Chapter Ten

Aurora's POV

Cameron and Tallulah are sat on the sofa watching TV when I walk in.

"Look who it is." Cameron grins as he looks me over. "Dirty little stop out, much?" He winks at me.

Lou hits him across the head.

"Says you! You only arrived back yourself about twenty minutes ago."

Cameron shrugs.

"But we all know I'm a whore." He opens his arms for me invitingly. "Come here my little school teacher."

I make my way over and take a seat between them, leaning into Cameron's hug. As soon as I'm sitting down, Lou pounces with questions.

"Sooooo what happened?" she asks. "Did you? How was it? He was hot! What was his name? You do know his name, right? Will you see him again?"

"Breathe Lou." Cameron chuckles. "One question at a time. Don't scare the poor girl. Do I need to punch him?" That is the only question he cares about; my protective big brother.

"No Cam, you do not need to punch him."

Although I know that if I tell him everything, he won't agree with me on that one. He'd be out the door in a shot, looking for a fight.

"His name is Landon," I tell them. "He took me out for breakfast this morning." I try to distract them from the details; Tallulah from the details of last night and Cameron from the details of my conversation just five minutes ago.

"Did you do it?" Cameron asks with a smirk. "Is our little girl all grown up?"

He can be so patronising sometimes and his eyes tell me he knows it.

I blush. I think I might have blushed more in the last twenty-four hours than I ever have in my life.

"You did!" Tallulah screams. "I knew it!"

I laugh.

"I've got to get ready. I have a class in an hour. I need to get going," I tell them as I get up to leave.

"This conversation isn't over, Miss!" Tallulah calls as I walk out of the room.

As I carry on down the hall towards my bedroom, I can hear her and Cam talking.

"What have you got planned today, Cam?"

"Library and then I'm going to meet up with Zara tonight," Cameron is telling her.

I can't help but wonder who Zara is. I've never heard of her before.

"The girl from last night?" Lou asks.

"Yup," Cameron answers both our questions in one. "Are you going to speak to the office; see if they'll let you transfer?"

"Not today."

"Lou..." I can tell from the sound of his voice that he is trying so hard not to ask her a dozen questions. "Tomorrow?"

"Perhaps..." Her voice is quiet.

I hear a phone ringing, but neither Cam nor Lou answer it.

Then Cam says, "aren't you going to get that?"

"No," Lou replies.

I'm frowning when I reach my room. It's not like Lou to ignore her calls.

I close my door and pull my phone out of my purse. The battery has died during the night, and I haven't got time to charge it now. I'll have to charge it in the car. I pull out a pair of jean shorts and a navy jumper. It's a beautiful day, so I decide to make the most of it. It won't last. It's November, so I know the weather will only get worse until it is officially winter. Or is it already officially winter?

Lou and Cam will laugh at my outfit. They think I don't feel the cold. Lou's already got her scarves and gloves ready.

I put a bit of make-up on, just a bit of foundation and mascara, and grab my notes for class. I spend about ten minutes searching for my car keys before finding them under my bed. I frown. I must have thrown them down there last night as I rushed to get ready.

I hurry out of the room and down the hallway, calling out to Lou and Cam when I reach the door.

"See you guys later."

I take the lift down to the car park and find my green BMW in my parking spot. As soon as I turn the engine on, I plug in my phone to charge it and put some music on. My phone comes to life. There are two missed calls, both from my mother and a couple of texts from Tallulah, asking about last night but there is nothing from Landon. I reverse out of my parking spot and leave the car park.

The traffic is awful, and I'm almost certain I'm going to be late. The sound of my phone ringing fills the car. I press a button on my steering wheel and answer the call.

"Hello?"

"Hi darling." I hear my mum through the car's stereo.

"Hello mum," I reply. "Sorry I missed your calls."

"It's okay, darling. I just wanted to see how you were and ask if you are still coming around for dinner tonight."

"Of course." I've completely forgotten. "Is Ali coming?" I ask because I always ask. But she won't be coming. She joins us for family birthdays and anniversaries, and that's about it.

"No." My mother sounds disappointed. "Aileen is busy studying. She has a big test tomorrow."

She has a big test tomorrow is code for Aileen isn't taking my calls.

"That's a shame," I tell her. "Maybe next time."

I very much doubt that I'll be seeing my sister at my parents' house anytime soon. Perhaps at Christmas. I don't really know what she has against them, but they really aren't her favourite people at the moment.

I turn into the university car park.

"I've got to go, mum. I've got a lecture in a few minutes. I'm going to head to the library after class, and then I'll come home."

"What time should I expect you?" she asks eagerly.

"About five," I tell her.

"Okay, darling. Enjoy your day. Speak to you tonight."

She hangs up, and the music starts up again just in time for me to turn off the engine.

***

I'm only two minutes late. The lecture hasn't even started, so I sigh in relief as I take my seat next to Grace.

"Hey," I say to her, pulling my textbook out of my bag.

"Hi," Grace says quietly as our lecturer begins to talk. "What have you been up to?"

She's a pretty girl; mousey-coloured hair that frames her face. Her eyes are dark, and her skin has a rose complexion.

"Tallulah came home, so we went out last night," I tell her.

"Oh great." Grace has met Lou and Cam a few times. "Where did you go?"

I cover my mouth as I whisper back in an attempt to prevent the lecturer seeing us talking.

"We went to the Kent Mockery. You know the new place on the Kings Road? I really like it there."

"I went there the other night with Ayesha and Caitlyn. They absolutely loved it. The barman's pretty hot too."

"I can't say I noticed," I reply as I try to recall the bartender. "I was a bit distracted."

"Really? By what?" she asks, "or was it a who?"

She winks at me.

"I met someone," I tell her quietly.

"Tell me everything," she grins.

I love Grace. She's got to be one of the happiest people I've ever met. Nothing gets her down. She has two emotional states; happy and happier.

"I don't know what to tell you." I'm not sure how much I want to share. I look at my phone. No messages. "I stayed at his last night."

Her eyes grow wide with shock.

"Nice. Are you going to see him again?"

"I don't know. I hope so," I tell her honestly.

Although the more I think about it, the more unlikely it seems to become. He didn't even take my number.

Shoot; well, that's that then.

For all his words, maybe it really was just one night. Otherwise, he would have asked for my number.

The disappointment surprisingly floors me. I had really wanted to see him again. I find myself wishing that he'd break my human rights again to get my mobile number but that's completely insane after I gave him the riot act about it earlier this morning. I should just accept that he only ever wanted one night.

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