‘Happy Almost New Year!’ Frankie whoops down the phone.
‘Happy Almost New Year,’ I reply. ‘How’s Tenerife?’
‘Oh my God, so gorgeous,’ Frankie says. ‘It was twenty-three degrees today. And you know that boy I told you about?’
‘The one with the sexy eyes or the one with the sexy hair?’ I ask. Over the past three days, I’ve heard plenty about both of them in a series of emoji-laden messages.
‘The one with the sexy eyes,’ Frankie says in a dreamy voice.
‘What about him?’
‘He’s asked me if I want to go down to the beach to watch the fireworks with him.’
As she lets out an excited squeal, I can’t help but grin. Her break-up with Ram in October hit her hard and from all angles. Listening to her now, giddy and breathless at the prospect of cosying up with a hot boy with eyes so gorgeous she could ‘swim 195laps in them’, I’m stupidly delighted to note that the old Frankie is clearly back in business.
‘But enough about me. How’s Theo’s party?’ she asks.
‘Yeah, OK,’ I say. ‘Y’know, same old, same old …’
‘How come it’s so quiet?’
I glance across at the closed door, then down at the open book in my lap.
‘Jojo,’ Frankie says in her very best schoolmarm voice. ‘Are you even at the party?’
‘Yes, of course I am,’ I reply indignantly.
‘Then how come I can’t hear anything?’
‘I’m in the utility room,’ I admit.
‘The utility room!’ Frankie cries. ‘What on earth are you doing in there?’
‘Just taking a bit of time out.’
‘Time out from what?’
‘Everyone’s really drunk. I just wanted a break from people talking rubbish at me. Seriously, Bex has told me the same anecdote five times now. And it’s not even a very good one. I’ll go back out in a bit, I promise.’
‘Is Toby there?’ Frankie asks.
She’s talking about Toby Flint. He’s in drama club with us and Frankie is convinced he fancies me.
‘Yeah, he’s about, I think,’ I say vaguely.
‘And have you spoken to him?’
‘No.’
‘Why not?’
‘We haven’t crossed paths.’
‘Jojo, I know Theo’s house is big but it’s not that big. You could easily track Toby down if you put your mind to it.’ 196
‘Yeah, yeah.’
‘I’m serious. You need to get out of that bloody room and speak to him. Before midnight! You need to lay the groundwork.’
‘Groundwork for what?’
‘Duh! For a midnight kiss, of course!’
‘Ah, but you’re assuming I want to kiss him.’
‘Well, don’t you?’
‘No. Not especially.’
‘Why not?’
Toby is fairly nice-looking. And he’s sweet and interesting and a good actor, and on paper I know I should totally be into him. And yet, I’m just not. I’ve explained this to Frankie on multiple occasions but she’s convinced I’ll come around at some point, that my feelings will click into place if I’d only just try a bit harder.
‘We’ve gone through this,’ I say. ‘I’m just not feeling it. And if Toby likes me as much as you reckon he does, which I don’t think is the case for one minute by the way, then I especially don’t want to mess him around.’
‘OK, fine. So who are you going to kiss?’ she asks.
‘I don’t know. Maybe no one.’
Probably no one.
Almost certainly no one.
‘But it’s New Year’s Eve! Kissing is practically compulsory.’
‘Since when?’
‘Since … I don’t know, for ever!’
In the background I can hear someone calling Frankie’s name.
‘Oh, balls. Jojo, I have to go. Our mains are here.’
‘You’re still eating? It’s nearly eleven.’
‘That’s how they do it here. Last night we weren’t finished until nearly one.’ 197
‘Sounds fun,’ I say.
‘It really is. I bloody miss you, though. I wish you were here so badly.’
‘No, you don’t. Because if I was there I’d totally get in the way of your sexy walk on the beach with the boy with the sexy eyes.’
She laughs. Mainly because she knows I’m right. Frankie may be boy-crazy, but she’s also loyal to a fault. ‘Sisters before Misters’ is her motto, the girl-power anthem ‘Wannabe’ by the Spice Girls her theme song.
‘Anyone else there miss me?’ she asks.
‘Uh-huh. Seriously, I’ve lost count of the number of people who’ve come up to me asking where you are. Some of them seemed genuinely disturbed by your absence, like the idea of the two of us not being in the same room is personally offensive to them.’
‘And they’d be absolutely right,’ Frankie says. ‘It’s not natural, quite frankly. When I get back on Wednesday, I’m coming straight over to yours and I’m going to stay there until we go back to school on Monday, whether you like it or not.’
‘I’m gonna hold you to that,’ I say happily.
‘Excellent.’
‘Frankie!’ a voice calls.
Frankie groans. ‘OK, I really have to go now. Promise me you’ll go back to the party the second you hang up.’
‘Can I at least finish my chapter first?’ I ask.
‘You’re reading?!?’ Frankie splutters.
‘How else am I supposed to pass the time?’
‘Are you seriously telling me you brought a book along with you to a New Year’s Eve party?’
‘No. I found it on a bookshelf in the living room.’ 198
‘Jojo, I adore you, you know I do, but you really do baffle me sometimes.’
‘Have a lovely time with the boy with the eyes. Do all the things I wouldn’t do.’
‘Ha! Message me if you snog Toby. If you snog anyone.’
I roll my eyes. ‘I will. Don’t get your hopes up, though.’
‘I love you, Joanna Rosalind Bright.’
‘And I love you, Francesca Elena Ricci.’
‘Happy New Year.’
‘Happy New Year.’
I hang up and go back to my book, using the torch on my phone so I can see the tiny print.
I’ve read maybe another three or so pages when the doorknob begins to turn. My heart sinks. There’s still another three whole hours before Bex’s dad comes to pick us up. I’d been naively hoping I could commandeer the utility room as my own private hideout until then.
The door creaks open, yellow light from the kitchen leaking in.
A figure – a guy – stands in silhouette.
‘Oh, sorry,’ he says, noticing me in the gloom. ‘I didn’t realize anyone was in here.’
‘Wait a second. Ram, is that you?’ I shine my phone in the direction of his face.
He shields his eyes and squints. ‘Jojo?’
‘Hello!’
‘Oh my God, long time no see. Hello!’
I beam. In the aftermath of the break-up I’d forgotten just how much I enjoyed hanging out with Ram. ‘What are you doing here?’ I ask.
‘I’ve been asking myself that since I got here.’199
‘Ah. Not having a great time?’
‘Not the best.’ He pauses, casually eyeing the space on the tumble-dryer beside me. ‘Mind if I join you?’