Lisa may have thought our comments about returning to England early had been a joke, but there was no avoiding the fact that we'd all been distracted from our studies thanks to recent events.

We permitted ourselves a couple of days to recover and then negotiated our return to school. The teachers had been hesitant at first, but the younger students had already started their new term and there'd be enough faculty to monitor us.

Dad and Jenny's mother escorted us on the plane, and I liked to think our responsible decision won me back a little of my father's respect. It would be a long time before he fully trusted me again, but I was willing to work hard to prove to him that I valued his respect before I left for university.

Lisa had protested to the plan at every turn, but we were adamant that she was coming with us. Regardless of her plan for her later life, be it to marry well or to simply enjoy the money that her parents left her, she would feel the benefit of a decent education and good grades. We took turns to physically drag her out of her bed every morning, marching her to the bathroom to get ready for a full day in the library. To her credit, she fell into a routine with us, and put some small effort into studying under our care. This may not have seemed like a marked change in her demeanour, but Lisa was the kind of girl who likely hadn't known the school even had a library before we escorted her to it. She even followed me to the music room like my shadow when everyone else was done and turned the sheet music while I played at the piano.

On the surface, it seemed that she was back to her usual self; a bubbly fashionista with a wicked tongue and an opinion on everything. But when she thought that no one was looking, she became noticeably quiet and withdrawn. I wasn't brave enough to ask just how far Gideon had pushed her to go when they'd been alone. Although Lisa had told me she would never cheapen herself, I had to wonder if that had been the truth, or if she was simply too ashamed to admit to anyone what had really happened.

After all, I believed that she had loved him.

No girl ran off with a man and left notes about elopements if they were looking for a one-night stand. Lisa had passionately believed that Gideon wanted more than a tumble in the sheets. When he'd abandoned her at the first sign of resistance and had taken up with some woman from a bar, it must have broken her heart. Our cuts and bruises would fade with time, but the scars left on her heart would take far longer to heal. I just hoped that she'd find someone worthy of her and wouldn't assume that all men would treat her as cruelly as Gideon had.

Out of respect for her privacy and her right to grieve what she'd lost, I didn't ask. Gideon had made his feelings about me perfectly clear and had openly compared us to one another. If Lisa wanted to spill her guts to anyone, it wouldn't be me. I was a reminder of that terrible night, and of the sort of man that Gideon was. At least, so I thought. On the final night of the school holidays, I woke in the middle of the night when someone curled against my back. Lisa clutched my pyjamas and cried quietly between my shoulder blades until she exhausted herself and fell into an uneasy sleep. I hoped that this meant that she didn't blame me, and that she was slowly healing from that terrible night.

The next morning, a crushing weight on my chest woke me. I tried to pull the covers over my head, but they were stuck beneath whatever had just dumped itself on top of us. Lisa grumbled and wriggled, kicking her feet against my calves and desperately trying to get back to sleep. I eventually worked the sheets down and stared up at Chrissy's face.

'Morning!' she said brightly. 'First day of school! Ready?'

'You're heavy,' I complained.

'You're going to be late,' she said. 'Come on! I want to see the boys coming back!'

'Eurgh. Go away,' I groaned.

Jenny pulled the pillow out from beneath my head and my skull bounced against the mattress. 'She's right. Get out of bed!'

'God,' I whined. 'I hate you both.'

Lisa rolled off the mattress and hit the floor with a dull thud. While the others laughed at her, I kicked the covers away and pulled myself up into a sitting position. I couldn't be as excited as they were about the boys returning, because I knew that two of their number would still be missing. Will and Charlie had made no mention of returning to Netherfield and would likely have gone back to Switzerland for their exams. I wanted Jenny and Charlie to make up more than anything in the world and had hoped that they'd have had their chance in Rome.

I didn't want to admit it, but it might have been time for me to let go of that hope for my friend forever.

And for me.

Will was never coming back to me.

To delay the inevitable, I took my time getting ready, adjusting my uniform, and tidying my hair until I was utterly pristine. Sadly, I couldn't hide in our room forever, no matter how tempted I was. With the return of the students who'd been on the trip to Rome, I'd expected more stares and rumours. Lisa, too, had stuck close to my side and cast furtive glances at us as though someone might leap out and confront her for being so reckless. Instead, we received only a few nods and smiles and little else. That almost all the girls in the halls had been part of the rescue operation wasn't to be forgotten, and it had strengthened my faith in my classmates and my belief that, deep down, we were all fundamentally equal.

Jenny, on the other hand, was quite the spectacle for some reason.

As she passed, a group of girls who'd been whispering to one another fled her gaze. Others who'd been glued to windows overlooking the driveway had squeaked upon noticing her and ducked into the nearest bathroom to hide.

'Did you do something I don't know about?' I asked her.

'No. I have no idea what they're -'

'I do.' Chrissy ran to the window. It looked out onto the broad driveway at the front of the school's main entrance. Whoever was arriving this late to the first day of the new term was going to be in serious trouble with their teachers. There'd be no time for them to unpack and make it to their first class on time. Amateur. I was pondering on just who might be so stupid until Chrissy announced, 'He's back! It's Charlie!'

'You're joking!' I shoved her out of the way and peered through the glass. 'Oh my God, he is! Jen', he's back!'

'I want to see!' Lisa sandwiched herself between us.

'Me too!' Meg elbowed her way in to press her face to the glass.

Four girls clamouring to get a look at one boy through a narrow window had to be a ridiculous spectacle. I noticed Jenny's absence and turned to beckon her over, but she was nowhere to be found. Well, it had to be strange to have him back so suddenly. He hadn't called ahead to let us know about it or mentioned anything in Rome. It must have been too much of a surprise for Jenny to bear.

Charlie hadn't arrived alone. Chantelle stepped out of the car behind him. I held my breath, hoping that Will might have joined the siblings, but the door closed behind them without anyone else disembarking.

A weight sank into the pit of my stomach.

He really wasn't coming back.

'What's she doing?' Chrissy asked.

I turned back to the window. That was when I realised where Jenny had run off to. Well, walking off to. She kept her head high and took her time in approaching Charlie. He stopped trying to help get his bags out of the car and nervously closed the distance between them. My heart was in my throat. She might have slapped him, or cried, or even have scolded him for not giving her any warning that he was due back.

I didn't think she'd kiss him.

And it wasn't just a peck, either.

I'd never painted Jenny as the bold type. It must have been my influence rubbing off on her. Well, it was about damn time. For all of it. She had been so distraught at losing him. Now, she was going to have a hard time getting rid of him if she changed her mind. Charlie hugged her close and reciprocated the kiss with equal enthusiasm. I watched for a couple of minutes before I felt awkward and rather like I was intruding on their moment. I tried to encourage the other girls away from the window, but they wouldn't be convinced to leave the pair to it. Their noses were practically glued to the glass.

Charlie and Jenny must have felt our eyes on them. When they saw fit to disentangle themselves from one another, they looked in our direction. We could have reacted with decorum. We might have simply smiled or waved politely. But, after all they'd been through, it would never happen like that.

We openly cheered for them, banged on the window, and even mimed crying in joy. Lisa was the first to break away and ran out to tackle Jenny from behind. Chrissy soon followed, and even Meg. I was the last out and strolled rather than ran. I held out a hand to shake Charlie's. He wasn't going to entertain such a lukewarm greeting and hugged me instead. It was only brief, perhaps because he was afraid that Jenny might get the wrong idea.

As if she would.

I reached up to ruffle his hair. I was happy for them both, but still warned him, 'If you ever hurt her, I'll have your nuts for earrings.'

'Understood,' he said. 'But I'm never going to do that again.'

'No, I don't think you are.'

Chantelle approached me. I tried hard not to be on the defensive. After all, she had helped to conceal our escape when we'd been in Italy. I didn't think that she was about ready to turn over a new leaf and be my best friend, but I was willing to give her a chance to have her say. She folded her arms across her chest. 'I didn't think I'd be coming back here.'

'So, why did you?'

'He's happier with her,' she admitted. 'No matter what you think of me, Bennett, I do care about my brother.'

'I know,' I said. 'I can see that. Just do me a favour and don't make Jenny miserable.'

'I couldn't even if I want to. Charlie already lectured me about it. Apparently, he's willing to choose his girlfriend over his own twin.'

'Good. About bloody time.'

She rolled her eyes. 'Whatever. Oh, and I hope you didn't think that Will was going to step out of the car. He's still not coming back, so you might as well hurry along to class. There's nothing else out here for you to see.'

'Don't get the wrong idea,' I said. 'I didn't think that he'd have bothered coming back so close to exams. There's nothing left for him here.'

'As long as you know that,' she retorted, and we were back to normal.

Chantelle had no more time for me. She went about congratulating Jenny on her relationship with Charlie and acted like she'd wanted it to happen the whole time. Jenny smiled and accepted the compliments, but it was done warily. Chantelle had shown Jenny her true nature, and people didn't change quite so easily. If she wanted to repair their friendship, then it was going to take a lot of time, and far more sincerity than I thought she was capable of.

Well, that was their business.

I tore myself away from the jovial group and found solace in walking through the halls by myself. I was taking the longest possible route to class. The silence helped me to get my thoughts in order. I was happy to see Charlie. I was happy for Jenny. There couldn't have been a happier or better outcome for either of them after everything that they'd been through.

I believed that with all my heart.

I was just disappointed for myself.

I might have said that I thought there was nothing left at the school for Will to come back to, but I'd still wanted him to prove me wrong.

I'd wanted my own happy ending.

'And of course, you must renovate the auditorium. It is shocking that you hold performances with such poor acoustics,' a horribly familiar voice was telling a man in a crisp suit.

He was on the board of directors, I supposed. At least, that was the sort of person he appeared to be. I didn't pay as much attention as I should to such things. There were too many photographs on the walls of beneficiaries and famous alumni to know who everyone was.

He may have been a snappily dressed janitor for all I cared.

It was the person with him that I knew all too well. She stopped in her tracks at the sight of me. A flash of utter abhorrence and recognition crossed her face and then turned swiftly into a polite smile.

Madame Courtenay.