Cathy Hopkins - [Mates, Dates 04] (13 page)

More
Buffy than Barbie

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To do:

1) Watch Buffy videos
to note clothes.

2) Return Dress From
Hell and swap for something the Buffster would wear.

3) Go to movie wearing
new outfit.

It worked.

‘TJ, you look wicked,’
said Izzie as we walked from the bus stop towards the Hollywood Bowl the
following Friday. ‘Your hair looks so much better now you leave it loose and I
love the combats.’

Lucy looked me up and
down and nodded her approval. ‘Yeah. And I’m glad to see you haven’t ruined the
effect by hiding in a big baggy fleece. The tank top is great.’

‘Yeah. Bootylicious,’
said Nesta.

I
think
that
means she approves.

We made our way
through the car park to the cinema and it felt great. I could see groups of
lads ogling us. And not just Nesta this time, even I was getting a few looks.

When we got to the
foyer, Izzie and Lucy went off to get the tickets while Nesta and I went
upstairs and queued up for popcorn. As we were standing in line, I noticed
Scott standing at the top of the escalator on his own. He kept checking his
watch and looking down towards the entrance as if he was waiting for someone.

After we’d got our
popcorn, Scott was still standing on his own, so we found Lucy and Izzie then
made our way over to him.

‘Been stood up?’ asked
Nesta.

Lucy punched her arm.
‘
Nesta
!’

‘What?’ said Nesta. ‘
What
?’

‘Actually,’ said
Scott, his face brightening immediately. ‘I was waiting for you.’

‘As
if
,’ said
Nesta, tossing her hair.

Scott checked
downstairs then, seeing no one was coming up, he linked his arm through hers.
‘Looks like my mate has been held up, so the honour of keeping me company is
yours.’

‘Mate or
date
been held up?’ asked Nesta. ‘Admit it. You’ve been stood up.’

Lucy punched her arm
again. ‘Excuse my
rude
friend,’ she said to Scott. ‘We don’t often let
her out at night.’

Scott grinned. ‘So,
you coming then?’ he said to Nesta before turning to the rest of us. ‘Sorry,
girls. Only got dosh for two tickets.’

Nesta took his arm out
of hers and came to stand behind us.

‘Actually,’ she said.
‘I already have plans. With people who actually bother to turn up. Come on, girls.
I’m going to the ladies’.‘

Scott looked taken
aback as we walked off leaving him standing there. As I looked over my
shoulder, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. I know him well enough to
recognise that what we’d just witnessed was a huge act of bravado. Everything
Steve said to me yesterday came flooding back. How hard it is for boys to take
rejection even if they don’t show it. It still hurts. His date hadn’t shown and
Nesta had made a fool of him on top of everything else.

As we stood in front of
the mirrors doing our hair and lippie and stuff, I made up my mind.

‘I’m going to ask if
Scott would like me to go with him to a movie.’

‘No,’ chorused Izzie,
Lucy and Nesta.

‘Why not? He’s been
let down. He probably feels lousy.’

‘Who? Scott? Nah, he’s
well sure of himself,’ said Nesta. ‘He thinks he’s God’s gift and could
probably do with being brought down a peg or two.’

‘No, he’s really sweet
underneath. It’s all an act,’ I said.

‘Ah,’ sighed Lucy.
‘Love is blind.’

‘Well, you don’t want
to be too easy if you really like him,’ said Iz. ‘You need to play hard to get.
Boys like the chase.’

‘But I feel sorry for
him,’ I said. ‘I’m going to go and ask him.’

‘How can someone with
so many brains be so stupid?’ asked Nesta as Lucy sighed in exasperation.

‘You can think what
you like,’ I said, as I did a last check of my appearance. ‘But I’ve known him
longer than you and this is something I have to do.’

With that, I turned on
my heel. As the loo door closed behind me, I could hear Lucy telling Nesta off
for being insensitive.

‘Yeah. OK, then,’ said
Scott, when I told him that I’d keep him company. ‘But I’m not going to see the
same movie as your mates.’

‘But Izzie already got
me a ticket.’

‘I’m not sitting
anywhere near that lesbian.’

‘Lesbian?’

‘Nesta.’

I laughed. Sour
grapes, I thought, but I didn’t say anything. He was just lashing out because
she’d humiliated him in front of the rest of us.

There were five other
films on at the complex so I let him pick what we were going to see. He chose a
sci-fi film.

‘I’m not mad on
sci-fi,‘ I said. ’Are you sure you don’t want to see the new comedy with Julia
Roberts? I’ve heard it’s a real laugh. And we can sit on the other side from
the girls.‘

‘No way,’ said Scott.
‘The sci-fi or I’m going home.’

In the end, I gave in.
I didn’t mind. What I really wanted was a chance to spend some time with Scott
alone and see what happened.

Scott loved the film,
but I couldn’t concentrate. As the screen filled with manic scenes from
intergalactic wars, I was only aware of the proximity of Scott. Our knees and
elbows touched a couple of times and I was hoping that he would hold my hand,
but he just stuffed his face with popcorn.

Maybe real life isn’t
like the movies, I thought, as another alien got his three heads ripped off,
squirting green blood all over the hero. Maybe in real life, romance isn’t
beautiful sunsets and gentle kisses. Maybe in real life, romance is sitting in
the dark wondering if the boy you’re with is
ever
going to make a move
that isn’t him merely shifting position in his seat. Maybe romance is all
fantasy. For the last few days, that’s all I’d done. Every night before I went
to sleep, I imagined my first kiss with Scott. First he’d push a lock of hair
behind my ear, then look deeply into my eyes, then softly press his lips on
mine and…

A
phwt
noise
beside me disturbed my thoughts.

Scott had farted.

‘Oops,’ he said with a
grin. ‘Popcorn-flavoured.’

After the movie, we
made our way out back into the foyer and Scott was a few steps in front of me.
Suddenly, he spotted a few of his mates who had been with him in Hampstead on
the day of the photo shoot. One of them came over.

‘You’re the girl who
was having her photo taken the other day, aren’t you?’ he asked. I nodded.

‘You looked really
good,’ he said. ‘Thanks.’

Suddenly, Scott took
my hand.

‘Yeah, this is TJ,’ he
said, as he introduced the group of boys.

Then he put his arm
round me. ‘Just been to see
Alien Mutants in Cyberspace’
he said, then
winked at them. ‘Didn’t get to see much of the film, though, if ya know what I
mean…’

The boys sniggered
knowingly.

‘Anyway, got to go,’
said Scott and looked at me fondly. ‘The night is young.’

‘Yeah, right,’ said
one of the boys as Scott pulled me away.

What was going on? I
wondered. Did he fancy me after all and, as Steve said, had been acting cool?
Or was this all a big act to make his mates think we were on a date? He still
had hold of my hand as we went down the escalator and out the foyer but, unlike
the day in Hampstead, I wasn’t feeling all fluttery inside. I felt muddled. I
didn’t want to take my hand away though, as I remembered what he’d said about
the night being young. Things could only get better.

When we got outside, I
suggested we go and have a cappuccino.

‘Got no money left,’
he said.

‘No prob. My treat.’

Scott shrugged. ‘OK,
then. And a hot dog?’

‘Fine,’ I said.

‘With onions.’

‘Fine.’

For the next half
hour, he talked. I listened.

He talked.

He talked.

I listened.

I was bursting to tell
him all about my last few weeks. Emails from Hannah and Paul. The magazine. My
new mates. So much had happened, but I couldn’t get a word in edgeways. He
talked, I listened. That was the deal and always has been since I’d known him.
I’d just never been bothered about it before. As I tried to appear interested,
I thought that even Mojo was more interested in what I had to say. And he’s a
dog.

‘So, enough about me.
What about you?’ he said, finally pausing for breath. ‘What do you think of
me?’

Then he laughed like
he’d said the funniest thing ever.

I couldn’t help but think
how easy Steve had been to talk to. We’d never shut up the other day in the
park. But with him, it had been equal. I talked, he listened. He talked, I
listened. He’d seemed interested in what I had to say and what my opinions
were.

I took a long look at
Scott. No doubt he was mucho cute to look at. A lovely curly mouth and
deep-brown eyes. But as I stared into them, I thought, Scott Harris, I’ve never
realised this before but you are boring. As in B. O. R.
üing
.

I had a sudden urge to
go home, talk to Mojo, email Hannah and even maybe catch up with Steve. He had
promised to start work on his article for the magazine and I could call to see
how it was coming along.

We got the bus home
together and when we got to our houses, Scott did a quick check up and down the
street, then up at the windows. I was about to go in, when he suddenly pushed
me against the wall and the next thing I knew I was being snogged.

My first snog.

Ugh. Agh, I thought as
his mouth crashed into mine. And erlack, onions. His mouth tasted ukky. It was
a really wet, slimy kiss, not how I’d imagined it at all.

When he’d finished
cleaning my teeth with his tongue, he stood back, looking really pleased with
himself.

‘Catcha later,’ he
said, pointing his index finger at me. Then he turned and went inside.

‘Not if I see you
first,’ I thought as I wiped my mouth on my arm.

A couple of hours
later, I was up in my room working on some ideas for the magazine when the
phone went.

‘TJ, it’s Nesta.’

‘Oh, hi… Nes…’

‘Listen,’ interrupted
Nesta. ‘I’ve got something to say to you and I hope you won’t take it the wrong
way, but, well, that boy Scott… he’s not the one for you. Don’t ask me how I
know, I just do. He thinks too much of himself and I know boys like that look
pretty, but all they are interested in is themselves. You deserve better. You
mustn’t be a doormat. You can do better, believe me. It’s just you’re suffering
from low self-esteem, but someone will come along who you’ll have a better time
with. Who really wants to be with you. Because you are a babe. With brains.
Lethal combination as I’ve said before. And I know you like Scott and now
you’re probably going to hate me and not speak to me, but as a friend I felt I
had to tell you. TJ, are you there? Do you hate me now? Please say something? Oh,
hell bells and poo. Lucy said I shouldn’t phone but Izzie said I should.
TJ,TJ…?’

I couldn’t say
anything because I was too busy laughing and I’d put my hand over the phone so
she couldn’t hear.

‘Nesta. I agree.’

‘You… you
what’
?‘

‘Yeah, you’re right. Scott
Harris. Cute but dull. Dull as dishwater. And… he’s a bad snogger.’

‘He
snogged
you!’ exclaimed Nesta. ‘
Ohmigod
. Details.’

We spent the next
half-hour yabbering about snogs and Nesta told me all about some of her early
disasters.