“You're early.”
“Gold star, Dad. I know. Paris sucked.”
“Your mother won't be happy with me.”
“She'll get over it. Anyway, she paid for my flight. It's fine. I need to wash stuff before I go back, anyway. Have you got anything in for dinner?”
“Er...”
“Order a pizza or something. I'll go shopping tomorrow.”
“Okay, I'll see you in a few hours. Do you want me to meet you at the station?”
“I'm fine.”
“I can send one of the boys, if you'd rather.”
I'd really had enough of boys to last me a lifetime.
“No thanks. See you later, love you.”
“Love you too, Elly-bear.”
Idiot.
Still, I was looking forward to a few days of peace. My phone beeped at me, and then the screen went black. I should have charged it, but I'd been too preoccupied to do anything that sensible. I dug around in my bag for a charger, and an envelope dropped onto the train floor. Deciding it was potentially more interesting than anything happening on social media, I pushed my phone into my bag, and picked up the letter instead.
Beth,
Don’t worry if you think I’m going to try to ask you out again. You
made it pretty clear that you weren’t interested in me. My nose isn’t
broken, by the way. Not that you would care. In fact, I imagine that’s a
disappointment to you.
The reason I’m writing, is to address the things you accused me of last
night.
First, yes, I broke up Charlie and your friend. I’ll come to this later,
because I want you to finish reading this note before you tear it up.
Gideon is a liar.
You might think that I’m the liar, but I’ll tell you my side of the story.
He was a teacher at my school for a short time, but before that he’d
grown up on our estate. His parents worked for mine, and we were often
thrown together because we were all a similar age. He didn’t seem like a
bad kid, but he changed after his parents died. My father wanted him
to be looked after. When we lost him, my mother continued to honour his
wishes. She helped give him a recommendation to my school, after funding
all of his studies.
Around that time, he got into a relationship with my older sister. I
thought this was strange, because we’d all be brought up like we
were siblings. But Amanda was happy, and I didn’t want to ruin
that for her.
Then I walked in on him with another woman at school. A teacher,
no less. He threatened me, and ordered me not to tell my sister. He
said it would break her heart. To solidify his relationship with her,
and to make it more difficult for me to tell the truth, he proposed
to her.
Gideon wasn’t earning much, but he spent excessively, trying to
create an image and a lifestyle he couldn’t afford. He borrowed
money, and he gambled. While he kept all this from Amanda, it
was plainly obvious to me that he was in desperate need of help.
How?
Because he asked me for money.
Yes. Me.
He thought that I could get it from my mother, and pretend it was
for something I needed. Naturally, I refused. After that, it came to
light that someone was stealing from the school. At first they were
petty thefts from other teachers, and then cash boxes and savings
went missing from the offices. Everything pointed to Gideon, and I
finally told my mother the whole of it.
She paid off everything for him, but only on the condition that he
stayed away from our family, and that included Amanda. After
she heard about him cheating on her, she didn’t want anything to
do with him.
I know that Gideon blames me entirely for what happened.
I hope, no matter what you think of me, you’ll at least not hold
these events against me. I did what was right for my family, and
we only didn’t take the matter to the police out of respect for my
sister’s reputation. She was hurt enough, and being dragged through
that ordeal would have made it worse.
If you want to check any of these facts, you can talk to Freddie.
He knows everything about it.
Now, as for the issues with Jenny and Charlie.
Yes, I broke them up, and I was happy to do it.
It’s not because Jenny is a bad person, which I might have implied
last night, but it’s because she’s doesn’t seem to like him as much
as you say. I understand that she won’t just be after his money,
and that her family is respectable, but she seems so quiet and
unmoved by him, that it’s impossible to tell if she likes him as
anything more than a friend.
But the attitudes of your friends on the night of Charlie’s birthday
caused a huge amount of concern. Not just with me, but with his
family, too. Lisa and Chrissy were completely out of control. It was
like being at a zoo. They have no sense of social norms, and no
idea how to behave as anything but five year old girls.
Meg ruined Chantelle’s dress and, while I accept that she isn’t the
nicest girl in the world, she deserved an apology. Instead, you all
ran from the party, and left her without any consideration.
I shouldn’t have to tell you how ridiculous Wyatt is. He made a
spectacle of himself by talking to me so openly when I didn’t know
him, and presumed that his slight connection to my aunt put
him in the same sphere as me.
If I really hurt Jenny by what I did, then I am sorry for that.
I thought that she only had a crush on him, and it wouldn’t pain
her to be parted from him. Clearly I was mistaken, and you
would know better than I do how she behaves around boys. But
now it’s done, and I can’t change that. Charlie will give up on
Jenny, and I suggest you convince her to do the same.
Now, as you requested, we don’t need to ever see each other again.
~ William Davies
Chapter Eighteen
How much I shall have to conceal.
Home felt almost cold to me when I arrived.
I didn't know if that was because Dad had forgotten to turn on the heating that day, or if it was the result of reading William's letter. Whatever the reason, I felt like I needed Jenny's company to make me feel better. I was happy that Georgia had set herself free of Wyatt, but that wasn't enough to lift my spirits in the face of all the other revelations.
Dad noticed the change in me, but I couldn't tell him the truth. I didn't want him to know how stupid I'd been, and I wanted to respect William's family by keeping things quiet. I know that sounded ridiculous given I didn't like him, but his sister hadn't done anything to me. If I'd been in her place, and my boyfriend had hurt me that much, I wouldn't want it to be public knowledge either.
Getting back to school was a relief, and that wasn't a sentiment I often had. As soon as I saw Jenny in our room, I hugged her so forcefully that we overbalanced and landed in a tangle on her bed. I was glad we were alone, because I had a lot to tell her.
Well, I couldn't tell her everything.
If she found out that she and Charlie had been forced apart by William, it would do more harm than good. But I needed to talk to someone about things concerning Gideon. It was too much information for me to keep it to myself. And I didn't like concealing stuff from her. Telling a part truth was better than lying completely.
/> “Jen', can we go talk about something?”
“What's wrong with talking here?” she asked.
“I can't let anyone else hear this.”
“Okay... Library?”
No one would be there on the first day back. They'd be unpacking, and greeting their friends. So long as we were quiet, we wouldn't be discovered or overheard. I didn't dare tell her what all the secrecy was about on the way. We hid in the research section, where all the huge books only the teachers checked out were kept. Even they wouldn't be seen dead in the library so soon into the new term.
I leaned back against a shelf, my legs crossed in front of me. Jenny settled herself beside me, and laid her head on my shoulder. I let out a long breath, and confessed, “I saw William Davies while I was in France. He was a total dick, as usual. How was your break?”
“That's all you have to say? You could have told me that in our room.”
“No, there's more. But I want to hear how your Christmas was, first.”
She closed her eyes, “I didn't see Charlie. I saw Chantelle, and she made it clear that she hated me. Like, she was really angry I was there. I told her that it was just a coincidence, but she was really sure I did it on purpose.”
“Sorry,” I said, “I shouldn't have convinced you to go.”
“Mum and I had a good time. She said you and your Dad should have come along.”
“My Dad on skis? He'd break every bone in his body,” I held her hand, and gave it a gentle squeeze, “You guys should come to our place one year. It'll be cramped and awkward. You'll love it, I promise.”
“Maybe.”
“Okay, so there's something else that happened. And I'm only going to tell you if you think you want to hear it. Because if you don't, then it's fine. But it's about Gideon.”
“Obviously I want to hear it.”
“Turns out that Gideon is a big fat liar. He did steal from the school, and from a lot of other people by not paying debts. And he cheated on William's sister. The family paid off everything, but he had to get a new job. They were keeping it out of the papers so his sister wouldn't get humiliated.”
Jenny rubbed my arm gently to soothe me. She must have thought I'd found it all really upsetting. I suppose I had, in a way. But I was more angry than anything else. Gideon must have been laughing at me behind my back, because I was just another stupid little girl he'd managed to win over with his sob story. I was glad he was gone, and I wouldn't have to see him again.
“Do you think we should tell anyone?” Jenny asked.
“No. He doesn't work here, now. That makes him someone else's problem.”
Fine, that came off as being really selfish. But I was in a bad mood, and I didn't have the patience to pretend like I was happy about the way things had turned out. There was something else I was desperate to tell Jenny. She started to get up, but I pulled her down beside me.
“Okay, ouch,” she said, and rubbed her lower back, “What?”
“Swear you won't tell anyone about this?”
“I already -”
“Not that,” I said, “William asked me out.”
“ He what?!”
I clamped my hand over her mouth, “God, really?!”
She pushed my fingers away, “Sorry – but seriously, what?”
“The guy is really unbalanced. I mean, I hate him, and he knows that. But he still asked.”
“What did you say?”
“Before or after I gave him a nose-bleed?”
“You didn't!”
“ Trust me, he deserved it. I said no. I didn't do it all that politely, but I think I got my point across.”
“You can do better.”
“I did,” I said, “I – uh – I sort of snogged his cousin, Freddie. But William got in the way, like he always seems to. Anyway, it was a crazy couple of weeks. Let's just try to forget about all of them, and we can have fun like we did last year. Sound good?”
“Yeah, it does. But you have to tell me all about Freddie.”
“Fair enough.”
Typically, she wanted absolutely every detail. At least it was just about the stuff at the club, and she didn't pry as to whether or not William had mentioned Charlie. I couldn't stand to see Jenny hurting again. That was more painful than anything he could say about me, or my family, or the way I'd acted. I was able to take criticism and hurt much better than she was. And if Jenny thought that we had been the reason she'd missed out, I didn't know how she'd react.
For a few days, things were normal.
Lisa and Chrissy were boasting about what they got for Christmas, both of them as silly as ever. Meg was still quiet, but she had taken to spending more time with me and Jenny. Ever since Charlie's party, she'd been quite nervous. She was already like a little mouse, if she became any more timid, she might crawl under her bed and never come out.
Georgia was a lot happier without Wyatt. She still had to see him around school. While that had to be awkward, I think it helped that he was pretending like he was fine. He couldn't stand to lose face in front of anyone. It was better than him making Georgia's life hell, and he would have done that if they'd continued to date.
We were three weeks in, when a familiar face appeared.
And I wasn't happy to see him.
Gideon had decided that chasing after a certain teacher wasn't for him, maybe because her salary had been a disappointing one, and returned to the school. I couldn't believe that my own mother had given a guy like that a recommendation. William probably despised the fact that he'd had to spend Christmas with the woman who'd forced Gideon back into his life.
He acted as if nothing had happened, and I couldn't possibly have discovered the truth behind the loss of his last job. It was painful keeping quiet. But infinitely more satisfying. As he smiled and flirted, I imagined a hundred ways of wiping that smug look off his face. He spun the same yarn to anyone who was willing to sit long enough to listen.
And all girls liked a tragic hero.
The way he spoke, you'd think he'd survived a war or something.
I couldn't hide my knowledge from him any longer when he cornered me after a Music lesson.
“I was hoping,” he said, “That you'd want to continue practicing with me after school hours. I miss the time we spent together.”
I bet you did, you creep.
“Sorry. I have exams coming up and everything. It's hard to make time for all the stuff I want to do. If I can work it into my schedule, I'll let you know.”
“It's a shame to let your talents go to waste.”
I forced a smile, “It's not really a waste. I just want to be able to get a job when this is over. There'll be loads of time for Music in the school holidays.”
Gideon tilted his head, and reached his hand out as if to touch my face. I knocked it away without thinking. The idea of his fingers on my skin was repulsive to me. He was the kind of guy who could happily cheat on a loving girlfriend. It was like if he put his hands on me, I was going to be tainted by him. He stood up straight, clearly offended by what I'd done.
“Have I overstepped a boundary?”
“Uh -”
“I thought we were friends, Beth.”
“I just think we should be a teacher and student. Rumours, you know? I wouldn't want your job to be in danger again.”
“That's true,” he said, “But I don't think that's actually the reason you're being like this. Has something happened? Do you want to talk to me about it?”
“Nothing. You're being paranoid.”
“I'm not sure I am. Beth, if -”
“I said it was nothing, Gideon! Just leave me alone, okay?”
He held up his hands, and stepped aside. The man wasn't stupid. And I was a really terrible actress. Anyone would know there was something wrong if I behaved like that. I got out of the room as fast as I could, but tried to make it look like I wasn't in a rush.
I failed.
Half way back to the dorm room, a flying girl came out of n
owhere, and charged into me. I fell against the wall, winded and in pain, and being hugged in a vice-like grip. Lisa was with Chrissy, because they were incapable of going anywhere together. She was holding a flier in her hand, and waved it at me excitedly.
“Trip?” I asked.
“It's going to be so much fun,” Chrissy beamed, “And the best part -”
“Gideon's going!” Lisa declared, cutting off her friend in her joy, “I mean, can you imagine taking a gondola ride with him? It's going to be amazing!”
One Word From You: A Pride and Prejudice Adaptation Page 16