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think when Megan leaves school she’s going to be a mind reader. She gets me right every time.
    â€˜You’re so wrong,’ I lie. ‘I don’t care one way or the other about him.’
    â€˜Well, if you don’t care,’ she says, ‘you’ve got nothing tolose. Talk to him. I dare you.’
    A moment later Miss Boyle trumpets, ‘We’ll give our young friend another five minutes. If he’s not here by then, we start without him.’
    Five minutes isn’t a long time to talk, and I hardly ever say no to a dare …
    Â 
    I make the trek from the stage to near the back doors to utter this earth-shattering line: ‘Thought you might be lonely up here all on your own.’
    â€˜Nah.’ Quick shake of the head. ‘I’m not lonely.’
    â€˜Don’t you get bored?’
    â€˜No. Got plenty of things to think about.’
    It almost seems like he wants me to dig deeper. So I do.
    â€˜Yeah? What kind of things?’
    He seriously considers telling me. There’s a long pause, a lot of staring off into space. But in the end he says, ‘Aw you know, just stuff. Life. Nothing important.’
    â€˜Life is annoying, isn’t it?’ I take one of the chairs stacked against the wall and sit beside him. ‘It keeps getting in the way when all I want to do is have fun.’
    â€˜Yep.’ He grins. ‘I know the feeling.’
    Megan waves and blows a kiss to me from the stage. I wave back and smile, while telling David out of the corner of my mouth, ‘She’s so embarrassing.’
    He snorts. I’m not talking about a horsy kind of snort– it’s a gentle one, like the sound a baby might make.
    â€˜She’s nice, actually,’ I add. ‘So is Glenna. We’ve been best friends for about a hundred years.’
    He nods thoughtfully. But he’s looking in Megan’s direction, not mine. All the boys drool over Megan. It would be mean of me to let him get his hopes up …
    â€˜We might have to break up the act soon, though,’ I say. ‘Megan wants to live with her boyfriend.’
    â€˜Right.’
    Dimly I hear the pencil in his head, scratching out her name.
    There’s a lull in the conversation until I mutter, ‘I wonder where Lanny’s got to?’
    â€˜Hard to say.’ He twists around to look out a window just in case Lanny’s in sight. ‘He’s probably forgotten all about it. I reminded him, but you know what he’s like … ’
    Yes, I do. He’s Mr Corny Joke, Mr Say Anything for a Laugh. But I don’t know you, David. Wish I did.
    I look at my watch. Stretch my arms back behind me. I see imperfections that I didn’t notice before: a bump on the ridge of David’s nose, one or two zits around his forehead. They’ll go away in time but the perfect mouth and lips will be there forever.
    He catches me looking at him and I get his full-on gaze burning bright. Instead of turning away I gaze straight back at him. It’s a moment of truth.
    â€˜I’ve got this bit of a problem, Caitlin,’ he says. ‘At leastI think it’s a problem.’ He gulps as though this is going to be hard to say. ‘Can I tell you?’
    Not if it’s bad news. Not if you’re rejecting me before I even get to know you.
    â€˜Sure, David. You can tell me anything.’
    â€˜Thanks. See, the thing is, I think you’re great.’
    Now I gulp.
    â€˜But …’
    God, I hate that word.
    â€˜But so does Lanny … and he’s my friend.’ He shrugs hopelessly.
    It’s almost funny, but I don’t allow myself to laugh. ‘I wouldn’t worry about it,’ I say. ‘Lanny’s everyone’s friend. He’s like a big puppy dog.’
    â€˜No, it’s more than that. You don’t understand. He really likes you. He has since that first time we saw you from the bus.’
    â€˜Is he