THE OXFORD BET *VirginityGames*

Chapter 6 The beginning has began

Daniel glared at Francesca with irritation on the tip of his tongue and fury in his eyes.

"What is this?" he stepped forward, though cautious of the space between them. He saw the broken pile of porcelain in her hands and on the floor.

This was the girl who kept humiliating him in front of all his friends whenever she could get the chance, for once he would get her back. Humiliate her. But something about her, the way she looked at him with her big blue eyes when they had been dancing, somehow made it quite hard to hate her completely. However, Daniel understood for this girl, he could easily make an exception.

At that moment Daniel realised he had never hated anyone before. Many people he had disliked and really not cared for but hate was a powerful word. Did he hate her? Not really? He hardly cared about her at all.

Daniel thought of Francesca as a sour taste in his mouth. A cheap and bitter red Tempranillo. That was a red wine that he didn't like very much. Her clumsiness was bordering on being a complete nuisance. If she kept up her little act. He guessed she was most likely one of Izzy's friends, who had planed on trying to seduce him before the Bet. Either to sabotage him in some way, like trying to make him fall in love or some other frivolous notion, in order to ruin his chance's this last game of the Bet.

"I swear, this wasn't me."

"Oh really who was it then?"

"It-" She bit her lip to stop herself. "Oh," she sighed.

"Oh, what?" Daniel felt his cheeks burning, why did she make him so mad.

"Well there's my dilemma."

"Dilemma?"

"You see I cannot and will not divulge to you who did this crime but I can hand on heart, assure you it was not me. Though I am still very sorry for the accident. And I will pay for it, or I will get the actual criminal to do so." She closed her eyes took a deep breath and nodded triumphant with her annoyingly vague answer.

"Wow." Daniel scoffed. "Your eloquence is astounding. I'm entranced." He added sardonically. "Except you're still just the average drunk Oxford First year." Daniel spat back, sarcasm again drenched his tone. He smirked and as if on cue, Francesca's smile turned sour and she gritted her teeth at him. "Pathetic." He said under his breath.

Richard sensed the tension, and the prejudice the two had for one another, he piped up and said gently, to ease the tension. "Hello again Francesca, you're Vicky's friend, aren't you?"

She nodded.

"She speaks highly of you, of course." Richard explained.

"Of course she does," Francesca added with a wavering smile. She looked nervous as Daniel's gaze bore into her. Richard nudged his friend and took a step forward next to Daniel.

"Vicky tells me about you a lot, all your funny stories." He smirked at the recollection of Victoria Carter as she told him an amusing anecdote one day after their classes. Richard remembered how Victoria kept playing with her hair.

"She tells me a lot about you too. But then again I'm sure you already know that," Francesca raised an eyebrow inquisitively. Her words slightly slurred.

Richard let out a small bashful laugh, "I don't know what you mean." He scratched the back of his head. "But really, I haven't seen her since earlier this evening. Do you know where she is? If you don't I'm sure Daniel and I wouldn't mind helping you find your way back to her or to the party. It isn't good to be alone during these kind of parties. Any Oxford party really." After Richard's warm smile and a little small talk the situation was soon relaxed. However all it took was a momentary awkwardness from Richard who stumbled over his words, in turn made Daniel gaze at him questioningly too.