Page 122 of You Float My Boat

‘I HAVE NOTHING TO SAY TO YOU. WHY CAN’T YOU GET IT INTO YOUR HEAD?’

‘Don’t shout at me.’

‘You need help. You really do. What the fuck is it going to take to get you to leave me alone?’

The black gloss on her fingernails shone as she tapped her forefinger against her cheek. ‘Hmm. What about … you’ve got a race this weekend, haven’t you?’

‘Yeah, and? What’s that got to do with anything?’

‘Win it, and I’ll leave you alone.’

I blinked, checking to see if I’d heard her properly. ‘What?’

‘Win the race at the weekend and I’ll leave you alone. We don’t have any more classes together after the end of term, so you don’t have to see me again if you don’t want to. I’m sure we’ll bump into each other though.’

‘Evie, what are you talking about?’

‘Win the race and I’ll leave you alone.’

‘What game are you trying to play? I’m not interested.’

‘No game, Charlie. I promise.’ She smiled, so saccharinely sweetly it set my teeth on edge. She was every Disney villain rolled into one and I’d never seen it before now. I couldn’t even remember why or how I’d ever liked her. The Evie tinted glasses I used to wear had been well and truly smashed.

I’d always known she was manipulative, but I couldfinally see her for what else she was – nasty, spiteful, vindictive.

Yet it had taken her for me to find Violet.

Violet who was nothing but sweet, kind, thoughtful – she wasn’t just the antithesis to Evie, she wasn’t even in the same stratosphere. There was no comparison.

Violet, who I had a sudden overwhelming urge to see.

‘We win the race on Saturday and you’ll leave me aloneforever?’

She nodded.

‘Fine, done.’

‘But …’ my stomach sank, I should have known. There was always a fuckingbutwith Evie. ‘If you lose then you take me on a date, and we try again.’

‘Why if I lose? Because you think you’re my consolation prize? You aren’t,’ I scoffed.

‘Because you can’t throw a win,’ she said simply. ‘Just putting myself back in the game, and you’ve lost the last two races, so odds are in my favour I’d say.’

I stared at her; none of this was a coincidence. She didn’t just know the race results off the top of her head, and she knew exactly that I’d have figured out her fake ankle and run out after her. It was true, we had lost, but we’d lost because Coach had switched the teams around – he’d been trialling a couple of alternative Blue Boat options. We hadn’t rowed with a full-strength crew and this weekend we would be.

We’d win. No doubt about it.

‘There’s no game, Evie. At least not one anyone else is playing. But you have yourself a deal. We win, you leave me, Violet and anyone else alone.’

She held her hand out for me to shake, only for her smirk to grow when I stared at it instead. ‘Deal. Just like that.’

‘Yeah. Just like that. We’re not losing.’

I didn’t bother to wait for her response, just turned on my heel and marched back to my class, though I’d missed most of it. I owed Gordon a massive apology.

The familiar buzz of a message vibrated in my pocket and I pulled my phone out.

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