fades away.
This is so totally awkward.
Isabella’s only response is to pull her phone out of her bag and scan it. She’s permanently attached to the thing.All the way here she’s been sending texts and laughing at secret messages she doesn’t want to share.
“There are my friends.” I point to where Danny, Millie and Jamie are messing around on the street corner, waiting for us. Jamie’s throwing a football at Danny’s head. Danny’s trying to head it back, but keeps missing.
“Hi, Suze.” I see the boys checking Isabella out and trying not to stare. Danny blushes a bit and chews at the corner of his thumb, something he always does when he’s nervous.
Yup, Isabella is
seriously
pretty. Even my utterly unobservant boyfriend’s noticed.
“This is Isabella,” I say, gesturing to her. “Isabella, this is my boyfriend, Danny, my best friend, Millie, and Jamie, who’s Millie’s boyfriend.”
“Hey! And your friend too,” Jamie says.
Isabella forces a smile and we all stand around, nobody quite knowing what to say. “Shall we go?” I ask. “That’s Bojangles up there, Isabella.”
“It’s amazing,” Millie enthuses. “They do the best cake in the world.”
“We hang out there a lot,” I explain.
“Are you sure it’s open?” Jamie asks. “It’s kind of dark.”
“Course it is,” Millie says confidently, reaching out her hand to push the door. “Bojangles is always open… Oh. It’s locked.”
“Look, how unobservant are you?” Danny says. “There’s a sign up. What does it say?”
“Oh no!” Millie says, reading the notice. “It’s from Hannah. She says a pipe burst yesterday, it flooded the café, and now it’s closed for renovations. It’s going to be shut indefinitely until they get it all sorted. This is the worst news ever!”
“How can it be closed indefinitely?” I say. “It’s the
holidays
. Where are we supposed to hang out now?”
We peer through the window. Through the gloom we can just about see inside and it does look a real mess. Half the ceiling has fallen in, and there are water marks up the walls.
“Tastee Burga?” Jamie says hopefully.
“No,” I say. “Enough with the Tastee Burga already. How many burgers can one boy eat, anyway?”
“My capacity for meat is all-encompassing,” Jamie says proudly.
“You’re not kidding,” I say.
“There’s another coffee place just there,” Isabella says, pointing to the sign of a well-known coffee chain.
“We don’t go in there,” Jamie says. “Millie started boycotting them a couple of months ago.”
“What about the park?” I offer.
“The park?” Isabella says, looking up at the ominousgrey clouds above our heads. “Isn’t that for kids?”
“Anyone got any better ideas?” I ask.
Nobody has.
So we head to the park, where Millie and I huddle down onto a bench (Isabella refuses to sit on the soggy wood in case she gets her very expensive-looking coat dirty), and Jamie and Danny start messing around with the football again.
“So, are you liking being back in England?” Millie asks Isabella.
Isabella shrugs. “I only just got here. But I have to say, this place is dead.”
Millie laughs. “Tell me about it. You’re going to London in a couple of weeks, aren’t you?”
“Yeah. But I’d much rather be going back to Italy. It’s cold here,” Isabella says. “Isn’t it supposed to be summer?”
We stare at the grey sky. You’d hardly know it was July.
Millie sighs. “Rubbish, isn’t it? I’ve got a ton of new summer clothes I want to wear, but it’s too cold.”
“I love what you’re wearing now,” Isabella says.
Is the ice queen thawing? That’s the nicest thing I’ve heard her say since she arrived. Although, to be fair, Millie does look great. She’s wearing a gorgeous red pinafore dress with purple pockets over a long-sleeved turquoise T-shirt and zebra print tights. On top she’s got her vintagecream mac. I don’t know how she does it. Anyone
This is so totally awkward.
Isabella’s only response is to pull her phone out of her bag and scan it. She’s permanently attached to the thing.All the way here she’s been sending texts and laughing at secret messages she doesn’t want to share.
“There are my friends.” I point to where Danny, Millie and Jamie are messing around on the street corner, waiting for us. Jamie’s throwing a football at Danny’s head. Danny’s trying to head it back, but keeps missing.
“Hi, Suze.” I see the boys checking Isabella out and trying not to stare. Danny blushes a bit and chews at the corner of his thumb, something he always does when he’s nervous.
Yup, Isabella is
seriously
pretty. Even my utterly unobservant boyfriend’s noticed.
“This is Isabella,” I say, gesturing to her. “Isabella, this is my boyfriend, Danny, my best friend, Millie, and Jamie, who’s Millie’s boyfriend.”
“Hey! And your friend too,” Jamie says.
Isabella forces a smile and we all stand around, nobody quite knowing what to say. “Shall we go?” I ask. “That’s Bojangles up there, Isabella.”
“It’s amazing,” Millie enthuses. “They do the best cake in the world.”
“We hang out there a lot,” I explain.
“Are you sure it’s open?” Jamie asks. “It’s kind of dark.”
“Course it is,” Millie says confidently, reaching out her hand to push the door. “Bojangles is always open… Oh. It’s locked.”
“Look, how unobservant are you?” Danny says. “There’s a sign up. What does it say?”
“Oh no!” Millie says, reading the notice. “It’s from Hannah. She says a pipe burst yesterday, it flooded the café, and now it’s closed for renovations. It’s going to be shut indefinitely until they get it all sorted. This is the worst news ever!”
“How can it be closed indefinitely?” I say. “It’s the
holidays
. Where are we supposed to hang out now?”
We peer through the window. Through the gloom we can just about see inside and it does look a real mess. Half the ceiling has fallen in, and there are water marks up the walls.
“Tastee Burga?” Jamie says hopefully.
“No,” I say. “Enough with the Tastee Burga already. How many burgers can one boy eat, anyway?”
“My capacity for meat is all-encompassing,” Jamie says proudly.
“You’re not kidding,” I say.
“There’s another coffee place just there,” Isabella says, pointing to the sign of a well-known coffee chain.
“We don’t go in there,” Jamie says. “Millie started boycotting them a couple of months ago.”
“What about the park?” I offer.
“The park?” Isabella says, looking up at the ominousgrey clouds above our heads. “Isn’t that for kids?”
“Anyone got any better ideas?” I ask.
Nobody has.
So we head to the park, where Millie and I huddle down onto a bench (Isabella refuses to sit on the soggy wood in case she gets her very expensive-looking coat dirty), and Jamie and Danny start messing around with the football again.
“So, are you liking being back in England?” Millie asks Isabella.
Isabella shrugs. “I only just got here. But I have to say, this place is dead.”
Millie laughs. “Tell me about it. You’re going to London in a couple of weeks, aren’t you?”
“Yeah. But I’d much rather be going back to Italy. It’s cold here,” Isabella says. “Isn’t it supposed to be summer?”
We stare at the grey sky. You’d hardly know it was July.
Millie sighs. “Rubbish, isn’t it? I’ve got a ton of new summer clothes I want to wear, but it’s too cold.”
“I love what you’re wearing now,” Isabella says.
Is the ice queen thawing? That’s the nicest thing I’ve heard her say since she arrived. Although, to be fair, Millie does look great. She’s wearing a gorgeous red pinafore dress with purple pockets over a long-sleeved turquoise T-shirt and zebra print tights. On top she’s got her vintagecream mac. I don’t know how she does it. Anyone
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