Page 29 of Oleander

“I said I hadn’t been to the cinema to see it. Not that they didn’t make us all watch it in the recreation room at La Troyieux. It was nonsense.”

“I agree, buddy. Too far-fetched for me.” Luke chuckled at his own joke. One he made frequently about the far-fetched nature of films like The Avengers. “Right, are you two ready to go?”

Caspien stood, still holding the copy ofDracula, which it looked like he was taking with him to the beach, despite how boring it was. He followed Luke, and I followed him. Beth handed the cool box off to me as I passed along with the rucksack she’d packed.

“Remember, sunscreen.”

“I know, I know. I will. Thanks.”

Outside, I put the cool box in the boot of Beth’s car, and while I did so, Caspien climbed into the front seat with Luke without so much as a glance at me. I glared at the back of his head. I already regretted inviting him.

I hadn’t even mentioned it to Alfie yet, and so when he sent a text to the group chat to say they were already at the beach, I decided to break the news.

Me:

OMW. And...Caspien is here with me.

Then, because I was a coward, I said:.

Me:

Beth made me invite him.

Alfie sent a dozen question marks and a few exclamation points, and Josh sent a few crying with laughter emojis. I typed back for him to chill, and that Caspien was cool. Then I shoved my phone back in my pocket and stared out the window.

This was going to be terrible.

It was terrible. But not for the reasons I expected. It was terrible because they liked him. Because once again, he’d been nice to them. When I introduced them he told them he was glad to meet them and that they should call him ‘Cas’. I’d tried to hide my annoyance at that. I’d known him close to three months at this point and had not been given that nickname to use.

Ellie had come forward and kissed me quickly, sliding her arm around my waist to pull me closer – proprietary in a wayI wasn’t sure how I felt about. Not with Caspien’s presence two feet away. It felt weird having her do it in front of the others. She’d been a little handsy in school this past week, but this was more than that, and I couldn’t help glancing at Caspien as she laid her head on my shoulder. He wasn’t looking at me. Instead, he’d begun pulling off his T-shirt and then his shorts to reveal a pair of navy blue swim shorts with a little designer motif on the waistband. Alfie was a little chilly at first, but an hour later he’d come around and was inviting him to his birthday party in a month’s time.

I hadn’t known what to expect. I was certain there was another personality buried in there somewhere and that he’d pull it out just the way he had with Luke and then Beth. I’d been right. I just wasn’t sure why it annoyed me so much. Seeing him talking with Alfie and Josh and smiling at Ellie and Georgia shouldn’t have annoyed me, but it did.

It felt too complicated to understand, too stupid to even articulate, but I hated that I was the only one he didn’t act like a normal person around. More than that, I hated that I cared enough to be annoyed about it.

“He seems nice,” Ellie said, stretching out beside me.

“Does he?” I said moodily.

“I mean, Georgia thinks so...” She looked over to where the others were.

“Yeah, he’s a proper prince charming. Just her type.”

“She’s waiting on him to ask her, you know.”

“Who?”

“Alfie.”

Something relaxed inside me. “She knows?” My eyebrows shot up and Ellie gave me a look as if I were stupid.

“Hey, will you put some on my back?” She nudged me with the bottle of sunscreen and then flipped onto her front, pulling her pigtails out of the way of her exposed back. She wore a green floral bikini that tied around the back of her neck. I squeezed a dollop onto the middle of her back, causing her to shriek loudly.

“Jude! You put it on your hands first! It’s too cold!” She laughed, throwing a playful glare over her shoulder. After she’d settled, I began rubbing the lotion over her shoulders and down the slope of her back, smooth and already golden from the sun. She had a freckle in the right-hand corner, just above the waistband of her bikini bottoms, and I focused on it. It felt strangely awkward. And suddenly, I had the memory of Caspien washing my hands over the large sink in the kitchen of Deveraux House.

As though my thoughts had summoned him, a shadow fell over us, and I looked up to find him staring down at me. Dripping wet, his cheeks flushed from exertion, his body a glittering golden thing; he looked like a magical sea creature.

“I need a towel,” he told me like I was his mother.