Cathy Hopkins - [Mates, Dates 01] by Dates Mates, Inflatable Bras (Html) Page B

nervously wondering what he wanted. Then before
I could say anything, he pushed me back against a wall, put my arms around his
neck and kissed me. A long deep sensual kiss that went right down to my toes
and back again.
    Then he stood back.
‘So, do you want to go out some time?’
    I remembered
everything that Nesta had said about him. He likes a challenge then dumps the
girl. Nesta said he’d even chucked the girl I saw there a couple of weeks ago.
Izzie’s words also went through my head. Don’t be too easy. Boys like a
challenge. Although it was very tempting, I took a deep breath and moved away
from him.
    ‘I don’t know,’ I said.
I’ll think about it.‘
    He looked taken aback
then shrugged. ‘Suit yourself.’
    Then he opened the
door to let me out. ‘You’re probably too young for me anyway.’
    But he was smiling as
he said it.
     
    Time was running out. Monday
was D-day for Wacko and Saturday was the Clothes Show. When was I going to have
time to choose my subjects? I got my file out and sat at the kitchen table with
what I had done so far in front of me. Three lines.
    ‘Lucy, shouldn’t you
be in bed?’ said Mum. ‘It’s almost eleven o’clock.’
    ‘We have to hand this
in on Monday and I still haven’t a clue what I want to do when I grow up. Too
many choices. It’s driving me mad.’
    Mum sat down at the
table next to me. ‘I remember feeling the same,’ she said. ‘In fact even now I
don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.’
    ‘But you
are
grown up. And you have a job.’
    ‘Yes, but I still feel
nineteen sometimes. There’re always choices, aren’t there? I mean, I know I
have a job. I’m a psychotherapist. But that’s not what I am. It’s only what I
do. Who I am is changing all the time and I could change my job any time I
want.’
    ‘I wish I could decide
on just one thing, never mind think of changing. It’s such a nuisance.’
    ‘Choice isn’t a curse,
Lucy. It’s a blessing. And there will always be choices. Every day, every week.
They’ll keep coming.’
    I groaned.
    ‘There are easy
choices, like do I want tuna pizza or four cheeses? Shall I paint my nails pink
or purple? And there are the bigger choices, more serious stuff like career or
relationships. And those choices will seem to keep changing depending on how
you’re feeling inside as well as how outside influences affect you.‘
    ‘It all sounds so
complicated,’ I sighed. ‘Oh for an easy life.’
    ‘I’ll drink to that,’
said Mum. ‘How are you getting on with that boy you like?’
    ‘He says I’m too young
for him. But it’s not that. One of the girls he went out with, I thought she
was sixteen but turns out she’s the same age as me. I just look young for my
age.’
    ‘You’ll see that as a
gift one day,’ smiled Mum. ‘It’s a family gene, none of our family looks their
age. Believe me, when you’re thirty or forty you’ll be glad you look younger.
But for now, come on, up to bed. Sleep on it. You never know, it might all
become clear in the morning.’
    Fat chance. I’ll never
be able to sleep. What if I pick the wrong subjects and regret it? I wish, I
wish
I knew what to do. Decisions, decisions, decisions.
     
     
     
C h a p t e r   1 6
    The
Way is Clear
     
    Contents - Prev
     
    I made a special
outfit for the Clothes Show. Halter tops are turning out to be my speciality
and I ran one off out of some of the leftover
sari
material using the
silver to make criss-cross straps at the back. Then I made a grey crepe wrap-over
skirt to go with it.
    I met up with Nesta
and Izzie at the tube station. Nesta looked sensational wearing her black
leather trousers and a short jacket. And I was so pleased to see that she had
my red top on underneath.
    Izzie was wearing a
long hippie dippie outfit in purple with some amethyst jewellery she found at a
stall in Camden.
    The hall was heaving
with people when we got there.
    We paid for our
tickets then went to join the crowds wandering