How to Keep a Boy from Kissing You (Aurora Skye Book 1)

‘Oh my god! That was so romantic!’ Lindsay, sitting next to me on the assembly stands, shook her head. ‘And to stay silent the whole time … so mysterious!’

‘Lindsay, you’ve been saying that for the past twenty minutes.’ Jelena slipped on a pair of sunglasses. ‘Tell me, why do they have to hold assembly out by the pool? The glare off the water is sure to give me premature wrinkling round my eyes.’

‘Problem is, what if model girl got a rose too?’ Cassie said, looking down at the yellow petals of Scott’s flower.

‘He could be giving them out like there’s no tomorrow,’ Jelena agreed.

Cass’s smile, which had been gleaming for twenty minutes, faded slightly.

I put my hand on her shoulder. ‘Cass, what did I tell you about not panicking till we’ve looked up the symbolism of the flower?’

‘Which I’ve just found in the school library!’ Sara called as she made her way up the stands to where we sat on the second-highest step.

‘Good afternoon, students and staff!’ Mr Quinten, the school principal, said over the mike. ‘Hopefully you are enjoying Valentine’s Day. I’m proud to announce that our flower booth has raised an unprecedented sum this year —’

‘Probably thanks to all my admirers,’ Jelena quipped.

‘She’s a modest one, isn’t she?’ Sara said and elbowed Jelena in the ribs. They both giggled.

‘— which will go towards purchasing new cricket equipment,’ Mr Quinten said.

‘Great one, Jelena,’ I said, putting my hands over my ears as the microphone screeched. ‘Now they can finally replace the cricket balls, we’ll be back to dodging the things.’

‘Could you try to be less attractive next year?’ Sara added.

‘I’ll do my best.’ Jelena slicked on lip gloss. ‘But beauty is a curse as well as a blessing.’

‘On this day of love, I’d like to speak about student relations,’ Mr Quinten continued. ‘As a result of the Student Council’s Bully Ban, our recent student survey revealed that ninety-five per cent of you feel happy and safe here at Jefferson High.’

‘The other five per cent must have been surveyed during sport,’ I whispered. In my opinion, baseball and cricket bats come under the category of weapons.

‘So I’d like you all to give a round of applause to the program’s creator, Hayden Paris, and the other Student Council members who helped put it in place.’

Hayden, sitting way down near the bottom of the steps, gave an embarrassed wave as everyone cheered.

Sara sighed. ‘He’s so modest.’

‘Modest? This morning he was trying to get me to admit that I’d written an ode to his good looks!’ I shook my head. ‘Can we turn our attention to what’s important? Cassie and Scott?’

‘Yeah, we have to find out what a yellow rose really means.’ Lindsay grabbed the flower symbolism book from Sara’s hands.

Jelena looked thoughtful. ‘I wonder why he didn’t send you a red rose? That’s the traditional Valentine’s Day flower.’

‘Yellow rose, yellow rose …’ Lindsay scoured the book. ‘Here we go! A yellow rose traditionally stood for jealousy —’

‘Jealousy?’ Cassie raised her eyebrows. ‘Scott’s jealous?’

‘What could he be jealous of?’ Jelena pondered. ‘It’s not like you have a boyfriend already. Unless …’

‘What?’ we all cried.

Jelena waved an arm dismissively. ‘Nothing. Just that, say Scott’s not what we think he is …?’

‘Are you trying to say Scott could be gay?’ I peered at Jelena, looking for a sign of amusement in her eyes. She had to be joking.

Sara’s eyes widened. ‘He is very artistic. And he knows his colours.’

‘Do gay guys comment on how cute a girl is?’ Cassie asked. She looked utterly baffled by Jelena’s suggestion.

We all looked at each other.

‘But why would Scott be jealous of Cassie if he’s gay?’ Lindsay looked confused.

‘I didn’t say gay. He could just be a secret cross-dresser.’

We all stared at Jelena, clueless.

‘Maybe he’s jealous of Cassie’s wardrobe.’ She pointed at Cassie’s perfectly colour-coordinated outfit.

‘Jelena, that’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard!’ I cried. ‘No-one sends someone a rose ’cause they’re lusting for their wardrobe! What world are you living in?’

‘A world full of strange characters,’ Jelena replied, gesturing to the students around us. ‘You know, you should really ask Hayden if Scott —’

‘I’m not asking Hayden if his best friend is a cross-dresser!’ I whispered. ‘That’s embarrassing.’

‘Well, if you don’t want to help Cassie …’

Of course I wanted to help Cassie. But Hayden was already accusing me of being a busybody. If I asked about Scott’s sexual orientation, he’d probably have a fit.

‘Lindsay, are there any other meanings for yellow roses?’ Sara asked. Obviously she wasn’t taking Jelena’s theory seriously either.

‘It has several meanings,’ Lindsay read, ‘including making an apology —’

‘Has Scott done anything to apologise for?’ I asked Cassie.

‘Maybe it’s an I’m-sorry-I-lust-after-your-wardrobe rose —’

‘Enough with the gay thing!’ I hissed at Jelena.

‘Cross-dresser,’ she corrected. ‘It’s actually separate to sexual orientation.’

I rolled my eyes.

Lindsay continued. ‘The beginning of a new life —’

‘Ooohh! Maybe he thinks you have a future!’ Sara grabbed Cassie’s arm excitedly.

‘That is so romantic!’ Lindsay sighed. ‘It can also mean domestic happiness, but the overall meaning is friendship.’

‘Friendship?’ We all groaned. This was not good.

Cassie’s lips turned downwards.

‘A yellow rose with a red tip indicates friendship turning into love,’ Lindsay continued.

Sara grabbed at the rose. ‘Does it have a red tip?’

Cassie studied the flower. ‘It looks more orange.’

‘I’d call it vermilion,’ Jelena argued.

‘Is vermilion red?’ Sara looked confused.

‘Lindsay,’ I said, ‘does it say anything about a vermilion or orange tip?’

Lindsay looked down at the book. ‘Nope. Just red.’

‘So he sees me purely as a friend?’ Cassie’s face was pure disappointment.

‘Model girl probably got the red rose,’ Jelena said.

‘Jelena! Talk about discouraging!’ Sara frowned at her.

‘Guys!’ I cried. ‘This is ridiculous! I bet Scott didn’t even know the symbolism of a yellow rose! We’re going to have to find out the truth of this situation instead of speculating.’

‘How?’ Cassie sniffed her rose.

‘We’re going to secretly observe him,’ I replied in a mysterious tone.

‘What, hide in the bushes or something?’ Jelena laughed. ‘Aurora, you know I don’t hide.’

‘Well, luckily for you, this is a two-person operation.’

Luckily for us too. Jelena would probably insist on ransacking his room for evidence of cross-dressing.

‘Cassie, what day does Scott go to sculpting classes?’ I asked.

‘Friday.’ She frowned at me. ‘That’s today. Why? What are you going to do?’

‘We, Cass. We’re going to tail him to the class and see what’s going on with model girl.’

Cassie looked horrified. ‘We can’t do that!’

‘It’s the only way of finding out the truth,’ I said. I’m all for privacy but this was an urgent situation. ‘I’m sure Scott would hate the assumptions that we’re making — particularly Jelena’s.’

‘Isn’t tailing illegal?’ Sara asked.

‘What about those investigators you can hire to find out if your husband’s having an affair? That’s legal,’ I pointed out. ‘And my way doesn’t involve spending money that could be used on a shopping spree.’ I turned to Cassie. ‘So are you in?’

She hesitated.

‘Cass, you’ve tried asking him. And we’ve exhausted our other sources.’

Hayden had been so unhelpful. If he’d just answered a simple question, we wouldn’t be resorting to questionable activities.

‘Oh, okay then.’ Cassie’s eyes still looked worried.

‘So, our first basketball game of the year is happening next Thursday,’ Mr Quinten announced, then broke off. ‘Well, this is highly unusual,’ he said, sounding put out. ‘We have a delivery boy from Flower Power here —’

‘Ooh, more flowers!’ Jelena cried. ‘My room is going to be a fragrant wonderland!’

‘How do you know they’re for you?’ Sara asked.

‘Intuition,’ Jelena replied. ‘And I saw Nick Summers hanging outside Flower Power this morning. He’s always had a thing for me.’

‘Can anyone see what the flowers look like?’ Lindsay asked.

I peered at the assembly stage. Mr Quinten and the delivery boy were obscured by a pole.

‘What’s your name, young man?’ Mr Quinten asked.

‘Ralph.’

Ralph sounded unhappy to have his voice amplified across the pool area.

‘Well, let’s see who these flowers are for,’ Mr Quinten said.

Jelena was ready to run down the steps to collect her tribute.

‘Okay, ladies and gentlemen, the lucky girl is … Aurora Skye!’

I froze. The flowers were for me?

‘Ms Skye, will you please come and collect this over-the-top display of affection?’ Mr Quinten said.

Sara let out a squeal. ‘Oh my god! You are so lucky!’

‘We haven’t even seen the flowers yet,’ Jelena put in. ‘They could be ugly.’

‘An ugly flower?’ Lindsay said. ‘There’s no such thing.’

‘What about a Venus flytrap?’ Jelena replied. ‘They’re ugly and vicious.’

‘The Venus flytrap is a plant,’ I said, still dazed.

I rose to my feet and shakily descended the steps. As I reached the bottom of the stands, Mr Quinten came into sight. Next to him was Ralph the delivery boy, nearly invisible behind the gigantic bouquet in his arms.

Was that mass of flowers really for me? I barely restrained a squeal of delight.

‘Here you go, Ms Skye.’ Mr Quinten gestured to Ralph, who stepped forward and held out the bouquet. ‘I really think the florist should have cleared this with me. It’s held up the progress of assembly.’

I opened my arms. This had to be the most romantic moment of my life.

As Ralph handed over the weighty bundle, I saw that amongst the masses of red and pink wrapping, silver curling ribbon and greenery were at least fifteen long-stemmed red roses. Then I saw the rose nestled in their centre. Its petals were a rainbow of deep pink, tangerine and gold.

‘Ah, true love,’ Mr Quinten said wryly. ‘Now, to get back to the basketball game …’

I made my way dazedly back up the stand. My cheeks were aching from grinning so much. I sank down amongst my friends.

‘That is the biggest bouquet I’ve ever seen in my life!’ Lindsay’s voice was hushed.

‘Slight exaggeration,’ Jelena said.

‘Lindsay’s right!’ Sara’s voice had reached a new pitch of excitement. ‘You can hardly see Aurora behind it.’

‘Who’s it from?’ Cass was beaming at me.

‘I-I haven’t looked,’ I stammered.

‘You haven’t looked? Are you crazy?’ Jelena peered at the bouquet. ‘Where’s the gift tag?’

‘The flower in the centre is breathtaking,’ Sara said.

I spotted a small envelope tucked just inside the wrapping and took it in my hands.

‘What’s with the delay?’ Jelena asked. She, Sara, Lindsay and Cass stared at me.

‘The giver of these flowers is my Potential Prince,’ I said softly. ‘I don’t want to rush the moment.’

The second I opened the envelope, I’d know who my Potential Prince was. I had no candidates in mind. It could be anyone in the world.

Was I ready for this?

Ready? I’d only been waiting sixteen years and six months.

I took a deep breath and flipped the envelope open.

‘What’s it say?’ Sara shrieked.

My eyes raced over the dark blue script on the decorative paper.

‘Aurora,’ I read, ‘you are just like this rainbow-coloured rose — continually astonishing and completely one of a kind.’

Cassie sighed. ‘That’s why all the other roses are red. He’s saying you’re the rare rose.’

‘Keep going, Aurora!’ Sara cried.

‘The truth is, you are the centre of my world. Love —’

‘Who is it?’ Sara shrieked.

Jelena frowned. ‘That’s what she’s trying to tell us, idiot. Shh.’

‘Your secret admirer,’ I finished, staring at the paper.

‘What?’ The cry was unanimous.

My Potential Prince had left off his name.

‘Are you sure there’s no name?’ Jelena raised an eyebrow. ‘Is it too embarrassing to say? Is he a nerd?’

‘Jelena!’ Sara cried. ‘That’s so insulting. Aurora’s gorgeous as. Her admirer has to be a hottie.’

‘There’s no name.’

My soul flooded with disappointment. I had been so ready to know who had sent the exquisite flowers and even more exquisite message.

‘I wasn’t saying he had to be a nerd.’ Jelena put her sunglasses on. ‘Just that Aurora’s so nice, the nerds probably think they have a chance with her.’

‘He’s not a nerd,’ I said. ‘I just know it. And anyway, anyone who can write such a beautiful message has a gorgeous heart. If he’s not an Adonis, that doesn’t matter to me.’

‘Oh, it matters,’ Jelena muttered.

‘So who could it be from?’ Lindsay said what everyone was thinking.

‘Is there anyone that comes to mind, Aurora? Anyone who flirts with you?’ Cassie asked, smelling one of the crimson roses.

‘Everyone flirts with Aurora,’ Sara replied.

‘Sara!’ I cried. ‘What are you talking about?’

‘Are you blind?’ Sara gave an exasperated sigh. ‘Every time a guy gets near you, he starts flirting. You don’t flirt back ’cause you have this whole unconscious-of-it thing going on.’

‘What?’ I said, astounded. I mean, okay, I was alright-looking, but hardly a Miss Universe clone like Jelena.

‘Like I said before, you’re gorgeous,’ Sara went on. ‘So it could be any of the five hundred male students here at Jefferson.’

‘Well, I guess to write a note like that he’s intelligent, articulate and deep,’ I said, flattered by Sara’s compliment.

‘Not Bradley again,’ Jelena said with a sigh.

‘It is not Bradley,’ I said.

I’d seen him giving Tarot Card Tina a book called Scorpios’ Guide to Love this morning. Tina had given me a fierce scowl. You’d think she’d want to present a good-natured image in front of Bradley, but no.

‘He’s probably good at English then,’ Cassie said, bringing my attention back to my own love life. ‘So everyone should consider the guys in their English classes.’

‘And try to think of guys that pay special attention to Aurora,’ Sara suggested.

A bell rang, signalling the end of assembly.

‘No idling,’ Mr Quinten ordered. ‘Make your way to class in a prompt manner.’

This was so frustrating. I wanted to start work on uncovering my secret admirer’s identity straight away.

Jelena stood up. ‘Everyone make a list of possible candidates. We’ll talk about it on Monday.’

‘Monday?’ I cried. ‘That’s three days away!’

‘Hey, we need time to think about it,’ Jelena replied from halfway down the stands.

I gathered my things together and reluctantly followed her. Even though my Potential Prince had made an appearance, it was still going to be a challenge to find him.

I spent the rest of the day toting the flowers from class to class. Frankly, I was surprised that I was allowed to keep the bouquet on my desk. The greenery alone blocked my view of the whiteboard. I was just waiting for a teacher to complain that the bouquet was sabotaging my education, but they all just smiled indulgently.

By the end of the day I had been the recipient of many smiles, curious questions and a few jealous looks. Tarot Card Tina had turned her nose up and remarked, ‘Well, if you like extravagant gestures.’ You’d have to be an alien not to like extravagant gestures, or at least appreciate them. Perhaps Bradley didn’t believe in floral demonstrations of affection. That would explain Tina’s disdainful reaction to my bouquet.

The jealous comments didn’t bother me as much as the people who kept asking if the flowers were from ‘lover boy Paris’. But even that couldn’t remove the smile from my face.

During class, I studied the flowers. Someone had put a lot of thought into the presentation. The sender was obviously artistic. I didn’t ponder his identity too much. I didn’t want to risk ruling out anyone while I was still reeling from the shock of a Potential Prince coming into my life.

When the final bell sounded, I made my way to the spot near the school gates where Cassie and I had arranged to meet for Operation Tail Scott.

‘Cass!’ I grabbed her by the sleeve of her denim dress. ‘Ready to go?’

‘Shh!’ She jerked her head to the left, where Scott was just ahead of us in the crowd. ‘Jelena’s coming too.’

‘What?’ I looked back at Jelena. ‘I thought you said you didn’t hide.’

Jelena shrugged her shoulders. ‘Like you said, it’s not hiding. It’s tailing. Tailing’s cool with me.’

‘Three people are much harder to conceal than two,’ I complained. ‘And you’re going to be completely conspicuous with all those things.’

I pointed at the two clear-plastic display bags overflowing with single red roses, various assortments of chocolates and two teddy bears.

‘Ah, hello? Person holding ostentatious bouquet talking,’ Jelena replied.

‘Fine.’ I followed Cass through the gate. ‘You can come. But it’s just the three of us. No tag-along Jelena admirers, okay?’

‘Sorry, Jack,’ Jelena said to the boy on her right. ‘You’ll have to walk me home on Monday.’

‘Hey!’ Another boy, with thick blond curls, looked outraged. ‘You promised I could walk you home on Monday.’

‘Aurora!’ Cassie pointed at a rapidly moving Scott. ‘We’re going to lose him.’

I grabbed Jelena’s hand and pulled her away from her admirers.

‘We’ll sort out a roster next week!’ Jelena called back over her shoulder.

‘Wait up!’ Lindsay was at our heels.

‘Guys! I love your company, but this is hardly discreet,’ I pointed out.

‘Oh, it’ll be fine,’ Jelena said. ‘He’s listening to his iPod. He won’t have a clue what’s going on.’

I crossed my fingers and hoped she was right.

Scott continued downtown, while we struggled to maintain a distance between not being noticed and accidentally losing sight of him.

‘Ooh!’ Jelena spotted a pair of black stilettos in a store window.

‘Oh no! We missed the light!’ Lindsay cried as it changed to red.

Scott, who’d already crossed, strode ahead.

‘We’re going to lose him.’ Cassie wrung her hands. ‘Come on! Change the light!’

‘Do you think I have time to try those on?’ Jelena asked, looking at the heels longingly.

‘No!’ I cried.

The light flipped to green and we dashed across the road at the speed of light. We careened through the crowd.

‘I didn’t enjoy Valentine’s Day much,’ Lindsay said as we dodged pedestrians.

I looked at her. Her gaze was on a lovey-dovey couple walking hand in hand.

‘Much as I tried not to think about it, I was convinced that Tyler was going to pull some grand gesture to win me back, like your whole bouquet thing, Aurora.’ She sighed and played with one of her hoop earrings. ‘And he didn’t do anything!’

‘Linds, you just told him you didn’t want him back.’

‘I didn’t mean it!’ she cried. ‘Do you think he thinks I mean it?’

‘For someone who said he hadn’t yet begun to fight, he hasn’t done much,’ Jelena said, struggling to keep up with our fast pace due to her strappy heels.

‘That’s because he’s still figuring out his strategy,’ I reassured Lindsay.

‘What if he’s not?’ she said. ‘What if he’s got a new girlfriend already? Oh my god. And they’re on a Valentine’s Day date right now —’

‘Isn’t Tyler at soccer practice?’ Jelena interrupted.

‘Which he’s cut to take her on a date!’

I punched in a number on my phone. It was time to stop Lindsay’s out-of-control delusions.

Sara’s voice came on the line. ‘Hello?’

‘Hey, Sara, you’re still at soccer practice, right?’ I said, keeping an eagle eye on Scott ahead of us. ‘What’s Tyler up to right now?’

‘Looking defeated,’ Sara replied. ‘He’s been benched for kicking a guy who asked him how Valentine’s Day was for him, being single and all.’

‘Thanks, Sara.’ I ended the call.

‘Tyler’s depressed and anti-social,’ I reported to Lindsay. ‘Extremely reactive to questions about his single status. You’ll have him back within the month.’

Modern technology. Genius for instant reassurance.

Just as my feet started pinching in my pointy-toed flats, we came to a large building with huge glass windows, all of which were open. Thick flowering bushes stood under the windows. We ducked into a phone booth and watched as Scott entered a room on the ground floor. Perfect.

I stepped out of the booth. ‘Okay. Things get serious here. Model girl is likely to make an appearance, so we’re looking for any boyfriend–girlfriend vibes between her and Scott. Just keep in mind all the body-language info I’ve given you.’

‘How are we going to observe Scott from all the way out here?’ Lindsay asked, looking confused.

‘We’re not entering the art room,’ I replied. ‘The moment we do that, our cover’s blown.’ I pointed at the bushes in front of the open windows. ‘We’ll be observing from there. Who’s with me?’

I took a look around to check that no-one was observing us, then darted towards the bushes. Cassie, Lindsay and Jelena were right behind me.

I examined the flowering shrubs. Closest to the street was a thick, golden-green hedge that ran along the entire left side of the art room. Directly beneath the art-room windows was a row of bushy shrubs covered in full white flowers with red splotches.

‘Okay, we’re going to crawl between the hedge and those white flowering bushes,’ I said. ‘That way, we’ll be able to observe the art room unnoticed and be hidden from the street. We’ll leave our belongings just inside the hedge here.’

I gently placed my flowers and pink handbag amongst the hedge’s greenery, then got down on my hands and knees and crawled between the bushes. Thank god there was no chance of Hayden finding out about this. He’d never let me hear the end of it.

‘I can’t believe we’re doing this,’ Jelena whispered from behind me as we made our way along the side of the building, pushing sticky, sap-coated branches out of our way. ‘We’re getting covered in dirt.’ She lifted a dirt-encrusted palm and wrinkled her nose.

‘Think of what CIA agents do,’ I whispered. ‘I’m sure it gets far dirtier than this.’

‘I doubt it,’ Jelena said. ‘Arrgghh! Ants!’ She furiously brushed her shoulders.

‘I wonder where Scott’s sitting?’ Cassie, a smudge of dirt on her cheek, glanced up at the building.

‘We’ll find out soon enough.’ I peeped over the white flowers to calculate our position. ‘We’re at the middle window right now.’

‘It’s like an infestation or something.’ Jelena shook her shirt. ‘Please tell me you’re ready, Cass?’

‘Ready as I’ll ever be.’ Cass’s little chin was set determinedly. She peeped over the white flowers and shot back down. ‘I saw him!’

‘Thank god for that,’ Jelena muttered, eyeing the ground obsessively.

‘So, Cass, you, Lindsay and I should all observe Scott in order to gain an accurate picture of the model-girl situation, okay?’ I looked at her for agreement.

‘What am I going to do?’ Jelena complained.

‘Keep an eye on the ants,’ I instructed. ‘Okay, Agents Lindsay and Cass, are you ready to go?’

‘Ready.’ They both gave me a little salute.

We slowly peeped over the shrubbery and through the wide window. Scott, his sun-kissed locks unmissable, was seated by the window two up from ours. He was bent over what looked like a lump of clay, and glanced repeatedly to his right.

‘Okay, subject is in sight,’ I said.

‘Model girl’s got to be on his right,’ Cassie said, peering over the bush. ‘Can anyone see her?’

Lindsay and I craned our necks to see to Scott’s right, but the window sill was at an impossible angle.

I ducked back down into the bushes. ‘We’re going to have to get closer. There’s no other way.’

That wasn’t good. Closer meant a higher likelihood of being spotted.

‘Or we could just forget it,’ Jelena said, her cheeks flushed. ‘And come back another day with binoculars and an oversized bottle of ant-kill.’ The last words were a growl.

Cassie folded her arms over her chest. ‘I’m not turning back now. Let’s go.’

Cassie had taken control of this mission. We followed her as she crawled two windows down.

‘Everyone has to keep absolutely silent,’ I whispered. ‘Just two of us should look this time.’

Cassie nodded at me. ‘Ready, Aurora?’

We each lifted our head inch by inch until our eyes were just above the top of the flowering bush. A tiny girl with pigtails sat on a stool at Scott’s right, swinging her feet.

‘That must be model girl’s younger sister or something,’ Cassie whispered. ‘Scott’s probably so serious about her that he’s friends with the whole family.’

I looked at the thirty earnest faces bent over their work. ‘And he’s dragged them all to an art class? I don’t think so. It’s probably the teacher’s daughter or something.’

Scott turned to get a tool from the drawer beside him. As he moved, his sculpture came into view for the first time.

‘Oh my god,’ I breathed. ‘Cass, look!’

We both stared at the sculpture of the little girl.

‘That’s model girl!’ I cried softly. ‘A four-year-old! That’s why he said he was having trouble capturing how cute she was.’

Scott’s voice drifted out the window. ‘How are you doing, Emily? You holding that pose okay?’

Cassie and I threw ourselves down on the ground again.

Cass shook her head. ‘Emily. Oh my god.’

‘What did you guys find out?’ Lindsay whispered.

‘It’d better be a breakthrough worthy of my endurance of these ants,’ Jelena muttered.

Cass’s face broke into a smile. ‘Emily is his younger sister. I’ve been ignoring him because of model girl supposedly being his bombshell girlfriend —’

‘She is a cutie pie,’ I interrupted, grinning.

‘I can’t believe it.’ Cassie let out a giggle, but I barely heard her over the eardrum-shattering roar that had suddenly filled the street.

‘Scott,’ someone from the art room called. ‘Could you shut your window?’

Realisation hit me. ‘We’ve got to move it now! If Scott leans out to pull the window shut, we’re stuffed. The bush isn’t tall enough to conceal us from above.’

As Scott’s chair scraped back, we plunged our way through the thick, golden-green hedge and onto the street.

‘Eww!’ shrilled Jelena, looking at the sap oozing down her right arm.

Luckily her voice was drowned out by what I could now see was a motorcycle gang circling the art centre’s car park.

‘Just keep going!’ I said, racing to grab my bouquet and handbag. ‘We’ve got to make it to the next street before Scott sees us.’

‘Cassie!’ The shout was just audible above the guttural roar of motorcycle engines.

‘Don’t look back!’ I cried to Cass. ‘If he doesn’t see your face, you can deny the whole thing on Monday.’

‘Cass!’

A motorcycle pulled up next to us and I realised that the shouts weren’t from Scott but from the bike’s rider. It was Cassie’s brother.

‘Andrew!’ Cassie beamed at him. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘Cruising,’ Andrew said.

Cass sighed. ‘Mum told you not to take the bike into the city —’

‘Cass!’ I interrupted her scolding. Things were dire! ‘We’ve got to get moving!’

‘I’ll give you a lift!’ Andrew patted the bike’s leather seat, then turned to the other riders. ‘Guys! Let the girls get on!’

Three other bikers handed helmets to Jelena, Lindsay and me. I glanced back at the art building. To my relief, Scott’s full attention was focused on wrestling with the window. I looked warily at the bike. Riding pillion through the city with an anonymous biker didn’t seem like such a great idea. I wanted to live a long life and publish many books, not die in a James Dean-ish fiery inferno.

‘Ready to ride?’

The biker lifted his helmet and I recognised Zac O’Connell, the Shieldses’ eighteen-year-old neighbour who owned three cats. Surely he wouldn’t be too reckless when the lives of several felines depended on him getting home safely.

I leapt onto the bike. ‘Cass, let’s get out of here!’

Cass climbed onto Andrew’s bike and wrapped her arms around him.

Scott lifted his head from the window and caught sight of us. His eyes widened as he took in Cassie, who hadn’t put her helmet on yet. Before I could call to her, Andrew had revved his bike and torn off. The rest of us followed.

When the bikers roared through my neighbourhood, I saw several curtains twitching as people tried to see what the noise was. We pulled into my driveway and I prayed that Snookums and Bebe weren’t wide-eyed on my window seat. Turning up on a Harley, my arms around a leather-clad eighteen-year-old, wasn’t a respectable look. If I wasn’t careful, Snookums would be demanding a studded leather collar.

I jumped off the bike. ‘Thanks, Zac. Say hi to Buffy, Zeke and Tom-Tom for me.’

Zac took the helmet from me. ‘If you ever want to visit, just say the word.’

Cassie followed me up the drive. ‘Zac’s always been a bit keen on you, you know.’

‘What?’ I looked at her, then back at Zac. He had a safety pin through his earlobe. ‘Let’s not get into that. Cass, Scott saw us!’

Cass’s face fell. ‘You’re kidding.’

‘I’m deadly serious. Harley-riding serious.’

Andrew beeped for Cassie to hurry up.

‘Don’t worry,’ I told her. ‘By Monday we’ll have come up with a story. You know, something like you have a twin sister who’s a bikie chick.’

Cassie gave me a doubtful look.

‘Okay, so that’s a bit unbelievable. But I’ll work something out.’

I waved as the whole group blasted their horns in a chorus and tore off.

What a day.

My head in the clouds, I nearly crashed into Hayden Paris, who stood on my front step.