‘Duh!’ I said, flicking my hair dramatically. ‘As usual. Cal, thank you so –’
‘Hey.’ Ethan came out of nowhere, taking my hand and shooting Cal an odd look. ‘Can I steal you away? I need you to meet some people.’
‘Right, yeah, of course.’
As he pulled me away from Cal, he smiled down at me curiously.
‘Who is that guy? Do I need to be worried about riding solo to the Christmas Ball?’
‘No, no!’ I assured him quickly. ‘He’s nobody. Just the son of an employee.’
But Ethan wasn’t listening any more. He had seen someone he knew and was too busy greeting them. I glanced back over my shoulder to see Cal watching me with a stunned, hurt look on his face. He shook his head, and then turned to push his way through the crowd and out the door. He didn’t come back.
‘He’ll show,’ Sky said determinedly as the last of her suitcases were taken downstairs by the porters. When I’d finished repeating the story to her, I’d mentioned that Cal and I had previously arranged a ‘Royale education’ lesson that Sunday with the florist.
I nodded with much more confidence than I felt and escorted her downstairs to where her car was waiting. Mum, Audrey, Matthew and Fritz had lined up ready to say their goodbyes in the lobby.
‘I’ll miss you guys,’ she said, her eyes welling as she picked Fritz up and he gave her a lick on the cheek. ‘See you at Christmas.’
She gave me a long hug, took one last selfie with Fritz, blew us all kisses and then waltzed out the door through the crowd of waiting press and into her car. That was when the florist arrived ready for our day and the wait for Cal started.
He didn’t show up.
‘But the deal’s off.’ Cal shrugged simply.
I had accosted him in the cafeteria, the first time I’d seen him at school that day. He hadn’t replied to any of my voicemails or texts, and I’d tried searching for him in the library earlier in the morning with no luck. But then as I was sliding a plate of food on to my tray at lunch, I spotted him putting his tray into the racks at the other side of the dining room, about to leave. I left my tray where it was, and raced through the cafeteria to catch him, dodging through students and causing heads to pop up curiously at the fuss. Ella, sitting in the middle of a table of girls, looked particularly interested.
‘What do you mean the deal’s off??’ I asked, when I’d demanded that he explain why he hadn’t shown up the day before. It’s not like I hadn’t apologised in those messages and, yes, what I said wasn’t the kindest of comments but I explained in my voicemails that I hadn’t meant it, so there was no need for him to be in such a strop.
He sighed as though having to explain something very simple to an impatient child.
‘The deal between me and you.’
‘I don’t understand,’ I said, crossing my arms. ‘You said you would help me learn everything there was to know. There’s still plenty to learn.’
‘Yeah, and you said that in return you’d get me an interview with Skylar Chase and unless theDaily Postis completely mistaken, Skylar Chase took a plane back to LA yesterday.’
My heart sank. He was right. I had completely forgotten about his interview.
‘Cal –’
He cut me off coldly. ‘I held up my end of the deal and, as we found out on Saturday, you got your way. You can go to the Christmas Ball with your blogger or vlogger . . . or whatever he is. You didn’t hold up your end of the deal, so as far as I’m concerned, it’s all off. Surely you don’t need the help of a mere son of an employee any more. After all, that’s all I am, right? A nobody.’
‘No, Cal, I didn’t mean it. Didn’t you get my messages?’
‘I’ll see you around, Flick.’
I wanted to go after him as he walked away, but I didn’t know what else there was to say. I had become so involved in winning over Mum about the Christmas Ball, I’d completely forgotten the promise I’d made to Cal. And he’d wasted all that time helping me to get what I wanted, without getting anything in return.
‘Well, well, well.’
A snide voice behind me made a shiver go down my spine. I turned to face Ella, who was now standing behind me.
‘What do you want, Ella?’ I asked, feeling very drained from my conversation with Cal and not particularly in the mood for any more confrontation.
‘I’m calling you out, Flick Royale,’ she said, a thin smile creeping across her lips. The cafeteria immediately descended into a hush, all eyes watching us in anticipation. I glanced over at Olly, who stood up anxiously when he saw what was going on.
‘Ella, I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ I muttered softly.
