Sugar Secrets…& Lies

by Mel Sparke

  “Well, why’s he snogging Catrina the Clown, then?” he said, pointing across the traffic-choked road towards The Swan.

  Kerry stared at the vision of Ollie and Cat sitting together on a picnic bench outside the pub. Even from that distance it was plain to see that Cat’s fingers were entwined in Ollie’s hair.

  And even at that distance it was plain to see that it wasn’t the sort of kiss people-who-are-just-mates give each other.

  CHAPTER 16

  KERRY GETS MAD

  “KERRYKERRYKERRY!”

  “Shhh!”

  “What are we DOING?”

  “Hiding.”

  “WHY?”

  “I don’t know.”

  It was ridiculous to be standing behind this parked van, peering round the side to watch the movements of her supposed boyfriend and equally supposed mate. But right at that moment, Kerry couldn’t think of anything better to do.

  “You’re not going to go all SAD again, are you?” asked Lewis, scrunching up his freckled nose at her.

  “Nope,” Kerry answered firmly. This time, she was going to get mad.

  Glancing round for a clear path through the traffic, Kerry held on tightly to Lewis’s hand and strode defiantly across the road. This couldn’t be explained away just like that. Let’s see the look on their faces when I walk right up to them, she thought. Let’s see what they’ve got to say for themselves then!

  Charged with righteous indignation and the need to keep her brother in one piece, Kerry was too busy in those few seconds to see Cat wobble up to her full height of 5 feet 10 inches (four of those inches comprising the heels of her strappy sandals), pull down her little stretchy skirt to a semi-decent, bottom-covering length, and take her leave of Ollie, after planting a full-lipped smacker on his cheek.

  Instead of confronting two guilty parties as she stepped on to the safety of the pavement outside the pub, Kerry was faced with the sight of Ollie’s back as he was about to step into the bar, clutching the empties from the table.

  “Well, well! It looked like you two were having a good time there. A very good time,” said Kerry archly, her anger giving her the confidence to do a Sonja and ladle on the sarcasm.

  Ollie spun round with a look of confusion on his face.

  “Kerry! Hi! What’s up?” he said quizzically.

  Although caught out by Cat’s vanishing trick, Kerry was ready to reply with another sharp and pointed one-liner. She’d been practising them for the last five minutes while she and Lewis were impersonating Hetty Wainthrop behind the parked van.

  “HAHAHA!”

  A perplexed Ollie and irate Kerry both turned and looked at Lewis.

  “You’ve got lipstick ALL over!” he giggled, pointing at Ollie’s face.

  It was true. Burnished Burgundy – Cat’s trademark, lurid lipstick – was smudged liberally round his mouth and chin, while a more precise lip-shaped imprint decorated his cheek.

  Kerry crossed her arms and waited silently to see how he was going to wriggle out of this one.

  “Neeeeeeeeeeeeyowwwwwwww!”

  Lewis was in heaven, while Kerry, most definitely, was not.

  Installed happily in front of the computer in Ollie’s bedroom, Lewis was frantically manoeuvring the joystick and making stupid noises as he played the racing game Ollie had put on for him. That, coupled with the assorted bags of crinkle-cut crisps and Cheesy Moments (grabbed from behind the bar as pure bribe material), was just about as good as it got for this particular six-year-old.

  Sitting silently and fuming furiously at the kitchen table, Kerry watched as Ollie emerged from the bathroom, scrubbing his newly washed face with a towel, and came along the corridor towards her.

  “OK, so you saw me and Cat talking—”

  “Kissing, you mean!” snapped Kerry.

  “With tongues and everything! YUCK!” came a muffled voice, through a mouthful of crisps, from Ollie’s room.

  Ollie went over and closed the kitchen door for privacy.

  “She was pouring out her heart to me again,” Ollie began, pulling out a chair opposite Kerry. “She said it was a kiss to say thank you for listening.”

  “It looked a bit over-the-top for a thank you kiss to me,” Kerry hissed, unconvinced.

  “Kerry, when did you ever know Catrina not to be over-the-top – about everything?” said Ollie, looking at her pleadingly.

  No, no, no, thought Kerry. You’re not getting away with it that easily. She crossed her arms again and stared wordlessly out of the window at the cloudy skyline, doing her usual de-stressing trick by counting to ten. It didn’t help.

  “Kez, I know you’re really angry, but we’ve been through this before. Cat is having a rough time and she needs to talk it over,” Ollie explained.

  “Well, why does she have to talk to you about it all the time?” snapped Kerry again, amazing herself at her forcefulness.

  “For a start, how can you say that? She was talking to you about it on Sunday, wasn’t she?”

  Kerry was stumped for a second. “Yeah, but she didn’t go throwing her arms around me and slobbering on me!”

  “D’you realise how silly that sounds?” said Ollie, half laughing despite the situation. “Look, I think she knows she can trust me. I mean, if we can survive that stupid time we ‘went out’ together and still be friends after that, then, well…”

  As Ollie’s argument fizzled out, Kerry shivered slightly and had the uneasy feeling that maybe, just maybe, she’d over-reacted. Again. But there was something still not right…

  “So, what’s supposed to be up with her now?” Kerry asked, defrosting ever so slightly.

  “It’s this guy she’s going out with – she told you about that, right?”

  Kerry nodded.

  “Well, now her mum’s apparently banned her from seeing him.”

  “Uh-huh. So, she still hasn’t said who he is?”

  “No, and I’m not about to pressure her about it. She’s obviously got a good reason for keeping it to herself. But listen, what’s up with you, Kerry?” he asked, puzzled by her relatively uncaring response. “You don’t seem that bothered about what Cat’s going through.”

  “It’s-it’s not that,” Kerry answered, suddenly feeling flustered and full of doubts. She was crazy about Ollie and he seemed to be totally on Cat’s side, unlike Sonja, and even Maya.

  Who was right? Whose opinion could she trust?

  “Well, what is it?” he asked her, desperate to know what was going on in her mind.

  “It’s just that, uh, Maya thinks Cat’s making up the boyfriend thing just for attention,” said Kerry, biting her lip nervously.

  “What?” gasped Ollie.

  “And Sonja thinks she’s trying to break us up.”

  “Sonja thinks what? Where did she get that from?”

  “Just things like Cat making out that Elaine wanted you to join her… and, you know, all that misunderstanding on Sunday.”

  “But that’s all it was! God, I can’t believe Sonja came out with that… Splitting me and you up? What a joke!” Ollie looked at Kerry with incredulity. “And Maya! I thought she was the brainy one of us all!”

  Now that he put it that way, it did all sound kind of ridiculous. But there was still something bothering Kerry…

  “Ollie?”

  “Yeah?”

  “That kiss. It just seemed so-so intense…”

  Ollie unsettled Kerry by starting to laugh. He leant across the table and grabbed her hand, tilting his head towards her and placing her fingers just above his ear.

  “Find any gaps?” he grinned at her.

  “What do you mean?” She found herself involuntarily smiling back at him.

  “Any bald spots? Where she grabbed me by the hair?”

  “Huh?”

  “Well, you try saying no to Catrina Osgood when she’s pulling you towards her by the scalp and suctioning the words out of your mouth!”

  They both stopped smiling for a second and paused,
staring fondly into each other’s eyes – silently knowing how close they’d come to falling out and falling for each other all over again.

  Ollie gently rubbed his head against the hand that was cupped by his ear.

  “Are you two going to kiss now?”

  Lewis stood in the doorway, looking faintly sick

  CHAPTER 17

  OLLIE AND KERRY RALLY ROUND

  “Look, I’m under no illusions about Catrina,” said Ollie, as Kerry helped Lewis on with his jacket while her little brother hummed some silly song under his breath. “She brings a lot of trouble on her own head, I know.”

  Kerry laughed ruefully and nodded.

  “But I think it’s really out of order for Sonja and Maya to come out with that stuff about her and, as her mates, I think me and you should, y’know, rally round her. What do you reckon?”

  “Sure – you’re right,” Kerry agreed, hoping that Lewis wasn’t going to hum any louder. “We are all meant to be friends, aren’t we?”

  “Too right. Look, what about the two of us arranging to meet her and helping her talk things through? I could give her a call and fix something up.”

  “Fine, just let me know where and when. Shush, Lew!”

  Lewis looked up at his sister mischievously and carried on mouthing his funny little song.

  “Hey, Lewis, you’d better go downstairs and wait by the front door for your sister, ‘cause this bit might make you feel ill again,” Ollie joked, pulling Kerry close.

  As he kissed her, Kerry hoped he couldn’t make out what Lewis was singing as he skipped down the stairs.

  “Catrina’s a clown! Catrina’s a clown! Catrina’s a…”

  Cat fumbled with a beer mat and looked forlorn.

  Kerry, who was normally the first with kind words, struggled to find something to say. Not because she didn’t feel for Cat – she did – but because she felt so guilty at having misjudged her.

  “Ollie’s been brilliant, he really has,” sniffed Cat, gazing over at the bar where he was getting them all a drink (orange juice spritzers all round – Ollie’s mum wasn’t about to lose her licence over her son and his friends).

  “I’m glad,” said Kerry warmly, proud of having a boyfriend who was so kind and understanding.

  “All the hours and hours he’s put in, just listening to my moans,” Cat continued mournfully.

  Hours and hours? thought Kerry fleetingly.

  “Just letting me open up to him to get it all off my chest. Letting me cry on his shoulder…”

  For some reason, Kerry found the allusions to body parts slightly discomfiting.

  “I feel so close to him – you know what I mean?” she said, suddenly spinning her gaze away from Ollie and looking directly and meaningfully into Kerry’s eyes.

  “Mmmm,” muttered Kerry non-committally. She didn’t know what Cat’s meaningful look was meant to convey, but she knew it made her uncomfortable.

  “OK, girls?” said Ollie, sloshing the glasses down on the table messily.

  “No wonder your folks haven’t encouraged you to work here,” said Cat sarkily, pulling a couple of serviettes out of the dispenser and mopping up the spills.

  “Well, I’m under age for any of the fun jobs round here, so I’m better off working for Nick anyway – until I get my multi-million pound record deal, of course,” Ollie grinned.

  A black look crossed Cat’s face and Ollie quickly remembered the point of this get-together – to talk about Cat’s traumas.

  “So, how are things with your mum?” he asked gently.

  “Bad,” shrugged Cat. “She’s… she’s refusing point blank to even talk to me now.”

  “What, about not seeing… this boy?” Kerry chipped in.

  “No – I mean totally not talking to me.”

  Kerry forgot her recent niggles of irritation and was overwhelmed with pity for Cat. How awful it must be for your mum to behave that way towards you. Even though Kerry was sometimes irked by her own mum and her tendency to pay more attention to Lewis, she knew that her mother would never alienate her own daughter like that.

  “Since when? Since she said you couldn’t see… this guy?” asked Ollie, struggling to get the conversation going around such intangible elements as a main character who was shrouded in secrecy.

  “Uh-huh,” Cat answered, her long-lashed eyes dropping downwards.

  “And so she still won’t explain why she wants you to stop seeing this person?” Ollie pushed on with his questioning.

  “It’s obvious, isn’t it? She’s jealous. She can’t stand to see me happy!”

  Kerry was lost between sympathy and, well, being lost. Everything Cat had said on the subject, either to her or Ollie, seemed so vague.

  Why was Cat’s mum suddenly so jealous of her? Who was this mystery boy she was seeing? When was Cat seeing him and why was he still a mystery? Kerry looked from Ollie’s concerned face to Cat’s troubled one and struggled to understand quite what was going on.

  “God, I can’t believe she’s being such a bitch to you!” said Ollie heatedly. “Trying to interfere in your life like that!”

  Cat gave him a wan, sad smile.

  “But how can she stop you from doing whatever you want? With her work, she’s never home anyway, that’s what you always say…” Kerry piped up. “And you’re sixteen, so it’s not like she can exactly lock you in your room, is it?”

  It was meant to be a helpful statement, but the dead-eyed stare that Cat was giving her didn’t seem to indicate that she was appreciative of Kerry’s words.

  “Well, I think—”

  But before he could continue, Ollie was drowned out by a clattering of heavy feet and ear-splitting, bellowing laughter as Ollie’s dad, Stuart, and Nick came down into the bar from the upstairs flat.

  They may have been brothers but, apart from their beer bellies, the only thing that Stuart (all sharp-dressing casual and shorn, grey hair) and Nick (Cuban heels, rock T-shirt and ponytail) had in common was boasting about how well their businesses were doing and arguing about music that was at least twenty years out of date.

  “Well, I’ll be interested to see how you wangle that past your accountant…” Ollie’s dad chuckled wryly.

  “Yeah? You wait and see, mate… Oh hi, Ol!” Nick said cheerfully, spotting his nephew. Then, seeing the girls, his smile seemed to fade. “Right, better be going…”

  Nick bounded towards the door before anyone could reply, giving Ollie’s mum a quick “Catch you later, Sharon!” over his shoulder.

  “As I was saying,” said Ollie, turning back to the matter in hand and giving Kerry’s hand a loving squeeze, “Cat, I really think that you might feel better if you told me and Kerry who it is that you’ve been seeing. I mean, you don’t have to, but it might be a weight off your mind…”

  “Sure. Why not,” said Cat, with what looked suspiciously like a sneer. “It’s Nick. I’m seeing Nick.”

  CHAPTER 18

  SONJA TAKES CHARGE

  “Could I speak to Sylvia Osgood, please?”

  Kerry sat on the stairs and hugged her knees tightly to her chest. The cringe factor of this call was making her curl up with awkwardness, but at least it was Sonja sitting on the chair with the phone pressed against her ear and not Kerry. Mind you, Kerry wouldn’t even have had the courage to make the call in the first place. Thank God for Sonja and her fearlessness!

  “Sorry? Oh, no, Kerry – I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have gone all huffy on you like a big kid,” Sonja had said when Kerry caught up with her at college earlier and apologised.

  It was a relief to Kerry that she’d been able to make up so easily with Sonja. The strain of dealing with any awkwardness between them was too much on top of all the drama and intrigue going on.

  “Nick? You’ve got to be kidding me! Sleazy Nick?!” Sonja had gasped, when Kerry had guiltily spilled out Cat’s confession of the previous evening. It wasn’t just sheer gossip value that had made Kerry tell. She had promised Ollie that she’d
try to help Cat somehow and she was completely stumped as to what to do.

  The only person she could turn to for inspiration was Sonja. And while Sonja might not be a hundred per cent there for Cat, at least she knew Cat’s background and family history better than anyone.

  “No wonder Auntie Sylvia’s going ballistic! The thought of Cat going out with Nick – yuck! He’s so old and creepy!” Sonja had said unhelpfully when they got back to her house and could talk in private.

  “You’ve said plenty of times that Nick’s a laugh,” said Kerry defensively, although she didn’t really understand why she was taking that tack. The thought of Nick and Cat together had freaked her out so much she hadn’t been able to sleep properly the night before. Just imagining them together…

  “Well, it’s one thing to think someone’s a laugh, but when a guy who must be nudging forty – with very dodgy taste in clothes and hairstyles – goes out with someone who’s sixteen, it’s most definitely creepy,” Sonja retorted, pulling a face and shuddering. “So how long’s this been going on for?”

  “She didn’t say. Like I told you, she just blurted out that she was seeing Nick then did a runner.”

  “And you think she’s pulled a sickie today?”

  “Well, I asked around and she’s not been in any of her classes.”

  “Do you think she’s skiving because she doesn’t want to face you after her little announcement? I sure would be embarrassed if I was her.”

  “I don’t know,” shrugged Kerry. Her mind was working overtime with worry. Was it something as simple as being embarrassed about what she’d divulged or was she half-way up the motorway to Gretna Green with Nick, as they spoke?

  “Hey, you do realise something?” Sonja butted into her thoughts. “Cat must be the secret girlfriend that Nick’s been keeping under wraps all this time!”

  “Yeah, Ollie said that last night…”

  “What’s Ollie making of all this?”

  “Oh, he’s completely freaked out! He’s got it into his head that Nick’s taking advantage of Cat. He’s going to confront him about it when Nick comes in to the End for the takings.”