Page 24 of The Fall I Fell

AvaMatthews_xo:

oh…

AvaMatthews_xo:

which brother?

JacobThorogood7:

William.

AvaMatthews_xo:

Gross.

JacobThorogood7:

You’re not the one scarred from having seen it.

AvaMatthews_xo:

I wonder who he’s been sending that to.

JacobThorogood7:

I don’t wanna know.

‘Oscar’s here,’ Freya hissed at me from across the lunch table, a sly grin on her face.

Shoving my phone back into my pocket, I shushed her quickly as he neared the table, though my face was already flushed, and her warning did little but ruffle me. Swiping my tongue across my teeth, I checked for bits of left-over sandwich or prawn cocktail crisp before turning around to greet him with the most nonchalant smile I could muster.

Oscar Simons transferred to our school last term and ended up in our friendship group. Freya and Ash had been loved up since what felt like the beginning of time, and so, it seemed, had everyone else, so naturally she had made it her mission to make me and Oscar the hot new thing. We were quite literally the only two single people she knew.

But Oscar played the guitar, and he drew beautiful portraits in my art class, so I didn’t resist her matchmaking as much as I probably should have.

‘Hi.’ He smiled, slinging his legs over the bench to sit beside me, Freya raised her eyebrows indiscreetly and I tried my best to not even look in her direction.

‘You alright?’ I focused so hard on my packed lunch that I was surprised it hadn’t combusted right in front of me.

‘How come you weren’t around over the holidays?’ Oscar asked me, a little disappointment etched in his voice that only made my blush deepen. ‘I thought I’d get to see you at Michael’s Halloween party?’

Freya answered for me. ‘Ava spends most of the holidays on her Granny and Grandad’s farm. What do you think of sheep, Oscar? Ava helps raise lambs in the spring.’ I wished for nothing more than to bury my head into my rucksack until the bell went and we could all be saved from this awkward conversation.

‘Oh cool, yeah, they’re cool.’ Oscar swept a hand through his long fringe.

‘It’s not just sheep,’ I said, attempting to salvage the talking points. ‘There’s other animals too, but it’s mostly an arable farm. We like to spend Halloween down there because my friends on the next farm over throw the best parties.’

‘Really?’ he replied, almost genuinely interested.

‘Yeah, there’s all your traditional stuff, like the apple bobbing, the costumes, the bonfire, but each year we all tell each other stories, sometimes scary, sometimes not. But because it is so rural, there’s not even any streetlights, so you can’t see further than the flames of the fire. So no matter what anyone is saying, it gets terrifying.’

‘Don’t tell him, but Michael’s Halloween party was nowhere near as good as that sounds.’ Oscar smiled broadly and it matched my own. Freya was fed up of hearing about the farms, so it felt good to have someone new to tell.

‘Maybe she can take you one holiday, Oscar,’ Freya butted in again.

‘I’d like that,’ he replied, and I nodded politely. What would Jacob think of Oscar? He was so pristine, his shirts were always neatly ironed, his hair was perfectly combed – so much so that he carried one in his rucksack to touch up the loose strands throughout the day. I couldn’t imagine them having a conversation. Well, I could imagine Oscar trying, but Jacob … no, he was too unsociable. Any new faces and he was silent as a mouse and slipped off any chance he got.

‘I was just wanting to ask you,’ Oscar started with a slight cough to clear his throat. ‘Mrs Dean has asked us to find a partner for the art show that’s happening in spring next year. Now I know our art styles are different, but you’re so good and I’d be an idiot not to ask the best artist in class to work with me. So, if you haven’t already found someone? Would you … you know, like to pair up with me?’