Unexpected Rendezvous

Chapter 12

Perrie's POV

"You did what?" Leigh sputters as the doors close and the train lurches forward. She twists fully in her seat, her gaze darting between me and Jade. "Followed me where?"

"The café," I say. "To your...meeting." I wait a second for her to respond, and when she doesn't, I add, "With Mr Gray."

Leigh stares at the ground. "So you spied on me," she says flatly.

I guiltily cut my eyes towards Jade. That's not all we did. Not even close, but now doesn't seem like the time to bring that up. "We were worried about you," I say. 

"It's no big deal," Leigh says, messing with her frills. You'd think she'd know by now it's a dead giveaway that she's being sketchy. "I was supposed to meet somebody, but he didn't show, and I ran into Mr Gray instead. We ended up talking about my end of year project."

Jade and I exchange incredulous glances. I have to admit, I wasn't expecting Leigh to deploy such deep denial, and it renders me momentarily speechless. "Come on, hun," Jade says, stepping in while I blink at Leigh. "We saw."

"Saw me talking about school," Leigh says stubbornly. Jade gives me a helpless look like, Well, I tried my best. Back to you Perrie.

"Leigh, you don't seem to understand what we're telling you," I say. "It's not like we just caught a glimpse of you and Mr Gray through the window. Remember that big potted fern next to your table?" I get a blank look in return, of course, because she was too busy staring into Mr Gray's eyes. I could've tap danced past them in a clown costume and she wouldn't have noticed. "We were sitting behind it and heard your entire conversation. We know it's his studio, and we saw the two of you holding hands." Leigh winces like she's been hoping we'd shown up after that part. "He's your mystery boy. So please stop pretending you left us to stew in a bar for an hour after our classmate died so you could talk about a school project."

"Okay. Sorry," Leigh mumbles. "It's just really complicated. Nobody knows about me and him, because..."

I can't help myself. "Because there shouldn't be a you and him," I blurt out. "He's your teacher and he's way too old."

Leigh's face shutters in an instant. "We haven't even done anything."

"He has," I say. Even without knowing specifics, I know he's crossed a line. 

Leigh's jaw tightens. "I knew you wouldn't understand."

My patience, already stretched thin, snaps. "Do you think his fiancé would?"

I try not to focus too much on my brother's extracurricular activities, as a general technique for preserving my self esteem, but I've gotten to know Coach Purcell over the years. She's one of my parents' favourite people at Charlton High, and she's been coming to our Christmas house party since Jonnie and I were young. She brings the same thing every year, clumsily decorated cookies, and always asks me for an update on student council activities. Unlike most adults, her eyes don't glaze over when I answer.

She doesn't deserve this, is my point.

"You might think you're in some kind of real relationship, but you're not," I continue when Leigh doesn't reply. "Not even close."

"Oh really? Is it not even close?" Leigh asks with a bitter laugh. "Well I guess you'd know, wouldn't you?" Her mouth tightens, and my stomach starts to sink. I know that look; I've pushed her too far. Leigh almost never gets truly mean, but when she does, watch out. 

She unfolds her arms and starts clapping softly. "Perrie Edwards, ladies and gentlemen. Queen of relationship advice. Remind me, when was your last relationship?" Dread inches up my spine as her eyes flick towards Jade and she adds, "Was it in year 8, when you planted one on Jade and she never mentioned it again? Can't blame her. She probably didn't want to hear about it in excruciating detail like I did for two months straight."