Cathy Hopkins - [Mates, Dates 05] (14 page)

‘So do I,’ sighed
Izzie, ‘and I haven’t even told him yet.’

At that moment, Nesta
swept in and flopped down next to me.

‘I’ve just been
dumped,’ she announced. ‘Simon has dumped me. Me.
Me
!

‘Why? What happened?’

‘I knew it was
coming,’ she said. ‘I
told
you I knew it. He said he really liked me,
blah blah, and that he hoped we could stay friends, blah blah, but because he
was going to go to university, he felt it was a good idea that we made a clean
break because it’s a new chapter for him, blah blah, and that long distance
relationships never work. Blah blah blah blah blah.’

‘Are you very upset?’
I asked.

‘Over a boy? Course
not. I don’t care,’ she said, and then she burst into tears, causing a lady on
the next table to look over with concern. ‘I
really
liked him, Lucy.’

‘I know you did,
Nesta. And I am sorry. Can I do anything? Get you anything?’

She shook her head.
‘Til be all right. Sorry. Sorry. Just I’ve never been dumped before.‘

I went to sit next to
her and put my arm around her. ‘It’s a day of firsts for both of us. I’ve just
finished with Daniel.’

This seemed to cheer
her up. ‘Really? Good,’ she said. ‘I know I only met him once, but I didn’t
like him. I can say that now, can’t I?’

‘You can. You can say
whatever you like.’

She wiped her eyes and
attempted a smile. ‘So here we are, the dumped and the dumper.’

‘And Izzie’s about to
join the ranks,’ I said.

‘Ben?’ said Nesta.

Izzie nodded. ‘Boys,’
she said. ‘Who needs them?’

‘Yeah,’ said Nesta
sadly, ‘who?’

What is going on
today? I thought, when I called in at home later. It must be something in the
stars. In fact I’m surprised that Mystic Izzie hasn’t picked up on some fight between
planets or something which is provoking all our horoscopes. Everyone seems to
be changing and rearranging their love life. Even my brother Lai was affected,
and it takes a lot for him to change anything, even his socks.

‘What’s up with you?’
I asked when I popped my head in the boys’ room and saw him slumped on the bed
a
la
tragic hero with his hand over his forehead.

‘You wouldn’t
understand,’ he said and turned away towards the wall.

‘Try me,’ I said. It
wasn’t like him to be low and even though he was a pain mostly, he was still my
brother.

‘I want to be alone,’
he muttered.

I went in and sat on
the end of his bed. ‘I just finished with Daniel,’ I said, in an attempt to
perk him up. He usually couldn’t resist the latest gossip about my and the other
girls’ love lives. Says it’s good research.

Lai sat up. ‘See,
that’s it, isn’t it? You finished with Daniel. Another poor boy, subject to the
whims and fancies of you girls.’

This wasn’t the
reaction I’d expected. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Girls,’ he moaned.
‘Can’t live with them, can’t shoot them. You can stick that on one of your
T-shirts.’

‘What is your
problem?’ I asked.

‘Nothing,’ he said.
‘Girls. Or rather not girls. Sometimes it’s not fair, you know. You girls call
all the shots and us boys just have to take it.’

‘Hey, what’s happened
to the snog chart?’ I asked, noticing that the back of the door was bare.

‘In the bin,’ he said.

‘Why? I thought you
were winning.’

‘I was. But what’s the
point? All those girls I’ve snogged and none of them meant anything to me.’

‘But I thought that
was the
point
. No ties, no commitment, just fun. I thought that was
your philosophy.’

‘Shows what
you
know,’ he said.

‘OK, so what is your
philosophy, then?’

Lai sighed. ‘I can’t
tell you. You’ll laugh or tell your mates.’

‘Trust me,’ I said. ‘I
won’t tell anyone.’

Lai sat up. ‘OK.
There’s this girl. A girl I really fancy. I mean
really
fancy. I think
she may be The One.’

‘Well, that’s good,
isn’t it? You’ve finally fallen for someone.’

‘Not finally. I’ve
fancied her for ages, but it’s like she doesn’t even know I’m on the planet,’
he said. ‘She barely even gives me a second glance.’

‘So, make her notice
you.’

‘You think I haven’t
tried? No go. She’d never look at someone like me, she’s way out of my league.’

He looked so sad sitting
there, I wished I could do something to cheer him up. ‘Hey, don’t give up. It’s
not like you. Maybe I could help. Do I know her?’

Lai shook his head.
‘No…Yes. I mean no.’

‘Come on, spill. Who
is it?’

Lai shook his head
again. ‘Can’t say. See, you lot - you girls - you’re all so self-assured. You,
your mates,
all
girls, you don’t realise how hard it is for us boys.
You can destroy us with a look or with a comment that you all think is dead
clever or funny and we’re supposed to be all, Oh, it doesn’t matter, ha ha,
laugh at me why don’t you? But I’ve had enough. My ego is shattered. My life is
over. There is no other girl but her and she’ll never give me the time of day.
That’s
why I ripped up the snog chart. I’ve been into this girl for ages.
Ages
.
I thought if she saw how popular I was with other girls, she’d be intrigued,
fancy me. But I don’t think she’s even noticed, so what’s the point? Snogging a
load of girls just to prove something to myself, that I’m fanciable, that girls
can’t resist me? What’s the point when the only one that matters
can
resist me? I may as well be invisible as far as she knows.‘

Wow, I thought. He’s
really got it bad. ‘It can’t possibly be that hopeless. I mean, you’re a
good-looking boy, you’re a laugh. Perseverance wins the day. Come on. Who is
it?’

He looked at the floor
and then glanced up at me hopefully. ‘Nesta.’

Ohmigod, I thought,
he’s right. No chance. No chance. He doesn’t stand a hope in hell with her. Oh,
poor Lai. It
is
hard being a boy. Poor Lai. Poor Daniel. And poor Ben -
he’s going to get it soon.

C h a p t e r
 
1 7

Couple
Bubbles

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Daniel wasn’t about to
give up easily.

Monday, he sent the
most gorgeous white flowers. Through a proper florist as well.

Tuesday, another toy
bear and a card saying, ‘He’s to go with little bear in case she’s lonely.’

Wednesday, he phoned.
‘Let’s at least meet up, Lucy. Please. We can’t just leave it.’

In the end, I agreed.
I’d have felt mean not to. Nobody had ever sent me flowers before, not even
Tony, and I felt at least I should hear him out.

‘OK,’ I said, ‘but
I’ll come down to you.’

He was waiting for me at
Chalk Farm tube and, as usual, was dressed in his signature black. He was
carrying a small bunch of freesias. It was strange seeing him again. Even
though it had only been a few days, he looked different. Or I was seeing him
differently. No doubt he was good-looking, but this time, I felt the attraction
had gone.

‘Hi,’ he said and took
my hand.

‘Hi,’ I said and took
it back.

‘Oh, don’t be like
that, Lucy,’ he said and gave me the flowers.

‘Daniel, you can’t
keep giving me stuff. I mean, it’s really lovely of you, but…’

‘I wanted to get
flowers for you. I want to be with you. To make you happy. I’m sorry about the
other day. I was out of order. Can we give it another try? Start again?’

But I knew that it was
over and shook my head. ‘I’m sorry, Daniel.’

‘But
why
?
Was it because of the way I reacted to you being with that boy? I’m sorry. I
get jealous.
Most
girls would like that.‘

How could I let him
down gently? ‘It’s not you, it’s me. I want… that is, I don’t want… I mean, I’m
not…’ I remembered what Tony had said. ‘I’m not into having the big
relationship. I mean, I think you’re really lovely…’

Daniel’s face clouded
over. ‘I know exactly what you’re saying, Lucy. I’m not stupid. It’s your
choice. There are loads of other girls who would jump at the chance of going
out with me.’

Good, I thought. Let
them.

He reached for my hand
again. ‘One more try? I really think we’ve got something special.’

I shook my head.
‘Sorry, Daniel. But… but I hope we can stay friends.’ Argh. I was determined
not to come out with that old cliche, but it slipped out.

‘Yeah,’ sighed Daniel.
‘We all know what
that
means.’

‘No, I mean it, we
could still talk and even see each other sometimes, but as mates.’

‘Yeah right,’ he said.

I felt really
uncomfortable as we both stood there staring at the pavement. I couldn’t think
of anything else to say and he seemed to have gone into a sulk.

‘Well, er, um…
I’ve got to go,’ I said finally.

‘Sure,’ he said, and
hung his head.

As I walked away, he
just stood there looking after me. I felt like the Queen of Mean.

‘What’s up, Lucy?’ Mum
asked when I got back home later.

I sat down at the
kitchen table and put my head in my hands. ‘Relationships,’ I said. ‘They
stink.’

Mum laughed. ‘What’s
happened now? I thought it was all going brilliantly. We’ve hardly seen you for
days, weeks.’

‘Finished. History.
Kaput
!’

Mum sat next to me.
‘Oh Lucy, I am sorry. You’ve been dumped.’

‘No, I dumped
him’

‘Oh,’ said Mum. ‘So,
what’s the problem?’

‘It’s just not worth
it, any of it. Either way, love hurts. I feel mean, Nesta’s been dumped and she
feels lousy. Izzie wants to finish with Ben, but is worried about hurting him.
And even Lai, he’s in love with someone who’ll never have him.’

‘Nesta,’ said Mum.

‘How did you know?’

‘You mean you’ve never
noticed how he acts when she’s around?’

‘I thought he acted
like that around all girls.’

Mum shook her head.
‘No, he’s got it bad for her.’

‘Poor Lai,’ I said.
‘He’s just not her type.’

‘I know,’ said Mum.
‘It’s hard to watch. I hate to see him pining, but I can’t make her fancy him.
What can you do?’

‘Get a dog like TJ
did,’ I said.

Mum laughed again.
‘We’ve already got Ben and Jerry. I don’t know. I guess there’s no point in me
saying any of this to you, but I’m going to “anyway. You
are
young.
There will be others for all of you. Plenty more fish in the sea.’

‘No,’ I said. ‘No
point.’

Mum put her hand over
mine. ‘Life can be hard sometimes, Lucy, no matter what side you’re on. It
takes a lot of courage to finish with someone. Some people stay in bad
relationships long after their sell-by date because they’re too frightened to
face the repercussions, but it’s a good lesson to learn. You have to be cruel
to be kind sometimes, especially if it’s not working. If it ain’t right, it ain’t
right. So why did you end it with Daniel?’

I shrugged. ‘Dunno.
It’s like, I couldn’t be myself with him. Like he wanted me to be someone else
and was trying to mould me into that person, but it felt a bit like trying to
fit a square peg into a round hole, you know? I didn’t feel like we really
fitted. Remember that day when you said that when the right person came along,
you could be yourself with them, be natural?’

Mum nodded. ‘But
you’re only fourteen, Lucy. So’s Nesta. And Lai is only fifteen. Life goes on,
and girls and boys will come and go. Sometimes it will be right, sometimes it
will be wrong. Main thing is to stay true to yourself- to what you feel.’

‘Well, Nesta feels
awful. So does Lai.’

‘Well, as I said, it’s
not always easy and I know this may sound weird to say, but all of you,
all
of you will be more understanding because of it. Nesta’s never been dumped
before, has she?’

I shook my head.

‘Well, it doesn’t hurt
to be on that side of things; that is, I know it
does
hurt, but it
will give her more perspective and understanding. Boys fall over themselves for
her, so perhaps having been dumped will make her a bit gentler on them. It’s
hard for boys sometimes.’

I nodded. ‘That’s what
Lai said.’