The Boyfriend Dilemma (18 page)

“It's nothing to do with you, either,” he snaps back. “You can't sing. Everyone was laughing—”

“No, they weren't—”

“Zoe, please,” Ben cuts in, desperate for a distraction. “Come on – you can do it. And, you two –” he indicates Annalise and Matty, who are standing inches apart now, beaming hatred at each other “– this isn't what today's all about. The concert's meant to be a
good
thing, to save the theatre and involve everyone—”

“Yeah,” Annalise yells, “everyone but
me
.” She turns on her clompy platforms and marches out of the garage, slamming the door so hard behind her it causes Kyle's cymbal to make a shimmery sound.

For a moment, no one speaks. “Zoe,” Kyle calls out, “you ready to sing now?”

I nod and step towards him. There's a flicker of something between us, as if he realizes how much I want Layla to be here but has complete confidence I can do it on my own.

Good luck
, he mouths with a wink.

I smile, my heart beating a little faster. “Thanks,” I whisper back.

Ben is looking at me. Everyone is. I'm no longer scared, but filled with courage I never knew I had. As I open my mouth, my phone trills into life. How could I have forgotten to turn it off? I let out a gasp and someone sniggers as I answer the call.

“Zoe, is Kyle with you?” It's Layla's mum, and she sounds frantic.

“Er, yes, he's right here—”

“Can I speak to him, please. It's Gran – she's missing and I'm so worried…”

I walk away from the microphone, hand my phone to Kyle and see his face turn pale.

Chapter twenty-four

Zoe and Kyle must have run all the way because they're here in minutes. “Where d'you think she's gone?” Kyle's breathing hard.

“No idea,” Mum says. “It's all my fault. I shouldn't have left her alone—”

“It's
not
your fault,” I exclaim, glancing at Zoe in alarm.

“Hey.” Kyle puts an arm around Mum's shoulders and gives her a hug. “You can't guard her all the time, y'know.”

“He's right,” Aunty Claire says, then, turning to Kyle, “Your dad and Amber are driving around looking for her, but they've had no luck, either…”

“Well,” Kyle says, “let's start searching too. Where've you looked so far?”

As I list all the places we've been, my brother's face falls.

“We're running out of ideas,” Mum adds.

“We'll look
everywhere
,” Zoe says firmly. “We're bound to find her eventually.” Although I'm glad she's here, I feel bad that we're ruining audition day for her.

“You needn't have come,” I murmur.

“Of course I had to come! What else would I have done?”

“We'd just about finished anyway,” Kyle adds.

“You didn't miss your chance, did you?” I gasp. “Oh, Zoe!”

“I don't care,” she says quickly. “To be honest, I didn't want to do it without you anyway. It didn't feel right.” She turns as another figure hurries towards us. Ben.

“What's he doing here?” I ask.

He runs over and stops, catching his breath. “I've come to help,” he explains. “Zoe, Jude's keeping an eye on Matty, OK? Seeing as Annalise stormed off—”

“Oh, God.” Zoe clasps a hand to her mouth. “I can't believe I forgot about Matty again. I just ran out and left him…”

“He's fine,” Ben says with a smile. “He was playing the drums when I left.”

“Well,” Mum says, “it's really good of you all to come. How about heading out of town, up towards Gran's old cottage? Maybe she's wandered off in that direction.”

“D'you really think she'd go that far?” I ask, frowning. It's a cool, breezy day, and fine rain is starting to fall.

Mum bites her lip. “I don't know, love, but I can't think what else to do.” Her eyes fill with tears.

“She'll be OK, Mum,” I say, wishing I could believe it myself.

“I'm sure she will, darling. Anyway, Claire and I are going to check the shops again in case we missed her. And if she's not there – well, I'd better call the police and report her as missing…”

“Mum,” Kyle says firmly, “we'll find her, all right?” He looks round at Zoe, Ben and me. “C'mon, let's go.”

No one says anything much as we trudge through the park and follow the narrow lane that leads out to the hills. We know Gran's wearing her flowery pink dress with a rust-coloured cardie over it, which should at least be easy to spot from a distance. I keep scanning each side of the lane, hoping to see a fleck of brightness against the green, and feel terrible for being annoyed when she left her teeth in my mug. Right now I'd give anything to have Gran back home, moaning about her feet or her missing dentures, or insisting on eating a roast dinner in a sandwich.

Ben and Kyle have marched ahead. “We're going to split off,” Ben says, glancing back. “I'll make my way towards the quarry and Kyle's going to head over the hills. Does everyone have their mobiles?”

“Yep.” Kyle nods.

“I do,” Zoe replies.

“I've left mine at home,” I say, “but me and Zoe will stick together and head up to Gran's old place. Zoe, you should give them your number—”

“I've got it already,” Ben says quickly, clambering over the fence and marching across the field. Sheep scatter in fright as Kyle jogs away in the opposite direction.

I blink at Zoe. “Ben has your number?”

“Yeah.” She doesn't meet my eye. “He asked for it at the auditions.”

“Oh.” So … he likes her too. He likes
both
of us … or does he really? Maybe he collects girls' numbers, just to make himself look even more popular than he already is? I glance at Zoe as we walk. The silence between us is as heavy as the dark clouds above.

“Zo,” I say hesitantly, “do you … d'you think it's weird that Ben's asked for both our numbers?”

She glances at me. “Yeah, a bit. I mean, I know you like him—”

“There's stuff I haven't told you about,” I cut in.

“What?” she asks, eyes wide.

I bite my lip. “He sort of asked me out – one night when he was staying over at our place. At least, that's what it seemed like at the time…”

“Why didn't you say?” she gasps.

“Because I knew you had a crush on him too!”

She laughs, and I could almost cry with relief. “You really thought I'd mind?”

I shrug as we pass the row of cottages huddled at the edge of the woods; they've seen better days, with peeling paint and dirty windows. “I wasn't sure. You had all that stuff happening – being sent to your dad's, and Annalise arriving…”

She turns to me and smiles. “I didn't know what to tell you, either. About Ben asking for my number today, I mean…”

The lane is leading us through the woods now, and the faint rain feels like cool breath on my face. “Isn't it crazy?” I say. “We've never kept secrets from each other before…”

“And all over a boy,” she says with a snigger. “God. What happened to us?”

“Ben,” I murmur, linking my arm through Zoe's. “
That's
what happened.” It's a horrible day, with Gran being lost. But in a small way, something good's happened too.

We've reached the entrance to Dean House. The “sold” sign is still here and the place looks dark and un-lived-in. Glancing around to check no one's around, we quietly step into the grounds.

“So what's actually happened between you two?” Zoe whispers.

“Nothing! We've just talked, that's all. I'd have told you if there was anything else…”

She giggles. “Are you sure?”

I turn and study her face: my best friend in the world. “Yeah,” I say. “No more secrets – ever.”

“No more secrets,” she agrees.

With my arm still linked in hers, I point to the tree house at the far end of the garden. “Remember that?”

“Yeah, I do.” She smiles. “We never dared to go in it, did we?”

“Let's go up now,” I say, and we run towards it and clamber up the ladder, scrambling in through the narrow doorway.

“Your frog helmet!” Zoe cries, grabbing the shiny green dome. “What's it doing here?”

“Um … I left it here that day I went cycling on my own. And … Ben showed up—”

“You and Ben were in here together?” Her eyes widen.

“Yeah.” I sense myself blushing furiously. But at least I'm being honest at last…

“What happened?” Zoe asks.

“Nothing,” I say firmly.

“Did he kiss you?”

“No!” I exclaim. “I
promise
he didn't. I'd have told you that…” Hang on, would I really? Maybe not…

“Layla,” she hisses suddenly. “Did you hear that?”

We both fall silent. There's the crunch of tyres on gravel. “Someone's driving into the grounds,” I hiss, peering through the tree-house window. A lorry has appeared with “Davenport Removals” on its side.

“People must be moving in,” says Zoe. “C'mon – let's go…”

We scramble down the ladder and head towards the gates, realizing we'll have to pass the lorry on the way out.

“Hey!” A large, bald man jumps down from the lorry. “This is private property, you know.”

“We're looking for my friend's gran,” Zoe explains as a second man climbs out. “She used to live out this way.”

“Missing, is she?” the bald man asks, his voice softening.

I nod as the other man opens the back of the lorry and starts to lift out polished wooden chairs. “Look,” Zoe says, nudging me, “a car's coming.”

“They're the new owners,” the bald man explains. “We haven't seen anyone on the way, but maybe they have.”

Car doors open and a family climbs out: a man, a woman and a girl of around our age. “These girls are looking for a lost grandma,” the removal man explains.

“Oh, really?” The woman's face is full of concern. “What's happened?”

“We're not sure,” I start to explain. “I'm sorry – I know we shouldn't be here…”

“It's OK,” the woman says kindly.

My eyes fill with tears and I try to blink them away. “She wanders off sometimes,” Zoe tells her. “Kind of forgets where she is…” Hearing her saying it out loud causes a wave of sadness to crash over me. I look round at this family: the smartly dressed dad, the kind-looking mum with long auburn hair and the daughter in denim shorts and a big red sweater that clashes – in a good way – with her hair, which matches her mum's.

“Aw, that's like my gran, isn't it, Mum?” the girl says.

“Sounds like it,” she replies. “It must be so worrying for you. I do hope you find her.”

I swallow. “Thanks. Um … so you're moving in, then?”

The man smiles. “Yes, finally!”

“Are you coming to our school?” I ask the girl. “Mossbridge High, I mean?”

“Yeah.” She smiles. “I was supposed to start straight after Easter but we couldn't move in time.”

“We'll look out for you on Monday,” Zoe says. “I'm Zoe, this is Layla—”

“And I'm Charlotte,” she says.

“See you, then,” I say. “We'd better keep searching…” They wave and wish us luck.

The sky has darkened now, and there's a rumble of thunder as we make our way along the lane. Using Zoe's phone, I call Mum.

“I've checked every shop,” she says glumly, “even the ones she'd never buy anything from. The police have registered her as a missing person.”

“Oh, Mum,” I cry, “we'll keep looking…”

I try to phone Kyle to update him but he doesn't answer; he never does. “Why can't boys use their phones,” I grumble, as Zoe's starts ringing in my hand. “Zoe? Layla?” comes the urgent voice.

“It's Layla,” I say. “Is that you, Ben?”

“Yeah – listen, you've got to come to the quarry…”

“The quarry?” I repeat. “Why?”

“Just come, OK? And
hurry
.”

 

We run all the way, over the fields to the place where Gran used to bring us when we were little. A place for picnics and campfires. A time when she didn't forget things or wander off. My eyes fill with tears as the line of twisted trees comes into view. These mark the top of the quarry. Beyond them is a steep, rocky cliff – a huge hollow in the earth, abandoned for as long as I can remember.

“Layla! Zoe!” Ben is waving at us from between the trees.

“What is it?” I ask, breathless now as we reach him.

“It … it might be nothing…” He glances back towards the quarry. I step forward and swallow hard.

“What is it?” Zoe exclaims.

Ben opens his mouth as if unsure how to tell us. “I … I think there's something down there…”

I run towards the edge of the cliff, but hardly dare look. I blink, checking the jagged sides of the quarry and the boulders at the bottom. There's the odd smudge of green where grass has managed to force its way through the rock.

“I can't see anything.” My voice comes out as a whisper.

“Neither can I,” Zoe murmurs.

Ben stands between us and points. “Look – right down at the bottom…”

I narrow my eyes and focus hard. Then I see it – a dash of rusty orange against the grey rocks. “Is that Gran?” I cry out. “It looks like her cardie! The one Mum said she was wearing…”

We all stare down. “Oh my God,” Zoe breathes.

“Gran!” I yell, my voice cracking. “Gran – is that you?”

Nothing.

“I'm going down to see,” I blurt out.

“Layla, you can't,” Zoe cries, grabbing my arm. “It's too dangerous. You'll slip and fall…”

“Like Gran did…” I'm crying now, picturing her wandering out here, maybe trying to get back to her old cottage or our favourite picnic spot.

“I'll go,” Ben says, and before we can stop him he's clambering down, causing loose stones to fall with each step. I follow him tentatively, focusing on finding a safe place for each step, and aware of Zoe making her way down behind me.

“Stay up at the top,” I call back to her. “This isn't safe—” There's a sound of feet missing their footing and a tumble of rocks. It's not Zoe who's falling, but Ben – tumbling downwards with a startled cry. I'm scrambling as fast as I can, and already I can see it's not Gran lying there in a heap at the bottom, but a fox. Ben has landed beside it with a sharp
crack
. “Ben!” I scream as Zoe and I rush towards him.