03

Juliet honestly wasn’t sure why she had agreed on this stupid bet. But now she had, she wasn’t backing out.

Mr Spencer was extremely sexy, and the purity thing gave it an extra edge, she thought. And after all, it wasn’t like he was a Roman Catholic priest who wasn’t allowed to marry, regardless of how he had appeared in her dream. She probably wouldn’t go to hell for this. Probably.

She started Mission : Seduce Spencer in the most obvious way : flirting outrageously with him in class. Or as outrageously as she could get away with. She wasn’t the only one fluttering her eyelashes and giving him suggestive smiles though. Half the class had crushes on the new Latin teacher.

Every day before his class she would slip to the bathroom and put on extra make-up, trying to get from there to his classroom without Miss Villiers or another teacher spotting her.

Margot couldn’t stop laughing at her. « You need a booth like Wonderwoman. He might actually notice if you showed up in a bikini. »

So far Juliet didn’t seem to be getting any reaction. But she was undeterred. She was certain that at least once she had caught his eye while they were supposed to be working on a translation, and he had quickly looked away.

It was just a flicker : but it was enough. Enough to encourage her to continue. It was more about proving a point to Margot really, than the money.

They had been discussing Vestal Virgins in class : Roman women appointed as priestesses who had to remain celibate until they retired. Margot thought it sounded awful. Juliet rather liked the idea of it as the women were considered very powerful.

« Well you couldn’t be one anyway, » Margot said.

« I could if I wanted to. »

« Too late for that, girl. But I know someone who can. » Margot shot a glance at Mr Spencer and the two girls dissolved into giggles which they had to suppress as coughs when the Latin teacher looked over at them.

« Anything you’d like to ask ? » he asked them.

Margot grinned. « We were just discussing becoming Vestal Virgins, Sir. »

Mr Spencer went slightly red, which wasn’t helped by Cynthia chiming in.

« I think you’ll find they don’t take sluts, » she muttered, looking pointedly at Juliet.

« What was that, Cynthia ? » Mr Spencer asked.

« Nothing, » Cynthia said.

« She was just talking to herself, » Margot told him. « She does that a lot. » When he had turned back to the whiteboard she turned to Cynthia and mouthed « slut » back at her.

It was very hard trying to flirt with Mr Spencer because he seemed to get all the more serious the more Juliet tried. He was so good looking, she loved the way his hair looked kind of tousled on top. His lips were firm and well moulded and he had a strong, beautifully sculpted bone structure.

« Where do you go to mass, Sir ? » someone asked, trying to delay the return to their Latin study.

Mr Spencer looked awkward. « I don’t go to mass. »

« You don’t go to church ? » This caused some shocked murmurs as usually all the teachers at St Gillian’s were really devout.

« I didn’t say that. I don’t go to mass, because I’m not a Catholic. I go to a baptist church, » he told them.

There was an even greater murmur of interest at this. « I thought you had to be Catholic to teach here, » Juliet said.

« Usually, perhaps. But there aren’t so many Latin teachers to go around, so they made an exception. Which is how I’m lucky enough to have become your teacher, » Mr Spencer said, giving them a broad smile.

He was devastating when he smiled, it made Juliet’s stomach flip. Like a sexy, macho angel. He caught Juliet’s eye and she wondered if he was teasing them.

She also wondered if she was falling for him. That wasn’t in her plan at all.

* *

Margot came back to Juliet’s house after school, supposedly to do homework. The reality was that they just wanted to hang out but Juliet wasn’t supposed go to the mall or anywhere else after school. Her Aunt Mary, whom she lived with, was very strict.

She was actually a distant cousin of Juliet’s father but it had seemed weird to call her « Cousin Mary », so « Aunt » had stuck.

« Where’s your aunt tonight ? » Margot asked.

« Out at her bible study thing. She won’t be back until this evening. » Aunt Mary was very devout which was why she had insisted on Juliet going to Catholic school.

Margot yawned. « As soon as I finish at St Gillian’s I’m throwing every bible away. »

Juliet was shocked. « You can’t do that, they’re like sacred objects. »

« Not to me. » Margot bit into a cookie. « These are great, did you make these or did Aunt Marilla ? » She had nicknamed Juliet’s aunt after Marilla in Anne of Green Gables.

« I did, » Juliet said. « You’ll end up calling her that name to her face one day if you’re not careful. »

« It fits so well. She’s just like her, taking on a poor orphan girl and being all strict and proper about everything, » Margot said.

Juliet really didn’t get Margot’s obsession with the book or the TV series, which Margot owned on DVD.

« We’re just like them, » Margot insisted. « I mean you haven’t got red hair and Diana wasn’t black I guess, but other that that the parallels are eerie. »

« We’re not even Canadian. So who does that make Fhemie ? »

« Ruby, the hot flirtatious one, naturally, » Margot said.

« Doesn’t she die ? »

Margot looked a little wistful. « Yeah, I love that scene. It’s so sad. »

Juliet had hated it. « It’s like she has to die because she’s flirty and fun loving. Ruby I mean, not Fhemie. Like the wages of sin are death or whatever. »

« You’re the good little Catholic girl, so you would know. »

Then they both laughed. Neither of them could be described as « good », they were known at St Gillian’s for being hell raisers. In the past couple of years Juliet had tried to behave better but it got so boring.