The Boyfriend Dilemma by Fiona Foden

chest.
    â€œC’mon,” CJ says. “Let’s go back to the market. Ben said he’d see us there…”
    Ben? This day just gets better and better…
    â€œIn a minute,” Toni says, pulling a huge candy dummy from her pocket and giving it a lick. Wouldn’t you think, at seventeen years old, you might not want to be seen with dummy sweets?
    I start to walk away. God, I wish Zoe was here. Not to stick up for me – no one around here stands up to Toni – but just so I’d feel less alone.
    â€œYour T-shirt’s on back to front,” Toni yells after me. “Can’t your parents afford to buy you new stuff, Layla? Not even shoes?” Tears are filling my eyes now, and I daren’t look back in case they’re following me. As I leave the park, I allow myself one quick glance over my shoulder. The pair of them are giggling away as they head back to the market.
    Off to meet Ben, probably. Well, see if I care. I’m barely aware of running the rest of the way, and when I burst into our house, Gran lets out a little yelp of surprise from the kitchen. “You gave me a shock there!” she says.
    â€œSorry, Gran.” I try to steady my breath. “Where’s Mum?”
    â€œStill at the swimming pool. Won’t be long now. So where’ve you been today?”
    â€œJust a vintage market, Gran,” I say, praying she won’t comment on my pink, teary eyes or my inside-out, back-to-front T-shirt.
    â€œWas it fun?” she asks, smiling.
    â€œIt was great,” I fib.
    â€œWhat did you buy? C’mon, show me!”
    The beautiful dress flashes into my mind. “Nothing,” I blurt out, scampering upstairs to my room and nearly skidding on Amber’s glass beads before throwing myself onto my bed.

Chapter seven

    The first couple of days at Dad’s, he takes Matty and me out shopping, then to the cinema and the park for a picnic, so it’s not too bad. We’re hardly in the house at all, and it’s fun to hang out together, just the three of us (luckily, Olivia’s too busy with horsey stuff to join us. Or maybe Dad just wants to spend time with his own kids). But on Thursday he says he’s sorry but he has to go back to work, and leaves us alone with Rosalind and Olivia.
    â€œCome and say hello to Popsy and Lilly,” calls Rosalind, tossing back her thick mane of blonde hair.
    â€œIt’s all right, thanks,” I call back nervously, loitering by the fence at the edge of the paddock. “I can see them fine from here.” I peer at the horses in the distance and try to look as if I’m appreciating them.
    â€œYou are funny,” Rosalind laughs. “You need to get to know horses, Zoe. Learn how to relax around them so they realize you’re not a predator.”
    I can’t help laughing at that. “How could I be a predator? They’re about ten times bigger than me!”
    Rosalind smoothes her hands over her jodhpur-clad hips and flashes her dazzling teeth. According to Olivia, she has them blasted with a whitening laser every month. “Doesn’t your mum have her teeth done?” Olivia once asked in a sneery voice. No , I replied, wanting to say, She’s too busy treating children to be obsessed with her teeth . Rosalind also has her eyebrows done – not just plucked or waxed, but actually tattooed. A thin brown arch hovers above each eye.
    â€œAll of Olivia’s friends love horses,” she goes on. “You’re the first girl I’ve met who doesn’t!”
    I glance down at the huge green wellies Rosalind has lent me for this glittering occasion – i.e. watching Olivia having a riding lesson in the drizzle. “It’s not that I don’t like them,” I explain. “I think they’re beautiful. I’m just a bit scared of them.”
    Rosalind smiles and shakes her head as if she doesn’t understand me at all.
    The