Mates, Dates and Sizzling Summers

by Hopkins, Cathy

  It was still on voicemail. I didn’t leave a message.

  I was about to dial Ollie’s number, but then I thought, no, I’d text him. Cool. Calm. Collected.

  HI OLY. BK IN LNDN. MET CAT IN CRNWL. CU L8R.

  I was about to send it when I thought, no, I’m being a coward again. I can do this. My feelings matter too, and I need to express them. I need to come clean with him and talk to him in person.

  I deleted my message and dialled his mobile.

  ‘Hello, stranger,’ he said.

  ‘Er, hi, yeah. It’s TJ.’

  Ollie laughed. ‘I know that. I know your voice. Plus your number came up on my mobile. So when did you get back?’

  ‘Earlier. Listen, Ollie, I need to ask you something.’

  ‘Shoot.’

  ‘Er . . . do you have a girlfriend down in Cornwall?’

  He was silent for a moment. ‘Why do you ask?’

  ‘Oh just . . . well, we never talked about stuff like that. For all I know you may be engaged or have been with someone for ages.’

  Ollie laughed again. ‘Actually, I’m married with four kids, but I didn’t want to tell you in case it put you off.’

  ‘Seriously, Ollie. I need to know.’

  ‘Right. OK. Serious. Do I have a girlfriend in Cornwall? Yes. I have a few girls who are friends in Cornwall. And a few more up here.’

  ‘You know what I mean. Girlfriend girlfriend.’

  ‘You mean as in exclusive?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘No.’

  ‘OK, so who’s Cat then?’

  ‘Ah. Now I’m beginning to get the picture . . .’

  ‘So am I. We met on the beach in Cawsand and . . . well, put it this way, put two and two together.’

  ‘Cat’s a mate,’ said Ollie. ‘A good mate. We never said we wouldn’t see anyone else.’

  ‘I know. She told me that.’

  ‘So what’s the problem?’

  ‘Well, what about us?’ I asked. ‘Are we just mates?’

  I could hear Ollie sigh at the other end of the phone. Tough, I thought. I know boys hate conversations like this, but I didn’t care. I wanted to know what he had to say.

  ‘What about us? I don’t know, TJ. We’re having a good time, aren’t we? Hanging out.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And I told you that I really liked you. I meant it. I think you’re really cool. What else do you want?’

  I had to think for a moment. What did I want from Ollie? Commitment? To be his one and only? And he to be mine? I wasn’t sure. All I knew was that I didn’t want to be one of many.

  ‘Actually, I don’t want anything,’ I said. ‘At least, not anything you can give at the present time, I don’t think. It’s cool. It really is. I just wanted to know where we stood. Where I stood. So thanks. Thanks for being honest.’

  Anytime. So now you’re back, want to get together next week?’

  ‘Er . . . probably not,’ I said. ‘I’ll be honest, too. I can’t do the let’s hang out and see where it goes type of thing. You were beginning to be more than a mate to me, and if you don’t feel the same way then I can’t see the point of us hanging out. It would do my head in. So sorry, no can do.’

  ‘Oh,’ said Ollie. He sounded surprised. ‘But . . .’

  ‘Later,’ I said. ‘I really enjoyed the time we spent together.’

  ‘Me too. But . . .’ Ollie stuttered.

  ‘Later, hey.’

  And then I hung up. It felt great to have said what I wanted to and not to worry about what he did or didn’t think. Nesta was right. My feelings mattered too, and my main feeling was that I wanted a guy who wanted me and me alone.

  Phew, I thought as I put the phone back. Done. Dusted.

  Almost.

  I got up to go and find the others in the kitchen, but when I got there, it was empty. The French doors leading to Nesta’s garden were open and I could hear voices.

  I followed the sound of the voices and found Izzie, Lucy, Nesta and William standing by the gate that led to the road. They all looked very shifty.

  ‘Ah, TJ. Er . . . finished?’ asked Nesta.

  ‘Almost,’ I said. ‘Hi, William.’

  William shuffled about on his feet as if he was uncomfortable about something. ‘Er . . . hi,’ he said. ‘Er . . .’

  ‘Yes. Right,’ said Nesta. ‘We’re just going down the shop to get some . . . milk.’

  ‘Yes. Milk,’ said Izzie and opened the gate.

  What was going on? I wondered. Everyone was acting very strangely.

  ‘I’ll come with you,’ said Lucy as she went to join Izzie. ‘Later, TJ.’

  ‘But I’ll come too,’ I said.

  ‘No!’ said Nesta. ‘You stay here. In case . . . er, we’re expecting a delivery. Can you stay and open the door?’

  ‘But where’s your mum and dad? And Tony?’

  ‘All out,’ said Nesta as she hauled William out of the back gate. ‘Go, TJ. Back inside. Go. Inside. Go. Answer door.’

  ‘But . . . hey, can’t one of you stay with me?’ I called after them.

  Izzie shrugged. ‘We’ve got to get a lot of milk,’ she said, then sniggered and disappeared behind the hedge besides the gate.

  And then I heard them all laughing.

  What on earth were they up to?

  After they’d gone, I went back into the flat and went to sit in the living room. I was flicking through a magazine when I heard the front doorbell go.

  Ah, the mysterious delivery, I thought, as I got up to answer.

  I went into the hall and opened the door.

  It wasn’t a delivery.

  It was Luke.

  Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.

  ‘I think Dad might have had a personality transplant the last time he was in the hospital,’ I said as I watched Dad in the garden. He was wearing a Homer Simpson apron and was busy cooking sausages (vegetarian soya!) and chicken legs on the barbecue. ‘Either that or he’s been taken over by aliens.’

  ‘Well, he looks the same,’ said Izzie, ‘but you’re right, there is something different, and I don’t just mean the apron.’

  ‘He’s smiling,’ said Lucy. ‘That’s what it is.’

  ‘Yeah,’ said Nesta. ‘And at us, too. It’s worrying, isn’t it?’

  We’d been back in London a week, and Dad had been acting peculiarly from the moment we got home.

  On Monday while I was at school, he’d gone out with Mum and bought a barbecue and two mobile phones.

  ‘His and hers,’ he said with a grin as he held the phones up to show me. ‘Latest technology. Man in the shop says it does everything. I can text on it, speak into it. I think it even turns into a helicopter if I can only work out how to use it.’

  ‘And the barbecue?’ I asked. ‘You always disapproved of them. Excuse to undercook meat and make a lot of noise that annoys the neighbours you always said.’

  ‘I’m a new man,’ said Dad. ‘Life is short. Seize the day and all that, that’s my new philosophy. So this Saturday, invite all your friends. Lucy and Nesta and Izzie. And their parents. And be sure to ask that nice Mr Lovering who owns the health shop. See if he can come with his wife. Yes. We’ll have a party.’

  It was then that I knew something was seriously wrong. Dad didn’t do barbecues. He didn’t do parties. If by any chance he had to attend a social gathering, he’d put himself in a corner from where he would scowl and be grumpy and growl at people.

  But buying the barbecue and phones was only the start of his new persona.

  On Tuesday, after talking to his solicitor, he put in an offer on Rose Harbour cottage. ‘Looks like it’s in the bag,’ he said when I got home from school. ‘We have us a holiday home. I’ll put on the kettle and we can celebrate. Oh ha ha, I’ll put on the kettle, bet it won’t suit me.’

  Mum and I exchanged anxious looks. Dad making jokes? Even making bad ones was a novelty for him.

  On Wednesday, I returned home wond
ering what he’d have bought that day while I was out. I wasn’t disappointed. He’d got us cable TV.

  ‘Seventy channels plus all the film channels,’ he said.

  ‘But Dad, you always said that people have better things to do with their time than sit about watching TV,’ I said.

  ‘Changed my mind,’ he said, grinning. ‘Now that I’m going to be relaxing a bit more, I can catch up with all the movies I’ve missed over the years. And I’m going to get myself one of those comfy footstools so that I can put my feet up while I’m doing it.’

  Thursday and Friday were even stranger. I found him with his nose in recipe books preparing for Saturday. Dad had never so much as boiled an egg before and now, today, he was out there being King of the Barbecue, with a big smile on his face, handing out drinks, cooking fish and meat and discussing how to marinate a courgette with Lucy’s dad.

  Miracles will never cease.

  Everybody came. Lucy’s mum and dad. Her brothers, Steve and Lal. Nesta’s mum and dad. Tony. Izzie’s mum and her stepfather Angus. And William. And Luke.

  When I’d found him standing on the doorstep at Nesta’s last week, I soon realised that I’d been set up. To begin with it had felt awkward and neither of us seemed to know what to say. It was Luke who’d plunged in first.

  ‘I’m so sorry about the other week,’ he said. ‘You must have thought I was a total jerk.’

  ‘Not really,’ I said. ‘I . . . well . . . OK, I did. You didn’t let me explain. See, Ollie . . . I only met him a short time ago. We weren’t even seriously dating or anything. I . . .’

  ‘I know. I jumped to all the wrong conclusions. I’m so sorry. I thought you’d set me up . . .’

  ‘What, like Nesta did to both of us just now?’

  Luke smiled. ‘Yeah. Er . . . hope you don’t mind. I asked her to let me know when you were back. I’ve been thinking about you all week and . . .’

  He was looking at me with such tenderness, I felt myself starting to melt.

  ‘I wouldn’t have set you up to hurt you,’ I said. ‘I’m not like that.’

  ‘I know. I should have known. I . . .’

  I took a step towards him. I couldn’t help it. Whenever he was in close proximity he was like a magnet, and I was helpless to resist. ‘One question, Luke,’ I said as we stood so close I could see how black and dilated his pupils were.

  ‘Sure. Anything.’

  ‘Is there anyone else in your life at the moment. I mean, any other girls?’

  ‘No. Same question to you. Is there in your life?’

  I was about to say, no, no girls in my life either, but it didn’t feel like the time for jokes. It felt too intense. Serious. I shook my head.

  Luke sighed with relief and smiled. ‘Good,’ he said, ‘because I think we got off to a bad start. Me being with Nesta and even before that a whole load of different girls. But I knew there was something special as soon as I met you. I’d really like to spend more time with you, TJ. Get to know you better. That is, if you’d like to.’

  I couldn’t bear it any longer. I put my arms around his neck and kissed him.

  A few seconds later, I heard the sound of cheering. Izzie, Lucy, Nesta and William were all standing at the front gate grinning like idiots. I don’t believe it, I thought. Will we ever get a chance to snog without being interrupted?

  We did.

  Monday after school.

  Tuesday after school.

  Wednesday after Luke’s shift at the restaurant.

  Thursday before Luke went off to his acting class.

  Friday before we both went off to catch up on homework.

  And today he came to the barbecue and met Mum and Dad and just about everyone else I know. This time we’re out in the open. A couple. No secrets.

  As we sat around the garden, our plates piled high with burgers and salads and baked potatoes, I looked around me. The sun was shining down. The forecast was that it was going to continue and we were in for a sizzling summer. Lucy with Tony, Nesta with William. Luke chatting away to Izzie. Everyone seemed to be smiling. This is one of those precious moments, I thought. I’m with the people I love. Everyone is well. Who knows what the future holds for any of us? All we can be sure of is that everything changes. Life never stays still. Up and down we go. People come and go into our lives. Boys come and go into our lives.

  I noticed Lucy looking at me quizzically.

  ‘What are you thinking, TJ?’ she asked.

  ‘Oh you know, just that everything changes . . .’

  ‘Some things,’ she said, and put her hand on the table. ‘But some things stay the same. Like us guys. Mates forever.’

  I put my hand over hers. ‘Mates forever,’ I said.

  Izzie put her hand over mine.

  And Nesta put hers over Izzie’s.

  I looked up at the sky. I don’t know much about what’s out there or where it all came from or why. And I still don’t know if there’s anyone like a God up there after space or in some heaven looking down. But I do know that here, where I am, planet earth, this three-dimensional wonderland, life can be good sometimes. So my philosophy is going to be Hannah’s philosophy. Dad’s new philosophy. To seize the day. Appreciate. Enjoy life. To experience it all to the best of my ability, and maybe the big questions will get answered along the way. Maybe. Maybe not. In the meantime, there’s the rest of the summer to look forward to. A holiday in Cornwall. I’ve got a great family and the best bunch of mates ever. I must always remember to let them know that’s what I think while we are all here. And not just on days like this.

  I looked down at the table.

  Four hands. Four friends. Forever.

  E-mail: Inbox (1)

  To: babewithbrains@psnet.co.uk

  From: grooviechick@firstmail.com

  Date: 10th June

  Subject: Summer

  Hey TJ,

  Spoke to Mac. Told him all about you. There are rooms free at his mum’s place in July and August, so we’re all set for your visit down here. The long-range weather is for hot and hotter. Hope you’re still planning to come. My mates can’t wait to meet yours, and Mac is already having fantasies about Izzie. Tee hee.

  Cat

  XXX

  It may be the end of the Mates, Dates series, but Lucy, Nesta, Izzie and TJ are starting to appear in Cathy Hopkins’s other series

  TRUTH, DARE, KISS OR PROMISE!

  LOVE LOTTERY sees the Mates, Dates characters take a trip to the Rame Peninsula where one of them gets a most unusual welcome! The London crowd soon discover that they have a lot in common with the Cornish gang and Becca in particular finds that her new friends can help her through a turbulent time in her life.

  And in the very last TRUTH, DARE, KISS OR PROMISE book – ALL MATES TOGETHER – Lucy, Nesta, Izzie and TJ spend a few weeks in the summer with Cat and her friends Lia, Mac, Squidge and Becca. Romance is definitely on the cards!

  Also available by Cathy Hopkins

  The MATES, DATES series

  1. Mates, Dates and Inflatable Bras

  2. Mates, Dates and Cosmic Kisses

  3. Mates, Dates and Portobello Princesses 4. Mates, Dates and Sleepover Secrets

  5. Mates, Dates and Sole Survivors

  6. Mates, Dates and Mad Mistakes

  7. Mates, Dates and Pulling Power

  8. Mates, Dates and Tempting Trouble

  9. Mates, Dates and Great Escapes

  10. Mates, Dates and Chocolate Cheats

  11. Mates, Dates and Diamond Destiny

  12. Mates, Dates and Sizzling Summers

  Companion Books:

  Mates, Dates Guide to Life

  Mates, Dates and You

  Mates, Dates Journal

  The TRUTH, DARE, KISS OR PROMISE series

  1. White Lies and Barefaced Truths

  2. Pop Princess

  3. Teen Queens and Has-Beens

  4. Starstruck

  5. Double Dare

  6. Midsummer Meltdown
r />   7. Love Lottery

  8. All Mates Together

  The CINNAMON GIRL series

  1. This Way to Paradise

  2. Starting Over

  Find out more at www.piccadillypress.co.uk

  Join Cathy’s Club at www.cathyhopkins.com