Cathy Hopkins - [Mates, Dates 05] (6 page)

‘Get off with one of
the boys,’ said TJ, coming in to the front room to join me. ‘Act like you don’t
care, show him that you’ve moved on as well.’

I looked at the
assorted gangly boys on offer and shook my head. ‘Nah, I don’t want to get into
playing games just to get a reaction from him. Look TJ, I’m going to go home.
I’ll just slip out. Tell the others I’ve gone.’

Izzie got up from the
sofa where she’d been sitting with Ben.

‘You need to sort it
out between you and Tony,’ she said. ‘Otherwise, it’s always going to come back
and ruin your peace of mind. Lucy, for your inner happiness, you
have
to clear up anything unfinished.‘

‘Yeah right,’ I said
and headed for the front door.

When I got home, I
thought about what I/ had said as I left the party. Something about finishing
everything that’s left unfinished in your life. She was right. That’s exactly
what I needed to do. So I finished off a tub of Ben & Jerry’s, a packet of
Rolos and a packet of double chocolate chip cookies.

Somehow I don’t think
those were the sort of things she had in mind.

Family
Advice

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Mum brought me a cup
of tea in bed the next day.

‘You all right, Lucy?’
she said, sitting down on the end of the bed.

I nodded. ‘Sort of.’

‘Good party last
night?’

‘Sort of,’ I said.

‘Usual crowd?’

‘Yeah, and a load of
Ben’s mates.’ I sat up and took a sip of the tea, then decided to fill her in.
‘
Everyone
has got a boyfriend except me.’

‘So what happened to
Tony? I thought he was your boyfriend. Sort of.’

‘He’s got someone new.
He was there with her last night.’

‘Oh Lucy, poor you.
Was it horrible?’

‘Sort of.’ I felt my
face start to crumple. It always makes me blub when people are nice to me. I’m
weird like that.

‘Sort of,’ said Mum.
‘Makes a change from whatever. Want to talk about it?’

‘It’s just… all week,
TJ and Nesta and Izzie have been on a mission to find me a boy, but…’

Mum nodded. ‘You don’t
want just any boy?’

‘Exactly. Going out
looking for one only made me more aware than ever that I don’t have one. Then
last night Tony turns up with a new girlfriend and now I’m beginning to feel
that I’m the only one without anyone and I’ll never meet someone new.’

Mum put her hand on my
arm and gave it a squeeze. ‘A gorgeous girl like you - course you will.’

‘No, I won’t. I must
be doing something to put boys off. What’s wrong with me?’

‘
Wrong
with
you? Nothing.’

‘Or maybe I shouldn’t
be so fussy. Maybe I’m aiming too high, for someone who doesn’t exist. Maybe I
should just go out with whoever’s available?’

‘Never,’ said Mum.
‘You just haven’t met the right one yet. I remember when“ I was a teenager, I
used to be quite stroppy and say exactly what I thought and that
definitely
seemed to frighten off the boys. A friend of mine said that I had to learn to
compromise - that boys liked girls to be cute, like kittens, and that I’d have
to learn to shut my mouth. Yuck, I thought. I could never be one of those
whimpering girlie girls who don’t know their own mind. But there were times
when I doubted myself and thought, what’s wrong with me? I thought I’d never
meet the right boy or one who I could be myself with. It was rubbish. When you
meet the right boy, he likes you exactly the way you are and you don’t have to
put on any act. You hold out until it really feels right. For
you
and
not your friends or anyone else.’

‘So how do you know if
it’s right?’

‘You just do. You
can’t stop thinking about him. You’re happy around him. But mainly because you
can be yourself with him. More yourself than with anyone.’

I nodded. I knew what
she meant. I felt like that when I was with Tony.

‘I’m off now,’ said
Mum, getting up. ‘You have a lie-in, you lucky thing. Holidays. I
wish
.
And Dad told me to tell you that the offer’s still open for you to go with him
next weekend to that workshop if you want. You never know, you might enjoy it.’

I shook my head. ‘No
thanks.’ Being stuck with a load of adults straining to contort themselves into
yoga postures wasn’t my idea of fun. ‘But thanks for the tea and sympathy,
Mum.’

‘Any time.’ Mum
smiled, then began singing as she went out the door. ‘Some day Lucy’s prince
will come.’

‘
Mu-um
,’ I groaned.
‘Let the whole house
know, why don’t you?’ Honestly. She could be really lovely and sensitive one
minute, then completely blow it the next.

Steve was slumped over
a cup of tea at the kitchen table when I got downstairs.

‘What’s up with you?’
I said, looking at his long face.

‘TJ’s off today,’ he
said. ‘Scotland. She wants you to call her before she goes.’

Of course. She was
going on holiday with her mum and dad. Poor Steve. He looked really down in the
dumps about it.

‘It’s only for a
week,’ I said. ‘You’ll live.’

‘Uh,’ he said, then glanced
up at me. ‘You all right after last night?’

‘Uh,’ I answered,
making an effort to speak his language.

That was as close as
Steve and I ever got to a heart-to-heart. He’s not very good at talking about
his feelings, but maybe that’s just because he’s my brother and he’s different
with other people. Sometimes I wonder what he talks to TJ about. Or maybe he
doesn’t. Maybe she likes the silent types or men of few words, like ‘uh’ or
‘nah’.

Lai, on the other
hand, is different altogether. He’s like Nesta - says what he thinks, asks what
he wants to know.

A thumping on the
stairs announced his arrival and he burst into the kitchen and helped himself
to a large bowl of Shreddies.

‘So, Lucy,’ he said,
sitting opposite me at the table. ‘I heard you left Ben’s party early last
night. What was all that about?’

‘And who are you?’ I
asked. ‘The Spanish Inquisition?’

He took no notice.
‘You and Tony? Or not you and Tony? Have you broken up? Gone off you, has he?’

Tactful as ever, my
brother. ‘We were never really
together
together,’ I said. ‘And no, he
hasn’t gone off me, he…’

‘Want me to beat him
up?’

I laughed. I knew he
didn’t mean it. ‘Yeah. Like you could.’

‘No one messes with my
sister,’ he said. ‘Are you upset?’

‘I’ll live.’

‘That means you are.’

‘Leave off her,’ said
Steve.

‘Boys are only after
one thing,’ said Lai. ‘Did he finish with you because you wouldn’t… you know…
put out?’

‘
Lai
,’ said
Steve. ‘It’s none of your business.’

‘He never said
anything about that,’ I said, ‘but it probably had something to do with it.’

‘So put out,’ said
Lai. ‘Then he’ll have you back.’

‘And when did you
become the expert on relationships?’ I asked.

Lai shrugged. ‘Boys
like girls who put out. Everyone knows that.’

I felt myself starting
to get really miffed with him. ‘And what about your
treat-’em-mean-to-keep-‘em-keen philosophy?’ I asked. ‘Last month that’s what
you told me. You can’t follow two different sets of rules. I can’t put out
and
treat ’em mean to keep ‘em keen, can I?
Can
I?’

Lai looked confused
for a moment.

‘And since when did
your angle win the girls?’ I went on. ‘I know you might have snogged a lot but
how many of them have hung around to go out on proper dates? You’ve never even
had a proper girlfriend, so you can’t talk.’

‘Don’t want a
committed girlfriend,’ said Lai sulkily. ‘Girls are nothing but trouble when
you get to know them properly.’

‘Not all boys are like
Lai,’ said Steve. ‘
Some
boys like girls for their company.’

‘Who are you kidding?’
asked Lai. ‘I’m just being honest here.’

‘So am I,’ said Steve.
‘I want to be with a girl who’s got a good personality. Who I like being with.
You just want to snog as many as you can so that you can boast to your mates
about it.’

‘And what’s wrong with
that? No, you take my advice, Lucy. Put out.’

‘What? So that he can
put me on his conquest chart?’ I asked. ‘There’s more to relationships than
scoring points, you know.’

Lai has a chart on the
back of his door — The Snog Chart. He and his mate Harry are having a
competition to see who can snog the most girls per week. When they get off with
one, they come home and mark it on the chart. Like when Lai was at the party,
they’re not at all choosy about who they kiss or even if they like the girl,
only that it’s another conquest for the chart. Lai’s winning by two this week.

‘You should be more
like me,’ said Lai. ‘Don’t get hung up on one person and get your heart broken.
Play the field. You need more experience. Snog loads of boys and boost your
confidence.’

I’d had enough. ‘I
think I’ll go and call TJ,’ I said, getting up. ‘Thanks so much for the advice,
boys. I’m
so
lucky to have brothers like you. “Uh” from Steve and “put
out” from you, Lai. Thanks, it’s really helped.’

I couldn’t believe it.
Lai looked chuffed. Maybe he actually thought I
meant
it and was
genuinely thanking him!

After I’d called TJ to
wish her a happy holiday, Nesta rang to check I was OK after last night.

‘I’m fine,’ I assured
her. ‘It would be no biggie if all of you didn’t keep going on about it. So
first, I want you to stop trying to find boys for me. And second, don’t worry.’

‘So, don’t you want to
know about Tony?’

‘Um, maybe.’

‘He says he’s tried
your mobile a hundred times but you keep it switched off these days so he asked
me to ask you to call him.’

‘I’ve got nothing to
say to him,’ I said. ‘Anyway he’s got a new girlfriend now, so why does he want
to speak to me?’

Part of me was hoping
that she’d say because he realised that he’d made a terrible mistake and wanted
to go out with me after all.

‘He says he still
wants to be friends,’ said Nesta.

‘And we all know what
that means, don’t we?’

‘I guess,’ said Nesta.

‘So who is the blonde
he was with?’

‘Name’s Georgia. He
met her at the bowling alley.’

‘Are they going out?’

Nesta was quiet for a
few moments. ‘Looks like it. I
am
sorry, Lucy.’

‘Did you tell him I
was there and left last night?’

‘No. Course not. His
ego’s inflated enough as it is. Anyway, the other reason I rang is, do you want
to come over?’

‘Oh Nesta, not yet.
I’m not ready to face him yet. Give me a few more days or call me when you know
he’s not going to be there.’

‘OK, well, phone me
later, OK?’

‘Nesta, I’m fine. You
don’t have to check up on me every five minutes.’

‘How about every hour,
then?’

‘Fine,’ I said. ‘But
don’t worry, I’ve got loads to do.’

I put the phone down and
wondered, loads of what, exactly? It was only the first week of the holidays
and I’m so desperate for stuff to do that even the thought of school seemed
appealing. It wasn’t meant to be like this, I thought, as I gazed out of the
window.

Five minutes later,
Izzie phoned.

‘You’ll never guess
what,’ she said.

‘What?’ I asked,
fearing the worst.That she’d found some boy for me and was going to fix me up
on a blind date.

‘My mum saw this
advertisement in your dad’s shop. For a workshop in Devon. To get back to
basics, aid relaxation and find balance in this hectic world, it says. Anyway,
she wants to go. We’re talking about
my
mum here, Lucy! My
straighter-than-straight mum. She wants to go and chill out…Your dad’s going,
isn’t he?’

‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘It’s
run by a friend of his. He asked me to go, but I said no way.’

‘But Mum’s just booked
for both of us, so I’m going to be there,’ said Izzie. ‘Oh please come as well.
It’ll be brilliant. We’ll have a laugh if we both go.’

Suddenly, the idea had
appeal. A few days hanging out with Izzie and no Ben and no boys. We wouldn’t
have to do all the classes. It could be fun.