Chapter 12 #2
I give a dry gulp. There’s something in James’s eyes I’ve never seen before. Something dark, heavy, that makes my belly tingle.
“How dull,” I croak, my voice betraying the lie.
I don’t want to imagine James having sex.
I really don’t.
But now I can’t stop wondering what he must have been doing to break his bed.
And what he looked like at the time. He showed me a flash of skin when he undressed in front of me.
I know he’s ripped. And I’ve seen how well he can move playing lacrosse.
I bet he makes the women in his bed pretty happy.
At this moment, I’m glad of the ice cream in my hands. I wish I could dunk my face in it to cool down.
“Rumors are mostly untrue or only have a little bit of truth in them.” His knowing grin makes me afraid that he knows exactly what I was just thinking, in every detail.
I decide it’s time to conclude the subject of waterbeds. “Well, that makes me glad there are no rumors about me.”
James puts his tub back in the fridge and the spoon on the bar. Then he leans back in his seat and looks thoughtfully at me. “I tried to find out about you after the business with Lydia.”
“I don’t think I want to know what people say about me,” I say quietly.
“Most of them didn’t know who you were. And anything they did say wasn’t bad.”
I breathe a sigh of relief. “Seriously?”
James nods. “That’s why I was so suspicious of you. Anyone with that good a reputation must have a dark secret somewhere.”
I pull a face. “I have no dark secrets.”
“Of course not.” His expression is amused as he leans forward. “Come on, Ruby. Tell me something that no one else at school knows about you.”
I shake my head on autopilot. No way am I playing this game. “You tell me something that no one knows about you.”
I expect him to protest, but he actually seems to be thinking about it.
“If I don’t get into Oxford, my father will kill me.” He says it casually, as if he’s long come to terms with that fact. But his eyes tell a different story.
“Because he went there?” I ask cautiously.
“Both my parents did. And theirs before them.”
I always envied James and his friends for their backgrounds, which give them the best chance of getting into the best unis.
But now I realize there’s another side to that.
So much pressure. And it helps me understand the way James reacted at the study group a bit better. My words must have really hurt.
“I’ve wanted to go to Oxford since I was little,” I say after a while.
I suddenly feel like it’s OK to trust him with this part of me.
He just did, and it helped me get a handle on him a bit.
We’ve done nothing but fight since we first met.
It can’t do any harm if we try to clear up some of the prejudices we have about each other.
“My parents always encouraged me, even if they knew it might just stay a dream. I always got good marks, but there’s more to getting into Oxford than that.
But then they heard about scholarships to Maxton Hall and applied for me.
We didn’t expect me to get one, but I must have made a good impression at the interview.
Now I feel like it’s not just a pipe dream, and I swore I’d do everything I could to make it to Oxford.
I want to make my parents proud. And myself. ”
James says nothing for a moment. He looks at me, and the sudden intensity in his blue-green eyes sends a shiver down my spine. “How long have you been at the school?”
“Two years.”
He mumbles.
“What?” I ask.
He shrugs vaguely. “I’m just wondering how I never noticed you before.”
My heart skips a beat. At the same time, I’m giving myself a pat on the back. Seems like my just-keep-your-head-down strategy is working perfectly. “I have the ability to glide through corridors like a shadow and blend in with the walls.”
His lips twitch slightly. “Sounds like you’re the Maxton Hall ghost. Or a chameleon. But anyway, your turn.”
“For what?” I look confusedly at him.
“To tell me something about you that nobody else knows.”
“I just did!”
He shakes his head. “That doesn’t count. You only replied to what I told you.”
I take a deep breath and exhale slowly, thinking about what I can tell him. His eyes are alert as they watch me, which doesn’t make it any easier. On the contrary.
I shake my head in resignation. “There’s nothing to tell.”
“I don’t believe you.” He leans back, crosses his arms over his chest. “Come on. You have to do more than just study.”
Oh, no, I don’t, I think. But luckily, something comes to mind. “I read manga.”
James looks at me like he misheard for a second. Then he smiles. “There, that’s something. I wouldn’t exactly call it a dark secret, but OK. What’s your favorite?”
I’m confused. I didn’t expect him to ask questions.
“ Death Note ,” I say hesitantly.
“Would you recommend it?”
I have no idea how we got from “James breaks beds during sex” to “Ruby’s favorite manga.” Not a clue. But I nod slowly. “If you ask me, reading Death Note is an important part of anyone’s basic education.”
James looks startled. “It would be terrible to be lacking that, then.”
My lips twitch involuntarily too.
I can’t help grinning.
James Beaufort made me grin.
As I realize that, I turn hastily away and look out of the window, but I’m pretty sure he saw it. There was a clear flash of triumph in his eyes.
I wonder why.