"Anthony has hots for pop star Kate Sharma? No way?" Penelope said while shaking her head in disbelief.
Colin sided with Penelope too. "I agree with Pen; I know my brother, and ever since dad died, I do not remember he showed any interest in a girl."
"Well, what about before that?" Sophie asked, making Colin and Penelope frown as Colin replied. "My brother was always shy, although he did go out on a few dates with Siena Russo; remember Penelope? She was Genevieve's friend."
"The one used to mock Bridgerton's for having so many children?" Pen recalls.
"Yup! That's the one. Well, Anthony dumped her when she screamed at him for leaving mid-date because Hyacinth got sick. I think she scared Anthony from dating forever, and on top of that, she took her revenge when she hooked up with Ben."
Sophie scrunched her nose as she listened to her friend. "I still say Anthony likes Kate; just please observe him yourself, and I am sure you will see what I see."
"We doubt that." Her friends say that together, but Sophie was determined to prove her observations were correct .
So for the next few days, Penelope and Colin watched Anthony closely around Kate.
Colin was surprised to discover that any time he passed his brother's class, he noticed a goofy look on his face while he watched or listened to Kate.
"Colin, why is your brother smiling more these days?" His mom inquired one night as they watched Anthony doing dishes while whistling a tune that Colin was sure Kate was singing today at rehearsal. "I thought because of the no dating rule, Benedict and his friends were giving him some trouble."
"No, mom, there is no trouble at all."
Which is true because now Anthony is hardly alone. Kate is always by his side, whether in the classroom, lunchroom, or auditorium, and she even joined the volleyball team that Anthony was captain of. "Anthony is fine, mom. As for happy, well, I can assure you, it's something good."
It was not only Colin who noticed these changes. Penelope noticed too. She was writing her new article about celebrities among them when she noticed Kate and Anthony entering the library. Kate was giggling and twirling her curl, a classic flirting technique, while Anthony always leans closer as they chat about some old love stories.
She slowly got up and walked closer to listen closely. "I prefer period romances over this new-age stuff—I mean, talk about toxic masculinity! Yuck! I prefer those period romance gentlemen more."
"I agree with you; I think it's sad that guys prefer flirting over wooing their lady love."
Penelope watched as Kate stepped closer and played with Anthony's top button. "What about you, Mr. Bridgerton? Will you flirt with your lady love or woo her like a gentleman?"
Penelope's eyes widened as she watched the shrew of Mayfair boldly twirl the lock of Kate Sharma curl as his voice became deep with longing. "I am a gentleman; my parents raised me to be respectful towards girls, and if you ask me, I will be anything the love of my life wants; my lady wish is my command.
"WTF!" Penelope exclaimed in a slow whisper as she observed this chemically charged moment between two people she never imagined getting together.
Her inner brain was chanting Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! And it seems the way they were gazing at each other, they would devour each other at any moment.
Ding! Ding!
"Aw man!" She whispered loud enough and quickly ducked because the spell was over between Kate and Anthony, who looked around with blushing cheeks and heaving breaths as they quickly parted ways to search for their books.
Once they were gone, Penelope came out of her hiding place and rushed out to meet her friends.
"Pen? Are you alright?" Sophie asked for an alarm while Colin handed her his water bottle. "Your brother wants to woo Kate Sharma." She finally managed to say this after drinking cold water to calm herself down.
Sophie cheered in excitement as she clapped her hands. "I told you she had hots for Kate Sharma!"
"Hots? I cannot say what I witnessed was just hot; it was more like a dead volcano is now filled with hot lava ready to burst at any moment."
"Wait a minute? We are still talking about my brother Anthony, right?"
"Right!" Sophie and Penelope exclaimed impatiently.
"But can we say the same about Kate? I mean, it's no brainer if Anthony is falling for Kate Sharma, even though he has been shrewd about girls in the past. I mean, she is a freaking pop star, but does Kate really feel the same for him? Or is this some friendship thing we are seeing from her side?"
At that, Sophie and Penelope went quite until both said it together. "We think she likes him too."
Colin sighed as he embraced his friends. "Look girls, I appreciate your help, but until I am certain my brother will not be heartbroken, I cannot agree to this plan, so let's wait a few days. Maybe we will observe Kate's feelings for my brother.
So while they observe Kate, Sophie spends her tutoring sessions getting closer to Ben. She notices he flirts a lot, but he can be polite when she asks.
"Please concentrate, Benedict; you need to write a short story in French if you want to pass the class."
Benedict huffed adorably as he pouted. "But I don't know any French stories; I know about French toasts, French soup, French girls, and French kisses." He puckered his lips, and Sophie laughed before placing her pencil against his lips. "Be quite."
Benedict adorably pouts as Sophie sighs. "You have to write a story to which you can relate yourself, like an experience or some significant moments that left an impact on your life."
"Like what?" he asks.
"Like, there was a girl I knew; she had everything—beauty, youth, brilliance, friends, popularity, and a happy family—until her life changed when her mom died in a boating accident. Suddenly she started blaming her dad for letting her mom go, and she blamed her boyfriend for dragging her to the party when she could go with her mom. Now I understand you say it was an accident and not anyone's fault, but she refused to understand this. She started rebelling at home, creating all sorts of trouble with her father, and she punished her boyfriend by cheating on him repeatedly with anyone willing to hook up with her."
Sophie went quiet, and Benedict could not understand why, but hearing this girl's story did something to his heart. "What happened to that girl?"
"She became a worse human being because, in her anger, she went out to hurt one person who had nothing to do with her mom's death. She had a friend whose name was Posy. Posy always had a crush on this guy, Eric, and finally they were together. Because of that, Posy started spending less time with the girl, and she, in her rage, decided to ruin their relationship. She hooked up with Posy's boyfriend in a dark room, making them break up, but she never imagined how deeply she hurt Posy in all this."
Sophie stopped talking, and Benedict noticed a few tears drop from her eyes, which he wiped away. "That girl sounds messed up."
"She was, and she learned a hard lesson that forced her to straighten her life, but she also promised herself that if she saw someone like herself, she would reach out to help them before it became too late for them."
Benedict was staring deeply into her eyes as he asked. "And did she find someone like herself?"
Sophie was about to say something when they were disturbed by Cressida, who disturbed their moment but also noticed something was happening. "Am I interrupting?
"No, Cess, our session is over. See you later, Sophie."
Sophie smiled and waved, but Cressida glared at her before dragging Benedict away.
"Come, Ben, I have arranged a brilliant plan to get you out of that dumb rule."
Benedict frowned as they reached an empty classroom where Margaret was talking with Anthony. "Margaret owes me a favour, so I decided to collect it. She will ask your shrew brother out for the dance, and once you arrive safely at the dance, she will ditch his sorry ass.
"Cess, I do not think." But Benedict had nothing to say as Margaret ran outside crying while Anthony walked towards them as he scolded them. "Using your indebted friend to do your dirty work! Really, Cressida, that is so low off you, but here I am! You can throw hundreds of girls my way, but still, it will not tempt me to sacrifice this idiot to your games."
"Listen Anthony!" Benedict tried to speak, but he was cut off. "I cannot believe you, of all people, will stoop so low to go with Cressida's plans to evoke your punishment. You know what if you are so dying to be with Cressida? Go ahead and ask mom, but tell me, will you ever be satisfied with the way you are living your life?"
His brother then stormed away, leaving Benedict to ponder on this question.
The word has spread like fire that Cressida and Benedict tried to set Anthony on a fake date. When Kate heard it, she felt sad for Anthony, who was genuinely the most decent, sweetest guy she met. It is surprising that she attended the same school as him, but until they became project partners, Kate never noticed him before.
Grabbing chocolate chip ice cream and a bag of popcorn, she arrived at the address she had taken from school records. The house was beautiful, and Kate could hear noises from inside. She rang the bell, and to her surprise, a woman opened the door wearing an apron on her blue dress.
"Um, hi, is this Anthony Bridgerton's house?"
The woman's eyes widened in shock as she asked. "You are here for Anthony Bridgerton? I hope you do not mean Benedict."
Kate smiled as she assured the baffled woman. "I am definitely here to meet Anthony Bridgerton. I am his friend from school."
"Friend from school?" Violet repeated in wonder before she screamed excitedly. "Ah! Please come inside!"
Kate was now taken aback as the woman gave her a warm, tight hug and then led her inside the house. "I am Anthony's mom."
"Good evening, Mrs. Bridgerton." Kate tried to shake her hand, but she was embraced again. "Please call me Violet; I never imagined introducing myself to anyone on Anthony's behalf, and you dear are so pretty. Oh, bless my lucky stars. Oh children, come meet Kate; she is Anthony's friend."
Kate watched as a group of three young girls stared at her with wide eyes, while there were two children: a five-year-old boy who shyly hid behind his sister and a three-year-old girl who looked at her curiously. "You, honey, friend?"
Kate laughed as she leaned down to pick up the girl. "Yes, I am Honey's friend now. Where is Mr. Honey?"
"O!M!G! Kate Sharma is in our home and friends with our brother." Daphne finally managed to say, while Francesca and Eloise jumped in excitement.
Violet looked confused but then realised it when she saw the same girl performing on the TV. "Oh my God, you are that singer my girls are crazy for."
Kate tried to hold back their excitement by replying to everyone's questions when suddenly a door opened and Anthony stepped out of the bathroom wearing pyjama pants and completely shirtless while a towel was draped over his muscular shoulder. "Mom, why are girls screaming? Oh shit, Kate!"
They watched as Anthony rushed towards his room and, a few seconds later, returned as he straightened his shirt on his body. "Kate, what are you doing here?"
"I thought we should watch some period romance movies to prepare for class project skits. I brought ice cream and popcorn."
Violet beamed when she heard romance movies that this beautiful and talented girl wanted to watch with her son.
"What a splendid idea! You can watch a movie in your room."
"Mom!" Anthony groaned, but Violet tutted him. "Come on, son, it's for educational purposes, and you know how much I want you all to focus on your education."
Kate smirked as Violet all but dragged them towards Anthony's room. "Here you go; you both can enjoy your movie night, and I will close the door so other children will not disturb you."
"Mom please!" Anthony begged as his cheeks turned a deep shade of red.
"Don't you, mom, and Kate, please eat dinner with us when your movie is over?"
With that, Violet left, and she feels so excited that she cannot wait to call her sister-in-law about the girl visiting Anthony, the son she was extremely worried about.
" Nice room, just like the nice family you have."
Anthony blushed awkwardly as Kate settled comfortably on his bed. They decided to watch Pride and Prejudice, but Anthony could not concentrate because he was trying to wrap his mind around the fact that the girl he had dreamed about all his life in this very room was finally sitting beside him in his room watching a romantic movie with him.
They came to the Darcy proposal part, and he heard Kate sighed as she said. "Why can't guys talk like that anymore? You won't believe how many idiots I met directly asking for my number or messaging me for dates without putting much effort into their wording."
"Well, it's their loss if they do not know how to treat a beautiful girl like you."
Kate arched her brow as she gave him a challenging look. "What about you? How will you ask the girl you like on a date?"
"I do not date Ms. Sharma. So no need to answer that."
But Kate was relentless. "Come on, Bridgerton! Humour me, please, for this class project. Pretend I am the girl you like, so how will you ask me out or better woo me?" She stubbornly offered her hand.
Anthony sighed as he grabbed the hand Kate was offering him.
Colin was just returning home when he noticed Kate inside his brother's room through the window. He walked closer and peered inside as he listened to some class projects, and Kate insisted Anthony ask the girl he liked while pretending she was her.
Colin watched as Anthony grabbed Kate's hand and ran a pad of his thumb on her hand in a circular motion. "I am not a man of many words; I am unable to express my feelings, but if you give me a chance, I will show you all my life how precious you are. I will woo you, I will cherish you, I will wipe your tears away; if you feel cold, I will be your warmth; if you feel scared, then I will be your strength. I like you; I like you a lot, and if you have the smallest affection for me, then please give me a chance to make you happy because I was born to bring you happiness."
Colin's mouth fell open as Kate's eyes filled with tears as she embraced Anthony. "That, that was truly beautiful."
Anthony hugged her back, and Colin was sure his brother was inhaling Kate's hair before slowly pulling away. "So should we write that down for skits or finish this movie for more research?"
Colin face-palmed him as Kate's eyes flared up. "God Bridgerton! You are such an idiot."
"What? Kate have I done something wrong?" Anthony looked confused as Kate gathered her things and stomped away from his room.
Sighing Colin watched as Kate made excuses to their mother and left. "What just happened? I thought?"
"I don't know, mom." Anthony said it sadly before he walked back to his room.
Colin smiled as he appeared inside the house and kissed her mother. "Do not worry, mom, everything will be alright."
He went inside his room and quickly wrote a message on his group chat.
"Anthony's Angel's, it's confirmed that Kate has hots for Anthony too. Now let's begin this plan to help my idiot brother get his girlfriend."