Out of Your League

Chapter 3

By the time I reached Ed's house - an enormous, imposing country manor a short drive from the edge of London - the party was already in full swing. He'd clearly got the message out quickly, and taken my advice about his father's wine and apparently every other bottle of booze in the house – a girl was already retching into the hedge just outside his house, her hair held back by a disgusted looking boyfriend, that will probably be the end of their relationship by the looks of it. The entire front of the large country house is blocked by groups of people giggling and stumbling. The enormous oak door has been thrown open so I went inside only to be immediately accosted by Belle.

'This is disgusting. Can people not act with the class and respect we have? They're all acting like they've never seen alcohol, and the throwing up! It's like she's a tramp.' I laughed and shook my head: Belle doesn't like parties; she is one for refined lunches with a single glass of wine each. However, she makes appearances at big events like these to help maintain her queendom: if she never showed her face at these parties, people would assume that she knew none of the secrets which was one way she helped maintain control: people feared their secrets spreading and if they challenged Belle for Queen, they would find their dirtiest, most embarrassing secrets spread around the school. Little did these people know, but all Belle had to do was to sit at home and she would be texted the secrets: she had a select group of minions, a few in each year group, who would report to her any gossip.

'Belle! C!' George Hawes, Belle's boyfriend, sauntered over and gave Belle a long, slow kiss whilst managing to completely ignore me. So I muttered an incomprehensible excuse then made a hasty retreat and left them to it. George was... entitled. To any people who didn't go to a boarding school he was a dick: he was rude, he was impatient, and he treated them like dirt. He and Belle were similar in that regard. He was confident, cocky and he showed off his wealth. Frankly, I'm not sure what Belle saw in him, he was awful but for some reason every girl had a secret crush on him that they nurtured, hoping one day he would look at them because although George had his choice of girls, he was very picky. He'd probably only slept with a couple despite the copious offers he received.

I headed for the bar (yes, Ed had a bar in his house) and asked for a dry martini with a twist. Ed approached me, his hair looking slightly more arranged and his clothes much cleaner; clearly getting his own back at his parents was making him feel much better. He led me over to the plush cream sofas which I was sure were going to be covered in stains and worse by the end of the evening and he smiled and admitted guiltily that he was glad he was doing this: my plan was working, half the bottles from behind the bar were already gone and the house was beginning to show the signs of the party, a few pictures had been knocked off the walls and a glass coffee table had been shattered. But Ed wasn't concerned, in fact, he was happier than I'd seen him all summer. I think the prospect of nearly going back to school and proving to his parents he didn't want to follow their wishes was uplifting for him.

A few martinis later and I stopped remembering what happened. As Belle doesn't drink, she had a perfect memory of the evening and later told me that I had yet again reinforced my reputation as a slut who would do anything if she had the right amount of alcohol. Apparently, I proceeded to strip my clothes whilst standing on the card table in full view of everybody and when Ed tried to carry me away, I grabbed his shirt and pulled it off followed by his trousers. I also managed to single handedly pull a door off its hinges. Then Belle lost track of me and Ed whilst she went around terrorizing people and making sure they still respected her, and she only saw us again about an hour later. We probably slept together. It wouldn't be the first time, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. Me and Ed were, for lack of a better term, friends with benefits. I know that Ed seemed like a cautious, repressed rich kid. But he wasn't, that was just one of many fronts that had to be presented in our world. In fact, his parents forcing him to go places and be things made him much more willing and wanting to do things that he wouldn't otherwise have done, things that were frowned upon and disapproved of in our crazy, elite world. Anyway, after she saw me, Belle took it upon herself to take me home before I did anymore damage. A good decision from her, and although I thanked her, it wasn't really enough: she deserved much more than a mumbled thank you from a grumpy, hungover me. There have been uncountable occasions where Belle has taken me home before I can do myself any more damage, she feels it's her responsibility considering I don't have a boyfriend. And, I can always rely on her to do it – she never drinks, she's hardly even had a drop of wine – it's part of her health thing: no sugar, less food, no alcohol... it's a wonder we're friends really when we're literally polar opposites.