THE OXFORD BET *VirginityGames*

Chapter 24 Tempting trouble

Francesca

I covered my face with a regretful hand. "Were we really that obvious?"

Victoria's, eyes still forward, she said bluntly, "Daniel doesn't smile at anyone like he smiles at you."

"But when did you know?" I asked her, shocked.

"I'd known you were hiding something from me for a while and I assumed it was that you liked Brandon. And that it was hard to be around him. But then when I thought it was Adam you liked and Izzy exposed you both, it made sense to me that was why you had been acting so different. But then after the way Daniel acted when he thought you and Adam had been screwing I realised he liked you. It wasn't until at the restaurant when we went for girls cocktails. Then it was crystal clear you liked him too. I was sure then."

"And I thought I was a better actress!"

Victoria muttered sweetly, "God, Fran, you're just a hopeless romantic." She combed through her hair with her fingers, "So when are you next seeing him?"

"After my Lecturer in the morning he said he'll be waiting for me." I responded proudly. "He's picking me up because he's helping bring my stuff from here, so basically all the junk I need for the rest of term, back to my dorm room. Just those little bare necessity's you know, hair curlers, make up, clothes, my guitar and my ten thousand million books for my Literature course."

"Well he is being a good boyfriend isn't he?"

"Yep." I replied popping the P.

"It's good to see you happy."

"It feels good to be happy. I feel like I can breath again."

At Oxford a group discussion and analysing a paragraph of Macbeth was truly, the last thing I wanted to do for the day. I only wanted to get outside of the stuff room to see Daniel again, and maybe take a nap and eat some fast food. The night between that day and yesterday, was probably one of my most exciting in my life. Not only did I imagine how perfect it would be hanging out with Daniel and not having to worry one second about the Bet. I just couldn't stop thinking about him. Something I did manage to achieve with my overthinking, was to persuade myself that Daniel felt the same way at the same time.

"Almost done", I mumbled to Daniel, satisfied, and made the now-empty box vanish with a casual hand gesture.

After we had spent the better part of an hour unpacking countless boxes and furnishingmy room again, Daniel was more than ready to call it a day. They were almost done anyway. All that was left was a tattered cardboard box which had already piqued Daniel's curiosity half an hour ago, when it had turned up under a slightly less-tattered cardboard box filled with various handbags and questionable knick-knacks..

"What's in this one?" He asked. Afterwards he laughed when he saw the mound of books. "You have a lot of books, almost as many as I do."

I chuckled at that.

"I had a lot of free time growing up." I explained. "I took piano and guitar and violin lessons, and once I had my homework done in the afternoons. The evenings when I didn't have anything were the best because I could go hide and read. Those nights felt like they went on forever."

My favourite things in the world was books. Even the fairy tales were some of my favourites, the stories of brave knights dashing into battle against an enemy that seemed so mundane compared to my real life but at the same time it was so much fun that I hardly cared. Growing older only expanded my collections, classic novels and old plays finding their way onto my bookshelf all the time.

The feel of the pages in my hands, the smell of ink on the paper, the dust covers, the rare special editions with little ribbons tacked to fake leather spines. I adored real books, classic novels especially. If they were printed before the 21st century then I would be overjoyed.