Saving Wishes (The Wishes Series) (17 page)

Perhaps regretting the outburst, he looked to the floor, unable to maintain eye contact.

“What did you come up with?” I asked.

Leaning down, he kissed my forehead. It wasn’t the usual heart stopping, lingering touch. I felt pitied – until I leaned back and noticed that his eyes looked just as stricken as I felt.

“I’m not selfish enough to ask you to come with me. Who am I to do that?” he whispered. “You dream bigger than anyone I’ve ever met. I could never ask you to give it all up for me. New York is not for you. Not yet anyway.”

“I think I belong with you.”

Adam released me and began pacing around the shed as if he was looking for an escape route. “You don’t know where you belong. That’s the whole point.”

“So that’s it then?” I asked throwing up my hands in defeat. “I crash and you don’t even stumble?”

He turned back to face me and gave a half-smile, as if amused by my theatrics. “I stumbled and fell hard, Charli, the minute I met you.” He thumped his heart with his palm. “We found each other once; what makes you think we won’t find each other again?”

“I might get lost. The world is a huge place.”

He laughed humourlessly. “When you’re done conquering the world, I’m going to be there, ready to pick up right where we left off…if you’ll still have me.”

“Nothing will change. I’m always going to want you,” I replied, finally speaking with enough strength to sound like I actually meant it.

“I’m counting on it, Charli.”

I closed my eyes, trying to convince myself that it wasn’t as hopeless as it seemed. We were both in exactly the right place, for now. I was prepared to endure the pain of an unhappy ending, as long as he was with me at that moment.

***

The dreaded fallout happened sooner than I anticipated. Like any good bully, Jasmine waited until I was alone. Adam hadn’t seen her when we arrived at the café. If he had, there’s no way I would have been left on my own.

Jasmine ambushed me before I even made it to the steps. The silent treatment had given way to her usual form of insult.

“Some things never change, do they?” she hissed.

“Nope. Some things never do,” I smugly agreed.

She tottered over to me. Already taller than me, she was downright menacing in heels. Her perfume was practically chemical warfare. “You should be really careful, Charli. You wouldn’t want to make a name for yourself...again,” she warned.

“I don’t think I’m that important, Jasmine. I feel sorry for you if I’m the best you’ve got to talk about.” I took a step back from her to regain some personal space.

A sly smile crept across her face and I wondered if she was going to lurch forward and rip my throat out. As I turned, she grabbed my arm. I snatched it away and took a step back, out of reach.

“You have no idea what’s coming,” she said menacingly.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. “Do your worst.” My tone was intentionally blasé. I refused to think about what her worst entailed. I was certain I’d seen it before.

It took great effort to appear apathetic as I walked into the café, leaving the chief Beautiful high and dry outside. My heart thumped so hard I could feel it in my toes. Alex stood at the counter, glancing up to smile at me before turning his attention back to the day’s takings.

“Are you okay?” he asked, making me wonder if I looked like I was about to throw up.

I stood with my back against the door as if I was barricading us in, not completely sure that Jasmine wasn’t about to storm the building. “Never better,”

“Jasmine’s still out there, huh?” He already knew the answer.

“How did you guess?”

He chuckled, only half paying attention as he reconciled the till. “She’s been out there for ages, waiting for you presumably. What have you done to upset her this time?”

“What makes you think she’s upset?” I tried to sound innocent but he saw through me, as always.

“Charli, her mood is dark enough to steal sunlight.”

“She found out about the whole Adam thing,” I explained, trying to appear nonchalant.

His head snapped up and I suddenly had his undivided attention.

“What Adam thing?” he pressed, walking around the counter.

I whispered as if we weren’t alone in the room. “The Adam-and-Charli thing.”

He nudged me out of the way of the door so he could bolt it. I couldn’t understand what he mumbled under his breath and I was pretty sure I wasn’t supposed to.

14. Jailbreak

Every one of the thirty-two days since Adam had nearly mown me down in the car park had slipped by much too quickly.

School was an annoying commitment that bit hard into my social schedule.

“Miss Blake,” said Gabrielle, too loudly. Both of her hands slammed down on my desk, snapping me back to reality.

“Yes?”

“Am I keeping you from something?”

Being the sister of the love of her life wasn’t exactly working to my advantage. There had been an unlikely truce forged between us in the weeks since I’d discovered her relationship with Alex. Out of school we were friendly. She was supportive of my relationship with Adam, managing to talk my pigheaded brother around on several occasions when it came to me pleading for more freedom. During school hours she rode me just as hard as she always had.

“Excuse me?” I asked. My voice buckled at my blatant attempt to buy more time to think of an acceptable answer.

“Am I keeping you from something?” she repeated, slowly this time as if I was mentally slow.

“Someone, more like,” mumbled Lisa Reynolds from three rows behind.

I’d given up reacting to the snide comments. Everyone assumed Gabrielle’s treatment of me was down to the fact that I’d shamelessly stolen her cousin. The truth was much simpler. She was hard on me because I deserved it. Meeting Adam had done nothing to improve my French, or my motivation to learn French. I was a terrible pupil for her before, and just as terrible now – possibly worse.

The Beautifuls had taken my newfound love life particularly hard, baiting me at every opportunity. I didn’t even know what was spurring them on any more. At first I’d put it down to jealousy, but even though they had long since given up the chase for Adam’s affections, I remained fair game. None of them missed an opportunity to blow things wildly out of proportion. Being the subject of gossip and baseless rumour wouldn’t have bothered me so much if not for the fact that it always made it’s way back to Alex. It annoyed me that he felt the need to question me about it. I guess I’d spent so long doing the wrong thing that nothing seemed impossible to him.

Gabrielle strode down the aisle. “Time is up. Pass in your papers please.” Even her authoritative tone was musical. Blind panic set in as her heels clicked closer to me. In the forty-five minutes I’d had to complete the impromptu French comprehension test, I’d finished only a handful of questions. More pathetically, it was multiple choice.

Before I could circle any more, Gabrielle was standing with her palm outstretched. She gave up waiting for me to hand it to her and snatched it out of my grasp. Her eyes scanned the page for a second before thumping it back on the desk.

“Perhaps you need more time,” she suggested, in a tone nowhere near as gentle as her words. “I look forward to the pleasure of your company this afternoon, Charli. In detention.”

I heard Lisa’s cackle behind me. Gabrielle was two desks ahead of me now and didn’t give me another look. By the time she reached the blackboard at the front of the room, two more classmates had made the detention list.

“At least you won’t be lonely, Charli,” goaded Lisa, too loudly for her own good.

Mademoiselle Décarie dropped the chalk on to the ledge of the board and spun around. “No, she won’t. You will be here too.”

“No. I can’t,” she protested. “I have plans.”

“And now your plans have changed.”

“Well, thank you, Charli,” sang Lisa, saying my name like it was poison.

“You’re welcome,” I replied, cheerily.

The next sound I heard from Lisa was practically a growl. I swear I saw the corner of Gabrielle’s mouth curl as she tried to suppress a smile.

The first opportunity I had to call Adam came at lunchtime. “Don’t worry about picking me up this afternoon,” I said, easing into the tale.

“Oh, you have a ride?” he asked, sounding disappointed.

I tried to mimic his formal tone. “No. I am being detained. Gabrielle sentenced me to afternoon detention.”

“Nice one, Coccinelle. Was it your fault?”

“Entirely,” I admitted.

Sharing lunch with Nicole was about the only thing that hadn’t changed in my life. Every day we met at the same picnic bench we’d been frequenting since the beginning of our high school careers. I dumped my bag on the table; fossicking for the less than impressive lunch I’d packed that morning.

“Hello,” she greeted, not looking up from the book she was engrossed in.

“Hi. What are you reading?”

“Nothing you’d be interested in.” She had a point. She marked her page and slipped it into her bag and looked at me for the first time. “What’s the matter?”

I rushed through the details of my upcoming detention, glossing over the fact that it was well deserved. Nicole looked so bored that I expected her to take her book out of her bag and begin reading again.

“So that’s my afternoon ruined,” I complained.

She shrugged. Her indifference was beginning to annoy me. Even more annoying were the text messages she kept receiving every few seconds.

“You’re popular today,” I forced a smile but she didn’t notice. Her fingers furiously tapped at the buttons on her phone as she typed her reply. “Okay. I give up.” I threw my hands in the air in frustration, slapping them down loudly on my knees. “Who are you texting?”

“Lisa.”

That was one answer I wasn’t expecting.

“Ugh! What is she up to?” My eyes quickly scanned the crowded quadrangle, looking for any sign of an impending ambush by the Beautifuls.

“We’re going to Sorell after school today, shopping.” She spoke absently, implying it was no big deal.

“Lisa scored detention too,” I said gravely.

Suddenly, I had her undivided attention. “Because of you?” Her eyes widened. She gathered her belongings off the table and threw them into her bag. “Well done, Charli. It’s the first time in ages I’ve made plans without you and you still manage to mess them up,” she scolded.

“Yeah, well a shopping trip with Lisa Reynolds would end up messy anyway, with or without me.”

To me, the idea of a long car ride to Sorell with Lisa followed by hours of window-shopping was equal to Chinese water torture. I’d assumed Nicole felt the same way.

“That isn’t the point. You’re upset because your plans with Adam have been ruined. At least you had plans. You always have plans. I’m just trying to do the same.” Her voice trailed off.

I felt selfish. Lunchtime was practically the only time we had spent together lately, and it was completely my fault.

“I’m sorry, Nic.”

“Ugh. Don’t be. I don’t want really want to go shopping with Lisa,” she replied, dropping the choler from her voice.

“So why did you agree to go then?”

“She caught me at a weak moment.” A smile swept her face and I knew I was forgiven.

“Well, if you think about it, I’ve actually done you a favour. I think we should do something tomorrow. Just the two of us.”

“What about lover boy?” Her face was serious but her tone wasn’t.

“I’m sure he’ll be able to fend for himself for a while,” I replied casually.

It wasn’t Adam I was worried about. I was the one who seemed to have the most trouble operating when we were apart.

I took my time getting back to Mademoiselle Décarie’s classroom after school. My bag felt as if it was full of bricks. The rest of the inmates were already there. She handed me a new test paper as I walked past.

“Can I leave when it’s done?” I asked, not hopeful.

She replied without looking at me. “Yes.”

“When do I get to leave?” asked Lisa caustically.

“When Charli’s finished,” replied Gabrielle. She was enjoying herself a bit too much.

Lisa huffed, folded her arms and leaned back. “I hope you’re happy,” she said, glaring at me. It was hard to imagine she could see when she squinted like that.

“Thrilled,” I replied, turning my attention to my test paper.

We’d been holed up for less than half an hour when Lisa’s theatrics began. Huffing and puffing followed by snide little whispers. Gabrielle ordered us to behave before excusing herself from the classroom with her empty coffee mug in hand.

As soon as she was out sight, Lisa moved to the row behind me. A vicious tug on my ponytail a few seconds later followed.

“Don’t touch me,” I hissed.

“That’s the first time you’ve said that in a while,” she said crassly.

Todd Wilson and David Hamilton, the other inmates, leered at me.

Gabrielle returned, and sat without a word. Twenty minutes passed in silence. Lisa’s glare boring into my back did nothing for my concentration. Flicking through the pages in front of me, I groaned, wondering how I’d fare statistically if I guessed the answers.