Secret Lives by Gabriella Poole Page B

book with a forefinger, feigning disapproval. He sat back and sighed. In less than a minute, though, he was leaning towards her again. ‘Look, I can tell you what happens. I’ve seen the movie.’
    ‘There’s a movie?’ she whispered. ‘About the Few?’
    He grinned. ‘Tease. I mean The Hunchback. He dies, OK? I’m bored. So how interested are you?’
    ‘Get over yourself. And shush.’
    He muffled a laugh. ‘In the Few, I mean. How interested? Would you like to be a member?’
    Cassie blinked, rendered speechless. This she hadn’t expected. Low sun streamed through the tall windows, making it hard to see Richard’s face, but there was something eager in his voice.
    ‘Are you serious?’
    ‘Mademoiselle BELL!’
    ‘Sorry.’
    Cassie tried to take in the page in front of her, but her concentration was shattered. To be a member of the Few! What better way to find out what was going on here? Surreptitiously she turned again to Richard. She’d caught him unawares, and his stare was different, more intent. Embarrassed, he faked a grin and returned to his book.
    Aha! He did like her after all, she realised with amusement. She wasn’t going to be taken in by him again, but he actually did like her. He’d been acting the bitch with Katerina that day, just as he’d acted the lovestruck swain with Cassie. But he didn’t know Cassie had overheard him. That gave her the advantage. It was pretty obvious he didn’t want to offend Katerina – but he didn’t want to fall out with Cassie either. Oh, this could get interesting. She smothered a smile.
    What a lot of masks he wore. Maybe even Richard didn’t know any more which was the real one. Still, there was nothing sinister about a bit of playacting. He was looking out for himself, and Cassie had to admit that appealed to her. She knew how to watch out for herself, too. She could understand the instinct.
    Be careful, Cassie . Hearing Jake’s voice again in her head, she frowned. What had happened to Jake, anyway? Too much night prowling, as Richard had hinted?
    He wasn’t the only one throwing a sickie, either. Alice wasn’t at her desk.
    ‘You’d be great for the Few,’ Richard murmured. ‘Some of them really like you. They think you have … spirit.’
    ‘Oh, yeah?’ Cassie remembered the empty desk three rows in front. ‘What’s happened to Alice?’
    ‘Oh, Alice.’ There was a grin in his low voice. ‘Still getting over her hangover, I should think.’
    ‘From three nights ago?’ Cassie raised her eyebrows.
    ‘Well. That girl can knock ’em back, let me tell you. And of course she was a little over-excited about being invited to the common room. You’d never be that silly, would you?’
    Cassie frowned. Over-excited? That wasn’t what she’d call it. That wasn’t how Alice had looked, perched on that chair with the silver cup clutched in her hands, skin pale, eyes dull, body limp.
    ‘No,’ she murmured at last, managing a dry laugh. ‘I’m not that easily impressed, sunshine.’
    ‘I know.’ He winked. ‘That’s why you’d be ideal. And someone already recommended you.’
    Cassie stared. ‘Who? Sir Alric?’
    ‘God, no.’ Richard looked alarmed. ‘Don’t tell him we had this conversation, will you? I’m not supposed to – um – speak out of turn. Keep it secret for now, OK?’
    ‘I’m hardly likely to be having a cosy chat with him.’ Cassie’s tone turned frosty. Why would Sir Alric object to her? Obviously Richard was still a crashing snob, if he couldn’t own up to liking her. Once more she was unsure if she liked and trusted Richard, or couldn’t stand him. ‘So who, then? Who recommended me?’
    ‘Someone very important. That’s all you—’
    ‘Monsieur Halton-Jones! Perhaps you would like to give us your insights into the structure of these opening chapters?’
    ‘Madame Lefèvre, of course!’ Richard threw the teacher a dazzling smile and cleared his throat, flipping open his notebook.
    She’d probably