Read A Hundred Pieces of Me for Free Online Page A

some rules, otherwise where do I start? One thing I have decided, though,’ Gina added. ‘I’m going to sell a load of stuff and buy myself something really nice. A present for my new place.’
    ‘That’s a great idea.’ Naomi nodded more enthusiastically. ‘Let me know if you need a bit of help with that. I do a lot of eBaying.’
    ‘Really?’ Gina was surprised. Not just that Naomi had time to eBay, but that she wanted to. The Hewsons weren’t short of money: Naomi had just gone back to work full-time as the all-seeing, all-knowing practice manager at the dental surgery, and Jason was a senior partner with an IT recruitment company.
    ‘Yes, it’s brilliant for keeping the clutter under control,’ said Naomi, blithely. ‘I do a cull of the house three or four times a year. Jason’s golf stuff, clothes Willow’s grown out of, books, Christmas presents – you’d be amazed what people will buy with the right description.’ She wiggled her fingers. ‘I quite enjoy doing the descriptions.’
    Gina raised an eyebrow. ‘And doesn’t your inability to call a spade a gardening management solution get in the way of a sale?’
    ‘That’s the weird thing! People appreciate a bit of honesty. I just haven’t told Jay’s mum what my seller name is. Otherwise she’d realise that all those china angels she keeps giving us aren’t actually in the display cabinet she thinks they are.’
    Naomi did her half-wink grin, and Gina thought how little she’d changed in the years they’d known each other. The hair had been a variety of colours and styles, and there were a few crows’ feet round the sharp green eyes, but otherwise it was the same bossy, thoughtful, faintly anarchic Naomi she’d encountered on her first day at senior school. Gina felt a sudden clutch of relief that they’d met when they had. It could so easily have been someone else with a space next to them in the classroom. Someone else who had Naomi McIntyre as their best mate, dragging them out of so many gloomy days, instead of letting them wallow.
    ‘I’ve got something for you, actually,’ said Gina, and clambered her way back into the sitting room to find the shopping bag she’d filled earlier. ‘Although after what you’ve just said I don’t know if you deserve it.’
    Naomi accepted the bag with a groan. ‘Is this where you get your own back by re-gifting me all my own Christmas presents?’
    ‘No! Have a look.’ Gina sat back, anticipating the reaction with a glow of pleasure.
    It took a moment, but when Naomi’s shriek of joy came, Gina felt like Santa Claus.
    ‘Oh, my God! Gina! ’ Naomi lifted out a precious stack of old 1990s magazines, Q , Melody Maker , New Woman , her face bright with delight. ‘Oh, my God, I can’t believe you still have these! Are you really sure you don’t want them?’
    ‘I’ve got loads. I couldn’t keep all of them, and I knew you’d appreciate a bit of nostalgia. Maybe you can put them in storage for Willow. Bit of her mum’s past.’ Gina wasn’t joking. So much of her and Naomi’s teenage years had been spent poring over magazines together, in breaks, in the common room, in Naomi’s noisy kitchen at home. The music magazines in particular meant a lot to Gina: she’d never felt she belonged till she’d got into music, and suddenly the world outside had opened up. You didn’t need to wonder which people to try to make friends with if they were already wearing your favourite band’s tour T-shirt.
    ‘Just don’t eBay them, please,’ she added. ‘Not straight away, anyway.’
    ‘Are you kidding?’ Naomi was turning the pages reverentially. ‘This is bringing back so many memories. Oh, no! Look at the old Rimmel adverts . . . You are amazing . And what’s this?’ She reached into the bag and pulled out a black T-shirt, printed with a band logo that was still stiff. Naomi looked up. ‘Didn’t you buy one like this at that gig we went to in Oxford? The one where you met Kit? It’s