Chapter 16

"Did you find it?" Chester asked, bursting into the room before Darcy could shove the box of chargers back under the bed.

He frowned as his eyes moved from the wallet on the desk to look down at her on the floor. Then he noticed the chargers.

"That's my box of 'brokens.' You can strip the wires for copper and sell it. Better than just chucking them in a landfill, am I right?"

Darcy smiled, breathing out an audible sigh of relief. "Oh, that makes sense."

Thinking about it, why else would they be in a box under the bed? She felt stupid for having such a suspicious mind.

"Wait... did you think I was lying?" Chester stood, pulling his shoulders back. "That I'd deliberately want to leave your phone dead, so I have you all to myself or something like that?"

"Erm..." Darcy scratched her collar bone. "No. I... well... maybe for a second."

She bounced to her feet; face stretched in the worry he wouldn't want to be her friend anymore. "I'm such an arrogant freak. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. Please don't hate me."

Chester tutted. "You don't have to panic and start apologising over every little mistake."

"I don't?" Darcy asked. It hadn't occurred to her that she was allowed to make the occasional mistake in judgement. Apologising over and over to Josh had left its mark on her, leaving her in an almost downtrodden frame of mind.

Chester shook his head in the negative as he reached for his wallet and attached it to the chain on his trousers. It jangled as he ran back down the stairs and led her back toward the front door.

"Ready?" he asked. 

As Darcy nodded, she was hit by a sudden onset of nerves. Going out dressed like this, she was worried people would stare or make comments. She was used to people staring, but that was usually because they found her attractive—or so she assumed.

Her heart fluttered as she nodded, unsure if she truly was ready or not. Part of her wanted to run back inside and change into her regular clothes, pit stains or not, but it was too late now.

On the walk to the city centre, Chester made idle conversation about everything and nothing. She was grateful he kept it light, not asking any questions about her family situation or bringing up Josh. Instead, he spoke about his other friends who were meeting him when she left to go to her dad's party. 

At least, she'd assumed he was meeting them afterwards. As they got close to the clock tower in the middle of town, a group of what Darcy would usually describe as 'skater boys’ approached, waving. 

"Darcy, this is Scott, Larry, Fin and Amir," he said. "Guys... this is Darcy."

The guys waved, nodded, and muttered greetings without paying her much attention. They seemed nervous about having a female in the group. Or perhaps they were just suspicious of newcomers.

"We're just going to swing by the book shop then send her on her way," Chester reassured them, also picking up on their discomfort.

She heard a couple of them whispering about her and couldn't help but glance back at them.

"Scott said he wants you to suck his dick," one of the dark-haired lads announced. 

The cute little blonde one blushed and shook his head. "Hey, no—"

"Okay." Darcy rolled her eyes. 

"Okay as in yes you'll do it?" the guy asked. 

Darcy wasn't sure what to say. She was fairly sure he was just teasing his friend, rather than making fun of her or being a pervert, so she didn't want to come across as a buzzkill.

"Why not?" She shrugged, trying to keep a straight face.

This caused the blonde to blush an even deeper shade of red and the others to howl with laughter. 

"Come on, let's try the bookshop on Goodview," Chester said.

"Oh, not the one with your favourite checkout boy?" his friend teased. "Any excuse to visit the bookstore, eh?"

"Aww." Darcy pouted. "And I thought your motives for helping me find a gift were pure."

"They are," Chester insisted. "I just figured I might as well get some eye candy out of it."

The group laughed again and had to stifle their childish giggles when they got to the till.

A guy stood behind a pile of books, labelling them with one of the old-fashioned price tag guns. He looked up as they approached with a blank but gorgeous face. 

'Chester has good taste,' Darcy thought, taking in the server's silver hair, tattoos, and piercings.

"My friend's dad is a fan of Dan Brown. Can you recommend a similar author?" Chester asked the guy in a confident voice.

"Erm." The guy looked about at the shelves and scratched his head. "I only work here on Saturday's. I'm not an expert on books."

"But you work in a book shop," Chester pressed. "You must know the basics."

The guy lowered his eyes, as if ashamed. "I—I can google it."

"I can do that." Chester rolled his eyes.

"It's okay, don't worry about it," Darcy piped up with a smile, feeling bad for the guy. Why was Chester being such a dick to him if he had a crush on the guy? It made no sense.

"Hmm, I think we should go with Douglas Preston." Chester placed his phone back in his pocket and looked at the server. "Which of his books do you recommend?"

"I'm sure they're all great," the guy replied, looking down with a hint of an eye roll.

Darcy was happy to hear him standing up for himself, but Chester wasn't so impressed.

"So recommend something," Chester demanded. 

"Let's just go and pick something. It doesn't really matter what we get as long as I have something to show for myself," Darcy said. They found their way to the 'author - P' section and picked out the one with the snazziest cover. 

"We'd like it gift wrapped," Chester told the guy at the till with thinly disguised glee. They watched as the young man struggled with the wrapping paper and tape, making a pig's ear of it. 

"It's okay, I can just buy a gift bag—" Darcy tried to offer.

"No," Chester insisted. "The sign says free gift-wrapping service available. It's free so why should you have to pay for a bag because he's all fingers and thumbs."

She saw the way the guy swallowed. His hands were beginning to shake which only made his task harder. 

'Why is Chester being so horrible?' she wondered. She hadn't seen this side to him before.

"Start again. That looks terrible." Chester scoffed at the young man's efforts.

Glancing to the left, she saw Chester's friends were knocking over the piles of books and generally making a mess of the place. 

When the cashier also spotted this, he sighed heavily and dropped the book, looking down. He looked as though he was about to cry. "Please... I'm... I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I'm rubbish at wrapping too!" Darcy cried. She placed a ten-pound note on the counter, picked up the book and led her friend away by the elbow. "Keep the change!"

"What was that all about?" she asked once they were back out onto the street.

"You don't want to know." Chester shook his head. "I'll tell you about it someday when we have more time, but you need to get to your dad's house and it's a bit of a bus ride. You need to make three changes."

"Great." Darcy's shoulders slumped. She hated taking public transport, especially on routes she wasn't familiar with. She had the urge to ask him to come with her but figured it was too much. He'd already let her stop over, lent her clothes, and helped her find a gift. How much handholding did she possibly need?

'I'm a grown-ass adult,' she told herself in a stern voice. 'I can manage a damn bus trip on my own.'

"Thank you for everything," she said, pulling Chester in for a hug. "I'm really grateful."

"Don't worry about it," he said, stroking her hair. "I'll see you at college on Monday. Meet me by the back entrance so we don't have to bump into 'you know who.'"

"Okay." Darcy nodded as she stepped back. "This is my bus. See you soon."

$ Chapter