One Word From You: A Pride and Prejudice Adaptation (19 page)

him, and presumed that his slight connection to my aunt put

him in the same sphere as me.

If I really hurt Jenny by what I did, then I am sorry for that.

I thought that she only had a crush on him, and it wouldn’t pain

her to be parted from him. Clearly I was mistaken, and you

would know better than I do how she behaves around boys. But

now it’s done, and I can’t change that. Charlie will give up on

Jenny, and I suggest you convince her to do the same.

Now, as you requested, we don’t need to ever see each other again.

~ William Davies

Chapter Eighteen

How much I shall have to conceal.

Home felt almost cold to me when I arrived.

I didn't know if that was because Dad had forgotten to turn on the heating that day, or if it was the result of reading William's letter. Whatever the reason, I felt like I needed Jenny's company to make me feel better. I was happy that Georgia had set herself free of Wyatt, but that wasn't enough to lift my spirits in the face of all the other revelations.

Dad noticed the change in me, but I couldn't tell him the truth. I didn't want him to know how stupid I'd been, and I wanted to respect William's family by keeping things quiet. I know that sounded ridiculous given I didn't like him, but his sister hadn't done anything to me. If I'd been in her place, and my boyfriend had hurt me that much, I wouldn't want it to be public knowledge either.

Getting back to school was a relief, and that wasn't a sentiment I often had. As soon as I saw Jenny in our room, I hugged her so forcefully that we overbalanced and landed in a tangle on her bed. I was glad we were alone, because I had a lot to tell her.

Well, I couldn't tell her
everything.

If she found out that she and Charlie had been forced apart by William, it would do more harm than good. But I needed to talk to someone about things concerning Gideon. It was too much information for me to keep it to myself. And I didn't like concealing stuff from her. Telling a part truth was better than lying completely.

“
Jen', can we go talk about something?”

“
What's wrong with talking here?” she asked.

“
I can't let anyone else hear this.”

“
Okay... Library?”

No one would be there on the first day back. They'd be unpacking, and greeting their friends. So long as we were quiet, we wouldn't be discovered or overheard. I didn't dare tell her what all the secrecy was about on the way. We hid in the research section, where all the huge books only the teachers checked out were kept. Even they wouldn't be seen dead in the library so soon into the new term.

I leaned back against a shelf, my legs crossed in front of me. Jenny settled herself beside me, and laid her head on my shoulder. I let out a long breath, and confessed, “I saw William Davies while I was in France. He was a total dick, as usual. How was your break?”

“
That's all you have to say? You could have told me that in our room.”

“
No, there's more. But I want to hear how your Christmas was, first.”

She closed her eyes, “I didn't see Charlie. I saw Chantelle, and she made it clear that she hated me. Like, she was really angry I was there. I told her that it was just a coincidence, but she was really sure I did it on purpose.”

“
Sorry,” I said, “I shouldn't have convinced you to go.”

“
Mum and I had a good time. She said you and your Dad should have come along.”

“
My Dad on skis? He'd break every bone in his body,” I held her hand, and gave it a gentle squeeze, “You guys should come to our place one year. It'll be cramped and awkward. You'll love it, I promise.”

“
Maybe.”

“
Okay, so there's something else that happened. And I'm only going to tell you if you think you want to hear it. Because if you don't, then it's fine. But it's about Gideon.”

“
Obviously I want to hear it.”

“
Turns out that Gideon is a big fat liar. He did steal from the school, and from a lot of other people by not paying debts. And he cheated on William's sister. The family paid off everything, but he had to get a new job. They were keeping it out of the papers so his sister wouldn't get humiliated.”

Jenny rubbed my arm gently to soothe me. She must have thought I'd found it all really upsetting. I suppose I had, in a way. But I was more angry than anything else. Gideon must have been laughing at me behind my back, because I was just another stupid little girl he'd managed to win over with his sob story. I was glad he was gone, and I wouldn't have to see him again.

“
Do you think we should tell anyone?” Jenny asked.

“
No. He doesn't work here, now. That makes him someone else's problem.”

Fine, that came off as being really selfish. But I was in a bad mood, and I didn't have the patience to pretend like I was happy about the way things had turned out. There was something else I was desperate to tell Jenny. She started to get up, but I pulled her down beside me.

“
Okay, ouch,” she said, and rubbed her lower back, “What?”

“
Swear you won't tell anyone about this?”

“
I already -”

“
Not that,” I said, “William asked me out.”

“
He
what?!
”

I clamped my hand over her mouth, “God, really?!”

She pushed my fingers away, “Sorry – but seriously, what?”

“
The guy is really unbalanced. I mean, I hate him, and he knows that. But he still asked.”

“
What did you say?”

“
Before or after I gave him a nose-bleed?”

“
You didn't!”

“
Trust me, he deserved it. I said
no.
I didn't do it all that politely, but I think I got my point across.”

“
You can do better.”

“
I did,” I said, “I – uh – I sort of snogged his cousin, Freddie. But William got in the way, like he always seems to. Anyway, it was a crazy couple of weeks. Let's just try to forget about all of them, and we can have fun like we did last year. Sound good?”

“
Yeah, it does. But you have to tell me all about Freddie.”

“
Fair enough.”

Typically, she wanted absolutely every detail. At least it was just about the stuff at the club, and she didn't pry as to whether or not William had mentioned Charlie. I couldn't stand to see Jenny hurting again. That was more painful than anything he could say about me, or my family, or the way I'd acted. I was able to take criticism and hurt much better than she was. And if Jenny thought that we had been the reason she'd missed out, I didn't know how she'd react.

For a few days, things were normal.

Lisa and Chrissy were boasting about what they got for Christmas, both of them as silly as ever. Meg was still quiet, but she had taken to spending more time with me and Jenny. Ever since Charlie's party, she'd been quite nervous. She was already like a little mouse, if she became any more timid, she might crawl under her bed and never come out.

Georgia was a lot happier without Wyatt. She still had to see him around school. While that had to be awkward, I think it helped that he was pretending like he was fine. He couldn't stand to lose face in front of anyone. It was better than him making Georgia's life hell, and he would have done that if they'd continued to date.

We were three weeks in, when a familiar face appeared.

And I wasn't happy to see him.

Gideon had decided that chasing after a certain teacher wasn't for him, maybe because her salary had been a disappointing one, and returned to the school. I couldn't believe that my own mother had given a guy like that a recommendation. William probably despised the fact that he'd had to spend Christmas with the woman who'd forced Gideon back into his life.

He acted as if nothing had happened, and I couldn't possibly have discovered the truth behind the loss of his last job. It was painful keeping quiet. But infinitely more satisfying. As he smiled and flirted, I imagined a hundred ways of wiping that smug look off his face. He spun the same yarn to anyone who was willing to sit long enough to listen.

And all girls liked a tragic hero.

The way he spoke, you'd think he'd survived a war or something.

I couldn't hide my knowledge from him any longer when he cornered me after a Music lesson.

“
I was hoping,” he said, “That you'd want to continue practicing with me after school hours. I miss the time we spent together.”

I bet you did, you creep.

“
Sorry. I have exams coming up and everything. It's hard to make time for all the stuff I want to do. If I can work it into my schedule, I'll let you know.”

“
It's a shame to let your talents go to waste.”

I forced a smile, “It's not really a waste. I just want to be able to get a job when this is over. There'll be loads of time for Music in the school holidays.”

Gideon tilted his head, and reached his hand out as if to touch my face. I knocked it away without thinking. The idea of his fingers on my skin was repulsive to me. He was the kind of guy who could happily cheat on a loving girlfriend. It was like if he put his hands on me, I was going to be tainted by him. He stood up straight, clearly offended by what I'd done.

“
Have I overstepped a boundary?”

“
Uh -”

“
I thought we were friends, Beth.”

“
I just think we should be a teacher and student. Rumours, you know? I wouldn't want your job to be in danger again.”

“
That's true,” he said, “But I don't think that's actually the reason you're being like this. Has something happened? Do you want to talk to me about it?”

“
Nothing. You're being paranoid.”

“
I'm not sure I am. Beth, if -”

“
I said it was nothing, Gideon! Just leave me alone, okay?”

He held up his hands, and stepped aside. The man wasn't stupid. And I was a really terrible actress. Anyone would know there was something wrong if I behaved like that. I got out of the room as fast as I could, but tried to make it look like I wasn't in a rush.

I failed.

Half way back to the dorm room, a flying girl came out of nowhere, and charged into me. I fell against the wall, winded and in pain, and being hugged in a vice-like grip. Lisa was with Chrissy, because they were incapable of going anywhere together. She was holding a flier in her hand, and waved it at me excitedly.

“
Trip?” I asked.

“
It's going to be so much fun,” Chrissy beamed, “And the best part -”

“
Gideon's going!” Lisa declared, cutting off her friend in her joy, “I mean, can you imagine taking a gondola ride with him? It's going to be amazing!”

“
You'll have to tell me all about it when you get back. I'm not – wait, did you say that
Gideon
was going?”

“
Yeah, duh. He's a teacher, he's going to be supervising.”

Well, that couldn't possibly go wrong.

A man known for getting into debts, stealing, and sleeping around on an all girl's school trip to a foreign country. If I had a shred of evidence to prove he was the same man he'd always been, I'd have petitioned the school to ban him from it. But I didn't, and I couldn't find any without exposing William's sister to a lot of very nasty gossip.