“Trees, Govi!” I hissed and he finally put me down.
“Fine. Trees. What next?”
I looked around at our impressive display of what I imagined deforestation looked like. “Ah… A lot, Govi. A lot is next. Anyone thought about how we’re going to make the branches?”
“Ah…” Govi breathed. “No.”
We went back to the drawing board, looking around the room and trying to decide what we could make the branches out of. Through the jokes and flirting, we decided on scrunching up newspaper and then papier-mâché to make it smooth. It was going to be time consuming so someone had to check with Milly it was what she wanted or if there was a better use of our time.
“Eli,” Govi said quickly, pointing at him like they’d just been asked who farted.
“What?” Eli asked. “Why me?”
“Because Milly hates me,” Govi said.
“So why can’t Chloe go?”
“Because I actually like her and would like to keep her on this planet a little longer. You on the other hand…”
Eli sighed. “Fine. Fine. I’m going.”
Govi and I leant against the table and watched as Eli walked over to Milly who was, as usual, yelling at Brenda. This time it was about something to do with a popcorn machine.
“He complains and yet…” Govi said, then pointed as Eli as the Quicksilver front man fell into his stride.
Eli leant a hand on the table next to where Milly was standing and turned his already not insignificant charm up to full. Milly smiled and batted her eyes at him as he talked to her. Milly nodded and waved her hands around a bit, then Eli gave her a wink and headed back over to us.
“It’s just natural for him, isn’t it?”
“What?” Govi asked.
“Flirting.”
I felt Govi shrug. “Yeah. I guess it’s like his natural state or whatever.”
“And we tend to be very good at our natural state,” I said quietly, not intending for him to hear me.
“That’s why you’re so good at self-deprecation and lurking in the shadows,” Govi teased and I nudged him with my elbow.
“Something like that.”
“Oh! And the triangle,” Govi laughed and I nudged him a little more forcefully.
“The triangle?” Eli asked as he stopped in front of us.
I nodded. “Really good,” I said.
“Like, the freaking Mozart of the triangle,” Govi added.
“Just so good,” I finished, then Govi and I burst into laughter.
Eli nodded slowly. “I am going to leave that where it is for fear of sticking my foot in my mouth again, and just tell you that yes Milly wants all the trees with all the work.”
Govi dragged himself off the table. “Although undoubtedly more eloquently?”
“Oh, for sure,” Eli replied.
“Right,” I sighed. “Newspaper.”
I pulled a stack towards me and started scrunching, and the boys followed suit.
An hour later, we’d moved to the floor and, after trying to scrub the worst of the newsprint off our hands, we were having a break. Eli and I were sitting among our branches and Govi was stapling more cardboard.
“Gin! Gin, look!” Govi called and I looked over to see him standing precariously on one of the blocks, one leg and both arms stuck out. “I’m a tree.”
We all burst into laughter again. I hid my face behind a bit of newspaper I’d been fiddling with.
“None of that!” Govi called.
A hand gently pulled the newspaper from my face and I looked into Eli’s smiling eyes. “He’s right. You can’t let him miss you laughing.”
“Yes. He can’t miss the tomato cheeks, the runny eyes or the snotty nose.”
“Well…as you once said to me,” he said as he leant back on his hands again, “you can’t help your face.”
“Are you complimenting my face, Eli?” I teased with a grin.
“I can see why Govi’s partial to it.” He shrugged.
“But just Govi.”
Eli nodded. “Definitely just Govi.”
He slid me a look that heavily implied it wasn’t just Govi and I felt myself flush again. I cleared my throat and pulled myself to standing so I could go and help Govi struggle with the stapler some more.
Before I could walk away, a hand slipped into mine. I looked down quickly and was sure I imagined the look on Eli’s face. Because within a blink, it had gone from something that could have been mistaken for sincere to his usual confidence.
“Oh. You’re not helping me up?” he asked.
I felt my cheeks heat even more. “Why not?” I asked myself, turning to offer him my other hand and brace myself to take his weight.
I ignored the tingle I felt at his touch, telling myself it was nothing. I ignored the way my heart beat when he smiled at me, telling myself it was stupid. I ignored the way me getting angry with him the day before had seemed to mean I could talk to him almost properly. I ignored the way he seemed just a little bit less haughty than before I’d got angry with him.
“You’re amazing,” Eli said softly and I frowned in confusion. He blinked quickly. “Amazing. With Govi. Amazing with Govi. He can be an intense guy with a weird sense of humour. Not everyone gets him. And that’s if they’ve given him time to grown on them.”
I nodded. “Yeah. We have that in common. The weird sense of humour anyway.”
Eli nodded knowingly. “I knew there was a reason I liked you so much.”
I cleared my throat softly. “Because I’m basically a second Govi?”
Eli looked down at me. “You’re second to none, Chloe.”
It was then I realised that we were still holding hands. I cleared my throat again and gently extricated my hands from his. He seemed almost unwilling to let go, which made me almost unwilling to keep pulling. But this was Eli and no amount of flirting was going to make me fall for him – mainly because me falling for him would guarantee one of two outcomes; broken heart, or broken head when Ella found out.
We kept up our work for a little while longer, then I managed to find a moment alone with Govi as everyone was leaving. “You need to do something,” I hissed.
He frowned. “I will have you know that my glutes are killing me after the amount of climbing up and down that ladder I did.”
I blinked in confusion for a second, then shook my head. “No. Not on the trees. You’re doing far better than the rest of us with those. No. With Eli.”
“What do I need to do with Eli? Is he back on the whole Spartan thing again? Because I already told him I had no problem with Lake and Ramsey but I wasn’t touching him with all the Aqium in the world.”
“What?” I breathed, not even sure where to go with that. “No. How you guys foster loyalty is totally up to you. I mean the flirting.”
Govi nodded. “Right. Yeah. Okay. I’ll try to talk to him again. It’s only been a couple of days though, he’ll get bored soon. I promise.”
I frowned. “He told me I was second to none.”
Govi’s eyes went wide and I missed half the expressions that crossed his face. “Shit. I rescind all promises previously made. But I do promise I’ll fix it. We’ll turn his attention to the right Cowan sister…”
I didn’t like the way he petered off. “What?” I asked.
“If that’s still what you want?”
I crossed my arms. “I am not even going to dignify that with an answer.”
“The lady doth protest–”
“Don’t even start with me, Gabriel.”
He started backing away slowly towards the door. “…the lady doth protest–”
“Gabriel!” I said, starting towards him.
“Too much, methinks! I’m sorry!” he yelled quickly as he ran out.
I shook my head and followed him at a more stately pace out to the car.
Cast the Lead
Rica batted me as I ran my hand over
my plait again on Friday.
“Seriously, stop that,” she hissed.
“Stop what?” I asked, my eyes scanning the hallway from our perch under the stairs.
“The nervous fidgeting. Step one is achieved.”
“What was step one?”
“Be able to talk to Eli like a normal person.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah and it only took me two weeks.”
“Progress, Gin.”
I sighed. “At the rate I’m going, Eli will ask Ella to the formal around…our Maths exam.”
“Your Maths exam.”
I glared at her. “Yes. My Maths exam.” I blew out a heavy breath, trying to calm the nervous thudding and fluttering pattern my heart seemed to have taken up.
“Oh my God,” Rica laughed. “He’s really affecting you isn’t he?”
“Shut up,” I tried to snap but it came out more of a pathetic breath. “He’s…hot and flirty and my brain inexplicably goes to mush every time I’m around him. It’s ridiculous.”
“It’s natural.”
“How is it natural?”
She shrugged. “I dunno. But I’m pretty sure it’s totally natural that people go a little ridiculous around people they’re attracted to.”
I huffed at her. “Firstly I’m not attracted to him. Secondly who thought that was a good plan? Like well done, evolution! The human race needs to procreate to continue but the fundamental starting point towards procreation is awkwardness. You proud? What is this? Survival of the most confident? Because we need more self-entitled wankers in the world.”
“Okay, who dosed your tea with Red Bull this morning?” Rica looked at me like I’d gone mental and I didn’t really blame her.
“No one.”
“Then what is…” she indicated all of me, “this?”
I took a deep breath. “I don’t know.”
I didn’t know for sure, but I had an inkling and voicing it out loud was just going to be embarrassing.
I had a suspicion that all this nervous fidgeting had to do with the fact that Eli had been…smiling at me the past two days. It was that knowing, cocky half-smirk that made my insides go all wibbly, my brain take a vacation, and give me the sudden need to sit down like it was still Regency England and Eli had ten thousand pounds a year. It was the kind of smirk that put him in slow motion as he passed me in the corridor and made me stare at it so long I ran into things. It was the kind of smirk that made me rather urgent to get him to ask Ella to the formal already.
But telling Rica all that would have been…more than embarrassing.
“I don’t know,” I repeated. “I’m just not very good at this and Ella’s going to start getting testy at some point.”
“How about you let Eli ask you to the formal and hope it’s the poison that makes the Wicked Bitch shrivel up?”
I rolled my eyes at her. “I’d like to think, if that was what I wanted, I could be allowed to ask him. It is the twentieth century, thank you.”
Rica nodded. “Oh, for sure. But it is also you and you’ve only just managed full sentences without letting loose seventeen years of pent-up anger. So…you know.” She shrugged. “Power to you and all, but my bet’s on incapable.”
“Damn you for knowing me so well,” I grumbled and she laughed.
“Right,” she said as she slid off our perch. “I should be off or I’ll miss the bus.”
I grabbed her arm. “Then you can help us with trees!”
She threw her head back and cackled, then fixed me with a fierce stare. “Yeah, no. I will see you tomorrow.”
I nodded. “All right. Fine. Be that way.”
“I will.” She blew me a raspberry and a kiss as she flounced off down the corridor.
I sat and kicked my legs around for a while, my eyes still scanning the corridor but I didn’t know what for. I took a few more deep breaths, knowing I should be able to do this – whatever ‘this’ was. I was a confident, modern young woman…when it was just my small cheer squad… I just had to remind myself there was nothing actually special about Eli except what his ego had him believe. He was just a guy. A guy I could talk to.
I hopped down and headed for the auditorium again, wistfully watching everyone who was heading out to a weekend of freedom. I didn’t see Ella, which wasn’t surprising as I usually did everything in my power to avoid seeing her. I did see Lindy ahead of me in the crowd, heading in the direction of the auditorium, but I successfully avoided her as well.
I was still trying to come up with a bunch of ways to just tell Eli that Ella wanted him to ask her to the formal, so I didn’t see Govi until he was practically on top of me.
“Oh, hey!” I laughed, instinctively throwing my arms around him to keep my footing.
“Hey,” he said with a grin. “Going my way?”
I snorted and elbowed him. “You’re really running with this road theme.”
“I am nothing if not consistent,” he said with a nod.
We walked in silence for a few moments, then Govi broke it with a big sigh.
“So… I had a chat with Eli yesterday…” Govi said slowly.
“Yeah? What about now?” I asked. “Which girl would chip the next notch in his guitar neck? Or which pair of jeans makes his arse look best?”
Govi chuckled. “Yeah. Fair. No. Actually it was about…him flirting with you…”
My step faltered and he paused so I didn’t fall behind. “Right. Go on.”
“I think my interference had the opposite of the desired effect…”
“In what way?” I asked, trepidation filling me.
“Ah…well… This is all speculation, mind.”
“An educated presumption based on your many years of friendship?”
“Yeah. That.” Govi sighed. “I think you’re going to have to be the one to tell him.”
I sighed as well. “Well, this is going to go swimmingly.”
“Buck up, soldier. One more push and we’ll put that Gerry in his place.”
I snorted. “Your parents watch Blackadder, do they?”
Govi fidgeted comically. “My parents…yes…”
We walked into the auditorium laughing.
“But yeah. My parents got me into it. We used to watch it after dinner on a Friday when I was little. You?”
I nodded. “Not my parents. My Aunt Bow and Gran. I used to stay with them back when there was something Ella did that I didn’t…yet. They’d show me all their favourite old comedies. I think that might have been where I get my sense of humour.”
“Well, I certainly appreciate the years they spent cultivating it. Aunt Bow is an interesting name, though.”
I nodded again as I dropped my bag by our table. “Short for Rainbow. Gran was – still is actually – a real flower child. Aunt Bow’s just the same and my father seems to have rebelled by being ridiculously straight-laced.”
Govi’s face scrunched up. “Bugger.”
I shrugged. “It is what it is. I just have to wait until I’m eighteen and I can be who I want to be.”
“I guess that makes sense… Shame though.”
I gave him a small smile and looked at the table to see what we needed to start with.
“Hey, man,” I heard Govi say.
“Hey,” came Eli’s deep voice and I resisted the urge to turn around just to look at him.
“What are we up to?’” Govi asked. “Should we try to get at least one full tree done?”
I nodded. “That sounds good. We’re going to need some more card and way more glue though. And some plain paper.”
“The art room should have all that if Milly doesn’t,” Govi said. “Want me to get it?”
I shook my head. “Can you finish putting the trunks together and maybe look at putting the first lot of branches on and I’ll grab it?”
Govi nodded. “Can do. Man, can you give her a hand?” he asked Eli.
“Oh, no… I can…”
Govi grinned as I came to a stop. “Use full sentences?”
“Apparently not,” I muttered.
“I think you’ll find I’m very good at lifting,” Eli said with a hint of a smile in his voice.
“I think art supplies weigh a little less than your usual hook-up,” Govi stated and I choked on my spit in surprise.
“So if I can carry a girl, I can carry some glue and paper.”
I blinked, having absolutely no idea what to say to that. Instead, I pointed towards the art rooms. “I’m going… If you want… Help…” I shook my head and started walking away. “Back soon.”
Eli easily fell into step beside me as we left the laughing Govi behind.
Lindy very not surreptitiously caught my eye on the way out and gave me a huge thumbs up and a wide smile. I nodded at her and motioned for her to play it cool, but she just winked super obviously and made a show of turning around. I sighed as I heard Eli chuckle under his breath.
“She’s not…” I started then cleared my throat. “That’s not… I’m not…” The words did not want to come. I clenched my teeth and groaned.
Eli laughed again, but it seemed more good-natured than teasing. “Are you trying to tell me you’re not interested and that wasn’t what it looked like?”
I nodded. “Yes. That.”
He didn’t say anything more as we walked to the art room and I found I was actually far less uncomfortable during the awkward silence than I was when I was trying to talk to him. But that all went out the window when we got to the art supplies cupboard and he swung himself around rather expertly to box me against the shelf.
My heart tried to escape out my throat and my mouth went dry as he looked down at me. The smoulder was strong with this one and I was very nearly going to fall for it. But as I’d said to Govi, I was quite partial to my skin. And that wasn’t even taking into account the fact that I actually wasn’t interested in Eli at all.
“It’s devastating,” he said, his voice soft and deep, his face way too close to mine.
“What is?” I squeaked.
“If you’re really not interested.”
I swallowed hard but it did nothing for the dryness I was suffering. Based on how sweaty my hands felt, I knew where all the moisture had gone. “Well…I’m…not…” I stammered.
The Stand-In: my life as an understudy Page 9