Summer of Like // Farleigh Start x OC

3: You Couldn't Catch My Eye 'Cause I Was Too Busy Rolling Them

It takes me a few days to be able to find my way around Saltburn without Venetia's help. The room I'm staying in - across the hall from Venetia's - is tucked away in the eastern wing of the house, which makes it easy to get to the dining room and the kitchen, but hard to get to the library (which I don't know why it's called a library when it's very obviously a living room). In a house as lavish as Saltburn, you'd think there'd be plenty of landmarks to guide me, but all of the portraits look the same when they're not my relatives.

    Still, by the third day, I manage to make it down to the library after changing out of my bikini without getting lost.

    Venetia is lounging on the couch when I come down the hall, and I plop down beside her, letting my head fall nicely onto her shoulder. "Hey." The scent of vanilla wafts over me, and I find my eyes drifting to the necklace that hangs on her collarbones. "You're more done up that usual - should I go back upstairs and put something nicer on?"

    She gives me the up-and-down that totally means I should go back upstairs and put something nicer on. "No, that's cute. It's not like anything - Felix and Farleigh are supposed to get in today, is all."

    "Ah, yes Felix." I say. The brother that I've heard so much about, but not yet met. I feel like I know him just about as well as Venetia does, just from how much she talks about him. If she hadn't told me that he was her brother, I'd think he was her long distance boyfriend. "I can't wait to put a face to all the stories I've heard."

    "Farleigh will be so excited that he's got another American to talk to." She says.

    "Yes, you've been saying." I say, making myself more comfortable against her side. It sort of feels like she's already trying to pawn me off on her cousin so that she can spend more time with her brother, but I shouldn't take it personally - she's just missed him, I think. And after being surrounded by pretentious Brits at Cambridge for a year, having another American to talk to does sound pretty refreshing.

    She rests her head on top of mine. "You have to promise me something, Evie."

    "Yeah, of course." I say.

    "You can't fall in love with Felix."

    The seriousness that she says it in almost makes me laugh. "V, I'm not going to fall in love with your brother. You've told me stories about how he used to piss his pants on purpose to have to come home from elementary school."

    "Primary." Venetia corrects, and I can feel her cheek move against the top of my head as she grins. "Yeah, I did, didn't I? You can't tell him I told you that."

    "Cross my heart." I say. "And cross my heart that I'm not going to fall in love with him either?"

    "Promise?"

    I don't get a chance to answer before the sound of the massive front doors creaking open filters through the room, and Venetia shoots up from her seat beside me, brushing her hands down her front before heading out of the library. Not wanting to be left behind alone in the library, I quickly follow along.

    Ahead of me, Venetia moves through the house with ease, breezing down the hall towards the massive foyer, blonde hair fluttering out behind her from her own breeze. I keep up a few steps behind her, and try to calm my nerves. I've already met her parents - so why am I nervous about meeting her brother? Just because Venetia thinks so highly of him doesn't mean that I will, but after hearing all the stories, it's a little infectious, her reverence of him.

    As we round the bend into the foyer proper, Venetia squeals, rushing forward towards a very tall boy who I can assume is Felix. He grins wide when he sees her coming, and scoops her up into a hug when they crash together. He looks like her in the way that all siblings look like each other - and it makes me think that maybe beauty just runs in the family. I can see why Venetia was worried about me falling in love with him.

    "Hi."

    Another voice to the right draws my attention away from Venetia and her brother. Another boy, just as tall as Felix, stands a few feet away, a halo of curls around his head and a wry smile on his face. Everything about him exudes confidence, down to the little smudge of glitter sticking out of the collar of his tee shirt, like he simply hasn't bothered to wipe away last night's partying.

    By process of elimination, I can assume this is Farleigh.

    "Hi." I return, shooting him a smile back.

    It's as if my voice jolts Venetia back to reality. "Oh- Felix, Farleigh, this is my friend Evie, from school. She's staying the summer with us-" She steps back from her brother. "Where's yours, Fi?"

    "Oh, Ollie?" Felix asks. "Yeah, he'll be down in a few days, poor lad got stuck with the last round of exams so he's still at Oxford."

    "Poor lad." Farleigh repeats, exaggerating his pout.

    Venetia grins. "You don't like him, Far?"

    Farleigh returns her smile, and leans forward to flick her on the tip of the nose. "Not in the slightest." When he rights himself, his gaze turns to me. "Venetia says you're American."

    "I am." I say.

    "Where from?" He asks.

    "New York." I say.

    He cocks his head, and grins. "Brooklyn?"

    I can't help but smile back. "Is it that bad?" I laugh. "What about you, where are you from?"

    "Rhode Island. Bristol." He says. "But I lived in Manhattan for a little while with my dad."

    My attention is stolen when Felix sticks his hand out to shake. I grin as I take his hand, and he returns the gesture. "Lovely to meet you Evie. It's so exciting that Venetia's brought a friend for the summer - I'm always worried she gets sick of all the testosterone by the end of holiday."

    "I was starting to think you didn't have any friends, V." Farleigh adds, his eyes flicking over to Venetia.

    "Shove off, Farleigh - when was the last time you brought someone back for the summer?" Venetia says, taking her brother by the hand and starting back towards the library. Farleigh and I follow along in their wake, Farleigh's nose wrinkling up as he frowns. "You know Mum and Dad would let you if you asked." She says.

    Farleigh just rolls his eyes.

    "Where are Mum and Dad anyway?" Felix asks, tilting his head like they might be hiding in one of the rooms we pass.

    "Mum went off with Pamela to town, one of the boutiques, I think, and Dad should be around here somewhere." Venetia says. "Probably got lost in a book. Anyway- you've got to catch me up, it's been months since Christmas, tell me everything!"

    Farleigh rolls his eyes again, but this time it's playful, and he looks at me pointedly, like I'm in on the joke. And in a way - I am. I know exactly what he's thinking. I'm beginning to see it myself now that Felix and Venetia are in the same room, and I smile back, sympathetic.