Worst Impressions

Bonus Chapter - Darcy Prepares for the Party

My father used to say that there were things in life sent to test us.

To test our character, our fortitude.

To give us a chance to show the world just what sort of men we were.

At the time, I'd sincerely doubted that my father had intended one of those tests to be how I might cope when accosted by a gaggle of ridiculous teenage girls. All day we'd been kept apart from them, allowed to set up home in our new dorm rooms while this social experiment went ahead, but it hadn't stopped us from hearing them. Despite the closed windows and the blasting music, there was no hiding from the shrieking and laughter that permeated every inch of this God-awful school.

If it could even be called a school.

I'd have likened it more to an asylum the way they all carried on.

I hadn't dared to peek through the curtains lest I be spotted and then hunted down by these cackling harpies, all intent on marrying me into their families. Had I carried a surname other than that of Darcy, I'd have shaken off such thoughts as presumptuous and arrogant, but I wasn't ignorant of the sway that our family held in British society. Nor was I ignorant of the games that mothers and daughters played while trying to secure a relationship with such influence. Since I was a boy of ten, I'd been pushed to shake hands with people more than twice my age, to dance with little girls in frilly pink dresses, and to never say a rude word about them to their faces lest I shame my parents.

'You look like you're being sent to the gallows,' Charlie observed as he preened himself in the mirror. 'It's just a party.'

'For you, it's just a party,' I corrected. 'For me, it's over a hundred girls asking if I have a girlfriend yet and whether I'm on social media so that they can stalk me online as well as in-person.'

Charlie laughed. 'God, you're full of yourself.'

'I don't understand how you can take this so lightly. They'll crowd you, too.'

'I'm not anyone. I'm not a Darcy.'

'You're male. I mean, sure, some of them might not be into that,' I conceded. I wasn't a prude. Besides, I'd attended an all-boys school. Relationships weren't exactly out of the ordinary. 'But for the ones who are... when do you think was the last time they got to hang around with boys without adult supervision? They're locked up here for months at a time and we're the first boys to step through these doors. They'll be practically feral!'

'Now you're just being ridiculous.' There was an edge of fear to his voice as though he doubted his own assertion. Charlie cleared his throat and stated, 'Chantelle will be there. She'll tell us who we should watch out for.'

I'd almost forgotten Chantelle. I was sure she'd have dragged me down the aisle already if we weren't both under orders to go to university before making any other serious commitments in our lives. It wasn't that I disliked her. Well, maybe a little. She was just a bit... much. I loved Charlie like a brother, and I wasn't above admitting that to myself or anyone else, so I would never do anything to hurt him. If that meant tolerating Chantelle – being her friend, even – then I was willing to do it for his sake. Still, I did blame her entirely for recommending us to our parents for this weird little science experiment. I was sure that she'd done it just because she was sick of us all attending different schools. While it was all well and good for her to miss her twin, I didn't know why I needed to be dragged into the insanity.

'This is insane,' I declared, fully aware that Charlie wasn't privy to my internal monologue. 'It's insane! I'm not going. I can't. I refuse to be paraded around and stared at like I'm some creature in a zoo!'

'I never had you pegged for the drama Queen sort, Will, but you're really showing a new side of yourself. You haven't even been here a full day and you're in full freak out mode.'

'Go without me,' I ordered. 'Go. And when you come back with your clothes all ripped and chunks of your hair missing, I'll tell you that I told you so, and maybe we'll be allowed to leave.'

Charlie's hand flew to his head. 'Why would they take my hair?'

'Voodoo love dolls,' I said. 'They'll probably cast curses on us to make us love them.'

The look of horror vanished and transformed into hysterical guffaws. 'Voodoo? Will,' he choked through his laughter, 'what on Earth have you been reading? They're just teenagers! They're not witches!'

'That's what they want you to think,' I said. 'I saw The Craft. Girls are terrifying! I swear, Charlie, tonight is going to be a complete disaster.'

'This is pathetic,' tears of mirth were still rolling down his cheeks as he chuckled. 'This is a low point and I'm so happy I got to see it. Put your shoes on and stop being a baby. I promise it'll be completely uneventful.'

I scowled. Slowly, I reached for my shoes and slipped my feet into them. 'Fine. I'll go. I'll go and I'll be proven right.'

'Bet you a hundred quid you won't,' Charlie countered.

'Make it a thousand.'

'You're on, Darcy.'