Page 2 of Her Devil
I don’t need to answer, instead I concentrate on the road ahead of us as she continues to ramble.
“What if they don’t have avocado toast for lunch?” She gasps. “I know technically it’s a breakfast food or whatever, but who in their right mind has time for that of a morning?”
“I dunno, Tam. You’re the one with the info literally in her lap. You tell me.” I roll my eyes, turning down the music, because now she’s started, she’s not going to stop. The fifteen minutes of quiet contemplation is over and now it’s time for full-on Tamsin.
“Eurgh, this thing is for parents. It doesn’t tell me anything useful at all.” A scoff of a laugh falls from me before she continues undeterred. “Class type and co-ed, blah, blah. Exam results and the best University selection process… who even cares about this rubbish?” She throws the booklet in the door panel, grabbing a sip of her strawberry-infused water.
“Uh, I do.”
“No, you don’t. It’s all going to be fine,” she placates gently. “You’ve already got the results you need for the courses you want to take. The offers will still be there next year.”
They fucking better be.
“And look at it this way, you get to spend the whole year with me.” She grins excitedly. “We can party and get drunk without anyone breathing down our necks, for a change.”
“Like anyone has ever been watching over your shoulder.”
Tam’s father is an international diplomat, he comes and goes from this country to that one, being the face of the beautiful country we live in, and it’s one of the reasons our parents are friends. And as much as I love my family, or rather, loved them, I always coveted the freedom my best friend has been afforded.
“Yeah, well, now they’re not looking over yours either. I don’t know why you’re so against this. It’s gonna be fun!”
“Just tell me I don’t have to share a bathroom with anyone and there’s somewhere I can get a decent coffee. That’s all I’m interested in right now.”
It’s not like I had any choice in this, not really. Might as well take what I can get. But we’re not a million miles from home, a full fifty minutes in the Range Rover. Far enough to feel safe. Except, there’s a reason he wanted me to come here, there must be.
This is about more than just being available for the occasional photoshoot; I can feel it. He lost it way too quickly for it to be something so trivial. For a man who’s known for his poker face, he showed me a lot at that moment, more than he probably meant to.
No, there’s more to me attending Pendleton Prep than convenience. I just need to work out what it is.
“As far as I can tell, we’re in apartment-style housing.”
“What does that mean?”
Our six-bedroom detached house in the quiet gated neighbourhood with security gates feels like a long way away right now.
“That means,” she starts, grabbing the brochure out with a sigh and flicking through, scanning the pages for the info she wants. “Blah, blah, blah. Oh, here we go. Three luxury twin rooms, complete with stylish fittings and lavish bedding, adjoined with communal kitchen and living spaces.”
“So, three people to a bathroom?”
That can’t be right.
“No, gimme a minute. There’s a picture somewhere. Ah, here,” she says, turning the page and thrusting it in my face.
“I’m trying to drive,” I grumble, glancing briefly and shoving it out of the way. “Words, Tam. Use your words.”
“Fuck, you’re grumpy today,” she comments. “So, twin rooms for two people with an en-suite.”
“So, I just share with you. I can do that.” I nod my head, my relief more evident than I expected it to be.
The chuckle that falls from her tells me she knows exactly how horrified I was at the thought of sharing bathroom space with complete strangers. But she knows me far too well to comment on it, thank God.
“We share the kitchen and living room with four other girls, so let’s hope they don’t have shit taste in television preferences. I am not down for watching those house of whatever-it-is fantasy things right now.”
“Hey, you might like it,” I argue with a smile. “Don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it.”
I’ve never had to share my space with anyone other than Tamsin and her sisters, and I’m excited about the challenge. And if they drive me nuts, I’ll push daddy for an apartment nearby. He said I had to attend for the year, he never specified that had to be on campus though.
And despite this being thrown at me from left field and my original hesitation, if I’m going to be spending the year here, then I’m going to make it the best year I can. I need to get as much out of this diversion as I possibly can to make it worthwhile, there’s no way this year is going to be wasted.