Gypsy Wedding (9 page)

‘It’s not the sunshine making me soft in the head. It’s you.’

Kelly cleared her throat. ‘’Scuse me, you two, but if you’re going to carry on like this maybe you’d better get a room.’

Vicky’s face flared bright red. To hide her embarrassment she necked the rest of her drink and leapt to her feet. ‘Gotta go.’

Jordan reached up from where he was sitting and caught her hand. ‘Don’t go, not yet.’

Vicky jerked her hand out of his grasp as another jolt of desire surged through her so strongly she felt quite shaken. ‘Let me go. I’m late. I’m going to be missed.’ She grabbed her high heels off the grass and fled. ‘Thanks for the drink,’ she called over her shoulder and she caught sight of Jordan staring after her, looking utterly bewildered. As she ran she wondered if he’d felt the electricity too.

It was only a couple of minutes later that she arrived back at the hotel. She glanced at her watch. She’d only been gone about twenty minutes. Surely no one would have noticed. She sidled back into the hotel through the door by which she’d made her escape and from there to the main function room. As she entered the noise level that hit her was ear-splitting. She stood by the door taking in the scene. Shania wasn’t to be seen. And shit, neither was Liam.
Oh God
, she thought in a panic,
he hasn’t gone looking for me, has he?

Trying to look casual, Vicky edged round the room, sticking by the wall, until she was standing behind a big gaggle of mothers. Maybe she could pretend that she’d been there all along. As the seconds ticked past she began to relax; the longer that Liam himself was out of the room, the longer she could pretend she had been back in it. And although she hated that she was about to lie to him, it was only a little white lie. What harm was there in going to meet Kelly down by the river?

Except, she knew that it wasn’t really such a little white lie. It was, in fact, a great big fib because she hadn’t just met Kelly, had she? And worse was the fact that she couldn’t ignore how she’d felt on both the occasions when Jordan and she had touched.

One of the mothers sitting just in front of her turned.

‘Were your ears burning just then, Vicky darlin’?’

Vicky felt her whole face burning – never mind her ears. Shit, what had they been saying about her? Her heart rate soared as her guilty conscience kicked in. She shook her head. ‘No, should they have been?’ She waited in anguish for the answer.

‘We was just sayin’ that it’s got to be you next, sweetie. How long have you and Liam been engaged?’

Vicky nearly keeled over as the relief swept through her. Oh, dear God, was that all they’d been gossiping about? She mumbled something about the fact that it had been around two years and then made her excuses to escape. As she moved away from the mothers, Liam came crashing back through the main door.

‘There you are,’ he said as he caught up with her. ‘Where on earth have you been?’

‘Been?’

‘You disappeared.’

Feigning a total lack of understanding, Vicky shrugged. ‘Oh, I did pop to the Ladies.’

‘For quarter of an hour?’

A flash of inspiration struck her. ‘But I splashed water on my dress when I was washing my hands. It took a while to dry. Look, it left a mark.’

As she pointed out the still-damp place she could see the doubt clear from Liam’s face. So, her big fat fib had just been accepted.

Liam, happy that he’d found his bride-to-be, returned to the bar and Vicky found herself a quiet corner so she could think about Liam, her future and Jordan, and try to get her head round all the complexities that had suddenly cropped up.

Suddenly life had just become a whole lot less simple.

‘Don’t you go doing anything that your mum wouldn’t approve of,’ said Johnnie as he dropped his daughter off a few hundred yards away from the gates of the college.

‘Dad, as if I would.’

‘I know, but this isn’t like school.’

Vicky smiled at her father. Like he knew, bless him. He’d left any sort of education when he was only twelve. ‘I know, Dad, and don’t worry, I’ll be fine. I won’t let you down.’

‘To be sure I know that, princess. Now off you go and work hard.’

Vicky jumped out of the car and set off to her first day at college. Vicky O’Rourke, college girl! How cool was that? She was almost pinching herself as she walked down the road, slipping off her engagement ring as had become her routine. Over her shoulder she wore a big knock-off Mulberry bag that her dad had got off a mate for her specially. She loved it, and it was the finishing touch to her outfit of leopard-print blouse and black pencil skirt. If she was going to be learning with a bunch of girls planning a career in the fashion industry she needed to be on trend. Turning up in the sort of kit she’d wear at home just wasn’t going to cut it, and she’d lost the anonymity of a school uniform. But then, suppose all the other students turned up in jeans and T-shirts. Had she got it wrong? Too late to go home and change now. Her nerves got worse. The butterflies turned into great big vultures.

Vicky’s step began to falter. What was she doing here? She was right out of her depth. What was she thinking of – a traveller girl going to sixth-form college? She stopped in the middle of the pavement as her confidence hit the ground.

‘Hiya, Vick!’ A shriek from across the road brought her to her senses.

‘Hi, Kelly.’ Oh shit, Kelly was wearing jeans.

Kelly dodged through the slow-moving rush-hour traffic to join her friend. ‘You all right? You look all worried.’

Vicky laughed nervously. ‘Worried? I’m shitting myself.’

‘Me too,’ admitted Kelly.

The girls linked arms as they headed for the gates and their first day.

‘We’re going to know a loads of kids here though, aren’t we,’ said Vicky.

Kelly nodded. ‘Loads.’

‘And it isn’t as if we haven’t got the grades to be here.’

‘Keep talking.’

Vicky swallowed. ‘I wish I could. That’s all I can think of.’

‘We’re going to be okay. We’ve got each other.’

‘Yeah, but not in classes.’

‘We’ll have to arrange to meet. Lunchtime would be good.’

The two girls got to the gates. ‘Here we go,’ said Vicky.

‘Shit or bust,’ Kelly said with a grimace.

They walked across the car park and into the huge airy atrium. It was packed with teenagers and Vicky was relieved to see that her clothes were not out of place. Obviously she wasn’t the only one who didn’t have a clue what to wear on the first day. And she could also see that lots of the students looked just as nervous as she felt, although there were a few who managed to look cool and sophisticated. Kelly followed her gaze to one group that looked particularly underwhelmed.

‘Huh, they may look like they don’t care but check out the front of that guy’s trousers.’

‘Kelly? What are you like?’

‘Not
that
bit of his trousers. You have a filthy mind, Miss O’Rourke. No, look at his knees. You can see they’re shaking through the material.’

Vicky giggled. ‘They are too.’ Instantly she felt so much better; it was immensely reassuring to know that being nervous was normal. She looked about her and saw that everyone else either seemed to be clutching information packs or were queuing up at the registration desks.

‘I suppose we’d better register. Make it official that we’re here.’

The two girls made their way over to a desk staffed by a team of administrators and gave in their names and their subject choices. They were then directed to different areas of the college to meet their tutors and fellow students.

‘I’ll see you in the canteen at lunch,’ said Kelly as they parted.

Vicky made her way over to the art and design faculty where the textiles department was based. She was busy looking at the signs on the doors when she almost cannoned into someone. Chloe.

‘Vicky. So you decided to turn up. Bit out of your league, isn’t it?’

Vicky was taken aback; what had brought that on? She felt her jaw slacken before she pulled herself together. She wasn’t going to take that sort of bitching, not from the likes of Chloe. Vicky wasn’t normally aggressive, but she was scared enough without Chloe making it worse.

‘Oh yeah? I’d say that was a case of pots and kettles, wouldn’t you? So what are you studying? A-level spite?’

Chloe sniffed. ‘Just the sort of response I’d expect from the likes of you.’

‘And what do you mean by that?’ Vicky was putting on a show of bravado but she was bricking it that Chloe had sussed out her background. Surely not?

‘I mean the sort of girl who tries to muscle in on other people’s blokes.’

‘Jordan? You are joking me. I mean, he’s a nice bloke and all that but I’m not interested. Really I’m not.’ She thought about dragging out her engagement ring to prove her point but decided against it. ‘I’ve got my own man, Liam.’

‘Really?’ Chloe didn’t sound convinced.

‘Really.’

Chloe frowned and sighed. ‘So you weren’t trying to get off with him down by the river a couple of weeks ago?’

‘No. I went to meet Kelly. I had no idea who else was there and I certainly didn’t go there to see Jordan.’

‘Good. And see that it stays like that.’

Chloe swept off, leaving Vicky feeling shaken. ‘Bloody hell,’ she muttered as she stared after her. But she couldn’t help wondering whether Chloe’s accusation had come from a sense of insecurity. Jordan’s reputation wasn’t brilliant as far as his previous girlfriends were concerned and maybe his and Chloe’s relationship was starting to crack. Well, if it did fall apart it wasn’t going to be because of anything Vicky did, that was for certain, whatever Chloe thought.

By lunchtime, when she and Kelly met, Vicky had put Chloe’s unprovoked attack to the back of her mind. Instead she and Kelly discussed their timetables, their new classmates and their tutors.

‘Oh, and Kelly, you should see the facilities, all the machines and wonderful worktables. And some of the other students’ work on the wall. Kelly, if I can ever make stuff like that I’d be well pleased.’

‘I know what you mean. It’s like that where I am. We work in a proper salon some of the time, with all the products and proper massage tables and … oh Vick, it’s just lovely.’

‘I am so glad we made it here. I can’t wait to start working on projects and stuff.’

‘Like your bridesmaids’ dresses?’

‘Going to have to pull my finger out on those. Did I tell you that Shania is engaged?’

‘Shania? No, get away. But she’s only little.’

‘She’s fifteen, same age as I was when Liam asked me.’

‘I suppose.’ Kelly blinked. ‘It’s just … no, forget it.’

Vicky put her hand across the table and took Kelly’s. ‘It’s our way, Kel. It’s how it works in my world.’

‘Yeah,’ Kelly smiled. ‘None of my business.’

‘It’s not that, it’s just we do things differently.’

Kelly nodded.

‘There is just one problem about it, though,’ admitted Vicky.

‘What’s that?’

‘Shania can’t wait to get hitched. She wants to marry as soon as she’s sixteen but Mum won’t let her till she’s got my wedding out of the way.’

‘But you’re not having second thoughts, are you?’

‘No, course not. But … but I was hoping to do the full two years here and, well, if I get married next summer I’ll have to leave.’

‘I don’t follow. There’s no rule that says you can’t study here if you’re married.’

‘Not here, no. But traveller wives stay at home.’

‘But Liam wouldn’t mind, would he?’

‘It wouldn’t be right. It’d make him look less of a man.’

Kelly shook her head. ‘How?’

‘As I said, different world, Kel, different world.’

‘Then that’s a bugger, ain’t it.’

A chair scraped back at their table. ‘Hiya, girls.’ Jordan sat down next to Vicky. ‘You both look down. College not coming up to expectations?’

Vicky sighed heavily. What was it with Jordan? Why was he always turning up in her life? And why on earth was her heart racing? She suddenly felt a kick of anger – anger that she reacted to his presence like this. What was the matter with her? She turned her irritation on him. ‘Are you trying to cause trouble, Jordan?’

‘Why, what’ve I said?’ Jordan was genuinely bewildered.

‘Not you, Chloe. Your girlfriend had a right go at me this morning, accused me of deliberately meeting you in the park that day.’

‘Chloe?’

‘Yes, Chloe. She thinks I fancy you.’

‘And don’t you?’ A smile played across Jordan’s lips.

‘No I don’t. So listen to me, I think it would be doing everyone a favour if you kept away.’ Vicky stood up. ‘Now I’ve got stuff to do. See you later, Kel.’ She picked up her tray and left.

Jordan stared after her.

‘She might not fancy you but I wouldn’t kick you out of bed,’ said Kelly hopefully.

Jordan shook his head. ‘Darling, from what I’ve heard you don’t kick
anyone
out of bed.’