Page 75 of The Alternate Captain
“She doesn’t think it’s more than that, right? You aren’t leading her on or anything, Cap? I mean, how old is she again?”
I have to fight back the urge to tell him that despite her age, some of the most mature conversations I’ve had in a long time have been with her.That’ll be me showing my hand. Admitting that I’m actually into her, even if she’s not speaking to me right now.
“She’s nineteen. But no. It’s nothing like that. Just do me a favour, please? Don’t tell Bettsy.”
The last thing I need is Bettsy putting two and two together and figuring out it was me Kelly’s upset with. Besides, I know he’s not as dumb as he makes out sometimes.
“I—” Ffordey’s eyes widen as he looks straight past me.
“Don’t tell Bettsy what?” Bettsy’s voice cuts through the air. I spin around and there he is. “What can’t you tell me?” He asks again, shifting his eyes between me and Ffordey.
I feel sick. The heat rises through my body as my blood rushes. I have to give him something. What the hell can I say? I ramble for a moment about him needing to keep his mouth shut, then something pops into my head. Vicky’s going to kill me, but it’s that, or Bettsy breaks my legs.
“I found out that the real reason Liam and Vicky split up was because Vicky couldn’t deal with the prospect of divorce. She didn’t want to end up like our parents. And—”
“Well, I can’t say I blame her. But I don’t really give a shit about that, mate.”
I flash a glance at Ffordey, who shrugs.
“Are we going to eat then or what?” Bettsy says.
As we head towards my car, I realise I’ve made a huge mistake.
“He’s tooold foryou, you know,” Darren says, loading his saxophone back into its case. “I’ve seen it before, Kel. He’ll realise that you’re at different stages in your lives and then call things off and then he’ll leave you heartbroken and—”
“Can you stop talking now, please? I really don’t give a shit what you think.” I’ve been holding in tears ever since I saw Johnny. Because I’m punishing us both. All I want to do is tell him I forgive him—tell him I understand why he reacted the way he did, but I can’t muster the courage. What if he rejects me even more?
Darren gives me a pitiful expression. “Really? Because I know you, Kelly.”
“No, you don’t.”
I rummage through the music in front of me.
“I do. And trust me. Guys like Johnny don’t go after girls like you. He probably wants an easy time. I mean, assuming you’re sleeping with him?”
I pull my attention away from the score sheets to stare Darren in the eye. “What business do you have asking that?”
“Come on, Kelly. His mate out there thought the same thing. He hadn’t even told the guy you were a couple. I saw the look on his face—he’s probably embarrassed admitting he’s with you.”
Oh my God.
Ffordey.
I pull my phone out and navigate to my text thread with Johnny, tuning out the yapping that Darren is still rolling with.
Kelly
I realise Ffordey was there when Darren said what he said.
I’m so sorry. Hopefully, you told him the full story, and he doesn’t get the wrong idea.
I’ll tell Darren we’ve broken up the next opportunity I get.
I stare at my screen for a moment, but when it doesn’t change to read, I stuff it away and busy myself packing up my cello.
“Are you even listening to me?” Darren says, moving into my personal space.
“No. And unless you have something to say about the composition, please don’t speak to me.”
