Sophie
jittering with a mixture of fear and triumph. All in all, I handled myself as well as I could have. I entered the enemy’s lair and got out not only unscathed but with something I wanted.
Getting two afternoons away from school a week is exactly the chance I needed. Evan’s house is on the outskirts of Fernwell. If I manage to find a job there, I could begin saving money.
A complete win-win for me: getting away from Evan and getting a job. Two birds, one stone.
My instinct leads me to the café where I saw the Now Hiring sign during the holidays. It’s very quiet now half-term is over. Inside, it’s warm and cosy, with big felt armchairs and lots of plants. Soft jazz and the smell of coffee and pastries mingle in the warm air.
A girl about my age is standing behind the counter, a cup of tea in one hand, her phone in the other. She has brown hair dyed purple at the ends, and delicate piercings all along her ears.
When I approach the counter, she looks up with a polite smile.
“Oh, hi! What can I get you?”
“I’m here because of the sign?” I point, a little awkwardly, to the sign still stuck to the window.
“Oh!” she says again. “One sec.” She walks to the door behind the counter and pops her head in to call out, “Freddy!”
A boy a couple of years older than me appears, carrying a box of coffee filters. He looks like the male version of the girl, with soft brown hair and grey eyes, piercings in his ears and a big woolly jumper. I can’t remember the last time I met a boy who doesn’t go to Spearcrest, a boy who’s normal and nice, and my heart skips a beat when he looks up with a smile.
“Hi! How can I help?”
“She’s here about the job,” the girl says, hopping up to perch herself on the counter behind her.
“Oh, right,” Freddy puts the box down and pulls a notepad out of his back pocket, a pen stuck in the coil. “The job you’d be applying for is actually Jess’s job,” he points at the girl. “She needs to drop her hours to focus on her studies, so we just need someone to fill in for her.”
“I can only do Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, and maybe school holidays,” I say with a wince.
It feels rude to be applying for a job and already making demands, but I don’t have a choice. Freddy doesn’t seem fazed at all though, just casts a questioning look towards the girl—Jess. She shrugs. “Sure, whatever, I could make that work.”
“Do you have any work experience?” Freddy asks me.
“No,” I admit. I hesitate, but something about his friendly smile and soft grey eyes feels trustworthy. “I’m not really allowed to apply for a job.”
Freddy frowns. “How old are you?”
“Almost eighteen!” I say quickly. “But I go to… the school I go to doesn’t allow students to get jobs.”
Jess narrows her eyes. “You go to Spearcrest?”
“Only because my parents work there” I hurry to explain. “I’m not… uh, I definitely could do with a job.”
For some reason, I am completely embarrassed: embarrassed I go to Spearcrest, embarrassed I’m not rich, embarrassed I’ve never had a job.
“Well, it’s not like this job is rocket science,” Jess says to Freddy. She turns back to me. “I could teach you how to make coffee and work the till, but apart from that, there’s nothing much to it.”
“I’m a fast learner,” I say quickly.
Freddy is smiling—not smirking or sneering. He’s genuinely, openly smiling—something the boys at Spearcrest are far too cool to do.
“We could give it a go, couldn’t we?” I can’t tell whether he’s speaking to me or Jess, but we both nod. “Why don’t we start Thursday? Come in and Jess will show you the ropes, then you can see how you feel about the job.”
I nod, flooded with relief. It’s hard to believe my mission is going so well, that things are going so smoothly for me.
“I would love that,” I say, smiling back at him. “Thank you so much.”
“Don’t be so quick to thank us,” Jess says. “The pay is shit.”
“Jess!” Freddy exclaims, more amused than scandalised. “She’s not wrong,” he says to me. “We’re not exactly raking it in over here, so we’re all pretty much on minimum wage.”
“That’s more than I’m earning right now,” I say.
They both laugh, and Freddy passes me his notepad and pen. “Here, write down your name and number and we’ll stay in touch. Are you sure it’s going to be ok with your school?”
“I’m just going to try and make sure they don’t find out.”
“So long as I’m not signing up for something illegal,” Freddy says.
“No, no, of course not.” I quickly write down my name and phone number and hand him his notepad back.
He glances down at it and looks up at me. “Nice to meet you, Sophie. I’m Freddy, and this is Jess, my little sister.”
She gives a little wave and I can’t help the big goofy smile on my face. They feel so welcoming and… normal. Just nice people who don’t live in massive villas and travel around in Bentleys and private jets.
People like me.
“Nice to meet you both.”
After I leave, I make my way back to the school, walking on clouds. Each footstep is lighter, the weight on my shoulders suddenly lifted. I left school crushed by anxiety, but I’m returning and I don’t have to worry about Evan (for now) or about finding a job (for now), and that’s a victory.
That night, I treat myself to a rare evening off and cuddle up on the common room couches with Audrey and Araminta. I am extra careful to check nobody is around when I tell them about the events of the day and my new job at the café.
“A café job!” Audrey laughs. “Could you be any more wholesome?”
“I’m sure it won’t be as cute as the movies make it out to be,” I say. “But it beats having to tutor Evan.”
“I still can’t believe you made a deal with him,” Audrey says. “Like making a deal with the devil. You sure you know what you’re doing, Sophie?”
“I think it’s kind of hot,’ Araminta says. ‘Two deadly enemies turned reluctant allies. You know what’s next, don’t you?”
“I wouldn’t call us allies,” I interrupt quickly. “I’m just lucky my plans happen to fit in with his laziness.”
“Still, though,” Audrey says. “Best be careful. I wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to lock you up in his house and torment you or something. You know, torture you for his own amusement or whatever gets him off.”
I wince. “Well, he’s making me do his Lit work for him, so it’s not like he’s doing any of this out of the kindness of his heart.”
“I’ll never understand it,” Araminta says. She’s in her satin pyjamas, absent-mindedly pulling on strands of her long black hair. “It’s like he hates you, but he’s obsessed with you at the same time.”
“Hardly.” I try to shake my head, but Audrey forces me to stay still. I am sitting at the foot of her armchair while she pulls my hair into two French braids. Despite her firmness, it’s strangely soothing, so I don’t mind her manhandling me a little. “He wouldn’t give me half as much shit if I was rich.”
“I don’t know…” Audrey says dubiously.
“You’re wrong,” Araminta curtails the conversation. “Evan Knight would find a way to crawl his way under your skin even if you were the bloody queen of England.”
“I’d have him thrown in the Tower of London,” I mutter darkly.
“You won’t need to anymore,” Audrey says lightly from behind me. “You’ve got sexy Freddy to protect you now.”
Heat rises to my cheeks and I turn to glare at her. “Don’t be childish, Audrey. He’s not even sexy.”
“Did she,” Audrey says to Araminta as she pushes my head away to continue braiding my hair, “or did she not spend at least half an hour describing how ‘stylish’ and ‘kind’ and ‘sweet’ Freddy seems?”
“A crush on your boss, Sophe?” Araminta says with a suggestive waggle of her eyebrows. “My my, such scandalous behaviour.”
“I blame myself,” Audrey sighs dramatically. “I didn’t think my summer fling would have such a profound influence on the poor girl.”
“You’re all a right pair of idiots!” I say, my cheeks ablaze. “So immature.”
“Alright, alright, we’ll stop teasing if you answer one question,” Audrey says, and her evil grin already tells me she’s looking for trouble. “Who’s hotter? Freddy or Evan? You have to be honest, though.”
I think about it. Evan’s height and gold skin and broad shoulders. His dangerous grin and summer sky eyes. Those big arms, that mop of loosely-curled fair hair. His long strides, easy laughter and pretty teeth. Evan is gorgeous like he’s from a movie, gorgeous like he knows it and feels no shame, with a sort of laid-back arrogance.
Where Evan is like the ultimate American rich kid cliche, Freddy is comfortingly British. Brown hair, grey eyes, big jumper. A kind, open smile. Not good-looking in the captivating, electrifying way Evan is, but… normal. Warm.
Safe.
If I had to be honest, I know whose name I would have to say to Audrey. But I don’t want to be honest. So I don’t give an honest answer.
Instead, I give the answer that feels right.
“It’s Freddy.”
