Mates, Dates and ♥♡♥ Inflatable Bras. Book 1

Chapter 8- Giving Nesta a Second Chance

   ‘I’m sure she wouldn’t do anything like that,’ said Mum after I’d blurted out all my worst fears about Tony when I got home later that day. ‘Nesta seems like a really nice girl.’

   Mums are a peculiar species. Sympathetic when you don’t expect it and unsupportive when you do.

   ‘She was laughing at me, Mum, I swear she was. And she kept asking him what he liked about girls. Then Izzie joined in. And they were all going on about how to get a boy. It was so embarrassing.’

   ‘So you really like this Tony, do you?’

   I nodded, turning my usual bright purple.

   ‘How old is he?’

   ‘Seventeen,’ I said.

   ‘Well, if he’s got any sense at all, he’ll like you too.’

   ‘Yeah but it’s like, I’m Nesta’s friend. His kid sister’s friend. How am I ever going to get him to take me seriously?’

   Suddenly I felt awkward talking about it all to Mum. I should be discussing this with Izzie. But that was out of the question.

   ‘You won’t ever say, will you, Mum? You know, that I like Tony. Not to anyone. Not Steve or Lal or Nesta or Izzie or anyone.’

   ‘Course not if you don’t want me to. But I don’t really understand why Nesta and Izzie can’t know. They are your friends.’

   I pulled a face.

   ‘Why the face?’ asked Mum.

   I shrugged. ‘Since Nesta came, it’s like her and Izzie are friends and I’m the odd one out.’

   ‘And how do you feel about that?’ she asked, going into shrink mode. I felt like one of her patients. I’ve heard her come out with the ‘and how do you feel?’ line a hundred times when she’s been on the phone to one of them.

   ‘I feel left out,’ I said.

   ‘I’m sure you’re imagining it,’ said Mum. ‘Izzie will always be your friend. And I think Nesta wants to be too if you’ll let her.’

   ‘You don’t understand,’ I said.

   I felt cross. How could she know what it had been like lately?

   I wasn’t going to say any more.

   ‘Well how do you think Nesta feels?’ asked Mum. ‘It can’t have been easy for her, starting a new school, new area and everything.’

   ‘Oh, she’s fine. Her life is completely together. She lives in an amazing flat. All the boys fancy her. And now she has Izzie.’

   I felt as if I was going to cry. Everyone cared more about Nesta Williams than they did about me. I bit my bottom lip. I wasn’t going to blub. Not in front of Mum. No one understands. And Tony likes girls who know who they are and what they want and I still don’t have a clue. And there’s no one to talk to anymore.

   I picked up Mum’s Good Housekeeping magazine and started leafing through it. She got the message. Counselling session over. She started tidying up around me and as she moved things off the kitchen table, she put her hand on her cards.

   ‘Angel Card?’she asked with a grin. Now even she was laughing at me. It wasn’t funny.

   ‘No thanks,’ I grumbled. ‘Those stupid cards have got me into enough trouble as it is.’

   ‘Suit yourself,’ said Mum and went upstairs.

   When she’d gone, I noticed she’d left the cards on the table. I stuck my tongue out at them. But then I couldn’t resist. Just one more to see what it said. I picked them up, shuffled and chose one.

   If you want a friend, be a friend, it said.
Arggghhhh. I threw the card down. This was getting spooky. They always seemed to say just the right thing. If you want a friend, be a friend. That was it. I hadn’t exactly gone out of my way to be Nesta’s friend. I’d been so busy thinking that she’d stolen Izzie from me that I hadn’t even thought about how I’d come across to her.

   And I suppose Mum was right. It can’t have been easy for her starting a new school where everyone already knows each other.

OK, Nesta Williams, I thought. One more chance. I will be a friend to you.

   And see what happens.

👙👙

   I went up to my room and had a good think about what I could do to be more of a friend to Nesta.

   Make her a cake. No, that’s silly. Anyway she’s always on a diet. Invite her over for a film night with Steve and Lal. No. Lal will only drool over her.

   I know. I’ll organise a girlie night. Izzie and I often have them, well used to have them, we haven’t done one for ages. We can put on face-packs and do manicures and do each other’s hair. Nesta’ll like that with the Clothes Show coming up. And I’ll be really really nice. In fact, I’ll even be sweet, seeing as I seem to be so good at it.

   I looked into my purse to see how much money I had left then popped out to the local chemist so I had everything in.

   I got an avocado face-pack, some purple nail polish as Nesta likes that, hair conditioner and last of all some Häagen-Dazs pecan as I know it’s Nesta’s favourite. And some Flakes because they’re Izzie’s favourite and I can’t forget her in all this. And Mum said we can send out for pizza. Excellent.

   When I got home from the shops, I went to my computer and designed an invite on e-mail to send to both of them.

Dear Izzie/Nesta
You are invited to a girls’ night at Lucy’s house tomorrow night at 6 o’clock. Bring: make-up bags, nail polish, hair stuff, favourite CDs and yourselves. I’ve got the pizza and ice-cream.

I pressed the send button and waited for their replies.