The very next evening, we found ourselves ready to set off again. The only downside was that someone – and I was going to kill whoever they were when I found them – had mentioned the event to Wyatt. He couldn't support the idea of us going out without a chaperone and forced himself into the limousine which collected us from outside of the school.

It was a nasty surprise to Chantelle and Charlie when he showed up with us at their door. I mouthed an apology to Charlie on the way inside and was incredibly disappointed that it had been Wyatt to accompany us instead of Gideon. Then again, it was probably for the best. I didn't like to think about what might happen if he and William came face to face away from the school. There, Gideon was forced to adopt a professional manner. In his own free time, he might not be so quiet about what had happened. Not that William didn't deserve to be openly put down, but it wasn't fair to do that to Charlie.

Especially not on his birthday.

I wouldn't have cared so much if it were Chantelle's birthday alone, but Charlie didn't deserve the drama.

We weren't the only students to be invited. Most of them were boys, all of whom had been forced to make the move to our school along with William and Charlie. They were probably happy to get away from the clamouring schoolgirls for a single night. The young ladies in attendance weren't students from our school and conducted themselves with complete decorum.

Decorum wasn't a word in Lisa's vocabulary. She and Chrissy vanished almost immediately and went stalking around, seeking people they could dance with. Meg, meanwhile, put in an earbud and drifted in the general direction of an empty chaise to continue her audiobook. I wanted to stay close to Jenny, but Charlie swiftly claimed her. She looked sorry to leave me. That might have had something to do with the fact that Wyatt took hold of my hand as soon as she did.

'What are you doing?' I asked him incredulously.

'I thought we should dance.'

I raised a brow. 'Do you actually know how to dance?'

'It can't be that hard.'

'Well, practice with someone else. It's weird, and I'd rather talk with people my own age.'

'Do you know anyone else here well enough to talk to?' he asked.

I was about to concede that I didn't when I spotted a familiar face in the crowd. I didn't offer Wyatt any parting words or apologies and practically ran to Georgia. It was difficult in the heels Chrissy had made me wear, but worth the risk of a broken ankle. I tottered to a halt in front of her and beamed. 'I'm so glad you're here!'

'Me too. I was running out of people to pretend to talk to,' she confessed.

Unfortunately, I hadn't lost Wyatt. He stalked up behind me and noisily cleared his throat. Although he was as much Georgia's student-teacher as he was mine, I knew that the proper rules of courtesy had to be observed in a place like Charlie's house. I let out a soft sigh and in monotone introduced him formally. A redundant exercise, but those were societal norms for you. 'Georgia, this is Wyatt. Wyatt, this is Georgia. Wyatt is my ex-brother. He insisted on joining us this evening.'

Wyatt spared her a brief smile, that being all the civility he could muster while I was being so rude. He said in a stern, commanding tone, 'Elisa is under my care tonight, so she'll be in my company. And I think we're about to dance.'

I mouthed 'help' at Georgia as I was dragged away. Unhelpfully, she laughed behind her hand. Of course she did. She was my friend. I might have done the same had she been in my place. That's just how we were. At that moment, I wished we weren't, though. Then, I might have been spared Wyatt's clumsy feet and sweaty hands.

He couldn't dance.

Anyone else so lacking in the art of dancing would make their apologies, then give up with what little remained of their dignity. Wyatt insisted on stepping on my toes for two whole songs, and not once said that he was sorry for the agony he'd caused me. By the time he was done, I had to find a place to sit down to give my toes a chance to stop throbbing. Fortunately, it was close to a few good-looking boys. I didn't know any of them, but I wouldn't complain. They didn't attend our school, and so I deduced that they must have been Charlie's friends from his last. Well, at least they were better company than Wyatt. He'd found himself some adults to impose on, and they were more than welcome to him.

'Here.' Georgia held out a drink to me when she arrived. 'Sorry about before.'

'No, you're not.'

'No,' she grinned, 'I'm not. How are your feet?'

'Swollen, I think. God, can you believe that idiot followed me here? I mean, some people have no sense of – well – anything!'

'It could be worse. You could have been dancing with William.'

'Yeah, true,' I muttered. 'I imagine Chantelle will be stuck to him like glue. I mean, I don't like him, but no one deserves that.'

'Actually, the last I saw of him, he was talking to Jenny.'

'Poor her.'

Georgia shrugged. 'I don't know. It looked like he was being nice enough to her. Then again, Charlie was there.'

'Which will be the only reason he's talking to her at all. Seriously, he should have stayed at his own school if he hates being around us so much.'

'He probably just wanted to be with his friend. Anyway, it's not like it's anything to us, right? Come on, why don't you come and dance with me?'

I smirked. 'Slow dance? We could make some people super uncomfortable with that. I'll even dip you if you want?'

Georgia laughed. 'I was thinking more of a group of us. I'm way out of your league, you know that.'

I held my hand over my chest. 'Oh God, right in my feelings! That hurts.'

'You're such a loser,' she joked.

'I know. Still, I'm not as bad as Wyatt.'

'I doubt there are many people as bad as he is,' William observed.

I nearly jumped out of my skin. He'd appeared from nowhere, like a phantom stepping out from the shadows in a Gothic horror novel. I hoped that he hadn't been standing beside us long enough to have heard any of the nasty things I'd had to say about him. Not that I had any problem with my opinions of William. I just didn't want to start a huge argument in Charlie's house. It would make things difficult for Jenny if I caused a rift between us and them.

I cleared my throat gently. 'It's a nice party. I'm sorry that moron came along.'

'If you want to make it up to us, then you can come and dance with me.'

Did I hear that right?

I opened and closed my mouth a few times. I wasn't sure if he was joking or not. If he was, then the punch line had soared so far over my head that it was into the stratosphere. It wasn't like he could humiliate me any more than Wyatt had. Besides, William was clearly concerned about his public image. If he wasn't, then he wouldn't willingly spend time in Chantelle's company. She was popular and wealthy, and those were the only advantages to being around her. Even with such benefits, it hardly seemed worth the trouble of being in her acquaintance.

'Er – well – that's –'

'I'll take that as a yes, shall I?' He offered his hand.