The Flirting Games

Ellie's Plan - Part 3

Chapter Two

Ellie watched Nate Naverly with narrowed eyes. He had come in with Alex and joined their table. He had made everyone laugh and seemed to settle easily with the group, who were mostly from West Tower House. She hadn't paid much attention until he had turned his megawatt smile on Rose.

He was sitting too close to Rose, whispering into her ear. As Ellie watched, Nate picked up Rose's hand and began to trace a pattern across her palm. Ellie strained to hear what he was saying: something about predicting Rose's future. He slowly rubbed his thumb across the wrist he was holding and Rose seemed to shiver.

Ellie could plainly see that Rose didn't know what to do. Rose had never had such a good-looking guy single her out like that. She was blushing and nervous. Quite suddenly, Nate dropped her hand and turned away to talk to Alex, leaving Rose looking shell-shocked and a bit bereft.

Ellie frowned. That was not a good thing. Nate was a self-satisfied jerk, but dynamite with girls. Ellie had seen too many crying over him in the bathrooms to doubt it. There was no way on earth that Rose was a match for his charms if he had set his sights on her.

Eyeing Nate suspiciously, Ellie wondered what he was playing at. Did he genuinely want Rose? Even if he did, it was reason for concern. Rose was far too nice for him. Ellie was extremely fond of her cousin and didn't want to see her get hurt. She had a very bad feeling that this was a game to Nate and not a genuine desire to be with Rose.

Ellie looked at Alex to see if he had noticed anything. Of course he hadn't. He was as naïve as Rose. She wished again that Jack were still at Compass Court; he would have stamped on any pretensions Nate might have.

Mentally squaring her shoulders, Ellie decided she would have to keep an eye on the situation herself.

***

Nate felt smug. Stage One was a success. He wanted Rose to be aware of him and now she was. He had flattered her and he had touched her, so she noticed him. He had been fully aware that the hairs on the back of her arm had gone up when he'd intimately stroked the inside of her wrist. Not too much, not to draw attention, just enough to confuse her. He concentrated on Alex and tried not to look too pleased with himself. A few more moments like that and he would have her where he wanted her.

His second opportunity came at the bar. Rose was helping carry out drinks. He put one hand on the small of her back, leaned in close behind her and curved his arm around her to reach for his drink. She jumped and came right up against him. He smiled at her and didn't step back. She blushed yet again. It was quite endearing really. This was going to be easy.

At dinner that evening, Alex suggested that Nate join them on the WestTower table. There were assigned house tables, but students were free to sit anywhere. The Headmistress was a fan of house integration and tried to get them to all mix as much as possible.

Nate accepted the invitation, much to the obvious confusion of his friends watching from the NorthTower table as he walked in with Alex and went over to the WestTower table instead.

He caught the eye of his best friend, Gabriel, who was frowning at him with a look of disapproval. He gave a subtle wink and Gabe acknowledged it and nodded. They had been friends a long time and he didn't need to do more than wink. He hadn't told Gabe what he was doing, but his friend would know he was up to something. He watched as Gabe returned to his food reassured.

Gently steering Alex, Nate managed to get himself seated between Alex and Rose. At dinner he directed most of his conversation to Alex, but under the table he concentrated on pressing his leg, very slightly, against Rose's. She moved away a little. He shifted a tiny bit and again his knee was touching hers. She shot her hand out for her water glass and knocked it over. He wanted to laugh, but instead he reached for a pile of paper napkins and helped her mop it up.

"Alright there, Rose?" he asked innocently while refilling her glass.

She looked like a deer in headlights. Again he placed his hand on her back, supposedly in a reassuring manner, but really just to assert that it was his touch that was making her jumpy.

It was at that moment he really noticed Ellie Parkhurst for the first time. She was sitting across the table from Rose and giving him a very speculative look.

He quickly withdrew his hand and turned back to Alex, but his thoughts were on the look in Ellie's face. He had the feeling that she might be on to him. The suspicious gleam in her eyes, coupled with the disdainful curve of her lip, suggested that she was questioning his motives and drawing conclusions he didn't want her to.

He shrugged to himself. So what? She was the year below him and beneath his notice. He didn't doubt his own power to conquer Rose, and Ellie wouldn't be able to do anything about it. Did Rose listen to Ellie? As far as he was aware they weren't especially close. They were cousins, but he was confident that it was Alex he needed to get on his side. Rose listened to Alex. Ellie Parkhurst didn't figure in his plan.

***

Ellie had seen enough. Nate was definitely not to be trusted. He was clearly playing one of his games with Rose. If he genuinely liked Rose he would have been more attentive, and if he didn't then he wouldn't have been so touchy-feely with her. She had briefly caught his eye at dinner and he had looked shifty; just for a split second, but she had seen it. The question now was what to do about it.

Ellie reasoned that she had a pretty good grasp on what motivated boys. She had two older brothers and she had learned plenty at the knee of Jack, one of the best players she had ever seen. Nate was overconfident; he needed taking down a peg or two. Yes, he was older than her and yes, he was a pretty cold customer, but could she somehow take him on?

She pushed away the doubt. Rose was so sweet, Nate would eat her for breakfast. She had to act. Would talking to Rose help? No, probably not. Rose would deny everything until it was too late. Ellie's telling her that Nate wasn't really interested might even hurt Rose. But Rose would get hurt no matter what unless somebody stopped this right now.

Maybe the key here was to take his focus off Rose. Ellie was objective enough to know that Nate had never even noticed her before. Plus she was a year below him. Unfortunately he was quite good-looking and pretty full of himself. Girls threw themselves at him in obvious ways, and they tried less obvious ways. He seemed to prefer doing his own chasing. So how could she get in under the radar? What was going to distract him?

Ellie lay awake in bed that night thinking about it. She wasn't hugely vain, but boys did seem to like her. The fact he knew so little about her could perhaps work to her advantage by intriguing him. Should she go in with all guns blazing, or act in a more mysterious manner? Could she manage to entice him without appearing too interested? Just like he seemed to be doing to Rose.

She smiled in the darkness – yes, she would try playing him at his own game.

If this was chess then Rose was the Queen that needed protecting. Nate was a sneaky Bishop sliding in sideways. She would be the Knight, coming from the back where he hadn't noticed her and jumping straight into his path.