to be here all night at this rate.’ I pouted. ‘Can’t you just do it for me, and then we can do something more
interesting?’
He smiled and shook his head. ‘I could do, but then you still won’t understand it and you’ll flunk the exam. And then your dad will come after me.’
‘I don’t care,’ I said. ‘It’s not like I’m ever going to use it in life, is it?’
‘You might do. You’ll probably use it when you don’t even realise it, like when you’re shopping or in your job.’
‘What?’ I giggled to myself. ‘Yeah, but only if I’m shopping for a mermaid’s underwear. Algae bra! Get it?’
Did I really say that aloud? I must have done because Jack groaned. ‘That’s terrible. Be serious, Lil. I know maths is a big yawn, but it’s kind of necessary. And besides,
you’ve got to pass it so you can move on to Sixth Form. Five more minutes, just for me?’
‘God, Jack, you sound like someone’s dad. Stop being so sensible.’ I looked at my watch. It was nine o’clock. I was running out of time. How could I get him from algebra
to Alex?
‘Are you calling me boring?’
‘Yes, Jack.’ I faked a yawn. ‘You’re turning into a super nerd. Go on then, do it for me, just this once. Please . . .’ I pouted. ‘Pretty please.’
‘No!’ he said. But he couldn’t help smiling. ‘Put your lip back in, I’m not going to fall for it this time.’
I pictured Jack tripping over a giant lip and chuckled to myself. ‘You know what?’ I said. ‘You could be a maths teacher – you’re so good at explaining this
stuff.’ My imagination must have been in overdrive that evening because then a picture of Jack in a horrible jacket, with cord trousers and greasy hair came into my mind, which wasn’t
what I’d intended at all. I flicked it away. ‘In a good way, I mean. A cool maths teacher.’
‘I don’t want to be a maths teacher,’ he said, frowning.
I already knew that; Jack wants to be a sports reporter. ‘Yeah, but you’d be good at it. Better than Mr Reynolds. And much, much fitter.’
He reddened. ‘Anyone would be better than Mr Reynolds. Come on, we’ve got five more questions to get through and then we can chill.’
I ignored him. ‘The girls would love you. You’d be the most popular teacher ever. You’d have them queuing in the corridor.’
He laughed and tapped my exercise book with his pen, just like Mr Reynolds does. ‘Stop trying to flatter me, it won’t work. Come on, let’s do the next question.’
I pretended to sulk. If I wanted to talk about Alex, I was going to have to risk coming straight out with it.
‘Did you help Alex with her maths homework too?’ I asked, quietly. I was really nervous of his reaction. I hadn’t dared bring up her name to Jack for weeks.
He hesitated. ‘No.’ He didn’t sound annoyed, just surprised. ‘She was better at maths than me,’ he added. ‘She didn’t need my help.’
‘Did you do your homework together?’
‘Sometimes,’ he said. ‘We revised for our GCSEs together.’
I pictured Jack sitting with his arm around the smiling girl I’d seen on Topfriendz and felt a shard of jealousy slice into me. Was there anything Jack and I had done together that he
hadn’t already done with Alex? Was there anything she wasn’t better at than me?
‘So was she a total swot?’ I asked. I wanted him to put her down, to say she was boring.
‘No,’ he said, a bit too defensively. ‘She was just naturally good at it. It was one of her A-level options. Last thing I knew, she was planning to do it at
university.’
‘Oh, I see,’ I said, feeling a little hiccup of guilt. Jack was wrong. I knew Alex had dropped maths at the beginning of Sixth Form, because she’d told me.
‘You really liked her, didn’t you, Jack? Do you think about her a lot?’
‘Not really,’ he said. He sounded impatient now. ‘Do you think about your exes?’
I wanted to answer, ‘I don’t really have any, not proper ones,
interesting?’
He smiled and shook his head. ‘I could do, but then you still won’t understand it and you’ll flunk the exam. And then your dad will come after me.’
‘I don’t care,’ I said. ‘It’s not like I’m ever going to use it in life, is it?’
‘You might do. You’ll probably use it when you don’t even realise it, like when you’re shopping or in your job.’
‘What?’ I giggled to myself. ‘Yeah, but only if I’m shopping for a mermaid’s underwear. Algae bra! Get it?’
Did I really say that aloud? I must have done because Jack groaned. ‘That’s terrible. Be serious, Lil. I know maths is a big yawn, but it’s kind of necessary. And besides,
you’ve got to pass it so you can move on to Sixth Form. Five more minutes, just for me?’
‘God, Jack, you sound like someone’s dad. Stop being so sensible.’ I looked at my watch. It was nine o’clock. I was running out of time. How could I get him from algebra
to Alex?
‘Are you calling me boring?’
‘Yes, Jack.’ I faked a yawn. ‘You’re turning into a super nerd. Go on then, do it for me, just this once. Please . . .’ I pouted. ‘Pretty please.’
‘No!’ he said. But he couldn’t help smiling. ‘Put your lip back in, I’m not going to fall for it this time.’
I pictured Jack tripping over a giant lip and chuckled to myself. ‘You know what?’ I said. ‘You could be a maths teacher – you’re so good at explaining this
stuff.’ My imagination must have been in overdrive that evening because then a picture of Jack in a horrible jacket, with cord trousers and greasy hair came into my mind, which wasn’t
what I’d intended at all. I flicked it away. ‘In a good way, I mean. A cool maths teacher.’
‘I don’t want to be a maths teacher,’ he said, frowning.
I already knew that; Jack wants to be a sports reporter. ‘Yeah, but you’d be good at it. Better than Mr Reynolds. And much, much fitter.’
He reddened. ‘Anyone would be better than Mr Reynolds. Come on, we’ve got five more questions to get through and then we can chill.’
I ignored him. ‘The girls would love you. You’d be the most popular teacher ever. You’d have them queuing in the corridor.’
He laughed and tapped my exercise book with his pen, just like Mr Reynolds does. ‘Stop trying to flatter me, it won’t work. Come on, let’s do the next question.’
I pretended to sulk. If I wanted to talk about Alex, I was going to have to risk coming straight out with it.
‘Did you help Alex with her maths homework too?’ I asked, quietly. I was really nervous of his reaction. I hadn’t dared bring up her name to Jack for weeks.
He hesitated. ‘No.’ He didn’t sound annoyed, just surprised. ‘She was better at maths than me,’ he added. ‘She didn’t need my help.’
‘Did you do your homework together?’
‘Sometimes,’ he said. ‘We revised for our GCSEs together.’
I pictured Jack sitting with his arm around the smiling girl I’d seen on Topfriendz and felt a shard of jealousy slice into me. Was there anything Jack and I had done together that he
hadn’t already done with Alex? Was there anything she wasn’t better at than me?
‘So was she a total swot?’ I asked. I wanted him to put her down, to say she was boring.
‘No,’ he said, a bit too defensively. ‘She was just naturally good at it. It was one of her A-level options. Last thing I knew, she was planning to do it at
university.’
‘Oh, I see,’ I said, feeling a little hiccup of guilt. Jack was wrong. I knew Alex had dropped maths at the beginning of Sixth Form, because she’d told me.
‘You really liked her, didn’t you, Jack? Do you think about her a lot?’
‘Not really,’ he said. He sounded impatient now. ‘Do you think about your exes?’
I wanted to answer, ‘I don’t really have any, not proper ones,
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