by Mates, Dates
‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘If I’ve learned anything these holidays, it’s about balance. All things in moderation and not to go overboard like I did at yours that night, Nesta…’
‘But the main thing she said about drink and drugs,’ Lucy said, ‘is that both can alter your perception. She said her anxiety was that one of us would be out of our heads and not thinking straight and someone would take advantage. A boy or someone, when we didn’t know what we were doing. She kept saying that your facility to make proper choices gets impaired, but I think that’s only if you drink too much.’
I thought back to last night. That was exactly what Josh wanted,‘ I said. ’Me to get drunk so that he could have a jolly old grope.‘
Nesta shook her head. ‘Not on,’ she said. ‘Not my romantic fantasy, anyway. If you have to get totally plastered to get it on with a boy, then it can’t be right, can it? I’d want to be sure that I wanted to do it sober or having had a drink. It’s like, if you have to get out of your head to do it, maybe you’re trying to get out of the situation on some level. It can’t be what you really want to do.’
‘And then Mum started on about drugs,’ Lucy continued. ‘She said that one of the biggest risks is that sometimes stuff gets mixed in with them and people don’t know what they’re actually taking. Unless you know exactly where the drugs have come from, they could be laced with anything.’
‘Well, at least she didn’t give you the sex lecture,’ I said. ‘That can be really embarrassing.’
‘Oh, don’t worry, I got that one,’ said TJ. ‘Sometimes it’s hard having doctors as parents, as they see the down-side of everything and think they have to pass it all on. I got a lecture about sexually transmitted diseases and the number of teenage pregnancies my mum sees. She said everyone thinks it can’t happen to them and some of the girls she sees are our age and got pregnant the very first time they had sex.’
I remembered what Ben had said last night, about never going along with a boy for fear of hurting his feelings. I wondered if some of the girls who got pregnant simply got into a situation and didn’t know how to get out of it - didn’t have the courage to say that they weren’t ready. Or got so drunk, they didn’t realise how far they were going until it was too late, or so drunk that they didn’t even care about the risks.
‘You know what, girls?’ I said. ‘Back to school tomorrow, and as TJ said, it’s a new start. We don’t know what we’re going to encounter, and what boys are on the horizon for the next year. Or what any of us are going to go through. I reckon we need to make some ground rules to mark our Pringle bonding. It wasn’t enough to eat a bite of it and think we’d be bonded for life…’
‘Oh no…“ said Nesta. ’What are you going to make us do now?‘
‘Nothing bad. It’s just, there are times when maybe we need to watch out for each other. I think we should think about what we really need from each other when there are boys around or drink or drugs, or whatever. How about we all write down a ground rule? Fold it up and put in a hat. I’ll do a printout of them on my computer for us all to keep.’
‘Good idea,’ said Nesta. ‘Rule One: no having to prick your thumb in order to be mates.’
I punched her arm. ‘Yeah, that and a few others.’
Ground Rules for Mates
· Remember: trying to change or save a boy is a lost cause. The only time you can change a boy is when he’s a baby.
· If you’re going to experiment with anything, whatever it is, make sure you know where it’s come from. And do it somewhere safe with someone you trust. Drugs and drink can be laced.
· If one of us gets off with a boy the rest of us don’t know, the others must keep an eye out for where we are.
· Always make sure all of us have got a lift home or are travelling home together.
· Keep talking to each other, even if one of us has gone a bit weird.
C h a p t e r 1 6
Police
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Later in the afternoon, we went up to Muswell Hill to buy some special card for printing our ground rules on to. Halfway down the Broadway, who should we see standing outside Marks and Spencer, but Josh.
Nesta nudged me. ‘Eyes right,’ she said. ‘Trouble ahead.’
Josh hadn’t seen me, and for a moment, I felt like turning around and running. But no, I told myself, be grown-up about this. I can’t spend my life running away from boys I’ve had a bad time with.
‘Do you want us to come with you?’ asked TJ. I shook my head. ‘Nah, just give me a minute.’ The girls headed into a nick-nack shop next to Marks and Spencer and I took a deep breath and walked over to Josh. He looked very surprised to see me, like a rabbit caught in the headlights. I smiled. ‘Hey, Josh.’
He looked up and down the road as though he wanted to make a getaway.
‘I wasn’t that bad, was I?’ I said, trying to make a joke of last night.
‘Nah, course not,’ he said, nervously glancing into Marks and Spencer as though looking for someone.
‘Are you all right?’ I asked.
Just at that moment, I saw a policeman come out of the shop. He took one look at Josh and headed straight for him. Now Josh really did look uncomfortable. He stared at the pavement, like he was hoping it would open up and swallow him whole. I glanced over at the policeman. No doubt about it, he was definitely coming for Josh. Hell’s bells, I thought, as my mind began to run riot. Josh is in trouble. Maybe he’s been caught smoking dope in the park. Oh God, he’s going to be arrested. I started to panic inside. Oh no, what if it gets back to Mum just when I’ve made it up with her. It will ruin everything.
The policeman stopped, turned to look at me and smiled a really friendly smile. Uh? I thought. What’s going on?
‘Well, come on, then, Josh,’ said the policeman. ‘Introduce us.’
Josh sighed heavily. ‘Um, this is Izzie,’ he muttered. ‘Izzie, this is… this is… my dad.’
Josh’s dad! I thought. His dad is a policeman?
Josh’s dad beamed at me. ‘So you’re Izzie? You’re the one Josh went to see sing last night. Good to meet you.’
My brain went into overdrive. A policeman? Of course. Oh poo. I’ve been so stupid. ‘Dad spends a lot of time down at the police station, ’Josh had said. ‘Never know where he is…’ I’d just assumed that his dad was a criminal and he’d let me believe it. I could kick myself. Stupid, stupid, I thought. It was all coming back to me. Josh saying how easy it was to feed girls a line, then they just run with it, hear what they want to hear. Exactly what I’d done, and when he’d seen I’d fallen for it, hook, line and sinker, he hadn’t done anything to disillusion me. Of course, a boy like Josh would say that he didn’t want to end up like his dad. And he never actually said the word ‘criminal’.
‘Um, yeah. Izzie,’ I blustered. Close up, Josh’s dad looked really nice. Big and jolly. Nothing like the difficult man who had no time for his son, who Josh had described.
‘Josh never lets me or his mum meet his friends,’ he continued, ‘so it’s good to see one of you at last. Come over to the house one day - that is, if you can get Josh to bring you. He’s never at home these days. We never see him. I hope you’re not like that with your parents.’
I glanced at Josh. He was still staring at the pavement, looking like he wanted to die.
Later, we all went back to Lucy’s for a farewell-to-the-holiday pizza. The girls thought it was hysterical when I told them what had happened.
‘We were watching from inside the shop,’ said Lucy. ‘We thought you were going to be arrested.’
‘I know. So did I for a moment. Even though I haven’t done anything wrong, the minute he started walking towards me, I felt so guilty.’
‘Until he turned out to be Josh’s dad,’ laughed Nesta.
‘I know, I could have kicked myself! Talk about gullible, that’s me. Just called me stupoid.’
‘No,’ said TJ. ‘It could have happened to any of us.’
&nb
sp; ‘Well, never again,’ I said. ‘I’m older, wiser, smarter.’
‘Until next time,’ said Nesta. ‘Some guy will come along, flutter his eyelashes, and…’
‘Maybe,’ I said, ‘but I don’t think I’ll be quite as gullible next time.’
Once we’d finished the pizza, I got ready to go.
‘You’re leaving early, Iz,’ said Lucy.
‘Ah well. This is the new sensible Izzie. School tomorrow, so I want to get my things ready, plus I said I’d look in on Mum’s dinner party. You know it’s her birthday today? Well, she’s having some friends over. I’ll only pop in for a minute or so, just to show my face as they’ll probably all be sitting round, having some boring discussion about mortgages or something. Best show willing.’
‘Hmm, sounds like a real fun time. Not,’ said Nesta.
When I opened the front door at home, the strangest sight met my eyes. The kitchen was a total mess, and when I went and stuck my head round the living room door, I saw that all Mum’s friends were up hippie dancing. They looked more than a bit merry, especially Angus who waved at me happily from the corner of the room. I stood in the doorway for a moment and watched with amazement. Mum saw me looking and came over. ‘Do you want to join us, Izzie? Have half a glass of wine?’
‘No thanks,’ I said, then smiled. ‘I’ve just got back from my AA meeting. I’ve gone teetotal.’
One of her friends looked at me oddly. ‘Only joking,’ I said, then headed up the stairs. I knew exactly what I was going to do. Bath, bed and a hot chocolate.
While the adults downstairs danced away, reliving their youth, I was happy to have an early night, tucked up like an old grandmother. Does anyone ever act their age? I wondered as the sounds of the Rolling Stones floated up through the ceiling. I thought about banging on the ceiling and asking them to turn the music down, then I thought no, Mum’s only middle-aged once. I’ll let her have her fun.
Song for Ageing Parents
Cmon Let’s Dance
My mother is a hippie,
My stepdad is a geek,
My friends all play video games seven days a week.
I’m stuck in the middle, what else can I say?
We’re all just little kids, though some of us are grey.
So let’s dance, c’mon everybody, let’s dance.
You’re a short time growing up
And a very long time dead
Sometimes you gotta shake the serious
Right outta your head.
So let’s dance, c’mon everybody, let’s dance.
You’re a short time growing up
And a very long time dead
So let’s all shake the serious stuff
Right outta our heads.
Let’s dance, c’mon everybody, let’s dance.
So grab yourself a hippie, hang on to a freak.
Put your loudest music on and get up on your feet.
And let’s dance, c’mon everybody, let’s dance.
Let’s dance, c’mon everybody, let’s dance.
* * *
About the Author
Cathy Hopkins lives in North London with her handsome husband and three deranged cats. Or is it the other way around - her handsome cats and deranged husband? She has had over twenty books published, including the six titles in the Mates, Dates series, and the three titles in the Truth, Dare, Kiss or Promise series.
She is currently working on the seventh book in the
Mates, Dates series. Apart from that, she is looking for the answers to why we’re here, where we’ve come from and what it’s all about. She is also looking for the perfect hairdresser.
Also available from Piccadilly Press by Cathy Hopkins:
The Mates, Dates series
Mates, Dates and Inflatable Eras
Mates, Dates and Cosmic Kisses
Mates, Dates and Portobello Princesses
Mates, Dates and Sleepover Secrets
Mates, Dates and Sole Survivors
The Truth, Dare, Kiss or Promise series White Lies and Barefaced Truths
Pop Princess Teen Queens and Has-beens
