07

« You and Tommy hook up in the English classrooms ? » Matt asked, his eyes widening in shock.

Kat sighed in irritation and shot him an impatient look before turning back to me. « I was so embarrassed, Izzy ! »

« I didn’t say anything about you hooking up in the English classrooms. He just put two and two together. And besides, do you really think he hasn’t done something like that before ? » I raised my eyebrows. « I mean, you only have to look at the guy. He’s got rebellious written all over him. »

« It doesn’t make it less embarrassing for me ! »

« Okay, Kat, I’m sorry. You know, he didn’t even comment on it at the time. I think he just said it to have a laugh and make a joke. »

« Okay, stop talking, he’s coming, » she said in a hushed tone, suddenly busying herself with the plate of food sitting on the table in front of her.

I rolled my eyes, shaking my head to myself. Nathan took a seat opposite to Matt, and diagonal to me, wasting no time in launching into conversation.

« The chemistry lessons in this school are amazing ! » he said immediately with a grin. « You get to do experiments ! »

« You’re not in Jess’ class then ? » I asked him, noticing her absence.

« Nah. Shame. But my lab partner’s cool. »

« Who’s your lab partner ? » Kat asked, miraculously regaining all composure.

« Some guy called Tommy White ? » Nathan replied, raising an eyebrow.

Her cheeks pinkened, and somehow she still pulled it off. Only Kat could make embarrassment look sexy.

« Yeah he said he had chemistry with Katrina…but you weren’t in the class… » Nathan continued, feigning confusion. « I was pretty puzzled. And then I remembered what you said yesterday, and suddenly it made sense. He likes your tongue just as much, you’ll be pleased to hear. »

« You’re such a liar. Tommy didn’t say any of that. » Kat huffed and folded her arms.

Nathan laughed good-heartedly. « True. Funny, though. I am actually lab partners with him, but we didn’t talk about you. » Nathan had a habit of changing the conversation quickly and his attention was suddenly on Matt. « Ah ! The boyfriend ! Matt, right ? »

« Right, » Matt nodded, his hand straying to rest on my knee. Considering Matt wasn’t keen on being affectionate in public, I could only assume that this was an act of possessiveness, rather than affection. « Funny, you seem to know me, yet Isobel hasn’t mentioned you. »

Liar. We’d spent half of last night talking about him.

« Oh, that’s because I’m new to town. » Nathan shrugged, not appearing at all bothered that I seemingly hadn’t talked about him. « I like it here, though. »

« So, where are you from ? » Matt asked.

He said it conversationally enough, but I knew he was digging for information. I didn’t understand his problem ; how could Nathan possibly be a threat ? Did Matt think that little of me, or was he just very insecure ?

« Italy, » Nathan replied.

I watched Nathan carefully. He was answering easily enough, but he never gave much away. He quite clearly wasn’t from Italy ; he’d said he’d spent a year there, but he’d obviously lived somewhere in England beforehand.

« Where in Italy ? » Matt asked.

« Rome. »

« Rome ! » Kat exclaimed in a high-pitched voice, butting into their conversation. « Oh, I love Rome ! »

I frowned. « You’ve never visited Rome, Kat. »

« But your photos looked amazing, Izzy, » she said hurriedly, shooting me a smile.

« You’ve been to Rome ? » Nathan’s eyes shifted over to mine, burning into me with a smouldering intensity.

I nodded. « A few years ago. »

« What did you think of it ? »

For some reason, I felt compelled to give a decent opinion. Normally, I would be hesitant to give my thoughts on something, worrying that nobody would really care about what I had to say. However, the way that Nathan stared intensely at me, as though he was about to hang onto my every word, it gave me confidence to express my opinion, knowing that somebody actually cared about hearing it.

« Well, we were only there for a few days…but I really liked it. I love cities. I love the hustle and bustle of them…and Rome isn’t like an ordinary city. There’s literally an ancient building around every corner…and it’s crazy to think that some of them have been there for almost two thousand years. »

Nathan nodded in agreement, finally releasing me from his powerful gaze. « Yeah. You never really get used to that. A year was enough for me, though. Visiting a city and living in a city aren’t quite the same. »

It occurred to me that this was perhaps the first proper, serious conversation about a neutral topic that Nathan and I had had.

« Uh-oh, » Nathan suddenly murmured, his eyes now on something across the room.

I turned to see what he was looking at. Kara Ryder was approaching the table, her eyes intently on Nathan.

« She’s in my history class, » Nathan said to us. « She spent the whole lesson this morning flirting with me. I don’t think she can take a hint. »

How ironic, I thought, considering that Nathan had refused to acknowledge my unwillingness to flirt back at the bar that evening. I didn’t like Kara, but that was for personal reasons. Her best friend, Lucy, quite clearly had a thing for Matt. It was no secret, and I think Matt was probably aware of it, too. Since I was ‘the girlfriend’, they’d taken an instant disliking to me ; I was just an insignificant obstacle in Lucy’s path, apparently.

« Hey, Nathan. » Kara twisted a lock of hair around her finger, her eyes twinkling with interest. I couldn’t quite work out if it was a deliberate flirtatious action or if she just lacked subtlety. « You know, there’s room at our table if you fancy a change ? »

« Thanks, Katie. But I’m fine here, » Nathan replied with a polite smile.

« It’s Kara, » she corrected quickly. « But, well, you know… The offer’s there. »

« I couldn’t possibly leave Bella’s company. She’s such great fun. »

I writhed in awkwardness, for so many reasons. Matt probably wasn’t aware that Nathan enjoyed making fun of me, and I had a feeling that he wouldn’t like the flirting, either. On top of that, Kara would have picked up on the differing interpretation of my name, and I had no doubt that she’d mention it.

Sure enough, instead of looking put out at Nathan’s rejection, Kara’s eyes flickered with amusement as she glanced at me.

« Okay, whatever. » She lifted one shoulder in a casual shrug. « There’s a party on Friday, though, and you should definitely come. You’d get to know everyone a bit better. Bella and Matt are coming, isn’t that right, Bella ? »

I swallowed down my irritation. « Maybe. »

« Well, Bella knows the address if you fancy it, » Kara smiled, straightening up. « See you around. »

« Bye. » Nathan smiled tightly, before shuddering as soon as she turned her back and strutted away.

« Did you deliberately get her name wrong ? » Kat asked him.

« Of course. Speaking of names, you said nobody called you Bella. » He frowned at me, appearing confused.

« Nobody does, » I said flatly. « She was quite obviously taking the piss. »

« Why would she do that ? »

« Because she hates being called Bella, » Kat explained on my behalf.

« It’s not so much to do with hating it, » I said quickly. « But Bella is short for Isabella, not Isobel. »

« Why didn’t you tell me you hated it ? » Nathan frowned, and I couldn’t quite determine if he was hurt or still confused.

« It’s different when you say it. You said yourself that it meant—« I cut myself off, suddenly remembering that Matt was sitting next to me. « Well, you’re new. And Italian. So I let you off. »

« Well, now I think of you as Bella, so it’s staying I’m afraid. »

I shrugged, not fussed. Even if I told him to stop, he probably wouldn’t. It was futile. « It really doesn’t bother me. So, are you going to her party ? »

« Are you ? » he shot back.

I glanced at Matt. His face was stone-like, clearly unimpressed with something. It was difficult, however, to pinpoint one particular event that could have set him off ; there’d been a few potential catalysts.

« Not sure yet, » I answered.

« I’m going back over to the table, » Matt said to me. By ‘the table’ he meant his usual table, with his usual friends, who he usually ate lunch with.

« Fine. »