plucked up my courage and asked him the question … if I am selected for Founder’s Day, would he like to come with me as my partner? Looking back, I don’t know how I dared! It just, like, shot out of mebefore I realised what I was doing. But it’s all right, cos he has said yes. HE HAS SAID YES! I can hardly believe it. Just wait till I tell Hattie!
It
was
a good party, but only because Matt was there. If he hadn’t come, it would have been the same as every year: a load of grown-ups and just me and Hattie, with a couple of younger kids plus Weedy Gonzalez and my cousin Tina. Tina’s OK, but she’s what I would call a bit of a dimbo, meaning that she giggles a lot about nothing, and squeaks and clasps her hands together, and even presses them to her bosom (what little there is of it). Weed is a boy in my class at school. His dad and my dad play golf together and are what is known as buddies. Poor old Weed! He is terrifically geeky and boring. I know he can’t help it, he is really quite nice and totally harmless, but just not anyone that I could fancy in a billion trillion years.
The best part of the evening was when we went in the pool. Me and Matt, that is. Tina and the Weed insisted on coming, too, but fortunately they can’t swim so they just pottered about at the shallow end and left us pretty well in peace. Simon said no thanks and Hattietold me, in a whisper, that she had her period, which wasn’t strictly true as I knew for a fact that it had finished. Me and Hattie always know these things about each other. But I didn’t say anything as I didn’t want to embarrass her. She’d become very strange and oversensitive about herself just lately, and I guessed she didn’t want to be seen by Matt in her bathing costume, so I told her to keep Simon amused and that we would be back in a few minutes.
In fact we stayed in the pool – or at any rate, sitting on the side of it, dangling our legs – for almost an hour. Matt said he’d never been in an indoor pool before, not in someone’s actual house, so I explained how Dad was a builder and had got the place cheap and done it up.
“It was all falling to pieces … dry rot and everything.”
Matt said he guessed that was one of the advantages of having a dad who did something useful. I asked him what his dad did, and he said he was a lawyer; and he pulled a face, like he didn’t rate lawyers too highly in the overall scheme of things. I didn’t quite know what to say to that, so for a few minutes I didn’t say anything, and neither did he, and we had one of those awkward silences which always embarrass me most horribly. Then I had a moment of inspiration and asked him why Simon didn’t swim.
“Is it because of his leg?”
Matt said that it was. He said, “It’s not that he
can’t
swim. He’s just oversensitive. Thinks people will stare at him, or something.”
I said, “Like Hattie!”
“Like anyone cares,” said Matt.
I asked him what was wrong with Simon’s leg, and he told me that he had been in the car with his dad when his dad had lost control and driven into a tree at 90 mph.
“He was in hospital for months. He’s still got to have more operations.”
I said, “God, if my dad did that to me he’d never forgive himself!”
Matt said he didn’t know about Simon’s dad forgiving himself, but Simon’s mum had certainly never forgiven him.
“They’ve practically come apart at the seams over it.”
“That is so terrible,” I said. I didn’t think I could bear it if my mum and dad were to come apart at the seams.
Matt said that Simon’s mum was a right battle-axe. “She’s another lawyer, wouldn’t you know it?”
This time, it was me that pulled a face. I really don’t know why I pulled one, just that it seemed to be what was expected. Lawyers,
ugh!
Women lawyers,
yuck!
“I can’t stand professional women,” said Matt.
I said, “What, even though your mum is one?”
Matt said, “Yeah, even though my mum
It
was
a good party, but only because Matt was there. If he hadn’t come, it would have been the same as every year: a load of grown-ups and just me and Hattie, with a couple of younger kids plus Weedy Gonzalez and my cousin Tina. Tina’s OK, but she’s what I would call a bit of a dimbo, meaning that she giggles a lot about nothing, and squeaks and clasps her hands together, and even presses them to her bosom (what little there is of it). Weed is a boy in my class at school. His dad and my dad play golf together and are what is known as buddies. Poor old Weed! He is terrifically geeky and boring. I know he can’t help it, he is really quite nice and totally harmless, but just not anyone that I could fancy in a billion trillion years.
The best part of the evening was when we went in the pool. Me and Matt, that is. Tina and the Weed insisted on coming, too, but fortunately they can’t swim so they just pottered about at the shallow end and left us pretty well in peace. Simon said no thanks and Hattietold me, in a whisper, that she had her period, which wasn’t strictly true as I knew for a fact that it had finished. Me and Hattie always know these things about each other. But I didn’t say anything as I didn’t want to embarrass her. She’d become very strange and oversensitive about herself just lately, and I guessed she didn’t want to be seen by Matt in her bathing costume, so I told her to keep Simon amused and that we would be back in a few minutes.
In fact we stayed in the pool – or at any rate, sitting on the side of it, dangling our legs – for almost an hour. Matt said he’d never been in an indoor pool before, not in someone’s actual house, so I explained how Dad was a builder and had got the place cheap and done it up.
“It was all falling to pieces … dry rot and everything.”
Matt said he guessed that was one of the advantages of having a dad who did something useful. I asked him what his dad did, and he said he was a lawyer; and he pulled a face, like he didn’t rate lawyers too highly in the overall scheme of things. I didn’t quite know what to say to that, so for a few minutes I didn’t say anything, and neither did he, and we had one of those awkward silences which always embarrass me most horribly. Then I had a moment of inspiration and asked him why Simon didn’t swim.
“Is it because of his leg?”
Matt said that it was. He said, “It’s not that he
can’t
swim. He’s just oversensitive. Thinks people will stare at him, or something.”
I said, “Like Hattie!”
“Like anyone cares,” said Matt.
I asked him what was wrong with Simon’s leg, and he told me that he had been in the car with his dad when his dad had lost control and driven into a tree at 90 mph.
“He was in hospital for months. He’s still got to have more operations.”
I said, “God, if my dad did that to me he’d never forgive himself!”
Matt said he didn’t know about Simon’s dad forgiving himself, but Simon’s mum had certainly never forgiven him.
“They’ve practically come apart at the seams over it.”
“That is so terrible,” I said. I didn’t think I could bear it if my mum and dad were to come apart at the seams.
Matt said that Simon’s mum was a right battle-axe. “She’s another lawyer, wouldn’t you know it?”
This time, it was me that pulled a face. I really don’t know why I pulled one, just that it seemed to be what was expected. Lawyers,
ugh!
Women lawyers,
yuck!
“I can’t stand professional women,” said Matt.
I said, “What, even though your mum is one?”
Matt said, “Yeah, even though my mum
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