The Tall Tales of Daphne Monroe

Tuesday 28th April

5:30pm

My phone rings right in the middle of my maths homework and I've never been so pleased for a distraction in all my life. My happiness increases tenfold when I realise that Rose is the one who is calling me.

'Rose!'

'Daph!' she sounds anxious, and immediately my senses go on high alert.

'Are you OK?' I ask.

'Of course! I'm just desperate to know if anything has happened between you and Prince Dreamboat!' she screeches down the phone.

I immediately relax only to tense up once more.

'Sorry to disappoint, Rose. That's a big fat nada on that one.'

'What?' she sounds disappointed, and for some inexplicable reason I feel guilty. Which is ridiculous because I am not the one who hasn't rescheduled our date yet, that's down to Prince Dreamboat.

I say this to Rose, but she just clicks her tongue.

'Men like strong women, Daphne. You've got to show him confidence if you want to keep him interested.'

I roll my eyes and stare down at the equations on my desk, looking for the answers to both the questions on the page and the ones in my head regarding Théo. Sadly, no moment of clarity comes.

'Since when did you become so knowledgeable?'

'Since Ryan Portman asked me out and I said yes,' she replies smugly. I scream down the phone in excitement.

'Ryan Portman? Are you kidding me right now?' I shout, and she laughs loudly.

'Yep, the one and only.'

'He is the fittest boy in our year, and you have only been in love with him since FOREVER,' I carry on.

Right at this moment Dad comes bounding into my room, waving a saucepan around his head wildly looking left and right. He looks like a crazy grizzly bear in faded jeans and a Cameroon football shirt I have no idea where he got. He's never been to Cameroon- he's probably never even heard of it.

'What- what the hell is going on in here?' he pants when he realises I am in no immediate danger. 'Why are you screaming?'

'Dad, get out!' I screech.

When he notices I'm on the phone and can hear Rose's voice coming out of it he just rolls his eyes and sighs heavily.

'I swear, you two girls and your drama is going to be the death of me,' he mutters as he leaves the room, swinging the pan around on his finger. 'Dinner in an hour, Scooby!"

'So...tell me everything!' I say once I'm sure Dad is out of earshot. Rose has been in love with Ryan since he moved to our school in year eight. She's just never been brave enough to...

'Wait, hold on a second. How did you manage to snag Ryan Portman?' I ask disbelievingly. 'The last I remember you could barely look him in the eye, let alone talk to him.'

Rose lets out a snort of laughter.

'Hello? Pot calling the kettle black. Tell me, how are you around Prince Dreamboat?' she asks, and I have to admit she has a point. I am a mess.

'I-'

'And yet you still managed to get a date with him,' she continues on as though I hadn't interrupted.