Our plan was off and running. Cassie handed me one pink dangly earring and we started walking towards the two boys. Just as we were about to reach them, Cass’s hat brushed against a branch of the fig tree and fell down over her right ear.
‘Oh no!’ she cried in a slightly louder than normal voice, putting her hand to her ear. ‘I think I’ve dropped an earring!’
She and Jelena dropped to their knees and started combing the ground with their palms. Scott Ryder and Goatee Guy looked over at them, then at each other, then leapt off their lunch table to join in the hunt.
Scott dropped down next to Cass. ‘What does it look like? Did you just notice it missing? Is it expensive?’ The questions were exhaled in one breath.
Meanwhile, Goatee Guy was examining the branches of the fig tree in case the ‘lost’ earring had got caught in them.
While the girls were explaining just how the earring had been lost and giving its exact description, I discreetly dropped said item just to the right of them. Yes, it’s a highly calculated manoeuvre, but if it helps you make contact with a crush and establish a friendly rapport, can it really be harmful?
‘It’s pink,’ Cass said, gazing at Scott’s face instead of where she was supposed to be looking. Luckily Scott’s eyes were on the ground.
‘Pale pink, bubblegum or hot pink?’ he asked.
Cassie looked at him in shock.
‘I have thirteen-year-old twin sisters,’ he explained. ‘I’ve heard them painstakingly discussing the shade of a new nail polish.’
I was impressed. A boy who knows his colours demonstrates that he pays attention to detail.
Just then, Scott spotted the earring. Both he and Cassie moved towards it at the same time and collided, knocking heads.
‘Ooof!’ Scott said
‘Ow,’ Cass moaned.
They stood up, both rubbing their heads.
Jelena took control of the situation. ‘So, to whom do we owe our endless thanks?’
Goatee Guy smiled and extended his hand to her. ‘Alex West.’ He gave her a wink. ‘This is my trusty friend of two hours, Scott Ryder. Fresh meat has to stick together.’
‘Jelena Cantrill.’ Jelena took his hand and shook it confidently.
‘Aurora Skye.’ I gave them both a little wave.
Cassie just stood looking dazedly at Scott.
‘You’re Cassie Shields,’ he said, smiling at her. ‘I saw your name on your pencil case in history.’
He’d noticed! Majorly good sign.
‘We were actually hoping to run into you,’ I said to them.
They looked at me blankly.
‘We run a voluntary search-and-rescue program for new students — you know, making sure they don’t crumble under the stress of a new environment. Helping them locate facilities such as the all-important canteen. We’re actually on our way to that particular location right now. Are you in need of rescuing?’
Another FPP rule: prolong your time with a Potential Prince so you can check him out more closely.
‘I don’t think we’ll survive break without the help of your program. You’d better lead the way,’ Alex replied smoothly.
Success!
We walked over to the canteen together and joined the line.
‘I like your sneakers,’ Jelena said, checking out Alex’s up-to-the-minute footwear. ‘Do you play a lot of sport?’
‘I don’t just play,’ Alex said. ‘I live sport. At my old school, I was head of the soccer and basketball teams. Both ended up in the nationals last year. I also played for the under-seventeens footy team —’
I tuned out and shifted my attention to Cassie and Scott’s conversation. Cassie asked Scott if he was into sports too.
‘I worked as a lifesaver this summer,’ he told her.
They were made for each other! Scott spent his time saving people who got into trouble in the water while Cassie rescued people from drowning in their problems!
Scott turned to me, smiling. ‘You said your name was Aurora Skye, right? I already know all about you through a friend.’
Word of how fabulous I am had obviously spread throughout the land.
‘I’m an old friend of Hayden Paris,’ Scott went on. ‘He’s part of the reason that I transferred here.’
What do you know? Hayden had actually come in handy for once. Thanks to him, Cassie had a Potential Prince at her fingertips.
‘I saw you sitting behind him in history but only just put two and two together now. I think my brain’s still running a little slow after the holidays.’ He smiled, flashing those incredible dimples.
Cassie and I grinned back at him. Dimples like that excused any lapses of memory.
Scott glanced around the crowd. ‘Hayden said he’d meet me where Alex and I were sitting before. I wonder what kept him away?’
Graffiti and its removal came instantly to mind but there was no way I was going to get into that with Scott. Who knew what Hayden had told him about me? I was going to have to do my best to make a good impression for the sake of Cassie’s romantic future. Friends are a powerful influence upon dating decisions. Any further talk about Hayden’s and my tumultuous relationship could inhibit Scott’s favourable opinion of Cass. As we reached the end of the line and we girls got our fruit salads, I knew it was time to wrap it up.
‘Hopefully your feelings of anxiety are easing,’ I said to Alex and Scott. ‘What’s your next class?’
They both replied that it was Spanish.
‘The language building’s directly opposite.’ I pointed it out. ‘We wish you well for the rest of your first day here at Jefferson. Our search-and-rescue team must keep moving.’
We gave them a wave and strolled away.
‘What classes do you have?’ Scott shouted after us.
We pretended we couldn’t hear him and waved again. As men love the exhilaration of the chase, you’ve got to do all you can to keep them wondering. We continued to play it cool until we rounded the corner.
‘Yes!’ Jelena punched the air triumphantly, making several heads turn. ‘Contact has been established.’
Cassie didn’t say anything, but her ear-to-ear grin spoke for itself.
‘Play it cool, Agent J,’ I said. Nothing gets Jelena more excited than a successful power play. ‘Remember, at this stage it’s important to evaluate the subject impartially.’
‘Impartially speaking, he’s gorgeous and a champion athlete.’
‘What about the bad points?’
I remembered how Alex had carefully looked us over before he talked to us. I had the suspicion he was making sure we were the ‘right type’ to associate with.
‘Oh, I’ll think of the bad points later,’ Jelena said breezily. ‘Did you know he has an interest in social structures too? He asked me lots of questions about which groups were which. I, of course, indicated modestly that we belonged to the most socially desirable one.’
Oh brother.
‘This is shaping up to be one fabulous start to the semester,’ Jelena said, sweeping her fingers through her hair.
‘Cass, how come you were so quiet?’ I asked.
Usually Cass enthrals guys with funny stories, but Scott had been doing most of the talking at the canteen.
‘I couldn’t seem to find my voice.’ Cassie had obviously been hit hard by Cupid’s arrow.