Chapter Seventeen

Bryony

Most Likely to Become Famous

The party s really kicked off now and if I do say so myself, it s a bloody good party. Everyone s got full bellies from the pizza, most people are a bit tipsy off the spiked punch but nobody s verging into messy drunk to make it a problem, and spirits are high. They re all mingling and dancing and laughing and everybody is having the absolute best time of their lives.

Which, like, they re totally welcome for.

I kind of want to brag about it to Steph because she always used to arrange get-togethers and have a hand in organising house parties or prom, but I can t see her anywhere. Her fianc is still hanging about though, so she must be here somewhere.

Pride simmers through me, bubbling up around the tips of my ears and threatening to spill over in joyful peals of laughter and smug smiles. It feels like those nights on stage where everything just goes right - no issues with lighting cues or people flubbing lines or costume mishaps, performing to a sold-out theatre that ends in a standing ovation. That s a high I can ride for days; this will be, too. I wonder if I can get away with making some sort of closing speech and take a bow, or if too many people will try to leave before the end of the night and make the whole thing not worth it.

Not to mention, nobody suspected a thing when I had to wrangle Freddie away from the staff photos in a totally non-subtle way. I haven t seen Ashleigh since, thinking about it, but she ll get over it. I mean, this is Freddie , it s not like she actually fancied him. I think.

Anyway, all that matters is that his hand is no longer crumpling up my yearbook print-out covering up the damning evidence of my current reality, threatening to reveal it to the world at any moment, so I m chalking that up as another win. Gone are the mental images of the gasps all around the hall, the stunned faces of my old classmates as my fa ade is ripped from me before their very eyes, leaving me to flee in tears, humiliated beyond belief.

Still if Freddie could almost accidentally unveil my photo on the staff board, so could someone else. I keep glancing over at that corner of the room every few seconds, just in case some other idiot decides to stand too close for comfort over there. The adrenaline rush I m experiencing is all to do with how great the party is, though, and definitely not almost being outed as a liar and #cancelled .

I m too busy watching a couple of women almost drift in the direction of the staff photos that I m not really listening to whatever Mardy Mara With The Lipliner is saying until Elise nudges me in the arm.

Huh?

I said - gosh, she really does look so much better for having figured out how to wear lipliner, kudos to whatever YouTube or TikTok tutorial finally got through to her - I thought you were in that Hugh Grant movie? You know, the one on Prime? The guy from Game of Thrones was in it You posted all about it on your Instagram. There was that selfie of you and Hugh Grant from the cast party?

I mean, they don t need to know the selfie was from set, and I got cussed out by one of the producers for it and made to delete the photo, which obviously I resurrected from my deleted folder immediately afterwards.

Mm-hmm. Oh my gosh, it was so lit, you would not believe.

Is he really cool? I can t believe you met him. Elise s eyes light up and everybody else in our little circle leans in, intrigued, hanging off my every word before I can even speak, and I bask in their attention. He seems so awesome; I think I d die!

Did you film much with him? someone else asks. I think she was one of the geeky kids Ashleigh and Hayden were friendly with. I think we maybe did a history project together in Year Eight.

We had a really great scene together, actually. Hardly took any takes, but of course, he s a pro, and he told me I take direction really well-

Or, you know. He would ve , if I d been able to show off my acting talents properly. I d stake money on it.

You were in a scene with him? Mara says, frowning. But you weren t in the movie.

What?

I watched it. I even rewound the credits to look for your name, I told my girlfriend you were in it and we were looking out for you. I didn t see you in it?

Oh, fuck. Fuckity fuck.

Well, you know, it was a very small role - I was an extra for one scene and my only job was to stand in the background at a party, so even that s stretching the truth - and a lot of things end up on the cutting-room floor. It s just Hollywood, you know how it is.

Wait, says someone else, and bloody hell, when did Hayden get here? When did he decide to slink into the group all silent and stealthy like that, and butt in? He barely even used to speak up in class, but now - what, now, all of a sudden, he s Mr Chatterbox? His eyes are glassy, too; trust Hayden to have such an accurate memory even when he s a little bit drunk. I thought you said earlier you were an extra on that movie? You told Thea and Priya-

I said I might as well have been , I snap, and, shit, can they all hear my heart thundering at a hundred miles an hour? I try to compose myself, but not even that don t be suspicious soundbite from Parks and Rec can save me now. I force my snarl at Hayden into more of a smile, and the laugh I attempt sounds too high-pitched to be passably realistic. I toss my ponytail over my shoulder and jut a hip out to the side, then roll my eyes at Elise. As if this guy here knows anything about cinema, am I right? No, it was totally just one of those things. But it was such a good experience

Mara doesn t look totally convinced, though, and I dare not look at everybody else to see if they ve got similar responses. I can t afford to. I have to maintain this fa ade, I m in too deep. Thankfully, I m saved by whatever probing question Mardy Mara has started to ask when I notice Freddie Loughton, Hiro, Tommy, and two or three other people making for the doors, all of them shoving at each other and laughing.

You will not convince me those boys are taking a trip to the toilets together. No chance.

I m almost tempted to let them go. They ll just muck around in the hallways a bit, maybe go visit the old common room and see what it looks like now, but What if they stumble off towards the drama department? What if they see the posters from the last orchestra trip when I was a chaperone, or find my classroom? They re never going to let that lie, and everyone will know in a few seconds, and - no . I can t let that happen.

Plus, I don t think I can afford to stay here acting sus for another second.

I dart away from the group and make a beeline for the boys just as they get through the doors. I pick up the pace and bellow, Freddie Loughton! Hiro Tanaka! You lot get back in here now .

The boys, to their credit, stop joking around and fall quiet.

Unfortunately for me, so does half of the rest of the hall. I feel eyes on me, see heads swivel in my direction, but stand my ground, arms crossed and one hip out, eyebrows raised. The lads all exchange uncertain looks, but shuffle back into the hall.

I said , no gallivanting around the school. Didn t I say that? Tommy?

Yeah - um, yes, Bryony.

Yeah, I thought I did. So where are you all off to?

Two of them are smart enough to say bathroom . Hiro mutters something about a smoke break, which I m not buying after all the stuff I saw he retweeted about how there should be more regulations around vapes and how bad he thinks they are.

Aw, come on, Bryony, Freddie says, lurching towards me with a smile. If he s trying to emulate Ryan, it s not working - and if Ryan cared to get them out of this, he doesn t step forward from wherever he is to try. We were just having a laugh. Swear down we won t mess anything up.

Mm-hmm. Back inside, boys. I said no wandering around, and I meant it . This is my reputation on the line if you lot screw things up, okay?

The other guys behind Freddie mumble apologies, filtering back into the hall. A few people are laughing and Tommy gives a melodramatic shrug and sheepish roll of his eyes, playing up to the attention. He claps Freddie on the back as he passes, but Freddie only scowls and stays put.

So much for the hostess with the mostest, he says, none too quietly. That was so anti-dank of you.

What s anti-dank is you thinking you can pull off saying that.

I thought you were always up for some fun , Bryony. Like at Morgan s New Year s party in Year Twelve, remember?

Oh, sweetie. Poor kid really hasn t grown up in the last ten years if he thinks he can slut-shame me. I walk up and pat his shoulder, giving him my best patronising-teacher smile I use when kids act up in my classes and I need them to understand I m not buying their bullshit. Sadly, all I remember about that is that it lasted about thirty seconds. I ve had smear tests more intimate.

Freddie flushes. I give his shoulder another gentle pat before turning around to a sea of grinning, scandalised, delighted faces, relishing the gossip and drama. A couple of girls raise their drinks to me; I notice Morgan almost doubled over laughing, wiping tears from her eyes.

It s tonight s equivalent of a standing ovation, and I ll take it.