around inside me.
There was something about Kai that made my flesh creep. And there was something about Gabriel that made me feel awkward and unsure of myself.
What was it about Gabriel? He wasn’t the best-looking lad I’d ever seen. Jackson was more handsome than he was. Whenever I met Gabriel it was like an allergic reaction. I was itchy
and uncomfortable in my body. Feeling like this was way too much to handle on top of waiting for Mia to speak out.
As it was only half past eight and I couldn’t face an evening in the house with just Ava and the effect of Kai’s visit eating away at me, I decided to go and check out the youth
club.
‘Take the box of pom-poms, will you?’ Ava pushed the box at me. ‘Now, I’ll just see if Charlie or Freddie is around. He can escort you there.’ She marched out into
the back garden and yelled ‘Yoohoo!’ over the fence.
So, not only did I have to walk into a roomful of strangers carrying a box of pom-poms but I had to have an escort. Lucky for me Freddie was out, so it was Charlie who came to the door.
‘See that you bring Jenna home at a reasonable time,’ Ava called out as we set off down the lane. Charlie grinned.
‘I don’t know who she thinks she is ordering people around like that. Pay no attention to her,’ I said, bristling.
Charlie shrugged his shoulders. ‘Ava’s all right. Just don’t let her anywhere near your hair. Everyone who goes in that shop comes out with the same bouffant hairdo.’
I laughed. ‘I know – I’ve seen Muriel and Gina.’
‘You were lucky to catch me. I should’ve left twenty minutes ago. Our band is playing at the youth club tonight.’
‘Anti-folk music, right?’ I said, trying to sound smarter than I felt.
‘What kind of music do you like, Jenna?’ Charlie asked.
It was one of those trick questions that boys are always asking. Fortunately I had an answer ready.
‘I have an eclectic taste in music,’ I said.
Charlie wasn’t for giving up. ‘OK, name the last CD that you bought.’
‘Howling Wolf,’ I replied. I’d bought it for my grandad’s birthday.
Charlie stopped dead in his tracks and nodded. ‘That’s cool,’ he said.
We’d just reached the front of the village hall. It was a redbrick building with mock Tudor black-and-white-painted beams on the front. The date 1902 was carved above the doorway and a
group of kids were hanging around by the entrance.
‘What’s your band called?’ I asked as a battered white van pulled up beside us.
‘Goats in a Spin,’ Charlie replied as the back door of the van opened and my Number-One Fan, Cleo, jumped out and scowled at me. The door to the driver’s seat opened, coming
between me and Cleo, and a pair of faded jeans and battered trainers came out. They were Gabriel’s.
‘Hi, Gabe,’ Charlie said. ‘You know Jenna.’
He looked at me and smiled for a split second, then his expression changed and he said, ‘Come on, Charlie, we’ve got fifteen minutes to set up.’ It was like he couldn’t
be bothered wasting his time talking to me.
So his friends called him Gabe. Gabriel probably sounded too . . . angelic.
‘Gabe plays the drums and Cleo sings a few songs from time to time,’ Charlie explained. I put on my most bored expression.
Cleo came over and said, ‘Still working in the bookshop for Soppy Sarah?’
‘Sarah is my aunt,’ I said, hoping that would embarrass her.
‘Worse luck,’ she replied. ‘Relatives always pay you peanuts.’
Gabe (as I now thought of him) deliberately bumped into her with the amp he was carrying. ‘Shut up, Cleo.’ He didn’t look at me.
She laughed like he’d said something incredibly amusing and flicked a speck of dust from his hair in the way that you can only do when you’re really close to someone.
I shook the pom-pom box and said, ‘I’d better go and deliver these.’
‘I’ll give you a hand.’ Charlie made a move for the box.
I pulled the other way. ‘I can manage,
There was something about Kai that made my flesh creep. And there was something about Gabriel that made me feel awkward and unsure of myself.
What was it about Gabriel? He wasn’t the best-looking lad I’d ever seen. Jackson was more handsome than he was. Whenever I met Gabriel it was like an allergic reaction. I was itchy
and uncomfortable in my body. Feeling like this was way too much to handle on top of waiting for Mia to speak out.
As it was only half past eight and I couldn’t face an evening in the house with just Ava and the effect of Kai’s visit eating away at me, I decided to go and check out the youth
club.
‘Take the box of pom-poms, will you?’ Ava pushed the box at me. ‘Now, I’ll just see if Charlie or Freddie is around. He can escort you there.’ She marched out into
the back garden and yelled ‘Yoohoo!’ over the fence.
So, not only did I have to walk into a roomful of strangers carrying a box of pom-poms but I had to have an escort. Lucky for me Freddie was out, so it was Charlie who came to the door.
‘See that you bring Jenna home at a reasonable time,’ Ava called out as we set off down the lane. Charlie grinned.
‘I don’t know who she thinks she is ordering people around like that. Pay no attention to her,’ I said, bristling.
Charlie shrugged his shoulders. ‘Ava’s all right. Just don’t let her anywhere near your hair. Everyone who goes in that shop comes out with the same bouffant hairdo.’
I laughed. ‘I know – I’ve seen Muriel and Gina.’
‘You were lucky to catch me. I should’ve left twenty minutes ago. Our band is playing at the youth club tonight.’
‘Anti-folk music, right?’ I said, trying to sound smarter than I felt.
‘What kind of music do you like, Jenna?’ Charlie asked.
It was one of those trick questions that boys are always asking. Fortunately I had an answer ready.
‘I have an eclectic taste in music,’ I said.
Charlie wasn’t for giving up. ‘OK, name the last CD that you bought.’
‘Howling Wolf,’ I replied. I’d bought it for my grandad’s birthday.
Charlie stopped dead in his tracks and nodded. ‘That’s cool,’ he said.
We’d just reached the front of the village hall. It was a redbrick building with mock Tudor black-and-white-painted beams on the front. The date 1902 was carved above the doorway and a
group of kids were hanging around by the entrance.
‘What’s your band called?’ I asked as a battered white van pulled up beside us.
‘Goats in a Spin,’ Charlie replied as the back door of the van opened and my Number-One Fan, Cleo, jumped out and scowled at me. The door to the driver’s seat opened, coming
between me and Cleo, and a pair of faded jeans and battered trainers came out. They were Gabriel’s.
‘Hi, Gabe,’ Charlie said. ‘You know Jenna.’
He looked at me and smiled for a split second, then his expression changed and he said, ‘Come on, Charlie, we’ve got fifteen minutes to set up.’ It was like he couldn’t
be bothered wasting his time talking to me.
So his friends called him Gabe. Gabriel probably sounded too . . . angelic.
‘Gabe plays the drums and Cleo sings a few songs from time to time,’ Charlie explained. I put on my most bored expression.
Cleo came over and said, ‘Still working in the bookshop for Soppy Sarah?’
‘Sarah is my aunt,’ I said, hoping that would embarrass her.
‘Worse luck,’ she replied. ‘Relatives always pay you peanuts.’
Gabe (as I now thought of him) deliberately bumped into her with the amp he was carrying. ‘Shut up, Cleo.’ He didn’t look at me.
She laughed like he’d said something incredibly amusing and flicked a speck of dust from his hair in the way that you can only do when you’re really close to someone.
I shook the pom-pom box and said, ‘I’d better go and deliver these.’
‘I’ll give you a hand.’ Charlie made a move for the box.
I pulled the other way. ‘I can manage,
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