Chapter 18 #2
“What’s he done now?” asks Tori when I run into her on our corridor.
Normally, I’d tease her that she and Sinclair are getting more and more similar, even asking the same questions independently of each other, but I’m really not in the mood for joking just now.
“Olive Mary Henderson, I asked you a question,” she yells as I walk on.
“He’s a bloody bastard,” I say, unlocking my door.
Tori follows me, unasked. “So nothing new, then?”
“Did you know he’s got a girlfriend?”
She raises her eyebrows. “Has he?”
“Aye.” I want to punch something.
“Why would I know that?”
“Aren’t you following him and his celebrity mum on social media the whole time?”
Tori drops onto my bed with a long sigh.
“At the moment, I’ve really got enough on my plate just keeping an eye on all the clues about Hope MacKenzie and Scott Plymouth.
Aven Amenta suddenly appeared in the postcredits scene in Icarus Rising, and now there are rumors that Hope’s written a new spin-off for the Aroda universe.
I wouldn’t be surprised if there was an official announcement dropping soon.
Besides, she posted a selfie with Aven the other day.
If she’s playing the lead role, I’ll scream. ”
“Doesn’t Aven just do her Disney stuff?” I ask, because that’s all I know about the American actress. She was in practically every series I loved as a kid.
“Yeah, but a role in Aroda would be a total breakthrough. God, I’d love it. Can’t you ask Colin? Maybe his mum knows something that’s not public yet.”
“No way am I asking Colin anything,” I say at once.
“OK, sorry, I didn’t mean to derail away from your issues. So he’s got a girlfriend?”
I nod grimly.
“Hmm, fine, but that doesn’t matter to you, does it?” When I don’t answer, Tori raises her eyebrows inquiringly. “After all, you can’t stand the guy, right?”
“I hate him,” I correct her.
“Oh, sorry.”
“And I kissed him.”
Tori’s eyes widen. “Don’t mess with me, Olive.”
“Yesterday.”
“What? Why?”
Yeah, why? That’s what I’m asking myself now.
Why did it seem like a good idea? I wasn’t even burning to kiss him.
I should have just let it be. But I really thought there was some kind of attraction between us.
Apparently I was wrong. Maybe in America, it’s nothing special to pull girls into lit-up swimming pools at night and look at them in that intense way.
It was special to me, but if I’d known what it really meant to him, there’s no way I’d have done it.
If I’d had even a hint of a clue that Colin’s with somebody and was cheating on her with me, I’d have had a thing or two to say to him. But all I say is “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know why you kissed him?”
“Yeah.”
“There’s generally a pretty obvious reason,” Tori begins, and I give her a warning look, which she ignores.
“He’s a shite and I don’t want anything to do with him.”
“Maybe you also find him kind of hot.”
“He’s a shite,” I repeat. “And he’s got a girlfriend, Tori. That’s a real no-go, and he didn’t say a word.”
“Well, what should he have said?”
“Er, sorry, this isn’t OK, maybe? And not just kiss me back and act like everything’s cool.”
“He kissed you back?” Tori sounds excited. “Was it good?”
“Stop it, Tori.”
“No, I have to know now. Where were you?”
I shut my eyes for a moment. “At the pool.”
“Oh, God, a water kiss?” Tori squeaks. “And how did it happen? Why were you even—”
“Tori, he’s with someone and I’m the arsehole he’s cheating on her with. Don’t you get that? It’s like . . .” I stop, but I don’t have to say it for Tori to know what I mean. I can see it in her face.
“You mean your mum? Livy, it’s totally different.”
“It’s not.”
“You didn’t know. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
I laugh mirthlessly.
“What did he say? I bet you confronted him.”
“Of course I confronted him.”
“Aye, you’re a Scorpio. So?”
“He said she isn’t his girlfriend, and then we argued.”
“But that’s a good thing, right?” Tori says hesitantly. “If they’re not together?”
“Tori, he said he was sorry if I really thought he’d wanted to kiss anyone like me.”
“I bet he only said that to hurt you.”
I say nothing because I’m scared that my voice will shake.
“So did he?”
“I don’t care about him,” I force myself to say.
“I know, Livy.”
“Stop it.”
“Stop what?”
“You sound like you don’t believe me.”
“Why wouldn’t I believe you?”
“I don’t know. I really don’t care about him. He thinks he can just come over here, totally disrespect everybody, and then get involved with me when he’s got a girlfriend at home!”
“You two need to talk.”
I laugh out loud. “I’m not saying another word to him, OK?”
“OK, Livy. How about this? We’ll go down to the old greenhouse later on with everyone, forget what’s happened today for a couple of hours, and tomorrow the world will look totally different.”
“There’s no way I’m going to a midnight party and risk seeing him there.”
Tori raises her eyebrows. “You don’t really think he’ll come? Charlie says he thinks the midnight parties are childish.”
I snort. “He’s childish.”
“Far be it from me to defend him, but I think that Colin Fantino is all fear and facade.”
“He’s not a hero in one of your stupid books, Tori,” I snarl.
“And you don’t not care about him, Livy.”
I glare warningly at her. Maybe she’s right, but that doesn’t change the fact that I wish with every fiber of my being that it wasn’t so.