My London Love Affair: Book 2 (Completed)

Chapter Five

I collapsed on my bed with a sigh. Dinner was absolutely delicious but the company less so. The guys took turns imitating my accent and asking questions like whether I rode a kangaroo to school. It was all asked under the guise of cultural enrichment. "We've never been to Australia" they said. They also asked Amélie and Preeti a lot of questions but they seemed to save the stupid ones for me.

I heard a knock at the door and found Amélie and Preeti with cups of cocoa and a packet of chocolate biscuits. After the below average conversation at dinner they were a welcome surprise

"We have come to have a girls' party." Preeti declared. I gratefully grabbed one of the cups and took a sip.

Soon we were talking like old friends. I found out that Amélie had a boyfriend named Jacques that her parents didn't approve of so they snuck around a lot. It made me smile thinking about the way Zac and I snuck around at the start. Preeti explained that she did not have a boyfriend and her dream was to study at Oxford University so she had enrolled in the course so she could get some appreciation of English culture.

I sat in awe of these two girls. We were the same age yet had vastly different life experiences. I guess this was why my parents were so insistent on me coming here. I was glad they did.

I told them all about Talia and how we fought during her Jackson period and how Zac and I had fallen in love and only admitted it publicly at the school dance. I had them hanging on every world.

"Secret rendezvous. Very exciting but hard to keep up with, no?" Amélie asked.

"Yes definitely. Very exhausting." I admitted.

I was glad that period of my life was over and I had stopped lying.

We then started gossiping about the guys and Mrs Jolly.

"Harry helped me carry my bag up the stairs when I arrived yesterday. I'm starting to think he is quite cute."

Preeti blushed as she said this. "Of course there can be nothing between us. We live so far apart but still...I don't mind looking."

"What do you think of Vin?" I asked. After my humiliation at dinner I had a very low opinion of him especially as he was the one who instigated much of the teasing.

"He is very arrogant. I heard his parents sent him here cause he was causing trouble at his school. Harry and Finn are ok but they seem to follow everything Vin does."

Hmm, I thought to myself. I made a mental note to steer clear of Vin. The last thing I wanted was to get in trouble and have Mrs Jolly reporting back to my parents.

I looked at the clock. Whoa is getting late but I didn't feel tired. I could see that the girls were so they made their excuses and went back to their own rooms.

As much as I tried to sleep I couldn't. My body clock was all out of sync and my long nap this afternoon did not help. I was scared to move too much cause the bed seemed to squeak with each movement so I just lay there hugging my elephant close. I could swear it even smelled like Zac. How I wish he was here. He would have protected me against Vin's teasing. Maybe though it was a good thing. Maybe I needed to learn how to handle things myself.

Before I knew it Christmas had come and gone and it was New Years Eve. For Christmas, Mrs Jolly had decorated the dining room with mistletoe and holly and we even had a real Christmas tree. There had been a proper roast turkey dinner with all the trimmings. Mash potatoes with lashings of creamy butter. Roasted vegetables covered in a thick gravy. All this followed by a rich steamed plum pudding drowned in a brandy custard. Christmas dinners at home usually consisted of barbecues, seafood and salad. We had a real Christmas tree once but it wilted within a week. Dad bought a plastic one after that.