Cathy Hopkins - [Mates, Dates 04] (9 page)

‘Coming up,’ called
Nesta. ‘
Quattro formaggi
.’

My pyjamas looked so
boring as I got them out of my bag. A pale grey vestie thing for the top and
bottoms to match. Ah well. What you see is what you get, I thought, as I pulled
them on, then went back into the living-room and pulled a cushion on to the floor.

‘Let the viewing
commence,’ said Izzie, passing me the Pringles.

After we’d finished
watching ‘South Park’ and munching our way through crisps, pizza, chocolate and
ice cream, the real fun began. Nesta put on a
Riverdance
video. After
we’d danced our socks off for fifteen minutes, we all collapsed on the sofa and
they talked about
everything
-music, clothes, mags, school gossip,
horoscopes and, finally, boys.

As they chatted, we
painted each other’s toenails. I did Nesta’s dark purple and then she did mine
the same colour. Izzie did Lucy’s pale blue and she did Iz’s red. None of them
seemed to mind that I didn’t say a lot. I was happy to sit back and take it all
in.

Nesta was a hoot and
seemed to be
very
experienced with boys. She’s had loads of boyfriends.
At least eight. Maybe more, I lost count. And she seems to be an expert on
snogging.

Izzie is just fab.
She’s into loads of interesting stuff, not just horoscopes but alternative
health, food, nutrition, aromatherapy, crystals and witchcraft. And she’s
also
in a band with her boyfriend. His name’s Ben and the band’s called King Noz.
She sang a song for us that she’d written herself. She has the most amazing
voice.

And Lucy. Lucy’s
sweet. And kind. She kept checking on me to see I had enough to drink and eat.
And was I comfortable. Did I need another cushion?

They all made me feel
so welcome I suppose it was inevitable that, in the end, they’d turn the
spotlight on me.

‘So TJ, is there
anyone you fancy?’

I shook my head. ‘Not
really.’

‘So why’ve you gone
red?’ asked Nesta.

‘Nesta!’ said Lucy.

‘What?
What
?’

‘Let her tell in her
own time,’ said Izzie.

I decided to plunge
in. They’d all been so open with me, I felt I should be the same with them.

‘Well, I suppose there
is one boy,’ I said. ‘I’ve known him all my life, but he treats me more like
one of the lads than a girl.’

‘Does he know you
fancy him?’ asked Lucy.

‘
Noooo
. In
fact,’ I said, looking at Nesta, ‘he fancies you.’

‘Me?’

‘Yeah, he’s seen you
at the Hollywood Bowl and asked if I’d put a word in.’

Nesta looked
surprised. ‘What’s his name?’

‘Scott Harris.’

‘Don’t know him,’ said
Nesta. ‘And anyway, I have a boyfriend.’

‘Posh boy,’ teased
Lucy.

‘Simon Peddington
Lee,’ said Izzie in a voice like the Queen’s.

‘He’s away at school
at the mo,’ said Nesta, ‘but we speak or text most days. He’ll be back soon for
the summer hols. And,
anyway
, I don’t steal other girl’s boyfriends.’

‘He’s not my
boyfriend.’

‘Not
yet
,’
said Nesta. ‘Anyway, you saw him first so in my book that means he’s yours
whether he knows it or not.’

‘Maybe you should let
him know you like him,’ said Iz.

‘
Noooo
.
Can’t. No. You don’t understand. That would ruin everything. See, he’s one of
the few boys I can talk to. I have known him so long I don’t get all
tongue-tied like I do around boys I fancy.’

‘You got on with my
brothers OK,’ said Lucy.

‘Yeah. But that was
different.’

‘Ah, you don’t fancy
Steve. Is that it?’

‘No. Yes. I don’t
know. I didn’t think about it. It felt so natural round your house, I kind of
forgot he was a boy. And, well… it’s just, we got off on the right foot. I won
at arm-wrestling and we were away.’

‘Got off on the right
arm then,’ grinned Lucy. ‘Not foot.’

I decided to tell them
everything. ‘See, I can karate-chop a boy to the floor and stand on his neck
easy peasy, but the thought of having to kiss one and I’m terrified.’

‘
Ah
…’ said
Lucy. ‘I get it.’

‘You have to be like
Buffy,’ said Izzie. ‘Like, one minute she’s snogging Angel, the next, she’s out
vaporising vampires. It’s a question of balance.’

‘Right,’ I said,
feeling more confused than ever.

I could see Nesta was
bursting to say something.

‘What?’ I said.

‘Nothing,’ she said,
but she was holding her stomach as though keeping something in.

‘Spill. I can take
it.’

‘No. Nothing. Well.
What if…? No… nothing…’

‘Oh, for God’s sake,
Nesta. Spit it out,’ said Izzie.

‘Well,’ said Nesta.
‘How about you don’t tell Scott you fancy him? How about we get him to fancy
yow?’

‘Ah,’ I said. ‘And how
do you propose to do that?’

I knew exactly what
she had in mind, but felt like teasing her.

‘Er…’ she looked
anxiously at Lucy. ‘Dunno really.’

I decided to help her
out. ‘You still want to do a makeover, don’t you?’

‘Er, HO,’ she said
with a quick glance at Lucy.

‘You think I look like
a bag lady, don’t you?’

‘ATO. I never said
that
!’
Now Nesta looked really worried. Lucy may be small in height but she’s clearly
big in Nesta’s books. ‘No. No. I think you look fab. Oh, all right… I think you
could look fabber. With a make-over. That’s all. And now you’re going to hate
me. And think I’m mean because I want to help. And Lucy’s going to go on about
my big gob. And how I never know when to stop…’

I laughed. ‘I’m only
teasing you. No, please, do it. To tell the truth, I took a look at myself in
the mirror this evening in the dress from hell that my mum bought me and I
thought, TJ, you need help. I’d love it if you gave me a make-over. I’ll use it
in the magazine. And… anyone got a pen? I’ve had an idea for a feature for the
mag. A Sleepover Special Report.’

Nesta handed me a pen
and paper from the drawer in the desk behind the sofa. Then she took my face in
her hands and turned it to profile and back. Then she clapped her hands and
went into drama luwie persona, ‘A mi-vake over. Oh,
daaahlling
, ve’re
going to mi-vake you look
faaaabulouse
.’

D’oh, I thought.
What’ve I let myself in for?

American Pie

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‘So The Plan is,’ said
Nesta, through a mouthful of toast, ‘we all go to TJ’s and sift through her
wardrobe.’

It was Saturday
morning and we were still in our jimjams, sitting round in the kitchen, eating
toast and drinking milky coffees.

I wondered if I could
get out of The Plan. Not that I was bothered about the make-over any more, no,
I was worried what the girls were going to make of the Wrinklies. Izzie, Lucy
and Nesta’s parents were normal ages. And Nesta’s are so
glamorous
. I
met them this morning while I was waiting for the bathroom. Her mum’s a
newsreader on cable television and her dad’s a film director and both
tres
good looking and stylish as far as grown-ups go.

Mainly though, I was
worried what the Wrinklies might make of the girls. Dad in particular. He can
turn into Scary Dad at the slightest bit of noise or disturbance.

Our house was never
one to throw its doors open and welcome in the neighbourhood. I always used go
to Hannah’s house rather than the other way round. Dad likes his privacy, the
fewer people he sees when he’s not ‘ working, the better. Radio 4 and peace and
quiet and he’s happy. Last thing I wanted was him showing me up in front of new
friends by asking them pointed questions like, ’What time’s your bus home?‘

I thought I’d better
warn the girls.

‘OK, er, about my
parents, well my dad…’ I said and explained the situation.

‘Same at our house,’
said Izzie. ‘My mum doesn’t exactly encourage me to bring my mates back. Some
parents are like that. It’s easy to hang at Lucy’s or here where no one’s
running round cleaning up after you all the time.’

‘So, no problemo,²TJ,’
said Nesta.‘We will be the perfect example of quiet refined teenagers.’

‘Well behaved and
demure,’ said Izzie.

‘And
very
mature,’ said Lucy.

I breathed a sigh of
relief. I could trust them to be cool. At that moment, the back door opened and
Leonardo DiCaprio’s younger Italian brother walked in. I mean, this boy was
seriously
handsome.

‘TJ, Tony. Tony, TJ.
My brother,’ said Nesta as if I hadn’t realised.

‘Hi, TJ,’said The
Vision.

‘Hi, Tony,’ said a
friendly voice inside my head.

However, what came out
of my mouth was, ‘
uhyuh’
. Oh,
noooo
, I thought. Alien Girl
from the Planet Zog is back to haunt me.

Tony looked at the
croissant I was about to eat, then looked right into my eyes and did a
half-smile that made him look even more gorgeous. ‘So,TJ, what do virgins eat
for breakfast?’

‘Dunno,’ I replied,
breaking his gaze and staring at the floor.

‘Thought so,’ he said
and laughed. ‘Take no notice of Tony, he’s a dingbat,’ said Nesta. ‘So. Aren’t
you going to ask?’ ‘Ask what?’

‘How come Tony is my
brother?’ ‘No.’

‘Why not?’ asked
Nesta. ‘
Everyone
asks. He’s light-skinned, I’m dark-skinned, how
come?’

‘Obvious,’ I said.
‘Same father, different mothers.’ ‘Hmmm,’ said Nesta. ‘Smart cookie.’ ‘Not
really,’ the voice in my head said. ‘I met your mum and dad this morning. I
know she’s Jamaican and your dad looks Italian. Tony looks like your dad so I
reckon he must have had a different mother. Elementary, my dear Williams.’
However, Noola the Alien Girl is a person of few words and all that came out
was, ‘
uh’
. Smart cookie indeed. Why did this
always
happen
when boys I fancied were around? ‘My real mum died before I knew her. I was six
months old,’ explained Tony, coming over and laying his head on my shoulder.
‘Really, I’m an orphan. An orphan prince who needs
love
and
affection
!