‘You wouldn’t do that to me as a friend,’ Jelena said. ‘Alex says we need total success to ensure victory.’
Sara didn’t bother pretending to be polite about Alex. ‘This is exactly what we were concerned about when you announced you’d signed a deal with that devil. He’s influencing you already. I saw on Facebook that you guys went to the movies together on Saturday night, and had lunch at that grill restaurant yesterday. Did you spend the whole weekend together?’
Jelena didn’t look embarrassed despite Sara’s accusing tone. ‘Yes, most of it. We were ironing out the details for this last week of campaigning.’
‘You arrived at school together too.’ Sara’s eyebrows were raised. ‘And he keeps glancing over here every five minutes. You know he finds power an aphrodisiac, Jelena. I know it’s flattering after he was the one to dump you, but you should tread very, very carefully.’
This weekend had been so chaotic that I’d failed to register Jelena’s movements. As I peeped discreetly over at Alex, I saw him eyeing Jelena just as Sara had claimed.
‘It’s Alex’s problem if he lets himself be driven by attraction and emotion instead of intellect,’ Jelena said. ‘That type of weakness is pretty typical for a man. After all, Napoleon commanded the whole world, but you know who commanded him? Empress Josephine. He would be in the throes of agony every time she chose not to write to him while he was away on military campaign. A woman who knows how to use both her beauty and her wits can make any man her slave. Alex may think that we’ll be reigning jointly next year, but I knew from the moment he came seeking my help that the power dynamic could be turned around very quickly.’
‘None of us doubts your abilities,’ I said, ‘but you and I both know what happened to Josephine.’
‘She let herself become vulnerable. I’m not going to do that.’
On Wednesday afternoon, I was sitting in one of the private study rooms in the library working on a science paper when I was interrupted by Tyler.
‘Aurora, things are no better,’ he burst out. ‘Lindsay won’t even answer her mobile, either for phone calls or texts. You know, I’ve been pretty understanding this past week, but there’s a point where her attitude just gets plain rude.’
‘Aurora, I think I need to go into a protection program,’ Jeffrey said, pushing past Tyler. ‘There are girls booing at me in the halls. Someone threw a banana at me at lunch today! What if they start throwing harder stuff? Like a mango or something? I’d be knocked out!’
A sob came from behind Tyler and Jeffrey. Both of them froze.
‘Chloe?’ I stood up when I saw her distraught face.
‘Everything’s gone wrong, Aurora. It’s my fault. I always get too hung up on guys too soon. It scares them!’
She folded herself into a chair, looking completely crumpled, like a piece of paper that had been too roughly handled.
‘I’ll come back later,’ Tyler said, freaked out by tears as usual.
‘I’ll get her some water,’ Jeffrey said, and dashed out.
‘Chloe, what happened? I thought everything was going great.’
‘It was! The dedication at assembly, the phone conversations that went on for hours, the violin sonatas he played for me — Aurora, he was texting me like every twenty minutes since we got back from camp. Even sending me pictures of paintings he loves, and excerpts from Romeo and Juliet. After the story of Berlioz and Harriet, Romeo and Juliet was our thing.’
Chloe looked up as Jeffrey came back into the room. She violently wiped the back of her hand across her eyes, looking mortified to have someone she barely knew witness her breakdown. Jeffrey handed her a paper cup of water. He’d also managed to get an ice pack, presumably from the infirmary, which he pressed to her forehead.
‘Sorry, I’m a mess,’ Chloe said, looking up at him, her normally awe-inducing eyes smeared with mascara.
‘Babe, no probs,’ Jeffrey said. ‘I know how brutal dating can be.’
He sat down beside Chloe, looking at her with concern. To my surprise, Chloe didn’t ask him to leave. She plunged back into her story.
‘I know it’s idiotic of me, but when I fall for someone, I fall hard. I started thinking that he could be my soul mate. He even tagged me in a Facebook picture he posted from Plato’s Symposium — the one that talks about soul mates! Aurora, who posts about soul mates with another person if they aren’t feeling that way themselves?’
She broke down crying again. Jeffrey reached over and squeezed her hand. Chloe squeezed back gratefully. Strangely, Jeffrey was the right man to have around in a crisis. I sat stupidly in my chair, waiting for Chloe to reveal why she was so upset.
‘You have to tell me what’s gone wrong,’ I said. ‘Like you say, it’s obvious Hunter’s crazy about you. I’m sure we’ll be able to sort this out.’
‘Was crazy about me.’ Chloe hiccuped. ‘Until Sunday.’
‘The date you told me about? You went, right?’
‘Yes! And it was picture perfect. We hiked along the cliffs until we found the ideal picnic spot looking out across the entire bay. We had lunch and then Hunter said he had a special dessert. He pulled out cherries in a Tupperware container and lifted one up to my lips and quoted Thomas Campion’s “Cherry-ripe”.’
‘Huh?’ Jeffrey looked confused.
Chloe quoted it for him:
There is a garden in her face
Where roses and white lilies blow;
A heavenly paradise is that place,
Wherein all pleasant fruits do flow:
There cherries grow which none may buy
Till ‘Cherry-ripe’ themselves do cry.
I knew the poem.
‘As in, women are like scrumptious?’ Jeffrey blurted before I could urge Chloe on. ‘Oops! Sorry. If you thought that was derogatory to women, it’s not, I swear on my life.’
Chloe let out a giggle, a complete contrast to her earlier sobs. ‘That is, funnily enough, the essence of the poem. Anyway, after whispering all that he kissed me. It was sweeter than any cherries; it was everything I’d imagined since we were first introduced to each other. We kept kissing and kissing all afternoon, until it looked like a storm was rolling in. As we were heading back on the ferry, I cuddled up to him and said, “Won’t it be funny when we become a public success story next Monday?” He looked all confused and I reminded him that the results of your program would be announced on election day. He pulled away from me and said he hadn’t known our relationships had to become public.’ Chloe’s lips trembled.
‘But he must have,’ I said. ‘That’s part of the contract Jelena would have made him sign.’
‘He said that she rushed him through the details to get his signature and he never saw that part. I asked him if that was a problem and he went all silent. I said I thought he’d be happy to share how lucky we were to have fallen for each other. And then he replied …’ Chloe took a shaky breath. ‘“Well, there’s no need to go rushing in, Chloe.” I felt totally hurt, so of course I went silent, and then he didn’t say anything either and the whole rest of the trip home was awful.’
‘Why didn’t you call me?’ I asked. ‘I could have called him and found out what was going on so you didn’t have to have a painful conversation. Maybe he’s just a little shy about people knowing about his personal life?’
‘I held off calling because Hunter told me we’d talk about it later and I was hoping we’d work it out. I didn’t want to panic too early. But then his messages got all sporadic. On Monday, I got two texts. Normally I’d have had about forty. And then last night, when I was on Facebook, I noticed he was online so I asked him a question via chat. The next minute, chat was saying that he’d gone offline. I texted him asking if I’d done anything wrong, and if so to please let me know. And then last night, all through the night, he sent me these texts about his ex and how messed up he was from that relationship and how he was freaked out about getting into another one. The texts are really intense, Aurora — like, they’re abou
t all the details of his break-up and his therapist. I know he thinks all that will put me off, but it doesn’t. I understand what a break-up’s like and I want to help him through it and prove to him that it’s safe to trust again. But he point-blank avoided me when I tried to talk to him at lunch today.’
‘That cad! After kissing you and chasing you for almost two weeks?’ Jeffrey smacked his fist against his palm. ‘I can sort this out for you, Chloe. I don’t know much about you or this guy, but that’s total disrespect. Not gentlemanly behaviour at all.’
‘Jeffrey, I don’t think violence is the best option,’ I said quickly. ‘Chloe, I’ll talk to Hunter. Like you say, we can all get a bit cautious if we’ve been hurt. I’m sure that between his therapist and me he’ll realise you’re a risk worth taking.’
I was unable to find Hunter anywhere during study break. He definitely wasn’t taking calls, as all of my attempts were met by his voicemail. I ended up asking any orchestra members I could find if they knew where he was. Finally, after I’d bothered about fifteen people, a trumpet player told me he’d seen Hunter heading for the school gate.
‘He was with a dark-haired girl,’ he said.
It couldn’t be Chloe. I knew she was still back in the library with Jeffrey, as she’d just texted me to ask if I’d found Hunter yet. He couldn’t be involved with another girl, could he?
‘Who was it?’ I asked.
‘I’ve seen her around but I don’t know her name. I only started here mid-term, like two weeks ago.’
My heart beating faster, I hurriedly thanked him and ran for the school gate. Thankfully all potential candidates had had to give their address and phone number when they’d filled in the questionnaire, so I had Hunter’s home address in my phone. I Google-mapped the location; it was apparently ten minutes’ walk from school. I broke into a sprint. I had a very bad feeling.
As I approached Hunter’s place, I stopped running. I needed to catch my breath to be able to conduct a conversation. As I bent over, trying to steady my heart and my breathing, I realised I could hear voices. There was a veranda that ran the length of the front of Hunter’s house, partially obscured by the trees on his front lawn. As I walked up the drive, I realised one of the voices was Hunter’s. The other was female, but as Hunter seemed to be doing most of the talking, I didn’t recognise it.
I dashed up the steps and onto the veranda. If Hunter was playing around, I was determined to catch him in the act. Hunter, who was standing at the railing, whipped his head round at the sound of my footsteps on the wooden floor. There was definitely a dark-haired girl standing next to him, but his head obscured her face.
‘Aurora?’ the girl said.
‘Lindsay? What are you doing here?’
Thank god — for a moment I’d been terrified I’d have to tell Chloe that Hunter was two-timing her.
‘We’re hanging out,’ Hunter replied. ‘What are you doing here is the more important question.’
‘I’m here because Chloe’s very confused about why you’ve pulled back from her after a successful date on Sunday.’
‘Wait a minute. You told me that you’d stopped seeing her after camp,’ Lindsay said to Hunter.
‘Lindsay, you’re totally out of the loop,’ I said. Why was she looking so shocked? ‘Hunter did the shout-out to her during assembly. You were there! He called her up and played a violin sonata down the phone on Friday night, then took her to Indigo Bay on Sunday. Of course he’s still been seeing her.’
‘Well, that’s news to me,’ Lindsay said. ‘I was under the impression that the assembly performance was for me.’
My mouth dropped open. ‘You? But why?’
‘I told you and Chloe the story of Hector and Berlioz,’ Hunter said. He was entirely focused on Lindsay. ‘Both of you assumed the shout-out was about you. Neither of you actually asked me to verify that.’
‘Well, I don’t know about Chloe, but you and I definitely had a conversation about it.’ Lindsay’s eyes were snapping. ‘I told you I thought it was inappropriate because I had a boyfriend and you were supposed to be seeing Chloe. You just shrugged.’
‘Wait a minute. The reason you couldn’t work with Hunter and Chloe any more was because you were freaked out by that performance being dedicated to you?’ I asked Lindsay. ‘And you thought by stepping away you’d prevent Hunter from messing things up with his match?’
‘Temporarily,’ Hunter answered for her. ‘Until she started coming over here every time she had a problem with her boyfriend.’
‘That is not the story. You told me you wanted to see Bright Star,’ Lindsay spluttered. ‘I brought it over so we could watch it together. And then you read me that poem about swooning upon a lover’s breast and told me you wished that was us!’
‘Lindsay, you didn’t?’ I said. ‘Tyler would be crushed if you did anything — tell me you didn’t.’
Lindsay started crying. ‘Of course I didn’t. But Hunter confused me. This whole thing started as a friendship after you paired us up at camp. It’s only been the last week that he’s started sending me romantic literary quotes and pictures of lovers from famous paintings.’
‘He’s been doing exactly the same to Chloe,’ I told her. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, but I wanted Lindsay to have all the facts. ‘Stuff about soul mates, quotes from Romeo and Juliet.’
I felt disgusted.
Hunter shrugged, looking unaffected by either Lindsay’s shocked face or my revolted one. ‘Material used by a long line of seducers before me. Girls lap that stuff up. That’s why men who say they aren’t into poetry are complete idiots.’
‘You’re the idiot.’ Lindsay looked as sickened as I felt.
‘Sweetheart, let me remind you that just a few minutes ago you were debating whether to break up with your boyfriend and throwing little hints in to see if I’d promise to be all yours if you did.’ Hunter laughed. ‘I loaded that gun ages ago. I knew exactly how much it would take to get you to fire the trigger.’
Lindsay looked like she was about to collapse on the floor or strangle Hunter. Before she could do either, I stepped in front of her.
‘Why?’ I asked Hunter. ‘Why cause two well-meaning girls, both of whom you had a special connection with, all this pain and confusion?’
‘Women are fickle,’ Hunter said. ‘You know, when I was dating my ex, I had to study Shakespeare’s sonnets. You presumably know about Shakespeare’s dark lady — the woman scholars claim to be his inspiration? Well, it was pretty obvious to me that whoever this woman was, she took advantage of Shakespeare’s sensitivity and artistic nature. If you go through the sonnets, you can see how many references there are to unfaithfulness. I found out that my ex was just a modern-day version of that dark lady. She cheated on me, broke my heart and destroyed my pride. I learnt pretty quickly that limiting myself to dating just one girl was the easy way to wind up a fool. After all, if women are going to work on my emotions like I’m a puppet, why shouldn’t I get in first?’
The words came out like a river of poison. Lindsay and I both took a step back.
‘Why bother dating if you believe all women are heartless witches?’ I asked.
‘Women are beautiful and dangerous. You can’t help getting pulled into the water, even though you know you’ll drown.’
Hunter had a twisted smile on his face. He was seriously creeping me out. There was a hard and flinty edge to him now, like a knife, and I didn’t want it near us any longer.
‘Lindsay, I think we should go.’ I grabbed her hand and headed for the veranda steps.
‘And just so you know,’ Hunter called after us, ‘I’m transferring to a music school interstate. I start on Monday, and my parents have signed off on me not attending the last two days of school this week. So if you’re planning to start some smear campaign, I won’t be there to see it.’
‘Why bother with Chloe or me if you were leaving anyway?’ Lindsay asked him, even though I was now dragging her down the driveway.
‘That never would have happened!’ Lindsay was furious. She took a step back towards the house.
‘Keep telling yourself that, Lindsay,’ Hunter said, his voice dry. He went inside and slammed the door behind him. I yanked Lindsay down the drive and onto the street, both of us still reeling.
‘Thank god he’s leaving Jefferson,’ I said. ‘He’s a destructive person and a risk to all the girls at our school. I just wish we knew which school he was transferring to so we could warn the girls there.’
‘I wish I could go back in time.’ Tears were streaming down Lindsay’s cheeks. ‘I’m mortified, Aurora. I don’t know what I was thinking. I honestly saw it as a friendship at first. I was really upset about Tyler not coming on camp, and while we were ropes buddies Hunter asked what was troubling me. It all came spilling out, and then the more I talked to him the more my doubts about Tyler seemed to grow.’
‘That was all deliberately and carefully done, Lindsay. He never actually said that your relationship had no passion, but he asked you if you knew what passion was. He’s smart enough to have known exactly what effect that would have on you.’
‘Well, I should have tried to fix my relationship instead of letting him build up a case for me leaving Tyler.’
‘Were you going to?’ Part of me wondered if I was pushing things too far in asking this, but I was involved now.
‘I don’t know.’ Lindsay’s voice shook. ‘I don’t know, and that’s what scares me, Aurora. My self-esteem was completely crushed when Tyler dumped me. I know it seemed like I was moving on and following my dream of being a designer, but underneath I felt like a quivering mess, just praying that he’d take me back. And then when he did, the anger started. All I could see was how he took me for granted, and how easy it had been for him to throw me away. And then along came somebody who told me I was beautiful and made me feel like I was the most fascinating person to spend time with. I admit it — I was attracted and tempted, even though I love Tyler. I convinced myself that I was considering ending the relationship because it wasn’t working, but there was a tiny whisper at the back of my mind telling me there was another reason I was considering a break-up. That’s what’s making me feel sick. I’m scared I’m as fickle as Hunter says women are.’
How to Convince a Boy to Kiss You Page 37