Lower Sixth, was one of Pascale’s
many rejects. “He and I had fun together before…we stopped having fun,” she
said. “He’s nice, and he knows you a bit, and I bet he hasn’t got anyone to go
with. All those Lower Sixth girls are such dogs.”
Jo laughed. “Is that why he went out with you , then?”
“He would have gone out with me even if every girl in
his year was Miss Universe,” smiled Pascale. She whipped round and stared at
Jo. “There you are, you can dress as Miss Universe! Long dress, high heels,
tiara, sash…my God, Jo, you’ll look like a million dollars! And I’ll be
standing there with a zigzag on my face!”
Jo’s heartbeat felt uneven. She sat down on the bed
amongst the discarded clothes. “That’s brilliant. Do you think anyone else will
have the same idea?”
“Not if we don’t tell them.”
“Not even Holly?”
“ Especially not Holly.” Pascale giggled. “She’s the one that’s got us into this fancy dress
crap anyway. I want to be there when you walk in and her jaw hits the floor.”
“Can you ask David Mathison for me?” asked Jo. “You
could hint that I’m doing something glamorous, without telling him exactly what
it is. He’ll need a tux.”
Pascale raised her eyebrows. “God, he’d look amazing in
a tux.”
“But will you call him? I can’t, out of the blue. Please .”
“Well…” Pascale was pretending uncertainty again. “I
suppose I could. And if he’s already taken, there’s Stuart Holt, and Max
Can’t-remember-his-other-name, and – ”
“Oh, shut up! Just make sure you get me someone who’ll
be tall enough when I’m wearing high heels and a tiara. This is going to be brilliant !”
* * * * * *
Jo stared at the names on the list. There
were still only five, though now there were six significant people in her life.
She’d been putting off labelling Toby because it felt so underhand, having a
secret from him. But if he didn’t have a label, it wasn’t fair on the others
who did .
She turned over a few DVDs, trying to focus on one
thing about Toby that set him aside from other people. But there were so many
things. He was the only boy who had ever noticed her, pursued her, taken her
out, kissed her, touched her body, comforted her when she was upset and
tolerated her friends.
Well, she’d helped him along a little, with that phone
call from the train. And she’d asked him if he had a girlfriend, which wasn’t
exactly subtle. But all girls did that sort of thing. It was part of the game. And
hadn’t Toby played the game too? Buying her that sandwich, helping her with the
T-shirts, writing his number on her hand? Yet…her heartbeat wouldn’t settle.
She had the biggest double bed in the world.
Her mother lived miles away. And nothing would rouse Trevor from the alcoholic
coma he fell into every night. Toby must be thinking he’d struck fantastically
lucky. But somehow, he hadn’t.
She flicked through DVD covers impatiently. This was
stupid, stupid, stupid . But now
she’d started it, she couldn’t abandon it. She had to keep her place in the
middle of them all. She had to be in charge like the ringmaster cracking his
whip. She couldn’t risk allowing herself to wobble.
U for Universal. ‘Suitable for all’, it said on the
back of Disney’s Aladdin . God,
what was that doing here? She hadn’t watched it in years. But maybe that was
what Toby was. A ‘U’ person, who’d had lots of jobs and picked up lots of
friends on the way. People in London he knew from when he was a waiter, he
said. People who worked funny hours, so he met them late and stayed over. Mitch,
one of them was called. Maybe Jo would meet them someday, but it was more
likely that she wouldn’t. Toby was one of those people who liked to keep his
groups of friends separate. He didn’t have a Facebook account. He wanted to
segregate his social life, while plate-spinning his friends. All things to all
people.
With a
many rejects. “He and I had fun together before…we stopped having fun,” she
said. “He’s nice, and he knows you a bit, and I bet he hasn’t got anyone to go
with. All those Lower Sixth girls are such dogs.”
Jo laughed. “Is that why he went out with you , then?”
“He would have gone out with me even if every girl in
his year was Miss Universe,” smiled Pascale. She whipped round and stared at
Jo. “There you are, you can dress as Miss Universe! Long dress, high heels,
tiara, sash…my God, Jo, you’ll look like a million dollars! And I’ll be
standing there with a zigzag on my face!”
Jo’s heartbeat felt uneven. She sat down on the bed
amongst the discarded clothes. “That’s brilliant. Do you think anyone else will
have the same idea?”
“Not if we don’t tell them.”
“Not even Holly?”
“ Especially not Holly.” Pascale giggled. “She’s the one that’s got us into this fancy dress
crap anyway. I want to be there when you walk in and her jaw hits the floor.”
“Can you ask David Mathison for me?” asked Jo. “You
could hint that I’m doing something glamorous, without telling him exactly what
it is. He’ll need a tux.”
Pascale raised her eyebrows. “God, he’d look amazing in
a tux.”
“But will you call him? I can’t, out of the blue. Please .”
“Well…” Pascale was pretending uncertainty again. “I
suppose I could. And if he’s already taken, there’s Stuart Holt, and Max
Can’t-remember-his-other-name, and – ”
“Oh, shut up! Just make sure you get me someone who’ll
be tall enough when I’m wearing high heels and a tiara. This is going to be brilliant !”
* * * * * *
Jo stared at the names on the list. There
were still only five, though now there were six significant people in her life.
She’d been putting off labelling Toby because it felt so underhand, having a
secret from him. But if he didn’t have a label, it wasn’t fair on the others
who did .
She turned over a few DVDs, trying to focus on one
thing about Toby that set him aside from other people. But there were so many
things. He was the only boy who had ever noticed her, pursued her, taken her
out, kissed her, touched her body, comforted her when she was upset and
tolerated her friends.
Well, she’d helped him along a little, with that phone
call from the train. And she’d asked him if he had a girlfriend, which wasn’t
exactly subtle. But all girls did that sort of thing. It was part of the game. And
hadn’t Toby played the game too? Buying her that sandwich, helping her with the
T-shirts, writing his number on her hand? Yet…her heartbeat wouldn’t settle.
She had the biggest double bed in the world.
Her mother lived miles away. And nothing would rouse Trevor from the alcoholic
coma he fell into every night. Toby must be thinking he’d struck fantastically
lucky. But somehow, he hadn’t.
She flicked through DVD covers impatiently. This was
stupid, stupid, stupid . But now
she’d started it, she couldn’t abandon it. She had to keep her place in the
middle of them all. She had to be in charge like the ringmaster cracking his
whip. She couldn’t risk allowing herself to wobble.
U for Universal. ‘Suitable for all’, it said on the
back of Disney’s Aladdin . God,
what was that doing here? She hadn’t watched it in years. But maybe that was
what Toby was. A ‘U’ person, who’d had lots of jobs and picked up lots of
friends on the way. People in London he knew from when he was a waiter, he
said. People who worked funny hours, so he met them late and stayed over. Mitch,
one of them was called. Maybe Jo would meet them someday, but it was more
likely that she wouldn’t. Toby was one of those people who liked to keep his
groups of friends separate. He didn’t have a Facebook account. He wanted to
segregate his social life, while plate-spinning his friends. All things to all
people.
With a
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