Sugar Secrets…& Shocks

by Mel Sparke

  Matt was staring down at the carpet, saying nothing.

  “Honest, Matt, it won’t be as bad as you think…”

  “Well, I hope not. It would do my head in,” he said ruefully, turning and looking at her with puppy-dog eyes.

  “Come on, forget about all this stuff for a

  while,” she smiled encouragingly at him. “Tell me more about Ibiza!”

  It was as if those were the magic words. All of a sudden, the gloom lifted from him and, once again - just like that morning when he’d walked into the End - Matt’s eyes were filled with fire and optimism.

  “Oh, Anna, it was just amazing. I mean the club - it’s nothing compared to some of the big, famous clubs in Ibiza, but compared to any place I’ve played back home, well, it just blows them away!” he gushed.

  Anna smiled through his stories of brilliant party nights at Espace, his apartment and the eccentric, elderly landlady who’d fussed over him (like a Spanish version of Mad Vera from the launderette across the road), of the wild times with new friends, of the brilliant contacts he’d made. And constantly, one thought ran through her mind.

  Please let things work out between him and Cat! Because if he’s not happy at home then he’s going to get on the first plane back to Ibiza… And then what’ll happen to us?

  CHAPTER 5

  TEACHER’S PET?

  “You’re not going to hang about and watch, are you?” asked Maya, smiling over at Alex, who was sitting a little too comfortably on a high stool in the studio area of the photography club.

  “No, no,” he reassured her in his deep Scottish accent. “Once everyone arrives, I’ll leave you to it. I want to tell everyone as a group about the competition.”

  “Of course.”

  Maya carried on setting up the spotlights, feeling relieved to know that Alex wouldn’t be looking over her shoulder. One advantage of going out with your photography tutor was that he could bend the rules and open up the photographic studio a little earlier than class officially started. The flip side was that you didn’t want anyone that experienced and professional hanging around and giving you ‘helpful’ tips or criticism in front of a friend. And Vikki was due to arrive any minute.

  “What’re you reading?” she asked, spotting Alex flip his way through a magazine.

  “Just seeing what the line-up’s like at the Reading Festival this year,” he replied, holding up the music paper he was looking at. “Some good bands on… I might have been tempted to go, but it’s too close to when I’m going to Edinburgh.”

  Maya adjusted the reflective white umbrella above one of the lights, hiding her slight frown from him. It was funny how much he liked music, and was mentioning Reading, yet he hadn’t come with her and the others to the Dansby music festival, where The Loud had played. OK, so Dansby wasn’t as well known or prestigious as Reading or Glastonbury, but she couldn’t help thinking it was yet more confirmation that Alex preferred to limit the time he spent with her friends.

  Come on, Maya! she told herself. Remember what Brigid said - don’t make a big deal of this!

  “I wish you were coming with me to Edinburgh,” Alex said suddenly, his voice soft and low. “you’d love it. The exhibitions, the plays, the comedy…”

  “I know,” Maya shrugged, feeling bad that she’d had such negative thoughts just a second before. She stopped what she was doing and went over to wrap her arms around him.

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to speak to your parents?” Alex quizzed her. “God knows why, but they seem to think I’m a responsible adult. Maybe I could even get you out of this family holiday.”

  “No, don’t do that,” Maya said hurriedly. “This family stuff is important to my mum and dad -you know it is. And they give you and me a pretty easy time, considering what they’re like, so we don’t want to rock the boat, do we?”

  It was a cop-out and Maya knew it. She felt so guilty about it that she almost felt as if she was lying to Alex, instead of just avoiding a situation she wasn’t quite ready for. For Maya, the Edinburgh trip was too overwhelming for a couple of major reasons.

  First off was the fact that whenever Alex went to Edinburgh, he always stayed with his old friend (most importantly, ex-girlfriend) Charlotte, her husband and kid. Even imagining that set-up made Maya feel out of her depth.

  And then there were the sleeping arrangements. Her ultra-strict parents were only just OK with Maya dating Alex as it was; no way would they let her gallivant off to a faraway town with an older boyfriend and only one spare bed. And, for once, Maya was almost glad her parents felt like that. It was the perfect excuse to blame them rather than tell the person she loved that things were moving a little too fast for her.

  Alex, still holding the music paper in one hand, squeezed her round the waist with his other arm.

  “Never mind,” he sighed, with a resigned smile. “But maybe we could think about going away sometime for a holiday, or even just a weekend away, over the summer?”

  Maya gulped. Here it was again - despite her comforting conversation with Brigid the day before - the age thing, raising its head. With Alex’s previous girlfriends, who were all around the same age as him, the idea of going away for the weekend was probably something they didn’t think twice about, she realised. But for her, aged seventeen and a virgin, it mattered - a lot.

  But should it? Am I being silly about this? I do love him, after all… The thoughts flashed quickly through Maya’s troubled mind. But before she had to answer out loud, a gaggle of approaching voices broke the moment.

  “Oh, uh, hi…” said Ashleigh uncertainly, sticking her head around the door of the studio.

  Maya wondered why the other girl seemed to hesitate then she realised that she still had her arms around Alex’s shoulders. Quickly, Maya stepped away from him, folding her arms across her chest instead. Everyone at photography club knew by now that she and Alex were an item, but the two of them normally presented a purely platonic front during club time - Alex because as a lecturer he had to seem professional, and Maya because she hated the idea of people thinking she was going to get any special treatment in class because of who she was going out with.

  But today, she hadn’t been careful - or quick -enough.

  “Hi, Ashleigh!” said Alex brightly, slipping off his stool. “Is it filling up out there?”

  “No - I’m the first one here. Well, apart from Maya. As usual…”

  A flicker of a frown crossed Maya’s forehead. Was that a slightly sarcastic tone in Ashleigh’s voice, she wondered, gazing at Brigid’s niece. She hadn’t imagined it, she was sure. And the look on Ashleigh’s face definitely had more than a hint of a sneer.

  Maybe it’s just embarrassment at catching me and Alex together like this, Maya tried to convince herself. “I just thought I’d come down early and set up the studio lights, that’s all,” she tried to say conversationally. “They always take the longest time, don’t they?”

  “I wouldn’t know. Some off us never seem to get a turn to use the studio,” said Ashleigh snippily.

  “Well, you know the way it works, Ash,” smiled Alex, in his best teacher-voice. “Put your name down on the list outside and that way you’re guaranteed to have a slot booked.”

  Ashleigh looked at both Alex and Maya and opened her mouth as if to say something. Then she seemed to think better of it and paused.

  “Anyway, are you expecting someone?” Ashleigh now addressed Maya directly, her eyes blank and unreadable. “I just showed a couple of girls in.”

  “A couple of girls?” Maya repeated, confused.

  Who else is here with Vikki? she wondered, walking towards the doorway.

  “God, it’s not too glamorous, is it?” Maya heard a familiar voice say.

  “I think it’s great!” Vikki’s rich voice boomed in reply. “I love all these photos on the wall! It’s like a gallery!”

  “Well, hello there, Cat!” Alex grinned, appearing by his girlfriend’s side. He knew all of Maya’s friend
s enough not to be offended at Cat’s tactless remark. “Sorry this place doesn’t live up to your expectations. It’s not a palace, but we call it home!”

  “I just thought it would be flasher than this!” said Cat matter-of-factly, staring around the plain, functional space that was split into work stations, a photo studio area and a dark room, totally oblivious to any feelings she might be stamping on.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Maya spotted Ashleigh warily eyeing Cat up.

  “Cat, what are you doing here?” Maya managed to ask at last.

  “Lending Vikki my professional services, of course!” Cat grinned, brandishing a large metallic box - the sort professional make-up artists carry their equipment in. By her side, Vikki shrugged and smiled apologetically. Obviously, Cat’s tagging along hadn’t been her idea.

  “Hi, you must be Vikki - I’m Alex.”

  Maya smiled as she watched her boyfriend introduce himself to Cat’s college mate. That was one good thing about going out with someone older - they were confident enough to chat to anyone, unlike many of the boys in her year at sixth form who had all the social graces of a warthog.

  “We’ve met before, at the Railway Tavern, when The Loud have been playing,” Alex continued, “but never had the chance to be introduced properly.”

  Vikki tossed her long sheaves of plaited hair and shook Alex’s hand robustly.

  “Yeah - and you were at Matt’s party a while back too, weren’t you?” she pointed out, getting them both grinning wryly at the memory of Matt’s big night that went badly wrong. Alex had tried to put a stop to a fight that had broken out - a fight that had sent burning candles flying and had resulted in an emergency visit from the fire department.

  But listening to the two of them talk, there was something about the exchange between Alex and Vikki that struck Maya; she’d been going out with Alex for nearly five months now. Had he and Vikki really only met so seldom?

  Cat’s brought Vikki out with us all quite often now, Maya thought. It just goes to show how little time me and Alex actually spend together with my friends…

  Maya stopped herself as she realised she was doing it again. And, thinking about it, she realised that she’d actually come a long way with her ultra-strict parents. Until not so very long ago, they’d been very tough on her about the number of nights out she was allowed per week, in case it interfered with her studies. And until not so very long ago, she’d never have believed that her parents would have allowed her to have a boyfriend while she was still at school.

  Maybe I should be counting my blessings instead of finding faults, Maya told herself again.

  “Um, well… Vikki, Cat, come on through!” Maya said aloud to the girls, shaking herself into action.

  “Right, I’ll leave you to it,” said Alex, ushering Vikki and Cat through to the studio in Maya’s wake. “But I’ll only be out here, Cat, so if you find the place too grim, just scream and I’ll come and get you!”

  “Ha, ha!” said Cat sarcastically, realising she was being teased.

  “So what are you going to do with me?” beamed Vikki, dropping her bag on the floor of the studio and turning to Maya.

  “Well, I just want you to sit on this stool and I’ll do a few head shots of you,” Maya explained. “I’ve mostly done outdoor shots up till now and I need to practise my studio work.”

  “Got somewhere I can sort out my stuff?” asked Cat, gazing around.

  “Yep - there’s a little table over there.” Maya pointed to a small school-type desk standing against the left-hand wall.

  “Great. You know, Maya, I was so excited when Vikki told me that you guys were doing this,” Cat chirped, unclipping the catches on the metallic box and pulling out expanding tray upon tray of make-up. “I mean, I know I’m on holiday from college and everything, but there’s no harm getting a bit of practice in, is there?”

  “Er, how long will it take to do, Cat?” Maya asked dubiously.

  “Oh, about an hour for the make-up,” said Cat casually, fanning out an array of brushes on the desk as she talked. “And then, if we want to do something with her hair, that’ll take another hour…”

  Maya shot a look at Vikki.

  “Help!” Vikki mouthed back. She seemed to be just as taken aback as Maya to realise that Cat saw this as a perfect opportunity to ply her Beauty Course talents. What Cat didn’t seem to realise was that this was only a two-hour photography club, not an all-day shoot for Vogue.

  Cat may have been be doing really well at college, but all her friends knew that ‘natural’ wasn’t a look that Cat was overly fond of, either for herself or anybody else within daubing distance.

  “Um, Cat - I want to do Vikki more or less just as she is…” said Maya, choosing her words carefully.

  “But,” said Cat, looking crestfallen, “she’ll need a bit of powder at least - just to stop any shine! And some lip balm!”

  “OK, OK - sure. Powder, lip balm…” Maya shrugged, giving in to pacify Cat a little. “If that’s all right with you, Vik?”

  “Sure!” nodded Vikki, with a relieved smile.

  “And she’ll need a little bit of mascara, even for a no make-up look. And will her hands be in it? ‘Cause I could do a nice French manicure. That’s very natural, isn’t it? And what about…”

  As Cat rummaged in her box of make-up tricks, Maya knew for sure that even when it came to photography, it was a case of two’s company and three’s a crowd.

  “How’d it go?” asked Billy Sanderson, opening the cupboard door and putting away the box of photographic paper.

  All around him, everyone was packing up for the night as the photography club drew to a close. Maya had just seen Vikki and Cat off moments before.

  “OK. But not as good as it could have been,” Maya sighed, leaning up against the worktop beside her friend. “Cat couldn’t stop herself interfering all the way through the session.”

  “What, running over with her powder puff every five minutes?” Billy grinned broadly.

  “If only!” said Maya, raising her eyebrows. “No, she kept sticking her oar in about angles and lighting and everything. She was driving me mad!”

  “Well, that’s nothing new, is it?” Billy laughed, locking the cupboard behind him. “Just be glad you only have her driving you mad now and then. Just think what it’s going to be like for Matt, having to live with her from now on!”

  “Oh, don’t!” said Maya, grimacing.

  She cringed to think how that would turn out. She hadn’t seen or spoken to Matt since he’d come home the day before, but somehow she wasn’t entirely convinced by Cat’s casual remark about him being “cool” about everything when she’d asked her earlier, during the photo shoot.

  “Hey!” said Billy, suddenly changing the subject. “Alex told us all about this brilliant photo competition tonight, when you were in the studio. Did you hear about it?”

  “Yes, sure,” Maya nodded in reply. “Alex told me at the weekend.”

  “Well, that figures. Maya always gets to know everything before the rest of us…”

  Maya whipped her head around and found Ashleigh standing close by.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Maya frowned, feeling her heart pattering with shock at the comment. And this time there was no mistaking the sarcastic tone.

  “Me? Nothing,” said Ashleigh, in a slow, cheeky manner that basically meant the opposite.

  Maya didn’t know what to say and stared incredulously at Ashleigh’s back as the girl strode off.

  “Did you hear that?” she asked Billy, wide-eyed.

  “Yeah, but don’t worry about it. She’s been grouchy to everyone all evening,” Billy shrugged.

  “But why?” asked Maya. “What’s up with her?”

  “Well,” said Billy, pulling a face as if Maya wasn’t going to like what he was going to say next, “she’s been saying you always get first pick at everything. You know, equipment and stuff. And she thinks Alex spends more time helping you ‘cause
of you two going out and everything.”

  “That’s so not true!” said Maya indignantly. “Alex never gives me preferential treatment!”

  Billy pulled another face, but said nothing.

  “What?” Maya asked, seeing that he’d obviously kept something back.

  “Well…” shrugged Billy, “she was moaning to Andy earlier that she wanted to use the studio tonight for some still life shots…”

  “But she hadn’t booked it! I wouldn’t have gone in there if her name was down on the list for studio time!” said Maya defensively.

  “I guess she thought the same; she must have thought it was free - since you hadn’t booked in either,” Billy replied, playing devil’s advocate.

  “But I checked with Alex! I asked him when I saw him on Sat—” Maya stopped mid-sentence.

  It wasn’t as if Ashleigh was the one hanging out in her photography tutor’s flat at weekends and getting to the front of the queue when it came to club matters.

  It was no wonder, Maya suddenly realised, that Ashleigh felt that a big, fat case of favouritism was going on right under her nose.

  CHAPTER 6

  NOT-SO-HAPPY FAMILIES

  “Well, this is nice, isn’t it?” beamed Matthew Ryan Snr.

  Matt Ryan Jnr wasn’t sure whether his father was referring to the food or the fact that the four of them were sitting round the dining room table this Wednesday evening, playing happy families (supposedly). But he had a feeling that his dad was going on about Cat and her mum’s presence rather than the meal, since that was just a collection of the usual microwave-friendly convenience food that Matt and his dad always specialised in.

  “It was a really lovely thought. Catrina!” Matt Ryan Snr continued, his eyes drifting over the huge flower arrangement that towered out of a vase in the middle of the black ash table. “You’ll have to forgive me for being a silly, middle-aged man and not knowing much about flowers, but what exactly are they?”

  “Well,” Cat replied, “just a mixture, really. I just went for anything yellow!”

  “To match your teeth,” said Matt, not even bothering to look up from his plate at Cat’s floral efforts.