“Sure is.” Ant wakes up the laptop sitting on his knees and his best friend, Enzo, appears before us.
“Great. Now there’s two of them,” I mutter, earning myself some serious side eye from everyone in the room.
13
BRIANNA
Idon’t get a wink of sleep. I spend all night tossing and turning, coming up with all kinds of crazy scenarios for how today is going to go.
I checked the timetable that Mrs. Hendrix gave me about a million times, praying that I read it wrong all the times before when it said that I was in her double English lit year thirteen class before lunch today. But each time I looked at that piece of paper, the truth stared back at me, unyielding and unmoving, my fate taunting me with a million possibilities. One where Nico ignores me and pretends we’ve never met before, not one of them.
Even if he does by some miracle do that, then I’m going to know every time he looks at me that he spent most of Friday night eating my pussy.
Fuck. My. Life.
The sun hasn’t risen when I eventually give up on trying to sleep and roll out of bed.
I have the world’s longest shower in the hope of washing all my doubts down the drain, but when I step out, nothing has changed. My stomach is still knotted up in dread, and my heart is racing with my anxiety.
I do my make-up in the hope it’ll cover up my unease and curl my hair. I waste enough time that after triple checking I’ve got everything, it’s about the time I need to leave anyway.
Thoughts of the four tube changes, the bus, and the long walk up Knight’s Ridge’s grand entrance don’t fill me with any kind of excitement.
But knowing my future depends on the next few weeks, I throw my shoulders back, hold my head high and step out of my flat.
My phone dings as I walk down the stairs—no fancy lifts here—and my brows pinch when I find a name I wasn’t expecting staring back at me.
Toby: Arranged a little surprise to make your life easier…
Toby: Check your post box.
Brianna: WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?
My heart pounds as I race down the final few stairs and fly toward my post box.
My hand trembles as I unlock it, because I already know this is something big.
It’s Toby and the freaking Cirillos. He hasn’t just left a good luck card for me.
“Holy fuck.”
Brianna: You are in so much shit, Doukas.
Toby: I take payment in the form of blowies from your best friend. Please discuss with her. *winky face*
“Fucking hell.”
With the small black key fob locked in my hand, I push out of the main door of our building and scan the row of cars before me.
A black Audi A1 catches my attention because it stands out like a sore thumb amidst the other cars, and when I press the unlock button on the key in my hand, its lights flash, welcoming me toward it.
A laugh full of pure disbelief falls from my lips as I pull the driver’s door open and drop into the seat.
Brianna: I might not even have a licence…
Toby: Don’t insult me like that. I know you have a licence. You passed on a Thursday at eleven twenty-five. Your examiner was called Mark. And I bet you wore a short skirt and he checked out your legs.
Brianna: It’s a good job my best friend loves you.