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@runicrascal

Haha! I do suppose I’ve got a reputation to live up to

@runicrascal

See you Wednesday?

@mythicwitch

Can’t wait x

@runicrascal

Me either

@mythicwitch

Night!

@runicrascal

Goodnight, Cerys x

And even though I ended the conversation, it’s impossible to sleep when, even after I plug my phone in to charge and leave it on my nightstand, I’m busy replaying the conversation over again in my mind, smiling to myself and with butterflies in my stomach.

I fall asleep daydreaming about kisses, and wake up the next morning from dreams of dark, intense eyes and a low voice saying my name like a prayer.

CHAPTER 12

When Wednesday rolls around, I once again have a panic about my outfit – I can’t bring myself to wear the fandom tee again and risk a full-on eyeroll from Max this time. I forgo Daphne’s assistance with my make-up this week, promising I’ll try the look again soon but not sure I have the confidence for it right now, and instead make a dash for the bus with her calling after me, ‘Good luck! Go get your man, Cerys! Morning debrief at Costa with the girls tomorrow!’

I turn around long enough to grin and wave, already looking forward to it, glad that the free-period coffees sound like a staple in the calendar, one I’m firmly included in.

October has arrived with brisk winds, even if the sun is still bright and warm. The leaves haven’t turned yet, and there’s a summery feeling still clinging to things. Today, my outfit is the same blue, floaty sundress I woreto the convention a couple of weeks ago, but layered with a woolly jumper and paired with trainers instead of sandals.

Maybe it’s notquitethe weather for a sundress, but I’ve had to compensate for Max third-wheeling again by putting a bit more effort into my look. My hair is piled into a bun, slicked back with some serum that Nikita lent me and held in place by about a thousand hairpins. It’s making my head ache after being so stiffly in place all day, but when I catch sight of myself in the reflection off the bus window, I don’t dare mess with it. Itdoeslook really good. Sophisticated. Older.

Like someone who knows how to flirt with boys and signal to her best friend that she’d very much like for him to kiss her, thank you.

This time, when I get to Jake’s house, I notice Max’s car parked skew-whiff once more on the pavement. Ginny’s car is there too, but only because she doesn’t take it to uni with her; Jake’s planning to use it to practise driving, much to her chagrin.

‘Thomas never had to sharehiscar,’ was her argument, according to Jake, to which their mum had replied, ‘Yes, but Thomas had moved out and graduated uni by the time you were learning to drive.Yourcar is sat here doing nothing, and since your father and I paythe insurance, you can share it with Jake while he’s learning and you’re at uni.’

Mum and Dad have both said they’ll take me out to learn in one of their cars since I got my provisional this summer, but that hasn’t happened yet. It’s another fight I’ve avoided causing between them, sure thatsomehowthey’ll use it to find another way to be at each other’s throats and ruin the whole experience anyway.

I cast a glare at Max’s car, annoyed –jealous– then steel myself and go knock at the front door. There are voices on the other side, laughter about something, and then it swings open to reveal Jake. He’s in his school shirt and a pair of grey tracksuit bottoms, beaming at me but already moving back inside.

‘Alright, Cerys? Ready for another round of your favourite show?’

I laugh. ‘Don’t you know it! Fangirl official, right?’

He doesn’t send me upstairs like last week, so I follow him to the open-plan kitchen/diner to help as he starts making snacks. Toasties, again, of course.

‘Sometimes I think if we cut you in half, you’d bleed melted cheese.’

Jake snorts. ‘That is weirdly morbid. And also, absolutely true.’

‘Sooo,’ I sing-song. ‘How’s school?’