far wall and pulling me down to sit on an oversized beanbag. Back here we can gawp openly.
‘He’s got a good voice, though,’ I say, trying not to fix my attention entirely on Jack – he’s even more attractive when he’s playing his electric guitar.
‘Yeah, but look at him.’
The guy starts to headbang and swish his long hair around.
Agnes wants to go to art school to be a fashion designer, so she would be more concerned with how a band member looks, whereas for me it’s more about their voice.
‘I thought they’d replace Eve with another girl,’ I muse.
‘They’re open to a guy this time. Thought they’d change it up a bit.’
‘Really?’ That shouldn’t make me happy, but it does.
‘At least, Miles and Brandon want a guy,’ she continues.
‘Oh?’
She smirks at me and shrugs her shoulders, looking back at the band.
‘Oh.’ This time the word sounds flat as realisation dawns on me. ‘They don’t want to have to worry about Jack getting off with their lead singer?’ I say this slowly.
She shrugs and glances at me as if to say something, but the song comes to an end.
‘Next!’ she says instead in a loud whisper.
‘Thanks,’ Jack drawls, taking off his guitar strap and propping his guitar up against the wall. ‘We’ll be in touch.’
When the eighties rock god wannabe has gone, Jack turns his blue-grey gaze on us. His eyes widen slightly at the sight of me, but he recovers quickly.
‘Going well?’ Agnes asks, trying to keep a straight face as he comes over.
‘Hmm,’ he replies, looking down at me. ‘Hey.’
‘Hi,’ I reply.
‘You can’t sing, can you?’ he asks drily.
‘Uh-uh. No girls,’ Brandon interrupts before I can react, hooking his arm round Jack’s neck and dragging him away.
Actually, I can, a little voice inside my head whispers… But I don’t sing in public. Do I?
Jack rolls his eyes, but lets Brandon shove him stageward. Miles returns with the next auditionee and they all gather in a circle to discuss whatever it is they need to discuss, before hooking back up with their instruments.
I watch Jack furtively, then snap myself out of it and think about Tom instead.
I wonder what he’s doing right now. He’ll be out with his mates and girls are probably eyeing him up. Will people still know that we’re together or will they think ‘out of sight, out of mind’? I don’t like the direction my thoughts are taking me so I force myself to focus on our earlier conversation when he was lying in bed, naked and damp from the shower.
‘What are you thinking about?’ Agnes asks knowingly.
‘Tom,’ I reply without missing a beat.
From her expression, she wasn’t expecting that answer.
‘What’s up with you and Miles?’ I ask.
Nor was she expecting that question.
‘Nothing,’ she replies a little defensively.
‘You’re always talking to him when we’re out. Lottie’s always flirting with Brandon and you’re always talking to Miles.’
‘Oh, Lottie and Brandon. I wish they’d just get it on already.’
‘What, you mean they haven’t?’ I’m surprised.
‘No. He’s got a girlfriend.’
‘Does he?’ He doesn’t act like he has a girlfriend.
‘They’ve been together for years. He never lets her anywhere near us.’
‘That’s a bit weird.’
‘You’re telling me.’
‘Anyway, how did we get on to talking about Lottie and Brandon? I asked you about Miles.’
‘Shh, I’m trying to hear this song,’ she says, nodding at the stage. I barely give the boys a second glance as I reply.
‘Are you a master of distraction
or something?’
She purses her lips, but doesn’t meet my eyes. ‘I dig that description.’
‘Yeah, well, you’re not getting away with it. Do you like him or not?’
‘Of course I like him,’ she says, giving me a sideways glance. ‘I’ve known him since seventh grade.’
‘You know what I mean,’ I say.
‘He’s always acted like more of a brother towards me than a potential boyfriend.’
‘And?’
She hesitates and I think that finally I’m getting somewhere.
‘And, yeah. That hurts,’ she admits, chewing her thumbnail and watching the stage. ‘I’ve only felt like this for a few months,’ she clarifies. ‘He doesn’t feel the same.’ I lean closer so I can hear her over the music. I’ve barely looked at the current auditionee, but his voice is too raspy for my liking. ‘Don’t say anything,’ she adds quickly.
‘Of course I won’t!’ I snap. ‘Anyway, who would I tell?’
The band finishes up and Miles sees Mr Raspy out. I don’t catch Jack’s eye again, but I see his shoulders heave with a sigh. Miles returns with the next singer.
Agnes instantly sits up straighter in the beanbag and hits me on my stomach.
Whoa. He’s tall and slim with messy brown hair and piercing green eyes.
‘Jeez,’ Agnes breathes. ‘Please let him be good, please let him be good.’
I don’t know whether he’s got supersonic hearing or can just sense the excitement radiating from the back of the room, but Jack glares at us. Agnes and I are rigid with anticipation as the band begins to play, the hottie nodding his head to the music and hanging off the microphone like a proper rock star. And then he starts to sing.
‘Damn,’ Agnes mutters, as my heart sinks. Sooooo very flat.
The afternoon doesn’t see much improvement. The next couple of guys either look good or sing OK, but no one has the ‘whole package’ as Agnes puts it.
When the last auditionee leaves, Agnes and I get up to join the boys.
‘No luck?’ Agnes asks Jack, as we wander over to them.
‘Nope,’ he says glumly.
‘We’ll have to cancel San Fran,’ Miles says.
‘No,’ Brandon states firmly.
‘What’s happening in San Francisco?’ I ask.
‘Upcoming gig for unsigned bands,’ Jack explains with a sigh.