hungover.’ Now it was her chance to raise her eyebrows and smile knowingly. I scarpered while the going was good. Mum doesn’t mind me having the occasional drink; she’s pretty cool that way.
The tears appeared as soon as I shut my bedroom door. I shouldn’t have been surprised but somehow I was. I lay on my bed and sobbed and sobbed until my tear ducts were dry and my pillow was sodden.
I couldn’t stop thinking about Stu. It didn’t seem real. It didn’t seem like something that could have happened to me. The world must have tilted on its axis or something, and somehow
I’d
ended up in that greenhouse instead of Amber Sheldon or Louise or any of those girls who thought that wearing as few clothes as possible was a good look. Why had Stu followed me in there? He
must
have followed me, surely? Because he didn’t exactly strike me as the horticultural type. And what was I thinking, letting someone like him kiss me? It pretty much went against everything I stood for. Had I really been flattered by the attention?Perhaps I wasn’t so different from those girls after all.
The biggest question of all was one I would never know the answer to. What would have happened if I hadn’t stopped him?
chapter nine
There was a knock at the front door while we were still unpacking the IKEA purchases. I was quizzing Mum about why she’d felt the need to buy two hundred tea lights, and she was going on about ‘mood lighting’.
Kai stood on the doorstep looking sheepish and tired. His hair was all over the place – a look that I was hardly ever allowed to see these days. He was wearing an old T-shirt that was at least two sizes too small for him and I could see a narrow strip of skin between it and his jeans. ‘Before you say anything . . . I’m sorry I didn’t get your messages. And you shouldn’t have walked home on your own – that was a really stupid thing to do.’
I dragged him inside and upstairs before he could say anything else. ‘Mum doesn’t know I came home alone and I’d like it to stay that way, thank you very much. Where
were
you?’
He dived onto the bed and landed face first. ‘I’m sooooo tired.’ His voice was muffled by the duvet.
‘Kai! I looked everywhere for you!’
‘I looked everywhere for
you
! And I lost my phone and spent half the night looking for that.’ I couldn’t see his face, which made it very hard to tell if he was telling the truth.
‘But I asked around and no one had seen you.’
‘Probably because only about four people there knew my name! Anyway, missy, I’ve got a bone to pick with you . . .’ He turned over so he was lying on his back. His T-shirt had ridden up his belly. It was smooth and flat and made me think about Stu. ‘Get your arse over here.’ He patted the bed beside him and I lay on my side so that I was facing him. Kai’s face was great in profile.
‘Go ahead . . . pick your . . .
bone
.’
‘I usually prefer to do that in the privacy of my own bedroom, now that you mention it.’
‘You are disgusting.’
‘Awwww, that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me . . . Anyway . . . a little birdie told me that you got down and dirty with Stuart Hicks in the potting shed last night.’ He turned onto his side so we were face to face, almost close enough to kiss. ‘And I told the little birdie that it couldn’t possibly be truebecause Stuart Hicks is revolting and probably has more STDs than a whole clinic. But the birdie was pretty adamant that you’d been spotted heading off into a quiet corner of the garden with Mr Hicks in hot pursuit. So . . . what do you say, Halliday? True or false?’
I tried to keep my face neutral even though my heart was racing and I could feel a blush creeping up my neck. ‘False! And quite frankly I’m offended you even felt the need to ask. Who was this little birdie anyway?’ I tried to go for a slightly less neutral facial expression, because neutral can be extra-suspicious sometimes. Still, my tone
The tears appeared as soon as I shut my bedroom door. I shouldn’t have been surprised but somehow I was. I lay on my bed and sobbed and sobbed until my tear ducts were dry and my pillow was sodden.
I couldn’t stop thinking about Stu. It didn’t seem real. It didn’t seem like something that could have happened to me. The world must have tilted on its axis or something, and somehow
I’d
ended up in that greenhouse instead of Amber Sheldon or Louise or any of those girls who thought that wearing as few clothes as possible was a good look. Why had Stu followed me in there? He
must
have followed me, surely? Because he didn’t exactly strike me as the horticultural type. And what was I thinking, letting someone like him kiss me? It pretty much went against everything I stood for. Had I really been flattered by the attention?Perhaps I wasn’t so different from those girls after all.
The biggest question of all was one I would never know the answer to. What would have happened if I hadn’t stopped him?
chapter nine
There was a knock at the front door while we were still unpacking the IKEA purchases. I was quizzing Mum about why she’d felt the need to buy two hundred tea lights, and she was going on about ‘mood lighting’.
Kai stood on the doorstep looking sheepish and tired. His hair was all over the place – a look that I was hardly ever allowed to see these days. He was wearing an old T-shirt that was at least two sizes too small for him and I could see a narrow strip of skin between it and his jeans. ‘Before you say anything . . . I’m sorry I didn’t get your messages. And you shouldn’t have walked home on your own – that was a really stupid thing to do.’
I dragged him inside and upstairs before he could say anything else. ‘Mum doesn’t know I came home alone and I’d like it to stay that way, thank you very much. Where
were
you?’
He dived onto the bed and landed face first. ‘I’m sooooo tired.’ His voice was muffled by the duvet.
‘Kai! I looked everywhere for you!’
‘I looked everywhere for
you
! And I lost my phone and spent half the night looking for that.’ I couldn’t see his face, which made it very hard to tell if he was telling the truth.
‘But I asked around and no one had seen you.’
‘Probably because only about four people there knew my name! Anyway, missy, I’ve got a bone to pick with you . . .’ He turned over so he was lying on his back. His T-shirt had ridden up his belly. It was smooth and flat and made me think about Stu. ‘Get your arse over here.’ He patted the bed beside him and I lay on my side so that I was facing him. Kai’s face was great in profile.
‘Go ahead . . . pick your . . .
bone
.’
‘I usually prefer to do that in the privacy of my own bedroom, now that you mention it.’
‘You are disgusting.’
‘Awwww, that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me . . . Anyway . . . a little birdie told me that you got down and dirty with Stuart Hicks in the potting shed last night.’ He turned onto his side so we were face to face, almost close enough to kiss. ‘And I told the little birdie that it couldn’t possibly be truebecause Stuart Hicks is revolting and probably has more STDs than a whole clinic. But the birdie was pretty adamant that you’d been spotted heading off into a quiet corner of the garden with Mr Hicks in hot pursuit. So . . . what do you say, Halliday? True or false?’
I tried to keep my face neutral even though my heart was racing and I could feel a blush creeping up my neck. ‘False! And quite frankly I’m offended you even felt the need to ask. Who was this little birdie anyway?’ I tried to go for a slightly less neutral facial expression, because neutral can be extra-suspicious sometimes. Still, my tone
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