sucks, doesn’t it?’
‘Yeah. The worst bit is that I hardly know anything about her. My dad never mentions her.’
I could so identify with that. Dad was a closed book as far as Mum was concerned. Sometimes, I wondered if he’d ever visited me as a ghost, but he’d never identified himself if he
had so I guessed he was at peace. My heart went out to Nico. Losing your dad was hard but growing up motherless had to be worse. Maybe that was why he’d sounded so bitter when he’d
mentioned his dad.
I leaned closer and laid a hand on his arm. ‘I’m sure she’s happy, wherever she is.’
‘I guess. I don’t tell many people about her.’ Nico gazed down at my upturned face for a moment, his expression growing in intensity. ‘There’s something about you I
can’t figure out,’ he whispered, edging his head towards mine. ‘It’s like you have this secret you can’t share with anyone. Do you?’
The words rang the faintest of alarm bells in the back of my mind, but they were lost in the sea of his closeness. All I could picture was his mouth, millimetres from mine, and how it would feel
if I reached up to brush his lips with my own.
‘No,’ I whispered back and my skin tingled as it all but touched him.
Smiling, he murmured, ‘We all have secrets. What’s yours, Skye?’
He inched closer. My eyelids started to drift shut in heightened anticipation and I forced them open. I wanted to see him as our mouths met. I wanted to know if the lightning bolt about to blast
me affected him the same way.
It felt like an eternity we hovered there, our breath mingling together, oblivious to anyone or anything else around us. There was no crowd, there was no band, it was just the two of us about to
do something magical. When he finally closed the gap and lowered his mouth to mine, I thought I was going to explode. My eyes drifted closed, no longer under my control. Gently, his lips parted
mine and I pressed against him, every nerve in my body tingling.
It felt like hours had passed when we broke apart, but I knew it could only have been seconds. Unsteadily, I opened my eyes and looked deep into his. They were even more shadowy than usual. The
softest of smiles curled around his mouth. ‘You’re full of surprises, Skye Thackery.’
I smiled back and leaned in for another kiss. ‘Trust me, you have no idea.’
You know when you’re looking forward to something but dreading it at the same time? After Nico had walked me home from the gig and we’d stopped under practically
every tree along my road to check we hadn’t forgotten how to snog, I’d almost floated through Sunday. Even Mary’s blatantly disapproving glowers weren’t enough to bring me
down. It served her right if she’d seen more than she’d bargained for – she shouldn’t have been spying on me. But Monday morning brought a cold dose of reality. Nico and I
hadn’t discussed how we were going to handle things at school. I thought we were officially going out but maybe he didn’t agree? How would my classmates react? More importantly, what
would Ellie do?
I already knew how Megan felt about it – she’d snuck out of her little sister’s birthday party on Sunday afternoon to pump me for every last detail on MSN. I swear I could hear
her shrieks of excitement all the way from her house.
‘Have you seen him yet?’ she hissed as I joined the line for morning registration outside our classroom. ‘Ellie is going to implode when she finds out!’
‘Which is why I’d rather she didn’t until I’ve had a chance to speak to Nico,’ I whispered back, casting an uneasy glance over Megan’s shoulder at the back of
Ellie’s glossy head. ‘Maybe it was just a one-night thing.’
Megan rolled her eyes. ‘Oh, please. You can’t keep away from each other, of course it wasn’t a one-night thing.’ She pursed her lips mischievously and opened her mouth to
sing. ‘He looooves yooou!’
‘Shhh!’ I whacked her arm to shut her
‘Yeah. The worst bit is that I hardly know anything about her. My dad never mentions her.’
I could so identify with that. Dad was a closed book as far as Mum was concerned. Sometimes, I wondered if he’d ever visited me as a ghost, but he’d never identified himself if he
had so I guessed he was at peace. My heart went out to Nico. Losing your dad was hard but growing up motherless had to be worse. Maybe that was why he’d sounded so bitter when he’d
mentioned his dad.
I leaned closer and laid a hand on his arm. ‘I’m sure she’s happy, wherever she is.’
‘I guess. I don’t tell many people about her.’ Nico gazed down at my upturned face for a moment, his expression growing in intensity. ‘There’s something about you I
can’t figure out,’ he whispered, edging his head towards mine. ‘It’s like you have this secret you can’t share with anyone. Do you?’
The words rang the faintest of alarm bells in the back of my mind, but they were lost in the sea of his closeness. All I could picture was his mouth, millimetres from mine, and how it would feel
if I reached up to brush his lips with my own.
‘No,’ I whispered back and my skin tingled as it all but touched him.
Smiling, he murmured, ‘We all have secrets. What’s yours, Skye?’
He inched closer. My eyelids started to drift shut in heightened anticipation and I forced them open. I wanted to see him as our mouths met. I wanted to know if the lightning bolt about to blast
me affected him the same way.
It felt like an eternity we hovered there, our breath mingling together, oblivious to anyone or anything else around us. There was no crowd, there was no band, it was just the two of us about to
do something magical. When he finally closed the gap and lowered his mouth to mine, I thought I was going to explode. My eyes drifted closed, no longer under my control. Gently, his lips parted
mine and I pressed against him, every nerve in my body tingling.
It felt like hours had passed when we broke apart, but I knew it could only have been seconds. Unsteadily, I opened my eyes and looked deep into his. They were even more shadowy than usual. The
softest of smiles curled around his mouth. ‘You’re full of surprises, Skye Thackery.’
I smiled back and leaned in for another kiss. ‘Trust me, you have no idea.’
You know when you’re looking forward to something but dreading it at the same time? After Nico had walked me home from the gig and we’d stopped under practically
every tree along my road to check we hadn’t forgotten how to snog, I’d almost floated through Sunday. Even Mary’s blatantly disapproving glowers weren’t enough to bring me
down. It served her right if she’d seen more than she’d bargained for – she shouldn’t have been spying on me. But Monday morning brought a cold dose of reality. Nico and I
hadn’t discussed how we were going to handle things at school. I thought we were officially going out but maybe he didn’t agree? How would my classmates react? More importantly, what
would Ellie do?
I already knew how Megan felt about it – she’d snuck out of her little sister’s birthday party on Sunday afternoon to pump me for every last detail on MSN. I swear I could hear
her shrieks of excitement all the way from her house.
‘Have you seen him yet?’ she hissed as I joined the line for morning registration outside our classroom. ‘Ellie is going to implode when she finds out!’
‘Which is why I’d rather she didn’t until I’ve had a chance to speak to Nico,’ I whispered back, casting an uneasy glance over Megan’s shoulder at the back of
Ellie’s glossy head. ‘Maybe it was just a one-night thing.’
Megan rolled her eyes. ‘Oh, please. You can’t keep away from each other, of course it wasn’t a one-night thing.’ She pursed her lips mischievously and opened her mouth to
sing. ‘He looooves yooou!’
‘Shhh!’ I whacked her arm to shut her
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