After one of the most embarrassing experiences of her life, Viola Hawkins is left feeling hopeless and demoralised. So when she's told that she's able to work as an undercover agent in a boarding school, she's given a new chance to change her life...
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At the end of the school day, we head to our dorm to relax before dinner. Maddy gushes about Will while I lie on my bed and listen, but so many thoughts are rustling around my head that I can't think properly.
I decide to start unpacking instead, and Maddy gladly helps me put up my photos while we listen to music (very quiet music as we're not allowed to make noise).
When we head downstairs for dinner, the other dormitory groups blend with ours, but we don't see the boys we know anywhere around us. It's only when we sit to eat, that Ash takes the place next to Maddy, and eventually a familiar cologne smell fills my nose as Will sits in the place beside me.
When everyone else is talking amongst themselves and not listening, he nudges my knee with his. "Meet me outside my dorm room tonight. Room 208."
"Why?"
His eyes roam over my face lazily as a smile appears. "Do you have to ask a question for everything?"
"Yes." I say plainly, but leave it nonetheless.
Dinner is nothing short of a royal banquet. Well, I've never been to one, but I know that if I did, it would be similar. The starters are placed in front of us by the cooks, all exactly the same apart from the vegetarians and people with allergies. It's a creamy mushroom and chicken soup, with parsley on the top. As soon as I put the spoon in my mouth, I get a blend of flavours: strong, flavoursome mushrooms, cream, salt, and aromatic herbs.
I'm almost full by the time the main dish comes, consisting of beef wellington, potatoes and gravy. I nearly die eating it because it's so heavenly.
By pudding, I'm almost sure I have a food baby. Everyone else is chatting like it's no big deal, but me and Will are wolfing our food down like we've never eaten before.
Seriously, I feel like my waters are going to break.
"So Jake," Amie says, watching him eat with her elbows on the table and her head in her hands. "Where are you from? And what do your parents work as?"
Will finishes his mouthful, swallows hard and says, "I'm from London, but my dad is an executive producer for films in Hollywood, so he goes away a lot. My mum is a plastic surgeon. They thought it would be easier if I just boarded at school instead, seeing as we moved all the time."
It's as if he's really Jake, the words tumbling out of his mouth as if he's lived that life. Everyone else nods, believing it in a second, while I feel a strange surge of being proud of him inside me.
Maybe we can get through this.
"And you Mia? Where are you from?" Amie turns to me, a smile on her face.
Now everyone is listening. Oh, god. What if I mess this up? It could all go wrong, I could-
Warm fingers thread through mine, squeezing hard, and I realise it's Will, resting our hands on his knee. Truthfully, I think part of me melts inside at his action. He's telling me not to be afraid, and somehow, it's working.
