More Flirting Games (The Flirting Series - Young Adult) by Stella Wilkinson Page A

any
studying. They had a low coffee table at one end of the room with a sofa and a
leather armchair that they always tried to occupy to before anyone else. It was
comfortable and intimate. There were no other seats close by so no one could
overhear their conversations. Across the room in an alcove under a tall lamp,
Leo and Diana had a little table for two and it looked like they were actually
doing homework.
    “And I was
wondering what’s going on with you and Ben Castle this year?” Grace continued
as she swiveled sideways on the sofa to rest her feet against the radiator on
the wall.
    Rose
shrugged. “You know how it is with me and Ben, he asks me out, eventually we
kiss and then it just seems to fizzle out.”
    “So are you
going out or not?” Grace furrowed her brow in confusion.
    “Beats me.
I would say probably not, seeing as we haven’t spoken in over a month.
We had that snog at Halloween and we spent most of the evening talking. But
we’ve hardly had time to speak since. He’s always got sporting commitments and
I’ve been working on my English coursework most nights. It all just seems a bit
of an effort to find the time and I’m not going to chase after him.”
    “I think
you should just dump him once and for all,” said Sophie. “You two have been
on-again off-again since the first year, you’ve never done more than kiss and
neither of you is getting the chance to date anyone else.”
    “That’s
true.” Rose thought back to her first year. It was Alex who had befriended Ben,
they were in the same biology class and he had introduced him to her.
    Ben was
considered very attractive, though not traditionally handsome. He stood at over
six feet and his large frame was reassuringly solid but his gentle personality
made you feel you would be safe with him. He had brown hair that had a tendency
to curl, big brown eyes and a friendly wide smile. There was something very
appealing about his open countenance. So it was all the more confusing that he
blew hot and cold with their relationship.
    “The thing
is,” Rose continued, “there isn’t really anyone else I want to date anyway.”
    “No. The
talent has totally dropped off now that Jack’s gone.” Sophie pouted. Rose
laughed, as Sophie’s crush on Jack had been extreme and unrequited for several
years.
    “But I
don’t want to date Jack.” Rose joked “That would be gross; he’s my cousin.”
    Sophie
kicked Rose’s foot off the table to show how little she thought of the joke.
    “Sorry,
Soph.” Her face softened at her friend’s down-turned mouth. “One day Jack will
notice how lovely you are.”
    Sophie
glanced at Grace. They both knew that Jack had already noticed Sophie, but had
decided not to tell Rose as she would only rail at Jack about it. Grace saw the
look and nodded imperceptibly to show she still knew not to say anything.
    Sophie and
Jack had gotten together at the end of year dance for the Upper School at the
beginning of the summer. More than gotten together. The trouble was that they
had both gone home the next day and although Sophie had given Jack her phone
number, he had never called. She was too embarrassed to tell Rose. Rose had
spent some of the summer holidays with Jack’s family and she would have forced
him to call Sophie. After discussing it with Grace, Sophie had decided this
would be worse than Jack not calling. Unfortunately, Jack had now left Compass
Court for University and Sophie was despairing of when she might get another
chance to speak to him without looking obvious.
    “Anyway,”
said Rose “Didn’t you have a bit of a thing going this term with Danny Barnett
in Year 5?”
    “Barely.”
Sophie snorted. “At first I thought he was cute, with his boy band looks and that
fab hair.”
    “His hair
is only like that because he puts so much gel in it.” Grace said.
    “Totally.
Anyway, cute or not, he turned out to be really vain and immature. It lasted
what? Only two or three weeks before he got on my