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  ‘Yep.’ Taylor giggled as Jason nibbled her ear.

  ‘Does Brandon know?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Are you going to tell anyone else?’

  ‘Only those who can keep their mouth shut.’

  Jason started sucking on Taylor’s neck like a vampire. ‘I don’t care who knows,’ he said when he came up for air. ‘Fuck Brandon. He’s been a complete dick since he became a teacher. Maybe he’d go back to normal if he got fired.’

  ‘Yeah, I’m sure that would make him feel much better,’ Lizzie said sarcastically.

  ‘Anyway, you ladies enjoy your food. I’m working until ten. Why don’t you come back then and we’ll go back to mine for a drink?’

  ‘No thanks,’ Lizzie said. ‘Not after last time.’

  ‘Whatever. I was just trying to be polite. Taylor, I’ll see you soon?’

  She kissed him full on the mouth. ‘I can’t wait.’

  Jason jumped up and then leaned down to whisper in Lizzie’s ear.

  ‘Don’t screw this up for me, you little bitch. If you turn Taylor against me, I’ll plant photos of my brother on your phone and then accidentally show him.’

  Lizzie gasped. Jason wandered off, smiling back at Taylor and ignoring Lizzie.

  ‘What was that all about?’ Taylor asked, bemused.

  Lizzie was almost too stunned to reply. But she didn’t get a chance anyway, because standing behind her, was Gabe. And he looked just as shocked, but for a whole other reason.

  CHAPTER 14

  ‘OK, please tell me that our English teacher wasn’t just whispering in your ear in a way that looked in no way teacherly.’

  ‘It wasn’t! Oh my God! No!’

  ‘Why is Gabe here?’ Taylor asked.

  ‘I texted him and told him where we’d be. Because obviously I didn’t realise we’d be meeting him,’ she pointed to the kitchen where Jason was now flirting with one of the waitresses.

  ‘Can someone please explain to me what’s going on?’ Gabe asked.

  ‘That’s Jason. Mr Thomas’ twin brother.’

  ‘He has a twin?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And how does he know you guys?’

  ‘Taylor decided to introduce herself on the first day of school.’

  ‘What? So you guys are like friends now or something?’

  ‘I am so far from friends with that guy, it’s not funny.’

  ‘I think she likes Brandon better,’ Taylor said.

  ‘Taylor! What the hell? That isn’t helping.’

  ‘What? You do like him more than Jason.’

  ‘But you’re making it sound like there’s more to it than that, and there isn’t!’

  ‘Well you clearly like his singing…’

  ‘Oh my God! You’re completely crazy!’

  ‘I’m a bit lost here,’ Gabe chimed in. ‘What’s this about Mr Thomas singing?’

  ‘I have to go,’ Lizzie said to Taylor. ‘I’ll see you later.’

  ‘Wait! Who am I going to go shopping with?’

  ‘I don’t have time for this,’ Lizzie said. ‘Gabe, come on. I’ll explain everything in the car.’

  Gabe obediently followed Lizzie to the exit.

  ‘Can I phone you later for a lift home?’ Taylor called out.

  ‘No!’ Lizzie yelled over her shoulder. ‘Get your new boyfriend to drive you!’

  ‘He doesn’t have a car!’

  ‘Not my problem!’ Lizzie snatched open the door and stalked out, with Gabe close behind.

  ‘Alright, seriously, what was all that about?’

  ‘Freaking Taylor!’ Lizzie raged as she stormed back to the car park. ‘She’s going to get Brandon fired if she keeps going on that way.’

  ‘You call him Brandon?’

  Lizzie stopped and faced Gabe. ‘Sorry, this must seem kind of bizarre to you, but I’ll explain as we walk. Are you OK to come with me in my car? Or do you want to call Jacques?’

  ‘It’s probably best if I call Jacques. I’ll have him drive you back here later and settle the parking bill for you.’

  Lizzie squeezed his hand gratefully. ‘Thank you. You’re so sweet.’

  Gabe quickly texted Jacques, and they sat on a nearby ledge to wait. ‘OK, so Taylor met Jason on the first day of school and now they’re dating?’ he asked.

  ‘It seems so. But he’s a complete tool. Taylor dragged me to a gig he was playing. He’s in a band with Brandon by the way, but he was so sleazy afterwards.’

  ‘Why didn’t you tell me all this before?’

  ‘Because I thought it was just a one-off. And I didn’t really know how to tell you that I was hanging out at our English teacher’s apartment without it sounding bad.’

  ‘You were at his apartment?’

  ‘Yeah, but Brandon didn’t do anything wrong. And Taylor wasn’t exactly innocent in this scenario either.’

  ‘Jeez Lizzie. Maybe we should tell Mr Jenkins.’

  ‘No! Why? We don’t want to get Brandon in trouble.’

  ‘But what if he has other students over to his place?’

  ‘I’m almost one hundred percent certain he doesn’t. He was really uncomfortable about it all. As was I.’

  ‘So what happened?’

  ‘Basically Jason and Taylor headed off to the bedroom the second we got back, and I left soon afterwards.’

  ‘But there was some time where you were left alone with him?’

  ‘I don’t like what you’re implying here.’

  ‘Lizzie, we have to report him!’

  ‘Stop saying that. We don’t!’

  At that moment, Jacques pulled up. They climbed in the back of the car and sat in silence the whole way back to Gabe’s house.

  Lizzie was angry. Taylor was ruining everything. At this rate she was going to ruin her own life, Lizzie’s life, and possibly Brandon’s.

  They went inside and retreated to Gabe’s bedroom. His little sister Kai was home with a bunch of friends and they had taken over most of the house.

  Gabe closed the door and sat down on his bed. Lizzie sat down on the swivel chair he used at his desk.

  ‘Before you freak out at me anymore, I just want to say that Taylor is the one being stupid here. Brandon and I tried to stop it from happening. He’s a decent guy and his intentions are not sinister.’

  ‘Do you like him?’

  ‘What do you mean? I like him as a teacher, and I think he seems like a nice guy, but I don’t like him in the way I think you’re alluding to.’ Lizzie felt strange having this conversation. She’d been forcing down all the feelings she had for Brandon for the last two months, but they were still there. It was hard when she saw him every day, being constantly reminded of the gig and how charismatic he was. And that evening they spent together…

  ‘I need to ask you something,’ she said.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Who’s CC?’

  His face darkened. ‘How do you know about that?’

  ‘On our first date at my house, you got that text message while you were in the bathroom and you said it was your mum. But it flashed up on the screen before that and I saw.’

  ‘Is that why you were going through my messages when I caught you that time?’

  ‘Maybe.’

  ‘Oh Lizzie. It was just this silly girl I went out with a few times. I stopped seeing her because she literally started stalking me. She’d show up on my doorstep at all hours... she’d text at three in the morning. And I once caught her stealing some of my clothes.’

  ‘Wow. OK. So why didn’t you just tell me that?’

  ‘Because I wanted our first date to go smoothly.’

  ‘But you lied to me.’

  ‘I’m so sorry babe.’ He got up and knelt down in front of her. ‘I am so glad I met you, and the last few months have been some of the coolest ever. Year Twelve would be crap without you. Please forgive me?’

  She leaned over and kissed his upturned face. ‘I do.’

  ‘Lizzie Wh
ite, I think I’m in love with you.’

  Lizzie’s heart fluttered. ‘I think I’m in love with you too.’

  Gabe picked her up and threw her onto his bed. He jumped on top of her and buried his face in her neck.

  ‘My amazing dizzy Lizzie. Please let’s never fight again.’

  ‘OK,’ she whispered.

  Lizzie saw a flash of Brandon’s face in her mind, and quickly shoved it away. She was only going to think about Gabe from now on. Even if it killed her.

  ***

  Jacques dropped her back in the city at eight. Gabe had come for the drive and kissed her again as she hopped out of the car.

  ‘Can I see you on the weekend?’ he asked.

  ‘Sure.’

  ‘I’ll come over tomorrow for lunch?’

  ‘Sounds good. I’ll make something awesome for you and Dad.’

  He spread his arms wide. ‘I have the best girlfriend in the whole world!’ he yelled to the half empty car park.

  ‘Stop it,’ she said, slapping his arms down.

  ‘But I do.’

  ‘Oh, one thing I’m supposed to do is ask if we can have the formal after-party at your place.’

  ‘Was this Taylor’s idea?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Do you think I should?’

  ‘It’s totally up to you. Your house is great, but I understand if you might not want to.’

  ‘No, it’s fine. Let’s do it. Tell the dragon she can pretend my house is her castle for the evening.’

  This time Lizzie didn’t tell him not to call her a dragon. She was still pretty frustrated at Taylor, and she wasn’t in the mood to defend her.

  She said goodbye to Gabe and drove home.

  After fixing herself a bowl of ice cream, she went to her room. She opened her bedside drawer and pulled out the handwritten piece of paper that Brandon had given her. She stared at it for a moment, still experiencing the same emotions as the night he’d given it to her.

  She then scrunched it up and went out to the kitchen bin. She shoved it down to the bottom so that she wouldn’t be tempted to get it back out later on.

  After that, she went back to her room and deleted Brandon’s number from her phone. She then opened the music library and deleted all of Orion’s Head’s albums.

  The only problem now was, how was she supposed to get to sleep?

  CHAPTER 15

  Lizzie’s year was starting to get stressful. There were only four months left of school, and all the teachers were cracking down to ensure the students were working to their maximum capability. Lizzie had lost some of her enthusiasm, with things slightly strained between her and Taylor, and trying to avoid Brandon as much as possible. It was kind of hard to ignore him though when he was actually teaching her, but she’d stopped trying so hard to impress him, and instead just did the bare minimum to get through.

  At least her relationship with Gabe was going well. They had now been dating for just over five months, and it looked like they were on track to last the year, if not beyond. Gabe had mentioned the possibility of going to UQ and studying Economics, with a major in International Trade and Finance. Lizzie was pretty sure she was going to stay in Brisbane too. But the only question was, to do what? And would she take a few months off first to travel?

  It was another Friday afternoon, and the bell was about to go for lunch. Lizzie was sitting in the back of English class and deliberately avoiding eye contact with Brandon. Which was harder than she expected. There was just something about the man that made her want to stare. Taylor was a couple of rows in front. She didn’t really sit with her anymore. The only class where they still talked was Art, and that was only because their projects were set up next to each other and it was too much effort to move them.

  Gabe was in the first row, obeying Brandon’s order to avoid Lizzie in English.

  ‘Has anyone looked at Brave New World yet?’ Brandon asked everyone.

  The entire class put up their hands. They knew they’d get detention if they didn’t. Lizzie wondered how many people actually had.

  ‘Good. I’ve trained you well. Zoe, tell me one thing that’s the same as 1984 and one thing that’s different.’

  ‘Well, they both present a dystopian future society, but 1984 is really about using negativity for control, whereas Brave New World is about using distractions and things we like.’

  ‘Good. Gabriel, which did you prefer, and why?’

  ‘I liked Brave New World more. But really only because they encourage lots of sex.’

  The class laughed. Brandon shook his head in mock despair.

  ‘Typical boy answer,’ he said wearily.

  ‘I preferred 1984,’ Taylor piped up. ‘I really liked the dirty, gritty bleakness that George Orwell described.’

  ‘Thank you Taylor. That’s kind of an odd thing to say, but at least it shows you read the book.’

  She beamed. Lizzie rolled her eyes. Taylor was back to sucking up to Brandon. Perhaps she was hoping he’d welcome her with open arms as a sister in law of sorts once she told him about her relationship with Jason.

  ‘Lizzie,’ he said. Lizzie jumped. Her body still reacted quite forcefully every time Brandon acknowledged her. It was such a traitor.

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘What did you think of Brave New World?’

  ‘I thought it was much more relevant to how our society is headed than 1984. You just have to look at things like reality TV and all the useless stuff they sell on infomercials to see how easily entertained people are. I watched Idiocracy recently, and I seriously don’t think it’s an exaggeration of how we’re going to turn out.’

  She couldn’t help it. It seemed that she couldn’t completely switch off the desire to impress the man in front of her.

  He grinned. ‘Some interesting points. Now everyone, if you need any help with your assignments before handing them in, I’ll be available after school until four. You’ll find me in the Humanities staff room.’

  The bell rang and everyone filed out.

  Lizzie was about to go with Gabe down to their usual spot, when Brandon called out to her.

  ‘Lizzie?’ He beckoned her with a finger.

  Lizzie wrinkled her brow. She wondered if she’d done anything wrong. Gabe looked at her, worry etched on his face.

  ‘I’ll be fine,’ she whispered to him. ‘I’ll catch up with you.’

  He left unhappily, no doubt not wanting to leave her alone with him.

  She went up to Brandon’s desk and he looked at her with those gorgeous dark eyes. Lizzie had to force herself not to get lost in them.

  ‘Is everything OK?’ she asked.

  ‘Mostly. I was really impressed by your contribution in class just now, but I was wondering how you’re handling everything else. I know life outside of school can get busy, and I’ve noticed your class work has been slipping a bit lately. I wanted to check if you needed any help.’

  Lizzie reddened. ‘I’m fine. Sorry, I’ll study a bit harder from here on.’

  She was mortified that in her efforts to avoid Brandon, she had somehow invited more of his attention.

  ‘You don’t need any clarification of the course material? I’d be happy to stay back after three and explain it to you.’

  ‘No, no,’ she said hurriedly. God, that was the last thing she needed – more alone time with Brandon.

  He studied her for a second, seeming to carefully consider his next words.

  ‘Have I done something to upset you? I feel like you’ve been avoiding me in class.’

  She almost laughed. Upset her? Far from it.

  ‘Not at all. I’ve just been distracted. You know, with work… insomnia… she rambled.

  ‘My music not working anymore, huh?’ he said, eyes twinkling. And then he caught himself. ‘Sorry, that wasn’t very professional of me. Look, I remember what Year Twelve was like so I’m not going to lecture you. But I do think it’s important to make as much time for your school work as possible. Especially
if you’re thinking of going to uni – which I assume you are?’

  She looked at the ground. ‘Yes. And I know. I promise I’ll make more of an effort.’

  He smiled. ‘Your latest assignments have still been of a high standard, but your earlier stuff was even better. Let me see some more of that, and you could be on track to get a VHA at the end of the year.’

  ‘Really? That would be really cool. Thanks Mr Thomas.’

  She made eye contact with him again, and her heart started hammering. He was almost painfully good looking. And so nice. Damn it.

  Her body suddenly went all jittery and she worried Brandon would notice and understand immediately what was going on.

  But if he did, he didn’t mention it.

  ‘Alright, off you go. I’ll see you tomorrow.’

  She gave him a small smile and ran off. Phew. That was close. She’d have to act as normally as possible in class from now on. But it seemed impossible. She didn’t know how to behave around Brandon. He was making her crazy.

  She was so distracted by her thoughts that she almost rammed straight into the back of Taylor, who had stopped dead in her tracks in front of her. She was looking at something on her phone.

  ‘Is everything OK?’ Lizzie asked. Her first thought was that Jason had finally ditched her.

  ‘Shit. No. Everything is very far from OK.’

  Taylor started walking quickly towards the bathroom. Lizzie followed.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ she asked, trying to keep up.

  Taylor broke into a sprint and then locked herself in a cubicle. Lizzie caught up a few seconds later.

  ‘Taylor? What’s going on?’

  ‘Fuck, fuck, fuck!’

  ‘What?’

  Taylor opened the door, her face white as a sheet.

  ‘I think I might be pregnant,’ she said in a monotone.

  Lizzie’s eyes widened. ‘No!’

  ‘I haven’t had my period for like three months.’ She held up her phone calendar to illustrate the point.

  ‘Oh Taylor. How could this happen?’

  ‘How the hell do you think it happened?’

  ‘But you used protection, right?’

  ‘Most times.’

  ‘Most times? Damn it Taylor! What were you thinking?’

  ‘Fuck off. I’m not in the mood to justify myself to Little Miss Perfect.’