The Boyfriend Bet Read online

  “Yeah wait, that was after...”

  “After what?” Jay had now interrupted for the third time. He was intrigued!

  “I’m really thirsty. Can I have a drink?” I asked. Jay who was listening intently looked disappointed at the interruption. This was so funny! “And then I’ll tell you more.” I smiled.

  Jay went off to the kitchen pretty sharpish, “Wanna Coke?”

  “Yeah, sure,” I called. No sooner than I had said it, Jay was back. He threw the can of Coke at me and then sat himself back down on the arm of the sofa, eagerly awaiting the rest of my ‘story’.

  “So you actually went to his house and...” Jay prompted me. This was the first time that Jay had ever wanted to actually hear what I had to say and I was speaking complete and utter bullshit.

  “Oh yeah, so after afternoon tea with ‘Mummy’ I was given a tour of the grounds. I tried out the indoor pool, met his butler and then we had a ride.” Jay spat out a huge mouthful of Coke all down his front and it spilled onto the carpet. I looked at the carpet and then at Jay who appeared to have a lot of Coke down his front. I gave him ‘that’ look, you know the one he always gives me when he’s caught me spying on Riley or shouting at teachers or just doing something damn well stupid, but now it was my turn.

  “You what?” Jay finally managed.

  “Then we rode some of the horses.” I explained.

  “Oh,” Jay mouthed.

  “And then he showed me his cute little summer house and we totally made out for the rest of the day.” I said. Jay’s face was an absolute picture and my straight face was starting to slip.

  “You’re totally messing with me right?” Jay grinned.

  “How could you tell? I said sarcastically.

  “You don’t strike me as that sort of girl.” Jay shrugged.

  “Oh, I’m not sure if that’s an insult or a compliment but I’m going to take it as a compliment.” I huffed but Jay was laughing at my outrageous story.

  Jay was sitting next to me now. I couldn’t quite believe that I was actually sitting here laughing my head off with Jay Jackson. I was nearly in tears when Jay started doing impressions of William. It had been ages since I’d laughed properly, you know like a proper laugh that makes your sides ache? My stomach hurt and even my throat was sore through the unstoppable giggling. Maybe Jay wasn’t so bad after all.

  We laughed and chatted about school for ages (I was filling Jay in about school, since he was new) and I was starting to think I had a new mate, until Jay said “Who was your ex, anyway?”

  “Sam, Sam Smith,” My smile dropped immediately as I mentioned his name.

  “Really?” Jay looked shocked.

  “You know him?”

  “Yep. I’ve met him.”

  “Thought he was out of my league, did you?” I snapped defensively. Jay pulled a shocked face at me, suggesting I was being unreasonable.

  “No, I didn’t say that.”

  Was I being unreasonable? I don’t know but I’m sure he thinks the same as everybody else. Why else would he be so surprised that Sam Smith was my ex? Everybody else thought he was way out of my league, so why wouldn’t Jay think so too?

  “I actually think he’s a complete idiot.” Jay muttered.

  “Oh?”

  “Well I guess that figures why you like Riley.” Jay was smirking. He’d gone back to being old Jay: the one that thought he was better than me, the one who seemed to judge me. I felt a bit huffy now. Did he even know Sam? Did he even know me? “You know, you and Riley are totally not suited.”

  “And why’s that?” I snapped, “Because he’s clearly out of my league as well?” I was getting really pissed off now. Jay snorted. I don’t think he thinks a lot of Riley but then he obviously doesn’t think a lot of me either.

  “Riley says and does all the right things at the right time.” Jay shrugged.

  “What and I don’t?”

  “What I mean is...everybody loves Riley. Teachers, parents, girls...because he says the things they want to hear.”

  “And?” I huffed.

  “It doesn’t make it true or that he means it.” Jay was looking at the floor. I couldn’t work out whether he was trying to put me off Riley or just slag him off because he was jealous of him or if what he was saying was completely true.

  “Is that what you think Sam is like?” I questioned him. “You don’t even know us, but you think you know everything there is to know about us all.” I was half shouting now as I stood up. There is something about Jay that winds me up so much, I can’t explain it.

  “No wonder things didn’t work out with you and Sam! You’re so goddamn moody and stubborn as well as annoying.”

  “Things didn’t work out because he cheated on me...with my sister!” I was yelling now. “And if that wasn’t bad enough, the whole of Year Eleven saw. So, excuse me if I’m not exactly ecstatic about school or my life at the minute!” I picked up my bag and marched to the front door. I didn’t want Jay to see I had tears in my eyes because he’d probably only come out with some smart arse comment about that.

  “Charley!” Jay called after me.

  “What?” I turned round just as I’d pulled the front door open.

  “I told you Sam was an idiot.” Jay was looking at me right in the eyes. He actually looked apologetic but I wasn’t in the right mind to be able to tell...maybe he was mocking me, who knows. I could see Riley in the corner of my eye because he was walking up the garden path. I seriously couldn’t deal with all of this right now, so I ran. I ran past a very surprised looking Riley until I reached my front door.

  “Where have you been Charley?” Mum yelled at me as soon as I’d slammed the door shut. She was fuming! She was sitting on the bottom of the stairs, just waiting. I wondered how long she had been sat there just waiting to have a go at me, to make me even more miserable if that was possible.

  School really does make me sick!

  Mum was mad. She reckons I’m immature, selfish and apparently I’m going off the rails. This does not make sense if you ask me. I am not. Mum just doesn’t make sense. Ella acts like a total bitch - she’s uncaring and selfish and she really does get away with the lot: at school, at home and even her friends let her get away with it. Come to think of it she is exactly the way that Jay described Riley. Maybe he was right about him, in the way that he would never be interested in someone like me. Why does Jay have to ruin everything? That will teach me to let my guard down, letting myself believe that he wasn’t so bad after all.

  It was a good job I didn’t have any dancing tonight as I don’t think there was much chance that Mum would be letting me out of the house. She just wouldn’t leave it, she kept asking me why. Why would I do something like that and what the hell was I thinking? All I did was shrug and mutter ‘dunno’ which seemed to infuriate her even more. I really didn’t know what to say...that school sucked and I just couldn’t stand it anymore. I don’t think that would go down very well either.

  I couldn’t even get away. Mum sat on the bottom of the stairs blocking the way when all I wanted to do was run upstairs and flop down on my bed. “Where were you all day?” Mum asked for the millionth time just as Ella walked through the door and I shrugged for the millionth time. Ella didn’t look like she was going anywhere. She stood by the door with a huge grin on her face. I could hear Peter calling Mum from outside in the garden and I hoped this was my getaway, as Mum stood up from the stairs that she’d been guarding.

  “Tell me where you were or there is no way on this earth that I am paying for your hair on Thursday!” Mum squared up to me and Ella was sniggering.

  “Ok! I was next door.” I huffed.

  Mum shook her head, but Peter was now screaming so she had no choice but to leave. “I’ll talk to you later,” she said as she left. Ella was staring at me and she looked a lot more interested at the mention of next door. Actually I’d say Ella was starting to look a little worried and I wasn’t going to tell her that it was just Jay I was wit
h and not Riley, was I?

  I was in such a bad mood that I hid out in my room all night. Luckily Ella was nowhere in sight. I half expected Mum to come up at some point and start having another go at me but she didn’t. I was either rethinking all of the crap Jay had said, dreading going to school tomorrow or worrying about how much trouble I was going to be in. And I hoped I wouldn’t have to face Mrs Davenport or Jay for that matter. I wondered if I could do another bunk but I didn’t think so because I knew I would have to go back sooner or later. And there I remained until I finally fell asleep.

  I’m sure all this stressing out is draining me. I felt absolutely exhausted when I’d finally managed to prise my eyes open in the morning. Of course Ella was already up and the only ‘good morning’ I got was from Mum bellowing at me to get up.

  “Don’t even think about being late for school!” Mum was banging on the door. I could hardly bother to do my hair - it’s not like I could make it any better. I hurriedly got ready, not just because I was late but also because I didn’t want to have to spend any more time at home with this lot.

  I ran down the stairs in my black jeans, Converse, a shirt half-buttoned up with a black vest top underneath and I waited for Mum to challenge me about my appearance as usual. But she didn’t, she completely ignored me. Mum’s totally fallen out with me, but then to be honest, I prefer it this way. If she is going to finally give me what I’ve always wanted and let me get on with it and not add her opinion to absolutely everything, result! I grabbed my jacket and I left, just like that, no arguing or unwelcome comments. Brilliant.

  I found out I was in so much trouble as soon as I got to school (well, after Sarah and Bex had dragged me to the toilets and tried to make me look ‘better’ by attacking me with various items from their make-up bags). When I finally escaped the blusher brush attack I discovered Mr Harrison was waiting for me in our Form Room. Unfortunately for me, he wasn’t going to deal with the situation himself and he took great delight in informing me that Mrs Davenport was expecting me in her office. There was nothing for it. I had no other choice but to make my way (slowly) to the dreaded Davenports lair.

  “Tuck that dreadful shirt in and do your buttons up!” was how Mrs Davenport greeted me as soon as I’d stepped into her office. Jay was already sat in front of her desk and I had no other choice but to take the seat next to him. I barely even glanced at him as I sat down. She didn’t speak immediately, so I sat in an uncomfortable silence, looking everywhere except at her or Jay. Her office is all pink and I can only sum it up as ‘fluffy’. It’s absolutely gross. Everything is disgusting, seriously! It’s like every shade of pink you can possibly think of, as well as the hideously pink floral curtains and framed embroidery hanging on the walls. Eurgh!

  As if the pinkness wasn’t bad enough, it was roasting in here and there was a very overpowering lavender smell, made worse by the heat. It was really getting up my nose. I wanted to gag! When I finally got the courage to look her in the eyes, she smiled, all too sweetly. I knew just from that smile that we were in a heap of trouble. There is nothing Mrs Davenport enjoys more than dishing out the punishments.

  I was in that hideous office for well over an hour. I swear it was getting hotter and hotter and that smell was overpowering. I felt bile rise in the back of my throat and an overwhelming urge to just chuck up, right there and then on her desk. I was too busy concentrating on breathing to help keep the sick down, when Mrs Davenport suddenly banged on the desk in front of me, as apparently I wasn’t listening. She obviously didn’t realise how hard it was to listen to her lecturing (all I could hear was blah-blah-blah), while trying not to be sick and avoiding any sort of eye contact what-so-ever with Jay.

  I’m still excluded (obviously) and now next week too and if that’s not bad enough, Jay is as well. Apparently these exclusions are going on our permanent records, whatever they are. I really do think they speak utter crap to us and expect us to believe it all. Oh and we’ve also got to do litter picking duties every lunchtime of our exclusion period. Just how much time did she want to force me to spend with Jay Jackson? I might as well just move in with him. Arghhhh!

  “Do I have to walk you to isolation as well, to make sure you get there?” Mrs Davenport stood up and gestured that at long last this telling-off was over.

  “No!” I said, much too suspiciously. All I really wanted to do was to run to the loo before I puked all over the pink office. Although in my opinion it would improve its decor greatly.

  “Yes, I think I shall.” Mrs Davenport opened the door and waved us out into the corridor.

  “I feel sick,” I muttered. I think this must have been the moment that I no longer believed I had any control over it.

  “Pardon?” Mrs Davenport said theatrically as she continued to usher us down the corridor.

  “I need to go to the toilet.” I mumbled a little bit louder than before.

  “Well, as soon as you sign into isolation, you can ask the covering teacher for a toilet pass.” She carried on walking. Obviously she didn’t sense the urgency of how much I wanted to run into the loo. Incidentally that is another one of Mrs Davenport’s dumb ideas ‘The toilet pass’. You have to take it with you, so that if another teacher sees you wandering around school in lesson time, you can present them with the lovely laminated card with a picture of a toilet on and the words ‘Toilet Pass’!

  I was lagging behind now, my head was pounding and Mrs Davenport’s heels were clopping along. “Charley!” She finally stopped and stared at me. “Move!”

  “I feel sick.” I mumbled, as she started to walk back towards me. I felt like a five year old but what else could I do? She was treating me like a kid, she wouldn’t let me go to the loo and there was nothing for it but to just tell her. I really wanted to tell her that if she didn‘t bloody listen to me I wasn’t going to be able to control it.

  “You are going to isolation whether you like it or not. Stop with the lame excuses Charley. You’re in enough trouble as it is.” She was getting right in my face and I could smell her perfume - you’ve guessed it, it was lavender. And it was strong and when I say strong, I mean in that way where you wonder if someone has literally sprayed half a bottle on.

  My head throbbed and my stomach churned. I could feel the vomit rising and I knew there would be no holding this down. It was like a volcano that was due an almighty eruption and the more I tried to stop it, the bigger it would be. And out it came like a never ending waterfall of the contents of my stomach. You wouldn’t have thought there would have been a lot, seeing as I skipped breakfast but of course there was. My throat stung and my eyes watered as I coughed the last of it up all over Mrs Davenport’s previously burgundy shoes. They were now a rather unattractive yellowy-orange colour and the smell had successfully masked her lavender perfume.

  There was then one of those calm-before-the-storm moments as everybody just stood in a stunned silence. Then Mrs Davenport started shrieking and dancing around as though she could just shake off the sick in an instant. I guess I’d found her weak spot - she wasn’t very good with vomit! Actually she was freaking out.

  “I told you I felt sick,” I whispered.

  “Charley!” Mrs Davenport screeched hysterically while retching herself. “Don’t even think about not turning up to isolation, I will check!” She started to trot back down the corridor muttering to herself about getting someone to clean up the mess.

  “But surely I should go to the sick room?” I called after her. “I mean, if I’ve got a sickness bug I shouldn’t be in school...”

  “You haven’t got a bug, Charley!” Mrs Davenport snapped as she stopped and looked around at me. She then gagged again and I seriously started to think she was about to be sick herself at any second. “You did it on purpose, you horrible girl!” and then she practically ran off in the direction of her office, holding out her skirt as if it contained a deadly disease. I suppose Charley Wallis sick-splatter was just as bad.

  How could she think that anyone
could do that on purpose? I admit, I probably didn’t have a sickness bug, it was almost certainly down to the combination of heat and that putrid lavender smell that was wafting all around her equally putrid office. But how did Mrs Davenport know I didn’t have a bug? I suppose she thinks she’s a medical professional now. She thinks she’s a bloody expert at everything else!

  “Brilliant.” Jay was shaking his head in shock, but equally he looked amused. “That was brilliant!”

  “How on earth is this brilliant? I just chucked my guts up all over Mrs Davenport’s shoes. She thinks I somehow did it on purpose, I’ll probably be isolated for the rest of the year and I feel rough, thanks for asking!”

  “Wow, I see your mood has improved since yesterday.” Jay muttered.

  “Just shut up!” I yelled at him and then I marched to the nearest toilets to sort myself out. “Just shut up!”

  Killer heels...

  Well, school has been so much fun this week. I wish! Spent the whole time in isolation with Jay and typically nobody else turned up for the rest of the week. I was for once glad that we were supposed to work in silence, but there was always that awkward moment when the covering teacher left the room for a few minutes. I just kept my head down and completely ignored Jay. I think it must have been a real shock when the teacher came back and we were actually still working in silence like we were told.

  I was much happier by the end of the week though because my hair is fixed! Well when I say ‘fixed’ I mean it isn’t orange and streaky anymore. I didn’t actually seem to have much choice in the hair matter. Mum was definitely still in a mood with me - she’d hardly strung more than two words together in conversation with me and she just left the money for Yvonne and went out. Sarah and Bex had come over and they were very vocal about how blonde I should go and the next thing I knew I was being well and truly bleached! The worrying thing is Sarah and Bex seem to have all sorts of ideas how they can make me totally hot and attract Riley.