Ellie also had several ‘boyfriends’, or boys that she liked flirting with, though she kept them at arm’s length. She had never really felt enough for any of them to let it go much beyond flirting. A few kisses had been the extent of her actual experience.
Most boys had been too scared of Jack to try to take it any further, but since he had left their levels of persistence had gone up. She had actually agreed to meet Joe Phillips in the common room at midnight a couple of weeks ago after some pressure and he had asked her to ‘go out with him exclusively’. Ellie had for some reason found it hilarious and then he had become offended and gone back to bed.
Liam Anderson had asked her out in the library just yesterday. She had been flattered – he was in Year 6 and a prefect – so it had come as a bit of a shock when he had then stuck his tongue down her throat and attempted to grope her in front of the Geography books. She let him for a good minute before cheekily telling him that she would go out with him if he learned to kiss better. The look on his face had afforded her no end of amusement. It hadn’t put him off though and she had promised to go with him the next time she went into Oakworth Village.
But she wasn’t thinking about him tonight. She tossed and turned in bed, wondering what to do next about Nate Naverly. She reached over to her bedside and checked her phone to see if Jack might have texted her. He hadn’t. It was nearly eleven; probably too late to text him. She looked over at Flora, but she was sleeping peacefully. She lay awake for another ten minutes. Perhaps she was hungry, she had a tuck box under her bed but she had a craving for ice-cream. Without really thinking about it, Ellie slipped out of bed, pulled her black silk dressing gown around herself and crept barefoot from the room.
She paused as she reached the West Tower Common Room. What was she doing? She had never been to the kitchens alone at night. But Jack wasn’t here any more and she needed some adventure in her life.
She smiled in the darkness as a thought crossed her mind. She would bet good money that Nate would be daring enough for a midnight kitchen raid. She even kind of wished he was with her. She gave herself a mental slap. Why was she spending so much time thinking about Nate? She had a plan to keep him away from Rose, but it didn’t explain why she was wondering what he was doing right now.
She tried to rationalize it in her mind. Nate was a skilled player and he could very possibly hurt Rose. Ellie had a duty to get in the way of that.
But she knew she was kidding herself. She knew she got a kick from sparring with him. He was quick-witted and she enjoyed it more than was good for her.
She crept down to the first floor and had one foot on the stairs when a door opened on the landing right next to her and an arm shot out and pulled her through.
She screamed, but as there was a hand over her mouth, very little sound came out. It was dark on the first floor and all she could feel was a warm body behind her and the breathing of another person.
“Stop wriggling you idiot, it’s me.” A low voice sounded in her ear. She had no idea who ‘me’ was, but that wasn’t the way a teacher would speak so she stopped struggling.
The tone of the voice and the hard chest at her back told her the assailant was male. Nate?
“The Deputy Head went past just before you and you know how much trouble we would be in if he spotted us.”
Yes, definitely Nate. Her heart continued to hammer as he moved his hand from over her mouth and pulled her deeper into the dark corner behind the door, his chest firm against her back. He kept her from moving away with a strong grip on her arm as she turned to look at him in the moonlight.
“Well well. Miss Eleanor Parkhurst out of bed. Bad girl! Come to see if I’m hard enough yet?”
She suddenly regretted saying that. Especially to a boy who was older than her and probably more than ready to take her challenge much further than she was willing to go.
She pulled her dressing gown tighter around herself, feeling very underdressed.
“I was on my way to the kitchens if you must know,” she hissed. “And by the way, Rose is now going out with Ben, so you can leave her alone because you won’t get anywhere.” It wasn’t true, but she hoped he didn’t know that.
“Is that a retreat Parkhurst? I thought you were made of more than that?” His white teeth flashed in the dim light as she tried to move back away from him.
Her quick temper flared, but she fought it. There was nothing for it but to keep being sassy and fight fire with fire. If she backed down now she would definitely look like an idiot.
“Not at all,” she said sweetly, though through a gritted smile. “But if you want to impress me you’re going to have to try harder than this.” She looked pointedly downwards. She hoped the dig at his manhood would make him back off a little.
Unfortunately, he seemed to rather enjoy the interaction. His smile widened and he pulled her closer again.
“How would you know from over there?” He said in a voice loaded with intent.
Ellie wondered again if she had got in over her head.
She forced herself to not pull away and instead allowed him to pull her back in against him. This time her breasts were pressed against his chest. She heard him take a deep breath in and a feeling of power swept through her. His hormones were definitely his greatest weakness.
“I said you have to impress me.” She deliberately blew softly in his ear and he swayed slightly.
She slid her knee between his legs. “And what I meant,” she continued in that same sweet tone, “was mentally!”
With that she kneed him sharply in the groin and stepped quickly away as he gasped and doubled over.
Pulling open the door behind her, she legged it back out onto the staircase and ran all the way up to her dormitory, so high on success that she didn’t even feel out of breath.
Chapter 6
The following evening after his unexpected meeting with Ellie, Nate sat in the North Tower Common Room and stared unseeing at the Chemistry book in his lap.
The girl was like his father’s brandy. Heady to smell. Noxious at the first taste. Brandy made him cough, but always left him rolling his tongue round his mouth wanting to taste a bit more. Being around her was like being a bit drunk.
How had he never noticed her before this year?
He had been at a secret birthday party in South Tower and was sneaking back to North Tower when he’d seen her coming up the stairs. Her feet had been bare and she’d been wearing a dark silky dressing gown over her pajamas.
She had looked innocent and sexy all at the same time.
She smelled a bit like his mother’s Lily of the Valley. Was it a perfume? Or her natural smell? He decided it came off her hair, so it was probably her shampoo.
This was mad. Why was he even thinking about her? It certainly wasn’t the plan. But if she was right about Rose and Ben then maybe the plan was out the window anyway.
Mind you, he reminded himself, if Rose had been with Ben before it wouldn’t have stopped him. He’d prised girls he really wanted away from their darling boyfriends quite easily before. So why had he lost the taste for it? He just couldn’t find the motivation to carry on with his plan. Rose was nice; she didn’t deserve it.
He tried to find a rationale for switching the seduction to Ellie. Could it still work? No. She wouldn’t be sixteen for over a year and he didn’t sleep with underage girls.
The only reason he could think of to date her was to suck that too big for her boots brat into his lair and spit her out again. Teach her a lesson.
His balls still hurt where she had kneed him the night before.
But he’d never felt anything like the desire she caused when she blew in his ear. He’d never have thought that would turn him on. But bloody hell it did. He would ‘impress’ her because he wanted his own back. This was personal. She was playing with fire and she was going to get burned, badly.
A smile curved his lips. He had a plan again. Now he just needed to work out how to execute it.
&nbs
p; He turned to Gabriel who was sitting next to him swearing over his Math homework. For some reason Gabe usually knew all the gossip.
“What do you know about Ellie Parkhurst?”
Gabe looked suspicious. “Why? You got a thing for her?”
“No.” Nate thought quickly and decided the truth was better. “But I want her to have a thing for me.”
Gabe frowned at him, clearly confused. “You know, I thought I saw you looking over there a lot at dinner recently and what was with eating at their table the other day?”
“It’s a plan Gabe, one I don’t want to share right now, but I haven’t got a thing for her.”
“Jack Parkhurst will knock you into next week if you touch her.” Gabe chucked his calculator on to the table.
“In case you haven't noticed, Jack Parkhurst isn’t here any more and do you think I’m scared of him?”
“You should be. I would be.” Gabe smiled and held up his hand in mock apology. “Okay, okay, what do I know about your latest? She has no shortage of boyfriends, but none serious and there’s no gossip about her actually doing anything.”
“So what does that mean? She’s all mouth but no action?” Nate looked thoughtful.
“Or maybe that she’s just clever about who she’s doing it with?”
“Hmmm,” Nate pondered. “Will you see if you can dig anything up on that? Who are her closest friends?”
“Good question. Everyone seems to be good friends with her, but no one particularly close. Not unless you count her big brother. She seems to be spending quite a bit of time with the new girl in her year. But I don’t think her friends are the way to go. I think you’re going to have to go straight in with this one. Got a bit of a mind of her own.” Gabe leaned forward. “Why are you bothering?”
“She’s a challenge.” Nate admitted.
“Ah ha.” Gabe leaned back again, comprehension dawning in his face. “Then I will find out what I can and wish you luck mate. Not that I think you’ll need it, except maybe when Parkhurst finds out you corrupted his sister.”
Gabe began to laugh until Nate threw a book at him.
Gabriel was right, he decided. He needed to go straight in, get her hooked and quickly before her attention was diverted. He wanted to get even with her. He usually played a long game, the softly softly approach, but that wouldn’t work with her.
He chuckled as another idea came to him. Let the games continue!
***
That weekend, Ellie was sitting next to Alex in the library arguing over whether she should spend her Saturday doing homework or whether she should spend it doing whatever she liked.
The School had arranged it so that the library was the only place in the building where any of the pupils could get Internet access. There were several banks of computers as well as connection points for laptops.
Ellie had gone to the library after lunch to check her email, when Alex and Rose had joined her.
“I really don’t see that it’s any of your business what…” Her voice trailed off as an email popped up on her screen from Nate. How on earth did he know her email address?
Opening the email, she found a scanned copy of Nate’s last report card.
Nearly all his results were A’s, bar one, and his House Master had written “Very impressive” in the comment card at the top. At the bottom of the page Nate had put:
Not just a pretty face
Ellie laughed, her eyes instantly lifting to scan the room. Nate was looking at her from the far corner with one eyebrow raised.
She quickly pulled the keyboard towards her and typed:
Tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me
Let’s see just how clever he was; it was unlikely he would work out that it was Mr Darcy’s first snooty comment on Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice.
Alex turned back to her. “Who was that from?” He leaned over to look at her screen and frowned.
“Why is Nate sending you messages Ellie? What’s going on?”
“None of your business.” She said without even looking at him. She was too busy watching Nate who had clearly opened her email and was looking like he was thinking.
“Ellie, I get that he’s good-looking to girls, but he’s bad news!” Alex persisted.
Ellie gave him a look that clearly said, “So what.”
Nate was typing something again, something that was taking a while.
“Seriously Ellie, it’s not just that he’s a sixth year and too old for you, but he’s not boyfriend material. I like Nate, we’re friends, but I would never date him!”
“I’d be surprised if you did Al.” Ellie grinned. “Especially as I’m pretty sure you’re not into boys.” She turned away from him as her computer binged to indicate another email.
Clicking it open, she read his reply. A different quote from the same book:
It is happy for you that you possess the talent of flattering with delicacy. May I ask whether these pleasing attentions proceed from the impulse of the moment, or are the result of previous study?
(You clearly didn’t notice I got an A in English)
She couldn’t help it; she laughed out loud again, getting funny looks from up and down the library. She definitely was impressed.
Now what? She couldn’t think of anything to top that. Maybe it was better not to say anything at all; leave him wanting more.
Ellie desperately wanted to look over at Nate, but restrained herself and instead began talking to Bryn who was sitting on the other side of her.
***
What a cool customer! Nate thought, looking at her with admiration. How many girls would have been able to resist keeping it going? None he was aware of. Now he wanted to break her even more than ever.
That guy Bryn, sat beside her. He clearly fancied her. Did she have to be so tactile with him? She was brushing crumbs off his chest, and he was looking all goofy and loved up. She wouldn’t want an idiot like that surely?
His attention was brought back to his friends at the table. They knew he was trying to get Ellie’s attention; he hadn’t made a secret of it, especially now he’d obviously sent her emails. But they were all laughing at him. Something had just been said and he hadn’t even heard it; he’d been too distracted. It would be bad for his reputation if he spent too long staring at Ellie Parkhurst.
He rejoined the conversation with them, but his mind was busily turning over his next move. Or should it be her move next? He didn’t want to come on strong; he would rather she chased him really. But would she? He needed to engineer something that didn’t seem to come from him. He needed to know more about her to do it. He had a feeling that Alex wasn’t going to be quite so accommodating about inviting him into their circle any more. He needed to plot carefully from here.
Chapter 7
Flora was looking for Ellie. She’d tried the library and wondered whether to go alone into the games room. Ellie was probably in their bedroom, but she wanted to check the ground floor before she trudged all the way up the stairs to their dorm room in West Tower.
She felt an idiot for being nervous about entering the Games Room, but people always seemed to look at you when you were new. Taking a deep breath, she pushed through the door and then turned into a puddle of doubt as she saw it was empty except for Gabriel Brenner.
He wasn’t playing any of the games; just sat on a bench texting on his phone.
She gulped and started to back out.
“Flora? It is Flora isn’t it?”
He knew her name? She wavered with indecision; part of her just wanted to run. But her legs wouldn’t work. She tried to say “Yes” but her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth and all she managed to come out with was, “Ung.”
He smiled at her, a nice welcoming smile.
“Come on in.” He stuck his phone in his pocket and waited expectantly.
Flora cast a helpless look back at the corridor, but the heavy fire door was slowly closing behind her and she would look twice as stupid if
she ran for it now.
“Hi,” she managed. “Have you seen Ellie Parkhurst?”
“Not recently.” He patted the seat beside him. “Come and chat to me instead.”
Flora wondered if she was dreaming. Gorgeous Gabriel Brenner was inviting her to come and sit beside him.
She walked over, every step feeling like she was clumping through mud, and sat gingerly on the bench.
He leaned back, apparently completely at ease. “So how are you settling in?”
“Okay. Good I think.” She began to gabble nervously. “Everyone has been super nice and it seems like a really good school.”
“Really? I think it’s pretty crap. Standards seem to go down every year. I think the teachers are pissed half the time.” He looked irritated.
“Pissed? Like angry?” Flora asked.
He laughed. “No, it’s an English expression. It means drunk.”
Flora wasn’t at all sure if he was joking or not so she said, “Oh.”
“So you’re happy here? You’re sharing a room with Ellie aren’t you? Do the two of you get up to much?”
“Umm, well Ellie does. She has a lot of other friends and does lots of activities and stuff, but I don’t really know many people yet and there are a lot of lessons here that are different to my last school. You don’t cover half the subjects we did, but you’re all way ahead in other subjects, so I’ve been trying to catch up.”
He nodded. “So what does Ellie do that you can’t tag along to?”
She shifted a little on the bench beside him and began to tell him. They talked for another twenty minutes. She was just starting to get really comfortable when he checked his watch and rose to his feet.
“Cool. Anyway, it was nice talking to you. I’ve got to go, but I’ll see you around.” He sauntered out of the room.
Flora sat where she was for a couple minutes more. Feeling the glow his presence had left. She looked at the spot where he’d sat, remembering the way he pushed his hair off his face. The way he crossed his feet when he was relaxed. He really was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen.
The Flirting Games (The Flirting Series - Young Adult) Page 3