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Authors: Lynda Waterhouse
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rat.’
‘Tree hugger.’
‘Jenna hugger.’ Gabe drew closer and hugged me tight. I could feel the warmth of his breath on my face. We didn’t speak or move for a long time.
‘Jenna.’ His voice sounded serious.
‘Gabe.’ I echoed his tone.
He laughed. ‘Let’s do this again tomorrow night. But let’s not tell anyone. It’ll be like our time together. When the others are around, things get complicated.
I’ll meet you by the wall at nine.’
‘I’ll see if I can make it,’ I said casually, knowing that whatever happened I would be there tomorrow night.
Gabe took hold of my hand and we walked back to Sarah’s in silence.
‘See you tomorrow,’ he said when we got to the door.
Sarah came back early the next morning. After she had made a huge fuss of Tallulah, she turned to me. ‘Sorry to leave you. I just needed to get away.’
‘I thought you were buying some books.’
Sarah looked a bit sheepish. ‘Oh yes, I did manage to pick up some. Were you all right?’
‘Ava cooked me some great food. I went to the youth club and Aurora invited me for tea today . . . and Kai came back.’
Sarah’s face flickered with hope, so I added quickly, ‘To collect some of his stuff.’
‘Did he leave a message?’ Sarah said weakly.
‘Just that he’ll be back for the festival.’ I tried to make my voice sound neutral, as if I didn’t know how much the news would be hurting Sarah. No one likes to be
pitied, do they?
Chapter Thirteen
I spent most of Tuesday trying to decide what to wear for tea with Aurora. I deliberately hadn’t brought many
clothes with me and Sarah’s wardrobe wasn’t worth raiding. By rights I should have been spending three weeks wearing a bikini and sunbathing on a Florida beach with Mum and Marcus.
Why hadn’t I asked Gabe last night if he was going to be there? Part of me felt that I had dreamed our meeting last night. It had been too perfect. I tugged at my hair with a comb and
tried on another T-shirt.
Sarah knocked lightly on my door. ‘Can I come in?’
I nodded, but she hovered in the doorway.
‘It’s a bit awkward, Jenna,’ she began. I put the comb down and swallowed hard. Maybe she wanted me to leave.
Sarah cleared her throat. ‘I seem to have lost a vase that was in the bathroom. It belonged to your gran. And it’s valuable. I was wondering if you’d broken it or
something.’
It took me a while to think which vase she was talking about, there was so much clutter about the place. Then I remembered the garish orange-and-black-patterned monstrosity of a jug on the
window ledge. Mum had one like it too, except in our house it was in a display case. Mum liked to show it off because it was by a woman called Clarice Cliff and it was worth a small fortune.
‘Only it means a lot to me,’ Sarah continued. Then it clicked. She was accusing me of taking it!
‘Why don’t you ask Kai about it?’ I suggested as softly as I could. You didn’t have to be Inspector Morse to work out that he’d be the most likely suspect.
Sarah sank down on the bed. ‘What would he want with it? He knows how I’ve always loved that vase.’
I flared up. ‘So you’re blaming me instead.’
Sarah swallowed. ‘I’ve heard that you’d been up to some pretty wild things. The school even considered calling the police.’
My head reeled. So this is what it was like when you got labelled. You get to go to the front of the blame queue. Part of me wanted to yell out loud something like, ‘Oh, that vase! The one
that I smashed into a thousand pieces and chucked through the window. If I’d known how much it meant to you I would have done it in front of you!’
Instead I stormed out of the room and raced down the stairs, sending Tallulah running for cover as I slammed the front door behind me.
It was starting to lightly rain as I made my way to the Mini-Mart so I sheltered in the phone box.
On impulse, I dialled Mia’s number.
‘It’s Jenna,’ I said when she
‘Tree hugger.’
‘Jenna hugger.’ Gabe drew closer and hugged me tight. I could feel the warmth of his breath on my face. We didn’t speak or move for a long time.
‘Jenna.’ His voice sounded serious.
‘Gabe.’ I echoed his tone.
He laughed. ‘Let’s do this again tomorrow night. But let’s not tell anyone. It’ll be like our time together. When the others are around, things get complicated.
I’ll meet you by the wall at nine.’
‘I’ll see if I can make it,’ I said casually, knowing that whatever happened I would be there tomorrow night.
Gabe took hold of my hand and we walked back to Sarah’s in silence.
‘See you tomorrow,’ he said when we got to the door.
Sarah came back early the next morning. After she had made a huge fuss of Tallulah, she turned to me. ‘Sorry to leave you. I just needed to get away.’
‘I thought you were buying some books.’
Sarah looked a bit sheepish. ‘Oh yes, I did manage to pick up some. Were you all right?’
‘Ava cooked me some great food. I went to the youth club and Aurora invited me for tea today . . . and Kai came back.’
Sarah’s face flickered with hope, so I added quickly, ‘To collect some of his stuff.’
‘Did he leave a message?’ Sarah said weakly.
‘Just that he’ll be back for the festival.’ I tried to make my voice sound neutral, as if I didn’t know how much the news would be hurting Sarah. No one likes to be
pitied, do they?
Chapter Thirteen
I spent most of Tuesday trying to decide what to wear for tea with Aurora. I deliberately hadn’t brought many
clothes with me and Sarah’s wardrobe wasn’t worth raiding. By rights I should have been spending three weeks wearing a bikini and sunbathing on a Florida beach with Mum and Marcus.
Why hadn’t I asked Gabe last night if he was going to be there? Part of me felt that I had dreamed our meeting last night. It had been too perfect. I tugged at my hair with a comb and
tried on another T-shirt.
Sarah knocked lightly on my door. ‘Can I come in?’
I nodded, but she hovered in the doorway.
‘It’s a bit awkward, Jenna,’ she began. I put the comb down and swallowed hard. Maybe she wanted me to leave.
Sarah cleared her throat. ‘I seem to have lost a vase that was in the bathroom. It belonged to your gran. And it’s valuable. I was wondering if you’d broken it or
something.’
It took me a while to think which vase she was talking about, there was so much clutter about the place. Then I remembered the garish orange-and-black-patterned monstrosity of a jug on the
window ledge. Mum had one like it too, except in our house it was in a display case. Mum liked to show it off because it was by a woman called Clarice Cliff and it was worth a small fortune.
‘Only it means a lot to me,’ Sarah continued. Then it clicked. She was accusing me of taking it!
‘Why don’t you ask Kai about it?’ I suggested as softly as I could. You didn’t have to be Inspector Morse to work out that he’d be the most likely suspect.
Sarah sank down on the bed. ‘What would he want with it? He knows how I’ve always loved that vase.’
I flared up. ‘So you’re blaming me instead.’
Sarah swallowed. ‘I’ve heard that you’d been up to some pretty wild things. The school even considered calling the police.’
My head reeled. So this is what it was like when you got labelled. You get to go to the front of the blame queue. Part of me wanted to yell out loud something like, ‘Oh, that vase! The one
that I smashed into a thousand pieces and chucked through the window. If I’d known how much it meant to you I would have done it in front of you!’
Instead I stormed out of the room and raced down the stairs, sending Tallulah running for cover as I slammed the front door behind me.
It was starting to lightly rain as I made my way to the Mini-Mart so I sheltered in the phone box.
On impulse, I dialled Mia’s number.
‘It’s Jenna,’ I said when she
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