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You’re missing
out, I tell you,’ he said, as he spotted a small dark girl who looked a bit
lonely. ‘Anyway, got to go. So many girls, so little time.’
    ‘Seen anyone you
like?’ asked TJ when I went into the kitchen to get a drink.
    I shook my head.
    ‘There’s a few more
boys upstairs. Why don’t you go and have a look?’ she suggested.
    I traipsed up the
stairs behind her. A crowd of lads were in Ben’s bedroom playing a game on his
computer. I glanced over at them then shook my head.
    ‘No thanks,’ I said,
and turned to go back downstairs. ‘They all look like they’re up past their
bedtime. Way too young.’
    It was then that I saw
him. He was coming in the front door and he was drop dead
gorgeous
. A
tingle went through me. Dreamboy most definitely, I thought.
    It was Tony.
    I drew back and sat on
the top stair so that he couldn’t see me, then watched him through the
banisters. There was someone with him. A willowy girl with long blonde hair.
She was very very pretty. He took her hand and led her into the kitchen. No
wonder he wanted to be free for the holidays, I thought. Free to go out with
her.
    Nesta came racing up
the stairs a moment later. ‘Ohmigod,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry, Lucy. I didn’t know
he was coming. Do you want me to ask him to leave?’
    ‘No. No. Course not.
He’d think I was pining after him,’ I said. Til keep out of his way. It’ll be
fine. How long has he been seeing her?‘
    Nesta shrugged. ‘New
one to me,’ she said.
    ‘Well you can’t stay
up here all night hiding,’ said TJ. ‘Look he’s gone into the kitchen. Come down
and go in the front room and Nesta, you go and distract Tony.’
    I followed them down,
but suddenly I wasn’t in the party mood anymore. What was the point of
practising my flirting on boys I definitely had no interest in? I could hear
Tony talking in the kitchen and laughing. Oh hell. What was I going to do?
    ‘Get off with one of
the boys,’ said TJ, coming in to the front room to join me. ‘Act like you don’t
care, show him that you’ve moved on as well.’
    I looked at the
assorted gangly boys on offer and shook my head. ‘Nah, I don’t want to get into
playing games just to get a reaction from him. Look TJ, I’m going to go home.
I’ll just slip out. Tell the others I’ve gone.’
    Izzie got up from the
sofa where she’d been sitting with Ben.
    ‘You need to sort it
out between you and Tony,’ she said. ‘Otherwise, it’s always going to come back
and ruin your peace of mind. Lucy, for your inner happiness, you
have
to clear up anything unfinished.‘
    ‘Yeah right,’ I said
and headed for the front door.
    When I got home, I
thought about what I/ had said as I left the party. Something about finishing
everything that’s left unfinished in your life. She was right. That’s exactly
what I needed to do. So I finished off a tub of Ben & Jerry’s, a packet of
Rolos and a packet of double chocolate chip cookies.
    Somehow I don’t think
those were the sort of things she had in mind.
     
     
     
C h a p t e r   6
    Family
Advice
     
    Contents - Prev / Next
     
    Mum brought me a cup
of tea in bed the next day.
    ‘You all right, Lucy?’
she said, sitting down on the end of the bed.
    I nodded. ‘Sort of.’
    ‘Good party last
night?’
    ‘Sort of,’ I said.
    ‘Usual crowd?’
    ‘Yeah, and a load of
Ben’s mates.’ I sat up and took a sip of the tea, then decided to fill her in.
‘
Everyone
has got a boyfriend except me.’
    ‘So what happened to
Tony? I thought he was your boyfriend. Sort of.’
    ‘He’s got someone new.
He was there with her last night.’
    ‘Oh Lucy, poor you.
Was it horrible?’
    ‘Sort of.’ I felt my
face start to crumple. It always makes me blub when people are nice to me. I’m
weird like that.
    ‘Sort of,’ said Mum.
‘Makes a change from whatever. Want to talk about it?’
    ‘It’s just… all week,
TJ and Nesta and Izzie have been on a mission to find me a boy,