Mates, Dates and Great Escapes

by Cathy Hopkins

  Cinderella shall go to the ball, I thought when I put the phone down. Then I panicked. I had nothing to wear. I’d lent Izzie the only decent top I’d brought with me and all that was left were T-shirts I’d worn in the week. Oh God. I had half an hour. What was I going to wear? If I was Cinderella, wasn’t my fairy godmother supposed to appear with the perfect dress? So where was she?

  I opened the wardrobe but, nope, no fairy godmother in there or perfect dress. All I could see was a pile of dirty laundry.

  I pulled out my black jeans. They would be OK if only I had something to wear with them. But what? I stared round the room looking for inspiration. Some of the girls’ clothes were still scattered over the beds, but there was nothing there that fitted me. Izzie, Nesta and TJ are all so tall. With breasts. So what? Maybe I could do a Julie Andrews from The Sound of Music and make something out of the curtains. I’d brought my sewing kit with me. Mad idea, I thought. The curtains looked even dirtier than our laundry. So what? What? Arianna and Cecilia will probably be decked out in some fabulous little designer numbers, and Izzie, Nesta and TJ had all left looking like rock chicks. I don’t want to turn up looking like some boring loser. I’m a designer, I thought. If I was at home, I could knock something up in a moment. There must be something I can use. I went back to the wardrobe and pulled out what was in there to see if anything could be adapted. T-shirts. More T-shirts. A frumpy old woolly. Couple of fleeces. Bags with assorted souvenirs in. The aprons with David’s naked torso on them that we’d bought in the market up at Piazza Michelangelo.Yeah, Teddy would definitely think I was different if I turned up in one of those.

  Then I had an idea.

  I could make this work, I thought as I pulled an apron out of the bag and held it up against me. OK, so it might not be Prada or Versace, but they’re not my style anyway. I might not have a fortune to spend on clothes, but I do have ideas. If I go to the ball, I want to go in a Lucy Lovering one-off creation.

  How to Make a Water Bomb

  Take either a balloon or a condom. Fill with cold water. Tie the end. Voilà. Bombs away!

  Chapter 15

  Concert

  A spray of perfume, a last slick of lip-gloss and I pulled on my parka and went out to the reception to wait for Teddy.

  ‘Off to the ball?’ asked Mrs Elwes, appearing from the dining area and carrying a large glass of red wine.

  I nodded.‘That American boy Teddy, he got me a ticket. And we’re meeting the others there.’

  Mrs Elwes smiled.‘So what have you got on under there?’

  ‘Um, top, jeans, the usual,’ I said, then looked down at my sneakers. ‘Shame about the shoes though. I didn’t bring any glam ones as I knew we were going to be walking so much.’

  ‘What size are you, Lucy?’

  ‘Thirty-four. Why?’

  ‘Give me a tic,’ she said and ran off to her room. She was back minutes later with a large carrier bag. ‘Somebody left these on the bus. I’ve been round everyone in our group and Nesta said they weren’t yours. I think someone from the last school trip must have left them.’

  She produced a pair of shoes from the box and I gasped. They were perfect. Black, high and strappy.

  ‘But won’t someone write to reception and ask for them?’ I asked.

  Mrs Elwes took a sip of her wine. ‘Huh. I tried handing them in. The concierge just looked at me, waved me away and said, “No polish, no polish” . . . I give up with that man. He’s been completely unhelpful since day one.’

  I looked at the shoes. ‘Can I really?’

  Mrs Elwes smiled again. I think she was feeling a little happy from the wine. ‘Sure, go ahead,’ she said.

  I quickly pulled off my trainers and stepped into the shoes. They fitted perfecdy.

  ‘Cool,’ said Mrs Elwes.

  I felt like hugging her. ‘Anyone ever tell you you were their fairy godmother before?’

  ‘That’s me. Cinderella you shall go to the ball,’ said Mrs Elwes. She waved an imaginary wand, then tottered off towards the lounge.

  Five minutes later, my carriage arrived and I was on the way to the ball, er. . . rock concert. Teddy was so sweet on the journey and held my hand all the way. We didn’t say much and I felt a stab of sadness as I watched the lights of Florence flash by outside the window. This was our last night together and maybe I’d never see him again. I got the feeling that he was thinking the same thing.

  The concert was being held in an old hall on the edge of town and already there were crowds waiting outside when we arrived. They all stopped and stared when the limo pulled up.

  ‘Who is it, who is it?’ I heard a few of them ask.

  Someone in the crowd said, ‘Nobody,’ in a disappointed tone. I laughed as Teddy handed our tickets to one of the men on the door and we were ushered through.

  ‘I’m going to leave my coat in the cloakroom, then see if I can find my mates,’ I said.

  ‘And I’ll look for Arianna and Co,’ said Teddy. ‘Meet you back here in five minutes?’

  I nodded and went to the cloakroom to get rid of my parka. I felt a brief pang of nerves as I discarded the jacket and hoped that I hadn’t made a huge mistake in my outfit.

  ‘Da paura, il tuo top,’ said the girl behind the desk.

  I looked at her quizzically and shrugged. ‘English, no understand.’

  She smiled, looked me up and down, then gave me the thumbs up. Maybe my top would be OK after all.

  ‘Lucy,’ a voice called behind me. I turned, and there were Izzie and TJ making their way towards me through the people swarming inside the main hall.

  ‘Wow,’ said TJ and pointed at my top. ‘Where did you get that?’

  ‘Er . . . it’s a Lucy Lovering special. Do you like it?’

  ‘It’s brilliant,’ said TJ. ‘I want one.’

  I’d cut the bottom of the apron, hemmed the top, then cut the black ties off three more of the aprons and I’d quickly sewn on six hooks so that the ties could be laced up my back. When I put it on I had the perfect halter handkerchief top with black straps at the back.

  ‘But the choker,’ said Izzie. ‘That’s gorgeous. I’ve never seen that before.’

  I grinned. ‘Oh yes you have. It was Velcroed round the lamp in our room, remember. I’ll stick it back later.’

  The choker was my last moment of inspiration. The lamp was the only half-decent thing in our room, red with a red velvet fringe from which dripped red beads. It made the perfect choker when I took it off and tied it round my neck.

  ‘Lucy, you’re a genius,’ said Izzie. ‘And will you make me one of those tops too when we get back?’

  ‘Sure,’ I said. ‘Only we need to get down the market before our flight tomorrow and buy up some supplies, and I . . . I’m sorry, but I cut the straps off three of the aprons.’

  ‘No worries,’ said TJ. ‘They didn’t cost much and anyway, we can easily sew them back on.’

  Teddy appeared a moment later with his stepsisters. He gave me a long appreciative look up and down and I felt myself blushing.

  ‘Lucy,’ said Arianna as she came over to me and gave me the two-cheek kiss. ‘You look fab. Who’s it by?’

  ‘It’s an original,’ I said. ‘An LL creation made specially for me.’

  ‘LL,’ she said. ‘Yeah. I think I’ve heard of them.’

  ‘She made it herself,’ said TJ. ‘She’s LL.’

  Arianna looked well impressed.

  ‘It’s so cool – Italian and cheeky at the same time,’ gushed Cecilia. ‘Oh please could you make two, for Arianna and me.’

  ‘Sure,’ I said. ‘And these are my friends, Izzie and TJ. Hey, where’s Nesta?’

  ‘Oh somewhere draped all over Marco,’ said Izzie. ‘I think he finally gave in.’

  ‘I knew it was only a matter of time,’ I said.

  After that, the evening was great. The bands were wild and the music even wilder. It felt brilliant to be bopping away, even though I didn’t understand a word that anyone w
as singing. And my David top went down a storm. By the end of the evening, I had twelve orders from girls at our school, plus the two from Arianna and Cecilia. So much for it being a one-off original, I thought.

  ‘LL Designs branch out to Italy,’ said Nesta, when she took a moment to detach herself from Marco. ‘I think we should go into business.’

  ‘Yeah,’ said TJ. ‘Lucy can make them. I’ll do the advertising, Nesta can model them . . .’

  ‘And I’ll sing about them,’ grinned Izzie. ‘Oh cor blimey, very rum, the statue of David’s lost his bum . . . Hhhm. Maybe not. OK, I’ll work on the lyrics.’

  Teddy offered to give us all a lift home after the gig and we had to drag Nesta away from Marco. She was in tears when she got into the car.

  ‘He promised he’ll write, but I know he won’t,’ she sobbed.

  ‘It’s too sad . . . I meet the love of my life and we’re destined to part . . .’

  ‘Love of your life?’ asked Izzie. ‘Hey come on, you’ve hardly said two words to each other as he doesn’t speak good English.’

  ‘But I speak some Italian. Anyway, we don’t need words. We speak the language of love,’ she said and looked wistfully out of the window.

  Teddy glanced over at me and gave me a sad smile. I wonder if you are going to make false promises to write, I thought. Or if we’ll ever meet again.

  When we got back to the hotel, the girls very sensitively made themselves scarce and left Teddy and me alone. We walked around the car park, then went and sat on a wall at the back where Teddy pulled me close to him.

  ‘Guess this is it, then, Lucy Lovering Junior,’ he said as he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

  ‘Guess so, Teddy Junior.’

  He leaned forward and gave me a long, lovely kiss, then he pulled back.

  ‘I will write if you’d like,’ he said. ‘I know I want to stay in touch. We can e-mail. And I can send you photos from back home.’

  I nodded. ‘I’d like that. And, with the profits of my David tops, the first thing I’m going to buy is a digital camera so I can send you photos too.’

  ‘Cool. I’d really like to see where you live and your family and all. And send me pics of some more of your designs. I’d really love to see them if tonight’s creation is anything to go by.’

  ‘I will. And send me some of your designs. I’d really like to see them too.’

  And then there didn’t seem to be anything else to say. We kissed a little longer, but we both knew that at some time we had to part. I walked him back to his car and we held each other for a few moments.Then he got in and gave the driver the nod. I felt so sad as I watched the car start up, then make its way out of the car park, on to the street and out of my life.

  How to Make an LL Handkerchief Top Out of an Apron

  Cut off the part of the apron that would hang below the waist.

  Put on the top part and measure how long you want the top to be (i.e. to the top of your jeans or, if you have a fab midriff, cut to a few inches under your bust).

  Sew four or six loops on to the side of the apron front. Two at the bust, two at the bottom (and, if you want more lacing at the back, two in between the bust and bottom).

  Cut off the straps that would have gone round your waist and use them to lace in a criss-cross across your back.

  If you have any strap left, use it to edge the hem for a neat finish. If not, sew a hem on the bottom so that you have a neat line.

  And there’s your top. If you lace it tight, it will look really cool.

  Chapter 16

  Homeward Bound

  ‘I can’t wait to see Mojo,’ said TJ as she strapped herself into her seat belt ready for the flight back to London. ‘I’ve missed him like mad.’

  I felt a stab of guilt. I hadn’t thought about our dogs, not once. And I’d hardly thought about my family at all. There had been too much going on. But now we were settled on the plane and our goodbyes had been said, I realised that I was looking forward to going home. Back to my own bed. Peanut butter and honey on toast for breakfast and a decent cup of tea. Soon Florence and Teddy would be a distant dream, and London my reality once more. I wondered how things would have been if I’d met Teddy in my everyday life. Had it felt so special because of where we were? No, it wasn’t only the location, I decided. We’d have got on wherever we were. He was a genuinely nice guy. But back to normal, back to school. Ugh. And Tony. Hhmm. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. The school trip had been the perfect distraction from him, but now I was going back and I’d have to face him sooner or later round at Nesta’s.

  ‘You feeling OK this time?’ asked TJ, as the plane started up its engines and we began to cruise down the runway ready for take-off.

  I nodded. I did feel fine. Completely different to the journey out. I felt calm. I’d done it before. Maybe there were some aspects of my life where I had become a woman of experience.

  Everyone seemed quiet as we took off. Girls were staring out of the windows, each of us lost in our private memories of Florence.

  It didn’t last long. As soon as we were up in the sky and the seat-belt sign had been switched off, people started swapping places, girls going to sit with the boys, boys chatting up the girls, the teachers looking weary and glad it was all almost over.

  ‘Life goes on,’ I said to TJ. ‘And time waits for no man . . . or woman or something like that.’

  She laughed. ‘Feeling philosophical, are we?’

  ‘Sort of.’

  ‘You OK about leaving Teddy?’

  I nodded. ‘Sort of.Yeah. No choice had I?’ I had felt a little sad, but was fine about it in the end. He’d rung our hotel early this morning and asked if he could see me off at the airport. I’d told him no. For one thing, it would have been awkward having everyone there and staring at us, and we wouldn’t have been able to snog properly, not under the eagle eye of Mrs Elwes and Mr Johnson, who was now, according to some sources, back on twenty cigarettes a day. I wanted to remember the concert as our last time together and Teddy had understood. He’d also promised to come over to England sometime. And I’d promised I’d go to visit him in the States when I was older. I really meant it too. I had the feeling that Teddy and I would be friends for a long time.

  About an hour into the flight, an announcement came on asking everyone to return to their seats and fasten their belts.

  ‘Why’s that?’ I asked TJ. ‘We’re not landing yet.’

  ‘Probably going to run into some turbulence,’ she said. ‘It happens all the time. Nothing to worry a . . . a woaaaaaah . . .’

  A sudden lurch and it felt like the plane was falling out of the sky. A scream went through the back of the cabin. Mainly from the girls from our school. And Liam.

  ‘You OK?’ asked TJ, clinging on to the seat rest as the plane steadied itself. ‘It will probably only last a minute or so.’

  The plane took what felt like another dive and books and magazines went flying. ‘Er .. . yeah.’

  Only the turbulence didn’t last a minute. It went on and on, as if the plane had suddenly been put in a washing machine. On spin. Bump bump theewump. My new-found calm disappeared as a voice in my head said, ohmigod, we’re gonna diiiiiieeeeeeeee.

  I wasn’t the only one who looked freaked. Liam, who was sitting in the middle aisle opposite TJ and me, threw up all over Chris who was next to him.

  ‘Eeew,’ cried Nesta. ‘Gross.’ She’d never make a good nurse, I thought as Liam turned greener and greener. A flight attendant attempted to clean him up, but she was swaying all over the place and eventually gave up, reassuring him that she’d be back in a minute.

  ‘Hold hands, hold hands,’ said Izzie from the seat behind. She and Nesta leaned forward and TJ and I leaned back and we joined hands over the tops of our seats.

  ‘It’s g . . . g . . . going to be OK,’ said Nesta. ‘Just a storm or something.’

  ‘Oh no,’ moaned Izzie, as the plane lurched up, down and sideways. ‘That means lightning and
that means it might hit the plane.’

  ‘Oh thanks a lot,’ I said. ‘But, look, you guys, I just want you to know that you’re the best friends I’ve ever had and I really, really love you.’

  ‘And I want you to know that I really, really love you as well,’ said Nesta.

  ‘Try meditating,’ said Izzie as she took a deep breath. ‘It will help calm us down.’

  ‘No way,’ said Nesta. ‘If I’m going to die, I’m not spending my last moments chanting om shanti wotnot or whatever.’

  ‘Then what do you suggest?’ asked Izzie.

  ‘Praying. Begging. I dunno.’

  ‘Let’s sing,’ said TJ. ‘Hmmm. Let me think. Songs for plane crashes . . . Hhmmm. Ah ah ah ah, Staying Alive . . .’

  ‘Hhhm, good choice, TJ,’ said Izzie.

  ‘We’re not going to die,’ I said. ‘And we’re not going to crash. Cut it out, TJ. You said it would only last a few minutes.’

  ‘I lied,’ said TJ, who by now was almost as green as Liam. ‘Sometimes it can go on for ages.’

  I shut my eyes tight and, as the plane rattled and bounced along, I prayed that we’d make it home. Please, please God, let me see my mum and dad one more time. And Steve and Lal. And . . . and Tony. I wanted to see Tony one last time. Oh God. I really, really did. So we might have had fallings-out, but now, when it came to the crunch, it was his face I saw in my mind, not the lovely Teddy. We’d been through so much together. Oh God, oh God, I thought. I’ll be ever so good if you get us through this and I promise I won’t only pray at exam times or when I’m travelling. I promise, God. I’ll pray in between when everything’s all right.

  As suddenly as it had started, the turbulence ended and everyone breathed a huge sigh of relief. An announcement came over the intercom that we were through the bad weather and it was going to be plain sailing from then on. Only we’re flying, I thought, then looked out the window just to check that the pilot hadn’t actually been correct and we’d landed in the sea and were plain sailing. Or a plane sailing. But no, flurry clouds were all that I could see.