by Mel Sparke
“Here we are, Ollie, your favourite pudding,” beamed his nan, cutting him a giant slice of strawberry and cream layer cake.
He smiled weakly and wondered how to force it down. As he lifted a forkful to his mouth, his gaze fell on an overflowing vase of burgundy tulips and he was instantly reminded of Cat again. Of those dark red lips coming up to meet his….
“Uhhhhh.”
“What is it, Ollie love? Still not feeling too clever?” fussed his nan, interpreting Ollie’s low moan as another sign of over-indulgence from the night before. “I’ll fetch you an aspirin.”
She may have misinterpreted the actual reason, but his grandmother was right about him not feeling too clever. Ollie felt downright stupid.
He had meant to try and heal the rift in the crowd after the Catrina and Matt fiasco; and he’d also meant to help Cat cheer up. Not get off with her.
If things were messy before, they were a hell of a lot messier now.
Catrina spent her Sunday curled up in bed in a funny mood. She warmed up some of yesterday’s pizza. She watched soap opera after soap opera after crummy old Carry On film. She took a long, hot, bubbly bath, slathered on a face pack and played all her favourite CDs. But she still felt down.
Everything worked - better than I’d hoped, she thought to herself, lying back on her bed and aimlessly twirling a CD round on her finger. After last night, no one’s going to go near Matt again. So why do I feel so weird?
She already knew the answer, but she didn’t exactly relish it. Ollie was one of the nicest guys she knew. A real sweetie with a heart of gold. A total mate. And here she was using him.
As for snogging him… instead of the tummy-tingling, heart-thumping sensation she’d got whenever she kissed Matt, there was, well, nothing. In fact, after their kiss, Ollie had looked positively ill, which she knew was down to the amount of alcohol he’d drunk, rather than his response to kissing her. At least she hoped it was.
With Ollie in such a state, she hadn’t been able to continue their snogging session anywhere in Matt’s view; all she could do was roll Ollie out of the door - via a tumble over some empty beer crates in the hall - into the fresh air and all the way to his front door.
“Catrina,” her mother’s voice jarred her from her thoughts. “I do wonder if half past four isn’t a little late to be getting up, even by your standards. Do you think you could make it through to the living room for a phone call? It’s that Ozzie again.”
Ignoring the sarcasm in her mother’s voice, Cat swung herself off the bed and made her way to the phone.
“Cat, it’s Ollie.”
“Ollie! Hi!” she said brightly.
“I just rang to see if you’re, urn, OK.”
“Well, I’m still pretty upset about—” Cat leant over and shut the door on her prying mother “— you know, what Matt was saying. But you certainly helped to cheer me up…”
“Um, well, good. Listen - I’m in a bit of a rush; I’ve got some stuff to do. But I’ll catch up with you down the End some time this week, yeah?”
“Yeah. That would be nice,” purred Cat.
As she put the phone down, Catrina knew that the weird feeling she’d had all day was guilt. Guilt at using and abusing her friend.
But what can I do? she shrugged to herself. I can’t let go of my advantage. Matt’s going to suffer when he realises everyone hates him and he’s going to suffer even more seeing me and Ollie together.
CHAPTER 11
PARTY POST-MORTEM
“I tell you, he was looking at you!”
“No, he wasn’t!”
“Was.”
“Wasn’t!”
“Was.”
“Oh, shut up, Sonja. You know boys don’t look at me when they’ve got you to lust after.”
“WAS, WASN’T! WAS, WASN’T! WAS. WASN—”
“And you can shut up too, Lewis,” said Kerry, giving her little brother a harder push on the swing.
“How would you know who was or wasn’t looking at you?” said Sonja, swinging idly on the seat next to Lewis. “You couldn’t see a thing last night. You’re blind as a bat without your glasses.”
Kerry didn’t have the energy to argue back: babysitting Lewis after the late night they’d had was a bit too much to handle. And Sonja wasn’t much use. Instead of helping to entertain Lewis, she was more interested in trying to convince Kerry that Mick, the bass player in The Loud, had been giving Kerry the eye while they were all on the dance floor.
Unable to believe that anyone would fancy her, Kerry couldn’t help but wonder if this was just Sonja’s way of taking her mind off the fact that Ollie had last been seen heading out of the door of Matt’s house, drunk out of his skull, with Cat draped around him - and Cat’s lipstick smeared across his face.
Both girls knew that this was just more bad news for the future harmony of their crowd and Sonja guessed, quite rightly, that Kerry was fretting about it. But then Kerry was usually fretting about something.
“Anyway, Mick or no Mick, it was still a laugh last night, wasn’t it?” asked Sonja, looking at her friend with some concern.
“Sure,” Kerry answered flatly.
Sonja stopped swinging and looked at her friend.
“Kerry, Ollie won’t go out with Cat, y’know. He was just drunk and being silly.”
“Who was drunk?” asked Lewis.
“No one. Now shut up or I won’t buy you any Monster Munch,” said Kerry, glaring at the back of her little brother’s head.
“YES!” shrieked Lewis and shut up.
“Ollie’s not stupid, Kerry. He’ll handle it.”
“I hope so, for his sake. And ours,” mumbled Kerry. “Do you think Matt knows what happened?”
“I don’t know,” shrugged Sonja. “Maybe Joe spoke to him later, after he came and told us what he saw.”
“Maybe,” Kerry nodded, looking forlorn. “But I just wish none of this had happened. In fact, I wish Catrina and Matt had never got together in the first place and then we’d all just be mates like we were. Plain and simple.”
“I know, but what’s done is done. It’s not worth worrying about.”
“I know, I know,” nodded Kerry, aware that Sonja was trying to make it all sound easier than it was, for her sake.
She appreciated the effort and tried to sound brighter than she really felt. “Of course, if Mick was looking at me, I wouldn’t complain for a second. He’s well cute!”
“Yes, he is,” Sonja grinned at her.
“And you know what - I might just have to do something about it!” said Kerry confidently.
“Yeah? Like what?”
“Oh, I dunno. I’ll have to see. Maybe I’ll ring him up and ask him out, bold as you like.”
“Good idea, Kez.”
“Yep and then a flock of pigs will fly past the window, and diamonds will rain down from the sky!”
Sonja laughed. She loved the way Kerry could laugh at herself, even though sometimes she wished her ditzy friend was a bit more confident.
“When am I getting my Monster Munch?” came a small voice.
After he put down the phone to Cat, Ollie let out a deep breath then began to dial Joe’s number.
“Hey, Joe!”
“Hi, Ol. You OK?”
“Yeah, kind of. Did you have a good time last night?”
Joe’s heart started beating like crazy. Had Ollie noticed him drooling over Kerry? He’d always kept his feelings undercover from everyone - even his oldest, closest friend. He took a chance and hoped Ollie didn’t mean what he dreaded he meant.
“Um, not really. No, it was rubbish actually.”
Joe wasn’t lying. Things had gone no further with Kerry (inevitably) and he’d been pretty disturbed at seeing the state Ollie was in, and with what seemed to be happening between him and Catrina.
“Er, how come?” asked Ollie, struggling to remember the details of the previous evening.
“Just this and that,” said Joe vaguely. “So, wha
t happened to you, then?”
“Don’t ask,” Ollie winced. “Well, you can if you like. It’s doing my head in, if you must know. Mind if I come over?”
“Sure. I mean, course not. Hang on a minute, Mum’s yelling something…” said Joe, as a fuzzy conversation took place in the background. “She’s just asked me if you want to come over for your tea.”
Ollie sighed. Joe’s mum always earwigged his phone conversations. It wasn’t as if Ollie didn’t like the woman, but all he wanted to do right now was talk to his best mate, in private, and get a few things straight in his head.
“Yeah, OK then,” Ollie agreed, knowing that, like his nan’s strawberry layer cake earlier, there was no getting out of this one. “So long as it’s not toad-in-the-hole again.”
Ten minutes later, Ollie closed the door that led up to the flat above The Swan, crossed the road and knocked on the front door of the little terraced house where Joe and his mum lived.
“Ollie!” squealed Joe’s mum. “Lovely to see you! Tea’ll be ready soon, but you can go and play in Joe’s room till then!”
Ollie winced. Susie Gladwin was hugely protective of her son and always treated him as if he was about ten years old - and Ollie too. But he managed a smile and went on up to Joe’s room, where he found his friend engrossed in some new PlayStation game.
“Check this out - you’ll love it,” said Joe, not taking his eyes off the screen.
Joe thrashed him four times at the new game before Ollie finally brought up the subject of the previous night.
“So, did I make a bit of a berk of myself at the party then?”
“You tell me,” Joe shrugged. “I’m not the one who snogged Cat.”
“Oh God… why did I drink so much?” Ollie groaned, covering his face with his hands. “I can hardly remember anything that happened last night!”
“So, you don’t remember snogging her?”
“Kind of… But how do you know, Joe?”
“Seeing her lipstick smeared all over your face gave me a bit of a clue. And seeing you staggering out the door with her.”
“But you don’t know what was going on, Joe!” said Ollie, trying to excuse himself. “She heard this really bad stuff… Matt was telling anyone who’d listen that he’d slept with her!”
“Nah!” said Joe, looking seriously surprised. “Matt wouldn’t do that… even if it was true!”
“It’s not true!” said Ollie, overcome with chivalry. Anything to distract from his own embarrassment. “And Matt definitely said it!”
“How can you be so sure?” Joe replied dubiously. “You don’t seem to be sure what went on last night…”
“No, Cat told me! That’s why she got so upset! That’s why I ended up, well, y’know, kissing her and everything…”
“The way I remember it, Cat was stuck to you like a limpet all night. She followed you around the whole time and you were far too trashed to resist anything she sprang on you.”
“It wasn’t like that!” said Ollie, surprised at Joe’s response. “Cat was really upset and vulnerable, ‘cause of what Matt said!”
“I think you should speak to Matt before you do anything else,” said Joe, not wanting to fall out with Ollie, but not wishing to take everything at face value either.
Joe might not say that much at times, but it didn’t mean he wasn’t watching and taking things in. And right now, he wasn’t sure what was going on in Cat’s head.
“And I think you should get things sorted with Cat too - you’re just friends, no complications. Right?”
For someone who’d never been out with a girl in his entire life, Joe could be pretty wise when it came to other people’s relationships.
“Yeah, you’re right,” nodded Ollie.
“Anyway, I wanted to let you hear something,” said Joe, changing the subject. He turned and picked up the acoustic guitar he kept beside his computer desk and strummed through the chords of the new song that was running through his head.
“That’s brilliant, Joe - what’s it called?” enthused Ollie.
“Hopeless. It’s about… It’s about someone I met once.”
“yeah? Still, maybe it’s a bit slow. What about trying to come up with something more up-beat? We could do with some fast ones in the set.”
Slightly dispirited, Joe put the guitar down. Anyway, it reminded him, once again, of his chances with Kerry. Hopeless.
Just then, Joe’s mum’s shrill tones rang up the stairs like a downmarket and much younger version of Hyacinth Bucket.
“Boys? Joe! Ollie! Come and get iiiiit!”
Joe grinned ruefully at Ollie and the pair trotted dutifully downstairs.
“Mmmmm, toad-in-the-hole! My favourite!” Ollie grinned enthusiastically, trying hard not to look at Joe.
CHAPTER 12
OLLIE WANTS THE TRUTH
Matt was busy cleaning up the den when Ollie arrived. It was Monday, but Matt hadn’t felt any rush to get the place straight from the party. His dad was usually away on business, so Matt always had time to get rid of the debris before he returned. And since most of the partying and mess was confined to the den, it wouldn’t have troubled his dad anyway.
“Can I give you a hand, Matt? Pass us one of those bin bags…” said Ollie, having let himself in through the open kitchen door.
“Thanks, Ol,” smiled Matt, pleased to see his friend. “Not working today?”
“Nah, day off,” said Ollie, pulling a tangle of silly string off the back of a chair. “Actually, this isn’t the only mess I came to clear up…”
“Yeah? What have I done now?”
Ollie looked at Matt. Did he know that the rumour he’d spread had reached his friends? And did he know what had happened between Ollie and Cat?
“Have you spoken to any of the crowd since the party?” Ollie asked.
“Nope,” said Matt. “I haven’t been in touch with anyone - I just thought I’d cool it for a bit till everything died down. I was just glad everyone turned up on Saturday night…”
“Well, you’re not doing a great deal to help the situation if you go around spreading trashy rumours about people,” said Ollie sternly. He was secretly relieved to realise that Matt obviously didn’t know about his own little indiscretion yet. And, for the moment, Ollie wasn’t about to set the record straight.
“What am I supposed to have said?”
“That stuff about Cat.”
“What stuff about Cat?”
Ollie was slightly perturbed. Matt did look genuinely confused and clueless on the subject.
“Y’know - about ‘getting what you wanted from her’ before you ‘dumped’ her!”
“Eh!?”
“Boasting about having sex with her, you idiot!” Ollie shouted angrily at Matt, although a lot of the anger currently coursing through his veins was aimed at himself.
“I never had sex with Cat!”
“I know you didn’t - so why were you telling people you did?”
“Ollie, I swear, I’ve never said anything like that to anyone! Where did you get this from?!”
“It- it doesn’t matter where it came from,” said Ollie, keen to protect Cat from any further complications. “What matters is why you said it.”
Matt looked seriously annoyed and seemed to be gritting his teeth in an effort to control his temper.
“Look, Ollie, I admit I’ve been a bit of a selfish prat - showing Cat up like that at your party then rubbing her nose in it when I went past the café with Tasha and everything, but I wouldn’t spread stuff like that about! I’m not that low!”
“Well, why were some lads going on about it?”
“God, how do I know? Someone’s got their wires crossed somewhere.”
“It didn’t sound that way…”
“Listen, if you don’t want to tell me where you got this from then I can’t really help sort it out, can I? All I can say is whoever heard it heard wrong.”
“OK, OK!” said Ollie, holding up his hands. �
��I believe you. But the girls are going to be furious when they hear about this, Matt. They’re probably all down at the End talking about it now. All I’m saying is you’d better talk to Cat and get this cleared up, unless you want to wear the next cappuccino you come in for.”
“But I didn’t do—”
“Save it, Matt,” Ollie interrupted. “It’s not me you’ve got to convince.”
The two boys stared at each other in silence for a second, then a cheeky grin spread across Matt’s face.
“So, anyway,” he said, “has that gorgeous sister of yours been asking about me when she phones home?”
“No, she has not!” laughed Ollie, glad that something had broken the tension, even if it was just Matt being his usual big-headed self.
“Hey, girls! Where’s the funeral?!” cackled Nick, standing with his hands on his hips, beer belly bulging over his white apron, and observing the four miserable-looking people in front of him. “You lot remind me of Tina Turner’s backing singers the time they lost the bags with all their stage costumes in. Boy, were they down! I just said to them—”
Nick stopped in mid-flow, realising that none of girls sitting at the window table was taking a blind bit of notice.
“Right, then…” he mumbled and walked off, slightly offended that Ollie’s friends weren’t interested in his story. Normally, they were always well into his tales of life on the road. He took his disappointment out on the jukebox by giving the temperamental machine a quick kick as he passed, making the record jump even more than it was already doing.
“I just can’t believe he’d be so cruel,” said Cat sadly.
Sonja, Kerry and Maya collectively shook their heads in astonishment. They’d been all set to quiz Cat (or, actually, get Sonja to quiz her) about what had gone on with Ollie at the party, but her news had stumped them.
“I’d never have believed Matt would do something this crappy,” Sonja said, staring blankly at the Formica table top in disbelief.
“I mean, I know he’s been a real show-off about girls he’s been out with,” Maya chipped in, her dark brown eyes wide with surprise, “but I didn’t think he’d lie like that. Not about something so… so hurtful.”
“I know…” Cat nodded mournfully, milking the situation for all it was worth.