Page 15 of You Float My Boat

I was just reaching for my phone to let her know I was there when a flash of green caught the corner of my eye and a smile spread across my face before my brain registered why it was doing so.

‘Charlie?’

‘Hey, Violet.’

‘You’re very prompt, aren’t you?’ she said, stopping in front of me.

‘Not usually,’ I chuckled, and just like this morning I leaned in to kiss her cheek. I don’t know why I did it, but there was something about her smooth rosy skin, cold from the air, that I wanted to feel against my lips. Her blue eyes wide and sparkling, like sunshine in a cloudless sky. ‘How was your audition?’

‘It was good …’ her smile was followed by a loud sigh, ‘although … ugh, God … do you know the actor, Leo Tavener?’

‘Um …’ I nodded. ‘Yeah, maybe. I don’t think I’ve seen him in anything though. Why?’

‘You know he’s at Oxford?’

‘No.’ I shook my head, and my eyes opened wider, especially at the annoyance crossing Violet’s face, because I’m not sure I’d ever seen her annoyed. As far as I was concerned, Violet was eternally happy and full of sunshine, but I kind of liked the scowl she was wearing.

‘He is, and he’s an insufferable know-it-all. He got the part of Orsino without even auditioning.’

‘Oh,’ I replied, trying to hold in the grin at how annoyed she clearly was. I also wasn’t entirely sure what she was talking about, because Shakespeare was not my strong point. ‘But, did you get the part you wanted?’

Biting the end of one of her striped gloves, she eased it off and brushed a loose violet strand of hair away from her face, ‘I don’t know yet. Hopefully – we’ll find out next week – but the part I want is opposite him, and it means I’ll have to spend the next few months with him. Ugh.’

‘When’s the play?’

‘The beginning of next term. Rehearsals start in two weeks.’

‘I’d offer to step in, but I’m not sure my skills stretch to Shakespeare.’ I finally let out the laugh I’d been holding onto. In turn it made her laugh – a deep, throaty sound that set off a flutter in my chest that made mewonder if I was having an aneurism or something. Not that I knew what that felt like, but it was probably similar.

‘No, I can’t exactly see you on stage, Chazzle. Though you’d certainly fill out the tights and doublet nicely, if your rowing singlet is anything to go by.’

As soon as she said it, her eyes popped wide and her cheeks turned from light pink to deep fuchsia. The Violet I’d always known said whatever popped into her brain and did it with zero shame or embarrassment, so I wasn’t entirely sure why she was now staring at me. I stood there, waiting to see if she was going to add anything else, or maybe blink, while also trying my hardest to bite down on the smile threatening to break out.

‘I’d hope so. Otherwise all that training would have gone to waste,’ I replied eventually.

‘Yes, well … quite,’ she spluttered when she finally recovered, though didn’t quite meet my eye. ‘Anyway, what was it you had for me?’

I eased my backpack off, and pulled out the two pieces of paper I’d printed off earlier. Violet took them from me, and after thirty seconds of studying the coloured grids on each page, she looked up.

‘What is this?’

I peered at the one in her right hand, ‘This is your timetable, the other one is mine. We can overlap them, and see where we can meet up.’

‘Mine is purple?’

I glanced down at the page again, ‘Yes … violet, actually. To match you.’

Her eyes shot to mine, and I kind of wished I hadn’tpointed that out, or done it in the first place. Why did I make them violet?

‘Charlie, how did you get my schedule?’

‘Um …’ I cleared my throat, ‘I can access the university servers.’

Her eyebrows shot up, almost disappearing under her navy beanie. ‘Huey always says you’re freakishly scary with computers.’

I grinned. ‘I’ll take that as a compliment, and I don’t do it for anything underhand. I don’t change grades or anything.’

‘You can change grades?’ she whispered.

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