Cathy Hopkins - [Mates, Dates 04] (8 page)

The offer of help was
tempting. Less than two weeks to go until the entries were due in and there was
going to be a lot of competition. Intense discussions and hushed conversations
were going on everywhere.

‘I could do a
horoscope page for you, if you like,’ said Izzie.

‘That would be
brilliant,’ I said. ‘And I may do a piece about Battersea Dogs’ Home.’

I showed Lucy and Izzie
the Polaroids of Mojo. Soon, everyone wanted to look, so they got passed round
the class. Everyone ooed and aahed until it got to Wendy Roberts.

‘Arrr,
sweet
,’
she said loudly. ‘TJ’s new boyfriend. Hey, TJ. Is this
all
you can
pull? He needs a bit of a shave.’

A few girls giggled
half-heartedly, but as though they felt they had to rather than because they
thought Wendy was hilarious. Why was she being so horrid to me? Was it because
Sam had liked my answer and not hers? Or because she’d got a low mark after
copying my homework? It wasn’t my fault I was crapola at maths. I racked my
brains for something funny to say back so it would look like I didn’t care, but
I couldn’t think of anything quick enough. Bummer and bananas, as Hannah used
to say. Why can I never come up with the right words when I need them?

After detention, we
all trooped out to the playground for the last ten minutes of lunch. I ate my
sandwiches and stretched out in the sun, but I couldn’t help but notice that
some girls were passing a piece of paper round, then staring at me and giggling
in a nervous way.

Oh, what now? I
thought, as Izzie came out to join me on the bench.

‘What’s going on?’ I
asked.

‘Oh, Wendy. You know
she’s running for editor as well. She’s just jealous…’

‘Take no notice,’ said
Lucy, coming to join us. ‘You don’t need to know, TJ. She’s a sad cow and you
should ignore her.’

‘No, I want to see,’ I
said and got up and went over to a group of girls who were standing round Wendy
looking at the piece of paper. I glanced over Wendy’s shoulder. There was a
picture of a dog with its head cut out and mine stuck on instead. She’d cut out
the photo of me from the group shot in last month’s newsletter. Underneath
Wendy had written ‘Dog of the Week‘.

‘What do you think, TJ?’
giggled Wendy. ‘You getting your dog gave me the idea. Each month in the
newsletter, we pick someone to be Dog of the Week. What do you think?’

As I searched for the
right put-down, a voice behind me got in first. ‘I think, Wendy, that if you
were any more stupid, you’d have to be watered.’

I turned round and
there was Nesta. She looked mad.

She took the paper
and, much to Wendy’s astonishment, she ripped it up. ‘This is not remotely
funny, Wendy. And you know it’s not. It’s not journalism.’ It’s just nastiness.
Come on, TJ. Don’t lower yourself by breathing the same air as this low life.‘

I was as gobsmacked as
Wendy, but I turned away with Nesta and followed her to a bench where Lucy and
Izzie were sitting.

‘Thanks, Nesta,’ I
said, ‘but I was OK. I can handle Wendy Roberts.’

‘I know. But I’ve
been, waiting for a chance to show you that I’m on your side. I’m sorry about
the other day. Sometimes words come out the wrong way.’

‘Not just then,’ I
grinned. ‘That was brilliant. I wish I could come out with stuff like that. I
always think of good things to say later, like when I’m falling asleep or
something…’

‘Nesta’s special
talent is fighting for her mates,’ teased Lucy. ‘Her special downfall is her
big gob.’

‘Well, I know what
it’s like to have some saddo like Wendy have it in for you,’ said Nesta.

‘I don’t know why. I
never did anything to her.’

‘With her sort you
don’t have to,’ said Nesta. ‘She’s probably jealous.’

‘Of me? Don’t be mad.’

‘Looks and brains,’
said Nesta. ‘Lethal combination.’

I felt really chuffed.
Maybe she didn’t think I looked too bad after all.

Then I looked over at
Wendy who was glowering at us from the other side of the playground. I hoped
this wasn’t going to be the start of something.

Then I looked at Lucy,
Izzie and Nesta glowering back at her like they were my best mates. And I hoped
that this
was
going to be the start of something.

Sleepover
Secrets

Contents
-
Prev
/
Next

‘ TJ. TJ!’ called Mum
excitedly as she came in the door. ‘Where are you?’

‘Here,’ I called from
upstairs where I was straining to get started on some ideas for the school
magazine. So far, I’d written one word. Aggh.

It was Friday night and
I was going to the sleepover at Nesta’s in half an hour. An evening of culture
had been planned. ‘The Simpsons’ and ’Buffy‘ on Sky then ’EastEnders‘,
’Friends’ and ‘South Park’.

Mum came in carrying a
large carrier bag and plonked herself on the bed. She looked
very
pleased with herself.

‘I couldn’t resist,’
she said, getting something wrapped in tissue out of the bag. She pulled out a
calf-length dress with swirly rust, maroon and orange-coloured flowers on it.

‘What do you think?’
she asked.

The word ‘disgusting’
came to mind, though I suppose it was pretty in that
cottage-chintzy-curtain-fabric way.

‘Not your
usual
taste, Mum,’ I said, thinking I was being diplomatic. Mum isn’t
fashion-conscious at the best of times but her style is more plain than flowery.
Jaeger and Country Casuals for work and sloppy tracksuits for the weekend. And
her idea of making an effort to dress up is to wear a blue glass bead necklace.
Even if it’s with the tracksuit.

‘Not for me, silly,’
said Mum. ‘It’s for
you
.’

Whaaat? Aggggh
. No.
Buuuut it’s horrid
, I
thought.

‘It’s lovely, isn’t
it? I saw it in a little boutique opposite the surgery and remembered what
you’d said about wanting to look more like a girl. Perfect, I thought. I
described you to the lady in the shop, said you had dark hair and hazel eyes
and she said you’d be an Autumn according to her Colour Me Beautiful chart and
would suit the brown rusty colours,’ said Mum, not drawing breath. ‘Cost a
fortune but we won’t tell Dad. It’s about time you had something nice. So what
do you think?’

She was so delighted
with her purchase that I didn’t have the heart to hurt her feelings.

‘There aren’t words,’
I said truthfully.

‘I
knew
you’d
love it. You can wear it to your new friend’s house, can’t you? Try it on, try
it on.’

I smiled weakly as I
desperately searched for something to say. Hmm?
How
do I get out of
this one?

Ten minutes later, I
was in the kitchen wearing the dress and still wondering, literally, how to get
out of this. Course, that had to be the very moment Scott banged on the back
door.

‘Evenin’ all,‘ he
said, letting himself in and stroking Mojo, who jumped up in greeting.Then he
saw me.’Yuk. You going to a fancy dress?‘

‘
Shhh
,’ I
said.‘Mum’s upstairs. She bought it for me.’

‘What, to wear?’

‘No. To scare off burglars.
Yes
, to wear.’

Scott pulled a face.
‘You look weird. Like you’re in “TheWaltons”.’

‘Thanks a bunch. So
how do I get out of it?’

Scott went round to my
back, put his hands on my waist and nuzzled into my neck. ‘Now
that’s
one thing I’m good at, helping girls out of their dresses.’ He started to
stroke my hair then play with my zip. ‘Now, Miss Watts,’ he whispered. ‘I
really don’t think this is your style. Let me help you out of it and into
something… more… comfortable.’

I giggled and slapped
him, hoping he didn’t see me blushing. Him nibbling my neck made me feel all
fluttery inside. Nice.

‘
Uhyuh yunnawee
,’
I started to say, then took a deep breath and made myself remember this was
Scott
for heaven’s sake
. ‘Seriously though,’ I said, turning so he
couldn’t see my red face. ‘I’m going to a sleepover tonight at a new mate’s
house and I can’t possibly wear this. She’ll think it’s so naff.’

‘What new mate?’

‘
Oh
!’
I suddenly remembered he fancied
Nesta. ‘Er… Nesta Williams new mate.‘

‘You’re kidding.
Nesta
?
Why didn’t you tell me? When did this all happen? I thought you said she was an
airhead.‘

‘Well, I was wrong.
She’s actually very nice.’

Scott punched the air.
‘
Yes
. Will you promise, promise,
promise
to put a word in for
me? Or even better, you could bring her here and I could kind of casually drop
in and you could introduce us?’

I
could
I
suppose, I thought, watching Scott as he went into the hall and checked himself
in the mirror. I just wish that a boy would feel that enthusiastic about me one
day. And even more to my surprise, I found myself thinking, I wish
Scott
would feel that enthusiastic about me.

By the time I was due
to go, I had a plan.

I went down into the
kitchen wearing my usual tracksuit and trainers to find Mum chopping peppers
and onions on the counter.

‘I can’t wear the
dress tonight, Mum. I’m going via Lucy’s house and they’ve got two huge dogs.
Labradors.
Very
hairy.
Always
moulting. The kind of dogs who
jump up on you. With
enormous
claws and muddy paws and they like to
chew everything. They’d
ruin
my dress. Do you mind if I put it away
for a special occasion?’ (Special occasion like Bonfire Night and I put it on a
guy to be burnt, I thought.)

‘Sure,’ said Mum. ‘And
are you
sure
you like it?’

Was she giving me a
get out? I was about to open my mouth and say
nooooo
, I hate it…

‘Because they had it
in pink,’ she said.

Ag. Agh. Agherama.

Later, I thought, as I
made for the door. I will sort this later.

‘Got your jimjams?’
asked Nesta, closing the front door behind us. She looked fab in a lilac cami
set with the words
Groovy Chick
across the top.

I nodded as she led me
through into a living-room with high ceilings, deep-red walls and plush brown
velvet sofas. Impressive, I thought, as I took in the mix of dark wood and
Turkish and Moroccan-looking rugs.

Izzie and Lucy were
already there, curled up for our telly night and both gave me a wave. Izzie was
wearing red flannel pyjamas with fluffy sheep on and Lucy had blue ones with
stars and moons all over. I waved back and hoped that they couldn’t see how
nervous I was feeling. Nesta’s flat was so glam, I hoped they wouldn’t think my
house was mega-dull when they came to visit me.

‘You can change in
there,’ said Nesta, showing me a cloakroom off the hall. ‘No one’s here. Tony’s
staying over at a mate’s and Mum and Dad have gone out to eat. Mum said we can
order pizza. What’s your fave?’

‘Four cheeses.
Please,’ I said, as I closed the cloakroom door behind me.