Chapter 11
James
By this point, the pattern spreading over my paper looks pretty impressive.
The spiky black zigzags, little spirals, and wild loops look almost three-dimensional.
Like you just have to reach out your hand and you’ll be sucked into the picture.
I’m constantly amazed by what comes out when you’re doodling.
And how well it can take your mind off things.
Such as the fact that the lads are just a few hundred yards away, on the playing field, training for the weekend’s match.
And the fact that I have another hour and eleven minutes to go before I can leave this room.
“James!”
I look up. Everyone on the events team is watching me. “What?”
“He wasn’t even listening!” Jessalyn exclaims, glaring at Ruby in outrage, as if it were her fault that I can’t stand these pointless meetings.
“Let me repeat it then,” Ruby says calmly, looking at me across the table. “We need costumes to do a photo shoot for the posters. There’s a rental shop in Gormsey, but it would be obvious that the clothes aren’t original and are made of plastic.”
“Gormsey?” I repeat in confusion.
“It’s where I live,” she explains.
Never heard of it.
I catch myself wondering what Ruby’s house is like. What her parents look like. Whether she has brothers or sisters.
Things that shouldn’t interest me.
“We agreed last time that we want to make the photos as authentic as possible. But finding good costumes isn’t that easy. Beaufort’s dates back over a hundred and fifty years though, doesn’t it?”
She’s making a huge effort to sound friendly, but that doesn’t stop an icy chill spreading through my veins.
I can guess what’s coming next.
“Do you think you could ask your parents if we could borrow some clothes from the period?”
I wish I could just keep doodling. Or be somewhere else. Playing lacrosse, for instance. Nobody makes any demands of me there. I can just run, tackle, dodge, shoot, be free. On the field, I can forget. Here, I’m constantly reminded of who I am and what lies ahead for me.
I clear my throat. “I’m afraid not.”
Ruby looks like she’d been expecting that. “OK. Can I ask why?”
“No, you can’t.”
“In other words, you don’t want to help us,” she says, exaggeratedly calmly.
“Can’t or don’t want to. Doesn’t change my answer either way.”
Her nostrils flare slightly as she tries not to lose her temper.
Not with much success, and it’s quite funny to watch.
I try to ignore how pretty she is. I’ve never seen a face like hers.
Her upturned nose doesn’t fit the proud curl of her lips, her catlike eyes don’t match the freckles on her nose, and that straight fringe doesn’t go with her heart-shaped face.
But in a strange way, the whole effect is perfect.
And it gets more appealing every time I see her.
I can’t explain why I lost it like that yesterday.
It wasn’t the first time I’ve been accused of being a spoiled, rich dickhead.
It wasn’t even the first time Ruby has accused me of being one.
I don’t know why her words got to me so much, but they stirred something inside me, and I didn’t like it.
Nobody has mentioned the incident, but I was hoping they’d make a joke of it, tease me about how I reacted, and take the sting out of it.
Instead, they didn’t say a word, gave me meaningful looks, and that just added weight and significance to Ruby’s words.
I groan to myself. I wanted to bloody well enjoy my last year of school, didn’t want any worries about anyone or anything, wanted to just have fun.
Instead, I’m banned from playing lacrosse, I have to sit in this shitty meeting room, which is as stuffy as all hell, and I have to listen to Ruby call me a…
She snaps her fingers in my face.
“Sorry,” I say, rubbing my face with both hands. “What?”
“We don’t need him, guys,” says Kieran in irritation.
“I could certainly do without all of you, but unfortunately, I have to lump it until the end of term,” I retort, staring coldly at him.
“James!” Ruby snaps.
“What now? I’m just being honest.”
“There are times when honesty is out of place.”
The words “you’re a fine one to talk” are on the tip of my tongue.
But I bite them back. It’s kind of hot when she tells me off like that.
Which probably has to do with it being two weeks since the last party with the boys, so I have excess energy to work off.
I desperately need to think about something else.
As unobtrusively as possible, I pull my phone from my trouser pocket and message our group. Party at mine this evening.
“Look, let’s just rent costumes,” Lin suggests. “We can photoshop them a bit so that they look less fake.”
Kieran snorts.
“That’s ridiculous when we have James Beaufort on our team.”
“Well, in that case, I’ll send an inquiry to Beaufort’s myself, if James won’t help,” Ruby says suddenly.
“No, you won’t,” I say absently, not taking my eyes off my phone. Alistair is typing, the new lads on the team are all rubbish, and the coach is tearing his hair out.
“You can’t stop me.”
No way do I want her speaking to my parents.
I don’t want anyone getting anywhere near my parents.
Given that their donations go a good way toward financing this whole school and that they’re at pretty much every party, that’s kind of impossible.
But the mere thought of Ruby and my father in the same room turns my stomach.
“Do you seriously want me to tell Mr. Lexington how little effort you’re putting in when I meet with him next week?”
Slowly, I raise my eyes and narrow them at Ruby. I can’t believe she’s actually trying to blackmail me. If I wasn’t so angry, I’d be impressed.
“Knock yourself out,” I growl.
I spend the rest of the session ignoring her, and nobody else speaks to me.
I draw furious patterns in my notebook, circles and spiky objects, which turn into little monsters with sharp teeth, holding lacrosse sticks in their claws.
When Ruby declares the meeting over, I stand up so fast it makes Camille jump.
I’m almost out of the door when Ruby steps into my path.
“Could you stay a moment?”
“I’m in a hurry,” I say through gritted teeth.
I try to step around her, but she moves aside too. “Please.”
Her tone is no longer as annoyed as a few minutes ago.
Now she sounds tired, like she can’t wait to get out of this room at last either.
Maybe that’s why I nod and let the others past. Or maybe it’s thinking about Lexington and how I’d do anything in my power to avoid spending any longer at these team meetings than necessary.
Kieran is the last to leave, and as he shuts the door, he gives me a funny look.
If I had to guess, I’d say he was jealous. Interesting.
Ruby clears her throat. She’s leaning against a table, arms folded. “If you’re pissed off with me, don’t take it out on the team. It’s not their fault, and it’s unfair to make their work harder just for that.”
The memory of yesterday almost makes me sick. I remember every word she hurled at me. But no way do I want her to know how hard they hit home.
So I avoid her eyes. “I’m not pissed off with you.”
“You seem kind of cross though.”
I look at her, eyebrows raised. “We had a silly debate in a study group, Ruby Bell. And after a while, I got sick of it. What do you want?”
“I just wanted to apologize. I was unfair and made it personal, and I’m sorry.”
OK, that wasn’t what I was expecting. It takes me a while to find the right words. “You give yourself way too much credit if you think I’m losing sleep over that.”
She blinks several times in a row, clearly confused by my snarky retort. “You know what? Just forget it.”
“You don’t have to apologize just because you want something from me.”
“I’m not apologizing because I want something from you, James,” she replies. “But because I’m truly sorry. I was just…awful yesterday.”
For a while we look at each other, and I hunt for hidden agendas on her face.
But I don’t see anything. Her expression is honest and open.
She seems to genuinely mean that. I weigh up my options for a moment.
I could keep giving her the cold shoulder and act like I don’t care about what she said.
But then I run the risk of her actually blabbing on me to Lexington and him making me stay on this committee for longer.
Arguing with Ruby Bell is bloody tiring.
It looks like meeting her halfway will make my life a bit easier.
“OK,” I say, simply.
Suddenly, the atmosphere between us is considerably less loaded with rage than it was a few minutes ago. I feel like I can breathe again, and Ruby’s shoulders look much more relaxed too.
“Good,” she says. For a moment, she looks indecisive, like she doesn’t know what to do next. Then she nods and turns back to her table.
She picks up her planner, opens it, and ticks something off. I find myself wondering if apologizing to me was genuinely an item on one of her to-do lists. It wouldn’t surprise me.
I could leave now. We’ve said everything that needs to be said.
God knows why I don’t budge, just keep watching her pack away her stuff.
Everything seems to have its place in that godawful backpack of hers, and it’s strangely soothing, almost hypnotic the way a folder, a notebook, her pens, a water bottle, and finally her planner disappear into there, one at a time.
“How many costumes do you need for the poster?” I suddenly hear myself asking.
Ruby freezes in mid-movement. She slowly turns her head to look at me. “Two,” she says cautiously. “One for a man and one for a woman.”
I can see her trying, and failing, not to look too hopeful, and decide not to keep her in suspense any longer.
“I’ll ask my parents,” I say after a pause.
Ruby’s eyes light up, and it’s clearly a major effort not to grin. “Honestly?”
I nod. “Happy now?”