Read Online Strictly Friends? by Jo Cotterill - Free Book Online Page A

do for tomorrow.’
    Samantha said to Paul, ‘Am I coming round yours after school tomorrow?’
    He shrugged. ‘If you want.’
    Megan felt puzzled. Why would Samantha be going round to Paul’s house? Her jaw dropped when Paul walked over to Samantha and kissed her. Samantha accepted the kiss and waved goodbye before heading back up towards the playground. Jasmine turned and went too, having not said a single word.
    Danny laughed at Megan’s expression. ‘What?’
    â€˜Are they . . .? I mean, I didn’t realize . . . Are they going out or something?’
    â€˜Or something,’ agreed Danny. ‘Can’t think why. Samantha doesn’t usually go for Paul’s type. Think she’s a bit off track at the moment, after what happened over the summer.’
    Megan was going to ask what he meant, but he leaped onto the board and skimmed across the park again, calling, ‘I’m going to do another kickflip, only this one on the end of the ramp!’
    â€˜Aren’t you supposed to be going home?’ she called back.
    â€˜In a minute!’ He paused for a moment at the end of the park, his eyes fixed on the ramp, before pushing off and building up speed. As he hit the edge of the ramp, he kicked up with his feet and the board seemed magically to spin in mid-air before attaching itself to his feet again for a secure landing.
    When Danny finally skidded to a halt in front of her, he did a silly bow. Megan laughed and said impulsively, ‘Do you ever go other places? I mean, apart from hanging out here?’
    He looked at her enquiringly. ‘What do you mean?’
    â€˜Do you – go out?’
    â€˜Yeah. All kinds of places.’ His gaze suddenly snapped up. ‘You want to come?’
    Megan felt breathless at the intensity of his gaze. His eyes had turned a stormy grey. It was almost like she was being pulled into some kind of cloud. ‘Yes,’ she said in a weak voice. ‘I’d like to. If that’s OK.’
    He shrugged. ‘Cool. I’ll talk to the others.’
    â€˜Oh.’ Megan took a breath. ‘Could we go somewhere just us?’
What am I doing?
she wondered. The words were coming out of her mouth by themselves!
    He looked surprised. ‘Just us? Why?’
    â€˜Well – I’m not sure the girls like me that much.’
    â€˜You don’t want to take any notice of them. Girls are weird.’ He caught her eye. ‘I don’t mean you.’
    Megan blushed. He thought she was different from other girls! A faint tingling started at the nape of her neck. ‘But don’t you think it would be nicer just us? We could talk properly.’ Megan wasn’t sure where this courage was coming from, but somehow she knew she really wanted to see Danny alone. ‘Not a date,’ she added hastily in case he’d be put off by the thought. ‘Just a chance to get to know each other a bit more. After all, I haven’t made many friends here yet.’
    Danny studied her for a moment and then smiled. ‘Sure. I’ll take you somewhere really cool. I know just the place.’

    â€˜How did it go?’ Megan’s dad asked as she let herself in the front door. ‘You were only gone forty minutes after all that.’
    â€˜Was I?’ Megan was taken aback. Was it really only forty minutes since she’d left the house? ‘It felt like longer.’
    â€˜Are you a championship skateboarder now then?’asked Bryan in a teasing voice. ‘Got your ollies sorted from your nollies?’
    â€˜What?’ said Megan, startled. ‘How do you know about all that stuff?’
    â€˜I wasn’t always a dad, you know,’ said Bryan. ‘I had a skateboard once. From a toy shop.’
    Megan grinned. ‘I don’t think the boys I saw today would be impressed. They build their own – decks and trucks and everything.’
    Bryan snorted with laughter.