Cathy Hopkins - [Mates, Dates 05] Read online

  ‘So, make her notice you.’

  ‘You think I haven’t tried? No go. She’d never look at someone like me, she’s way out of my league.’

  He looked so sad sitting there, I wished I could do something to cheer him up. ‘Hey, don’t give up. It’s not like you. Maybe I could help. Do I know her?’

  Lai shook his head. ‘No…Yes. I mean no.’

  ‘Come on, spill. Who is it?’

  Lai shook his head again. ‘Can’t say. See, you lot - you girls - you’re all so self-assured. You, your mates, all girls, you don’t realise how hard it is for us boys. You can destroy us with a look or with a comment that you all think is dead clever or funny and we’re supposed to be all, Oh, it doesn’t matter, ha ha, laugh at me why don’t you? But I’ve had enough. My ego is shattered. My life is over. There is no other girl but her and she’ll never give me the time of day. That’s why I ripped up the snog chart. I’ve been into this girl for ages. Ages. I thought if she saw how popular I was with other girls, she’d be intrigued, fancy me. But I don’t think she’s even noticed, so what’s the point? Snogging a load of girls just to prove something to myself, that I’m fanciable, that girls can’t resist me? What’s the point when the only one that matters can resist me? I may as well be invisible as far as she knows.‘

  Wow, I thought. He’s really got it bad. ‘It can’t possibly be that hopeless. I mean, you’re a good-looking boy, you’re a laugh. Perseverance wins the day. Come on. Who is it?’

  He looked at the floor and then glanced up at me hopefully. ‘Nesta.’

  Ohmigod, I thought, he’s right. No chance. No chance. He doesn’t stand a hope in hell with her. Oh, poor Lai. It is hard being a boy. Poor Lai. Poor Daniel. And poor Ben - he’s going to get it soon.

  C h a p t e r 1 7

  Couple Bubbles

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  Daniel wasn’t about to give up easily.

  Monday, he sent the most gorgeous white flowers. Through a proper florist as well.

  Tuesday, another toy bear and a card saying, ‘He’s to go with little bear in case she’s lonely.’

  Wednesday, he phoned. ‘Let’s at least meet up, Lucy. Please. We can’t just leave it.’

  In the end, I agreed. I’d have felt mean not to. Nobody had ever sent me flowers before, not even Tony, and I felt at least I should hear him out.

  ‘OK,’ I said, ‘but I’ll come down to you.’

  He was waiting for me at Chalk Farm tube and, as usual, was dressed in his signature black. He was carrying a small bunch of freesias. It was strange seeing him again. Even though it had only been a few days, he looked different. Or I was seeing him differently. No doubt he was good-looking, but this time, I felt the attraction had gone.

  ‘Hi,’ he said and took my hand.

  ‘Hi,’ I said and took it back.

  ‘Oh, don’t be like that, Lucy,’ he said and gave me the flowers.

  ‘Daniel, you can’t keep giving me stuff. I mean, it’s really lovely of you, but…’

  ‘I wanted to get flowers for you. I want to be with you. To make you happy. I’m sorry about the other day. I was out of order. Can we give it another try? Start again?’

  But I knew that it was over and shook my head. ‘I’m sorry, Daniel.’

  ‘But why ? Was it because of the way I reacted to you being with that boy? I’m sorry. I get jealous. Most girls would like that.‘

  How could I let him down gently? ‘It’s not you, it’s me. I want… that is, I don’t want… I mean, I’m not…’ I remembered what Tony had said. ‘I’m not into having the big relationship. I mean, I think you’re really lovely…’

  Daniel’s face clouded over. ‘I know exactly what you’re saying, Lucy. I’m not stupid. It’s your choice. There are loads of other girls who would jump at the chance of going out with me.’

  Good, I thought. Let them.

  He reached for my hand again. ‘One more try? I really think we’ve got something special.’

  I shook my head. ‘Sorry, Daniel. But… but I hope we can stay friends.’ Argh. I was determined not to come out with that old cliche, but it slipped out.

  ‘Yeah,’ sighed Daniel. ‘We all know what that means.’

  ‘No, I mean it, we could still talk and even see each other sometimes, but as mates.’

  ‘Yeah right,’ he said.

  I felt really uncomfortable as we both stood there staring at the pavement. I couldn’t think of anything else to say and he seemed to have gone into a sulk.

  ‘Well, er, um… I’ve got to go,’ I said finally.

  ‘Sure,’ he said, and hung his head.

  As I walked away, he just stood there looking after me. I felt like the Queen of Mean.

  ‘What’s up, Lucy?’ Mum asked when I got back home later.

  I sat down at the kitchen table and put my head in my hands. ‘Relationships,’ I said. ‘They stink.’

  Mum laughed. ‘What’s happened now? I thought it was all going brilliantly. We’ve hardly seen you for days, weeks.’

  ‘Finished. History. Kaput!’

  Mum sat next to me. ‘Oh Lucy, I am sorry. You’ve been dumped.’

  ‘No, I dumped him’

  ‘Oh,’ said Mum. ‘So, what’s the problem?’

  ‘It’s just not worth it, any of it. Either way, love hurts. I feel mean, Nesta’s been dumped and she feels lousy. Izzie wants to finish with Ben, but is worried about hurting him. And even Lai, he’s in love with someone who’ll never have him.’

  ‘Nesta,’ said Mum.

  ‘How did you know?’

  ‘You mean you’ve never noticed how he acts when she’s around?’

  ‘I thought he acted like that around all girls.’

  Mum shook her head. ‘No, he’s got it bad for her.’

  ‘Poor Lai,’ I said. ‘He’s just not her type.’

  ‘I know,’ said Mum. ‘It’s hard to watch. I hate to see him pining, but I can’t make her fancy him. What can you do?’

  ‘Get a dog like TJ did,’ I said.

  Mum laughed again. ‘We’ve already got Ben and Jerry. I don’t know. I guess there’s no point in me saying any of this to you, but I’m going to “anyway. You are young. There will be others for all of you. Plenty more fish in the sea.’

  ‘No,’ I said. ‘No point.’

  Mum put her hand over mine. ‘Life can be hard sometimes, Lucy, no matter what side you’re on. It takes a lot of courage to finish with someone. Some people stay in bad relationships long after their sell-by date because they’re too frightened to face the repercussions, but it’s a good lesson to learn. You have to be cruel to be kind sometimes, especially if it’s not working. If it ain’t right, it ain’t right. So why did you end it with Daniel?’

  I shrugged. ‘Dunno. It’s like, I couldn’t be myself with him. Like he wanted me to be someone else and was trying to mould me into that person, but it felt a bit like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, you know? I didn’t feel like we really fitted. Remember that day when you said that when the right person came along, you could be yourself with them, be natural?’

  Mum nodded. ‘But you’re only fourteen, Lucy. So’s Nesta. And Lai is only fifteen. Life goes on, and girls and boys will come and go. Sometimes it will be right, sometimes it will be wrong. Main thing is to stay true to yourself- to what you feel.’

  ‘Well, Nesta feels awful. So does Lai.’

  ‘Well, as I said, it’s not always easy and I know this may sound weird to say, but all of you, all of you will be more understanding because of it. Nesta’s never been dumped before, has she?’

  I shook my head.

  ‘Well, it doesn’t hurt to be on that side of things; that is, I know it does hurt, but it will give her more perspective and understanding. Boys fall over themselves for her, so perhaps having been dumped will make her a bit gentler on them. It’s hard for boys sometimes.’

  I nodded. ‘That’s what Lai said.’

  ‘And Lai. Sa
me with him. Knowing what it’s like to have an almighty crush on someone who doesn’t reciprocate, maybe he’ll go easier on the girls that fancy him in future. He’s had his fair share of girls queuing up for him in the past, and I’ve seen him act a bit ruthless with one or two of them.’

  ‘Yeah, me too,’ I said. ‘I’ve seen him give girls the brush-off before and I thought he was being horrible, but now I feel like I misjudged him in a way. I thought he was an unfeeling rat, but really all he was trying to do was prove to himself that he was fanciable, because he felt insecure.’

  ‘Exactly,’ said Mum. ‘All these experiences, they’re all part of life’s rich tapestry.’

  ‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘I guess. But why can’t it all be perfect? And everyone be happy. I hate seeing people feeling blue.’

  Mum squeezed my hand. ‘And that’s what makes you Lucy. You may feel mean that you finished with Daniel, but it shows that you have a heart and that’s what’s most important. You care about people even if you can’t change the situation. You ought to hear some of the stories some of my clients tell me about their relationships. Heartbreaking, some of them, and all I can do is listen and let them know that I’m there for them. That’s all you can do with Nesta. And Lai.’ ‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘And Lai.’

  I met TJ, Izzie and Nesta at Ruby’s for dinner later that evening.

  ‘Oh no,’ said TJ. ‘Now I’m the odd one out. Izzie’s going to finish with Ben and you’ve finished with Daniel. I’m the only one with a boyfriend.’

  Nesta grinned. ‘Give it time.’

  ‘Cynic,’ said Izzie, punching her arm. ‘Take no notice, TJ. You and Steve are lovely together. And at least he likes doing loads of different things.’

  ‘Yeah,’ said TJ. ‘And we both have days when we do our own thing. He’s not like… he has to be with me all the time.’

  ‘That’s the secret,’ I said as I looked at the menu. ‘I mean, I know I haven’t had many relationships, but I’m learning already. It’s like, all of us did the same thing, except TJ of course. We all went into couple bubbles and cut ourselves off from each other and the rest of the world like nothing else existed.’

  Nesta sighed. ‘Yeah, but you can’t help it when you’re really into someone.’

  ‘But there has to be balance,’ I said. ‘You see the boy, but you still see your mates. You do some stuff with the boy, some stuff with your mates and some stuff alone.’

  ‘I guess,’ said Nesta.

  ‘Come on,’ I said. ‘Let’s be positive. Let’s celebrate our newfound freedom and order something to eat. All this dumping and being dumped, I’m starving.’

  TJ and I ordered a big bowl of potato wedges with sour cream and chilli. Nesta ordered a hot chicken satay baguette and Izzie had a veg and halioumi kebab.

  ‘Here’s to the rest of the holidays,’ said Nesta after the waitress had taken our orders.

  ‘Yeah and here’s to being single.’ I smiled. ‘It’s so weird. I used to be, like, oh it’s so rotten because I haven’t got a boyfriend, and now I feel good about it. Like I’m free, no one to tell me what to do or who I can or can’t see. Never again.’

  ‘Oh no,’ said Nesta, as a particularly good-looking boy came through the door and checked her out. ‘You must never say never. Not all boys are like Daniel, Lucy. He was very possessive. I’m glad you stood up to him in the end.’

  ‘OK,’ I laughed. ‘I’ll never say never, then. But I do say, here’s to mates. Look how everything’s changed since the beginning of the hols, but here we all are, still together. Boys may come in our lives…’

  ‘Oh, I hope so,’ interrupted Nesta as the boy who’d eyed her up sat at the next table. ‘Look out boys, Nesta’s back in town.’

  ‘As I was saying,’ I continued. ‘Boys may come and go in our lives. Sometimes we’ll have boyfriends, sometimes we won’t, but we’ll always have each other. So I say, here’s to mates.’

  ‘Arr, she’s so sweet,’ teased Izzie. ‘Little bear.’

  ‘Little bear’, chorused TJ and Nesta, then laughed.

  ‘Naff off, dorkbrains,’ I said. ‘But it’s true, mates always have each other. I say we celebrate properly. I’ll ask my mum if we can have a party on Friday. A no-boyfriends-allowed party. You can only come if you’re single.’

  Nesta’s face dropped. ‘No boys? Are you sure?’

  ‘Yes Nesta, I’m sure. Everyone’s so different when there are boys around. Let’s have a night off from them. We can invite some of the girls from school.’

  ‘Yeah,’ said Izzie. ‘It’ll be brilliant to spend some time with just the girls.’

  ‘That’s settled, then,’ I said. ‘Til ask Mum.’

  C h a p t e r 1 8

  Party Time

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  Mum couldn’t believe it when at last I fulfilled my promise to cook for the family. She agreed to let me have the party, so I phoned around and found out everyone’s favourite comfort food in times of Relationship Trouble. Then I did a practice run the night before to make sure I had it perfected.

  Party menu:

  Doritos and salsa dips

  Oven chips

  Pizza Sausages

  Chocolate bars

  Ice cream (assorted, loads)

  ‘This cooking lark is quite simple, really,’ I said, as I took the oven chips out of the oven and put them on the table.

  ‘Er,’ said Mum, ‘it is when you buy ready-to-serve stuff like this.’

  ‘Yeah,’ said Steve. ‘For your information, potatoes actually come in their own skin and you have to peel them.’

  ‘Ha ha,’ I said. ‘But oven chips were big in the popularity stakes and I can’t say you seem that bothered, seeing as you’ve just eaten three at once.’

  ‘I think you lot had better get boyfriends again quick,’ said Dad, helping himself, ‘or else we’re all going to be as fat as pigs.’

  ‘Mum, can Lucy cook every night from now on?’ asked Lai through a mouthful of chips and ketchup.

  ‘No,’ said Mum. ‘All this pre-packaged stuff may taste great, but it isn’t too healthy. You know what I say - you are what you eat.’

  ‘In that case, you’re a Nettuno pizza,’ I laughed as I noticed that she’d cleared her plate and had even gone for a second helping.

  The girls and I all got dressed at my house on the night of the party and we took ages doing each other’s nails and make-up. We decided to get dressed up even though there weren’t going to be boys there. We did it for ourselves, just for the fun of it, as sometimes getting dressed up is the best part of any party. It felt great just to hang out with the girls again and Nesta seemed to be in better spirits, despite her recent dumping. For the first time in weeks I felt myself again. Calm inside, on an even keel instead of on the rollercoaster of emotions. Being single is OK, I decided, as I watched Nesta rolling about on the floor, zipping herself into an impossibly tight pair of jeans, especially when you have such good mates.

  I’d thought very carefully about what to do on the Big Night. I wanted everyone to have loads of fun with lots to do. I hate those boring parties where everyone stands around in cliques just talking and watching each other. My plan was:- a bit of dancing, a video to watch while we ate (Bridget Jones’s Diary, of course), then games and maybe some more dancing.

  When everyone was ready, I thought I’d better break a bit of news about the party that I hadn’t already told them. I had invited a boy.

  ‘Um, just one thing before we go downstairs,’ I said. ‘You know this is a singles’ party?’

  The girls all nodded.

  ‘Well, single doesn’t necessarily mean all female, does it?’

  ‘No,’ said Nesta, looking at me suspiciously.

  ‘I have invited one boy,’ I said. ‘Only one.’

  ‘Tony,’ said Nesta. ‘Oh, Lucy…’

  ‘No, not Tony.’ I grinned.

  ‘Oh, not Daniel,’ exclaimed Izzie. ‘I can’t believe you’ve got back with him.’

&nb
sp; I shook my head. ‘No…’

  Just at that moment, there was a knock, and the bedroom door opened. The girls all burst out laughing. A vision of girlie loveliness appeared in the doorway wearing my inflatable bra over his T-shirt and one of Mum’s hippie wigs from the dressing-up box.

  ‘Hi,’ said Lai. ‘I’m Lalita.’

  ‘He’s an honorary girl for the night,’ I explained. I knew it would be a fantasy come true for him to be alone in a house full of girls and I really wanted to cheer him up. I thought it might help him get over his unrequited love for Nesta.

  He wiggled into the room, sat on the bed and crossed his legs gracefully. ‘So,’ he pouted, splaying out his fingers, ‘what do you think? Pink nail polish or purple?’

  Half an hour later some of the guests began to arrive. Gabby, Jade, Mo and Candice from school; Amy, who lives next door to Izzie and has just bust up with her boyfriend; and TJ’s second cousin who’s never had a boyfriend and was very happy to come and celebrate being single.

  ‘Music for singletons,’ said Amy, showing us her rucksack full of CDs. She put a CD in the player and soon we were all dancing away to ‘Survivor’ by Destiny’s Child, then we sang ‘All by Myself by Celine Dion at the top of our voices. After a good bop to more CDs, Izzie, Lai and I served the food and we all sat on the floor in the living room to watch Bridget Jones. I felt so relaxed to be there just with mates. I could tell everyone felt the same. Not having to worry about what was going to happen or how things were going to turn out. What this boy said or didn’t say, who that boy was dancing with and who he wanted to snog. No expectations, no disappointments.

  ‘So what games shall we play?’ asked Izzie as the credits rolled after the movie.

  ‘We could play Spin the Bottle, but with forfeits instead of snogging,’ I said. ‘Whoever spins the bottle has to set the forfeit, and whoever the bottle points at has to do it.’

  Everyone seemed keen to give it a go, so Nesta found a bottle and got things started. We all sat cross-legged in a circle and began. It was hysterical, as everyone seemed to take it as an opportunity to make their friends act really stupid. Izzie made TJ do an impersonation of Madonna, so when it was TJ’s turn, she asked Izzie to do an impression of drunk snake. Candice asked Nesta to do a cartwheel and Nesta asked Candice to run out into the garden and sing ‘God Save the Queen’ at the top of her voice.