Angel Kiss - Laura Jane Cassidy [34]
I put my name in, followed by a smiley face. I really was in a good mood now that school was a less intimidating prospect. I didn’t think I’d ever feel OK about the uniform though. Wine was so not my colour.
I noticed one new email. It was a friend request from Emily. I turned and smiled at her.
‘We’re officially friends now,’ she said jokingly.
Ali brought over the tea and cupcakes. We moved away from the computers and sat down at one of the tables. A few minutes later I noticed a dark-haired guy with glasses outside approaching the café door. He seemed to spot Emily and stepped back to check his reflection in the glass. When he saw me looking he stopped fixing his hair and opened the door.
‘David!’ said Emily. ‘You’re back!’ She got up and rushed over to the door to give him a hug. ‘How was your trip?’
‘Hi, Emily,’ he replied, blushing slightly from her embrace. ‘It was brilliant. Really cool.’
I remembered Nick and Colin had mentioned David at the table quiz. He had braces and was about a foot taller than Emily. From his reaction to her hug I guessed he was one of her many admirers.
‘David, this is Jacki,’ said Emily, grabbing his arm and bringing him over to the table.
‘Hi,’ said David, sitting down beside Emily. ‘Nice to meet you.’
‘I just moved here,’ I said. ‘A few weeks ago.’
‘Yeah, I heard,’ said David. ‘Nick told me about you.’
Now it was my turn to blush. Nick told him about me. So Nick had been talking about me. Which meant Nick was thinking about me. I wanted to ask him what Nick had said. I wanted to ask him to repeat every single syllable exactly as he’d heard it, but I decided to keep quiet and hope no one could see my delight.
‘You had fun in Japan then?’ said Emily.
‘It was epic. I have Colin’s stuff here,’ he said, putting a plastic bag with some Japanese lettering on it on the table. ‘And I got you something,’ he added, rummaging through its contents. He pulled out a little Hello Kitty purse and gave it to Emily.
‘Aww, wow! Thanks!’
‘And you can have Sarah’s one,’ he said to me.
‘Oh … I don’t think I –’
‘No, it’s no problem – have it. I’m so glad I don’t have to pretend to like that girl any more.’ David handed me the purse. I said thanks, but felt awkward taking it from him. David told us more about his holiday, and then he and Emily started to gossip about people I didn’t know. My mind began to wander. I thought about Beth again. How could somebody just vanish? Especially in a little village? How could she be cycling home one minute, and be gone the next? But when I thought of her I didn’t imagine her cycling along the road. I thought of her pale frozen body lying on the ground. I hated that image. It was really detailed and horribly clear. I gripped the plastic purse so tightly that it left an imprint in my palm.
‘Here’s Nick,’ whispered Emily.
I looked up to see him trudging along the path outside. I put the purse in my bag and banished the image of Beth from my mind. Nick spotted us inside and pushed open the door. He looked tired as he came over to the table. Tired and grumpy. But still very hot.
‘We heard what happened …’ said Emily sympathetically. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘I don’t want to talk about it,’ he said, sitting across from me.
Nick proceeded to eat four cupcakes and ignored Emily’s advice that comfort eating would solve nothing. I wanted to say something to him, but was afraid I’d say the wrong thing. I didn’t want to mess up my chances.
Shortly afterwards Colin came into the café, and almost dived for the bag when he saw it on the table. His face lit up as he pulled out the DVDs and Manga stuff. ‘David, you’re an absolute legend,’ he said. ‘I love you.’
‘Steady now,’ said David.
Colin smiled as he flicked through one of the books. I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen anyone look so happy. It reminded me of Mum when she’d found our Italian kitchen tiles at half price.
‘Fancy going to Sligo later?’ said Nick. ‘I need to get away from here.’
I’d have