Worst Impressions

Chapter Five

'So?' I asked expectantly as Jenny settled into the seat beside me.

She set down her books and took a pen from her bag. It didn't matter how long she tried to put it off. I was going to have all the gossip from her, whether she liked it or not. Eventually, she turned to look at me and confessed, 'He's nice, okay?'

'Nice? You can't even tell me you like his arse or anything?'

'No!' she hissed. 'No, I can't!'

'But you do, right?'

Jenny groaned. 'Yeah. But he's just... I don't know. He's not like I thought he'd be. I mean, aren't most boys our age crazy stupid?'

'Yes. Girls can be too, though. But we grow out of it faster.'

'He just doesn't seem like the boys you see on television. He's polite and funny, and he was so attentive.'

'Please tell me you're going to ask him out before someone else does?'

'Shouldn't he ask me?'

I clicked my tongue against the roof of my mouth. 'What century are you living in, Jane Austen? You can ask him just as easily.'

Sometimes I forgot that most of the girls had been at the academy since they were four years old. The school liked to take them in as early as possible in their education and kept the students until they were ready to be released into the real world at eighteen. It was a little like zoos that bred endangered species before reintroducing them to the wild. Except in this case they were intelligent, wealthy young women, ready to take on high society. Very few left early for other schools, and even fewer joined mid-way through the process.

I was happy that I'd been somewhat exposed to the normal world before I'd been thrown into the asylum. Otherwise, I might be just as starry-eyed in the face of the new students. Boys had large enough egos without us pandering to them. They'd be easily inflated among gaggles of girls who didn't know better, clawing each other's eyes out for the sake of claiming a boyfriend from among them.

It had struck me that Jenny might be thought of as one such girl if she were to make a move on Charlie too quickly. It was probably better for them to get to know each other before she decided on her opinion of him. I cautioned, 'Don't come on too strong at first. But don't fake being his friend for the sake of a romantic relationship either.'

'Why not?'

'Seats, everyone!' Mr Hargreaves called as he entered the room. He hurried people to their desks, even though he was running later than the rest of us. It was only as the boys began filing into the room after him, and were directed to seats beside blushing girls, that I realised our classes would be mixed. I didn't know why, but I'd thought at first that they'd want to keep us divided and introduce us slowly so there wasn't a violent, bloody battle for dominance.

I had to stop watching wildlife documentaries.

'I'll tell you another time,' I whispered. I made a mental note that Jenny needed educating in the mythical place referred to as The Friend Zone.

In my head, I pleaded with whatever God might listen that I didn't want William to enter the room. Georgia had reliably informed me that the boy I'd threatened was not only a family friend of Charlie's but also the son of a woman who had a prominent position on the school's board of directors. Should I cause too much trouble, they were the people who would happily give me the boot from the school.

But God wasn't on my side. Nor was any other deity.

In strolled William, shoulder to shoulder with Charlie. Chantelle led the way. She was a native and was sort of like the Sherpa to these brave explorers. They totally looked the part. Nervously glancing in all directions, conscious of their footing, and in way over their heads. All they were missing were a couple of yaks.

Jenny blushed at the sight of them. I wished I could be as overjoyed by their presence as she was. After the way William and I had been introduced, I wasn't inclined to spend any more time with him than I had to. That was my fault, but he hadn't been all that likeable. We'd both made a bad first impression on each other. In my experience, those were the most important moments when defining a relationship. If two people couldn't find some civility in their address from the start, then it was likely that they never would.

'Hi,' Charlie greeted, ignorant of any bitterness between me and his friend. 'Can I sit with you?'

Jenny motioned to the seat at her other side. He nodded to me in greeting and I spared him a small smile. I was distracted by the need to find someone to sit on the other side of me before his friend dared to take the seat.

William was fast approaching. With every step, I felt like some timer was ticking down to a critical point of no return. When the door opened again and Meg stepped through, I realised that I'd never been so happy to see a person in all my life. The boy cleared his throat, oblivious to my panic, and asked, 'Is that seat taken?'

'Yes, it is. Meg!' I called out and flailed my arms in desperation towards the vacant seat. 'Remember, we have to study the thing together. You know, the thing?'

'Miss Bennett, will you be quiet?' Mr Hargreaves snapped at me. Happy that he'd muted me, he turned his back on the room and continued to cast his illegible scrawl across the blackboard.

Meg hurried over. Upon noticing the way William was looking at the chair, she asked meekly, 'Were you sitting here?

'I was hoping –'

'No, he wasn't,' I said. I pulled the seat out for her. 'I was saving it for you.'

He cleared his throat again. 'I wouldn't hate sitting here.'

'I appreciate that,' I said, working hard to keep my voice even lest the tone betrayed my annoyance, 'but Meg's already sitting here. Why don't you sit with Chantelle? If she glares over at me any harder, she's going to burn holes in my face.'

Meg hovered over the chair and I reached out to pull her down into it, all without breaking William's gaze. It was for him to do so when he retreated and joined Charlie's sister. She greeted him with a smile and looked over at me with an expression of triumph. It was as if she believed she'd just won a prize in taking him as a neighbour in the classroom. I thought it was the other way around.

She was more than welcome to him.

Snobs.