Starting Over (20 page)

‘Still do. Sometimes it's easier than others. Like some days,
your mind is all over the place and other days, it's really easy to focus. Either way, it makes you feel better - like doing it recharges the batteries.'

‘And a little nap in the day can't hurt either, though I'll try to stay awake while I do it in the future,' said Erin and went to the wardrobe to pull out our new outfits. (I'd got a fitted pearl-grey Victorian-style jacket with short collar. It had ruffle details on the side and neck and tiny military buttons down the front. I was going to wear it with my jeans and grey stripey Converse All Stars. Erin's dress was pure Hollywood and was black pleated chiffon with one shoulder strap.) ‘Now. To more important matters. What jewels to wear and what are we going to do about you getting off with Joe?'

‘Getting off with Joe? Nothing,' I replied. ‘And I mean it.'

‘Ooh. Miss Strict. I just think that sometimes you have to make things happen.'

‘No, Erin. No. And if you do, I will kill you.'

‘OK. But you need to snog him soon or some other girl will get in there. Boys like him don't stay single for very long. You need to seal the deal with a kiss and then he will never be able to forget you.'

‘Yeah, sure. We don't even know that he's going to be there.'

‘Why not? Think about it. Joe's mum works with your aunt and Anisha, so they all know each other, so chances are Joe will have had an invite.'

‘Maybe.' I put an extra slick of lip-gloss on just in case.

* * *

Dad dropped us at the house, where a boy of Dylan's age was acting as usher and guided us by torchlight down the side of the house and into a huge marquee that had been put up in the back garden.

‘Yum,' said Erin as we were both hit with the fabulous aroma of Indian cooking. It looked fabulous and a long buffet table to the left was groaning with enough food to feed an army. Seats were set out around the edge of the marquee, but most people were standing and chatting. To the right, in the corner, a disco had been set up, but the music that came out of the speakers angled in each corner of the marquee was gentle sitar-playing.

‘Ah. Now is the winter of our disco tent,' I said as I looked around and did a quick burst of disco dancing.

Erin cracked up. That was the great thing about having such a close mate, she immediately got the reference to the
Now is the winter of our discontent
line in Shakespeare's
Richard III.
Anyone else would think we were talking nonsense, but we got each other's sense of humour. Suddenly she nudged me and I looked over to where she was staring. There was Joe. ‘Told you he'd be here,' she said as he waved and came straight over.

‘Hi,' he said. ‘Been guessing where people don't live again?'

‘Very funny,' I said. ‘I blame Erin. She's always getting me into trouble.'

Erin grinned. ‘So, India Jane. Would you like a drink?'

‘Yeah. I'll come with you.'

‘Nooooooooooooooooooo. Oh no. I can manage. Er, stay here with Joe. Yes, Joe. What can I get you?'

Joe indicated that he had a can of lager in his hand.

‘Oh yes,' she said. ‘OK. I'll be off then. Now play nice, children.'

She walked off a few steps then turned around and, behind Joe's back, made a smooching face and held her heart. I ignored her in the same way that I ignore Dylan when he does the same stupid thing.

‘So, how's it going?'Joe asked. ‘Good half-term?'

‘Yeah, it's been great having Erin to stay. You?'

‘Yeah. You know. Got a theme for the play yet?'

‘Nah. Don't remind me.'

For a few moments, we stood in silence. Joe took a sip of his lager. I looked around the room and searched my mind for something to say. I remembered what Erin had said about boys like him not being single for long and wondered if he was still unattached or was with someone again.

‘So. Got back with Mia?' I blurted, then clapped my hand over my mouth. I hadn't meant to actually voice what I was thinking. ‘Oh sorry. None of my business. Sometimes things just come out . . .'

Joe smiled. ‘I'd noticed.' And he looked into my eyes and there was that vibe again. The vibe that made me feel like warm honey was flooding through me.

‘Oh . . . I . . . Oh God. Sorry. Sometimes I just talk rubbish.'

‘Hogwashese,' said Joe with a smile. ‘I'm thinking of taking lessons so I can understand you. Actually Mia is with someone else now, so that's cool. Some guy in his first year at university.'
He was still looking at me in a way that made my toes curl up. ‘And you? Still with Callum?'

‘Nah,' I said. ‘There are already two people in that relationship. Him and him.' Joe cracked up, so I decided to take a risk and moved in a tiny bit further. ‘So that leaves you and me both single.'

Joe leaned in and I swear for a moment that he was going to kiss me. I began to close my eyes in anticipation. The party was getting off to a great start. Suddenly Joe pulled back and shook his head.

‘No. Nope. Can't do this.'

‘Whu . . .? Why not? Can't do what?'

Joe pointed at me and then at himself. ‘Me. You. You know. Us.'

All my inner voices got together and growled in frustration.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
‘Why not?'

Joe took a deep breath. ‘I promised myself I wouldn't.' He looked around the room as if looking for escape.

‘Don't worry, I'm not going to pounce but ... I'd like to know
why
you promised yourself you wouldn't.'

Joe looked pleadingly at me. ‘It's not that I don't like you, India. I do. You know I do, it's . . .'

So he
did
fancy me! My inner girls were doing cartwheels and singing hallelujah.

‘It's
what?
' I asked.

‘Too close to home,' he groaned.

‘No you're not. You live on the other side of the park.'

‘Not geographically, India. Just . . .'

‘What? If you don't tell me I will have to kill you, or get my three brothers
and
my dad to come and beat you up.'

Joe smiled, reached out and took my hand. ‘Remember I told you what I was like, on the plane. That I haven't exactly been Mr Commitment in my life, not with anyone, and I know I hurt some people, and before Greece I'd decided I wanted to change.'

‘I remember,' I said. I remembered every second of the plane journey home. Sitting next to him, our thighs touching, having to resist not leaning over and nibbling his bottom lip . . .

‘That's why I tried to make a go of it with Mia,' he continued. ‘Then I met you and there you were in Greece . . . but I didn't want to do it again . . .' He went quiet and stared moodily across the room.

‘Do what again? Oh. I see. Cheat on Mia.'

‘Yeah. And I didn't, did I? I was determined not to cheat, which is why I . . . kind of kept out of your way. Nothing happened with us.'

It felt amazing to finally hear his side of the story and know that he had felt what I'd felt. ‘No. It didn't. But there was a vibe.'

Joe looked at me again and I felt electricity zap through me from my head to my toes. ‘Still is,' he said.

It was taking everything I had not to lean in and kiss him. ‘But now you're single. You wouldn't be cheating on anyone.'

Joe sighed. ‘Ah. But what if I did. Not now. Maybe not in a week, but I know what I'm like, and say a few months down the
line, if I hurt you . . . well, this is where the close-to-home bit comes in. We not only go to the same school, but your aunt is my mum's best friend.'

‘And that's it? That's why you won't let yourself get too close to me?'

Joe nodded and his eyes looked sad. ‘Yeah. But we can be friends, yeah?'

‘Pathetic, Donahue. That is the biggest pile of crap I've ever heard.'

Joe's eyes widened in surprise. ‘Really?'

‘Yeah, really. Total bollards.' And I leaned in, looked into his eyes for a second so that we could both feel the heat, and then I kissed him. In a nano-second, he began to kiss me back. A long deep kiss. It was
totally
extraterrestrial. When we finally pulled back, he looked at me and smiled.

‘I've been wanting to do that for a very long time,' he said.

‘Me too,' I said. ‘But we're going to be friends, yeah?' I turned away. ‘So, laters.'

As I began to walk off, I heard him laugh softly. ‘India Jane Ruspoli, you are going to do my head in.'

I turned back. ‘Oh I do hope so,' I said, then went off to find Erin.

Erin was at the drinks table. ‘Yabadabadabado,' I said as I punched the air. ‘I managed to be cool, flirt, snog and leave him wanting more.'

Erin put her palms together and bowed. ‘Excellent. You are
learning the ways of the seductress well, O India Jane Skywalker. You must let the Force be with you and boys can not resist.'

‘Indeed, let the Force be with us and let's follow the yellow-brick road too while we're at it.'

At that moment, I noticed on the other side of the room that Nicole and Ruby had arrived. They walked in and stopped at the entrance as though they had been announced. They looked around so that people could register that they had arrived and then, with a flick of the hair, they both sashayed into the marquee as if strutting down a catwalk.

Erin raised an eyebrow. ‘Quite an entrance,' she said. ‘Who are those two?'

All the elation that I'd felt only seconds ago deflated like balloon letting out its air. ‘Yeah, quite an entrance. That's Ruby and Nicole.'

‘Oh,' said Erin.

‘Oh,' I said.

‘And you didn't know they were coming?'

‘No, but then ... I guess I didn't tell them that I was coming either.'

‘Yeah, like Ruby didn't let you know that she was going out last night after you'd put off your plans with me for her.
Grrrr
,' said Erin and she put her arm around me.

‘Oh don't worry, I called and let her know what I thought of that.'

Erin looked at me approvingly. ‘Did you? Good. Because if
you hadn't said something, I would have. So let's go and let them know that you're here.'

‘No. No. It's fine. I can fight my own battles and I said what I needed to say last night. I don't want the party to be ruined because of bad feeling between us.'

I was about to turn away, but Nicole had spotted me and said something to Ruby, who looked over. She looked surprised to see me and for a nano-second looked a little awkward, but immediately masked it with a big smile. She pulled on Nicole's arm and the two of them came over.

‘Hiya,' they both said.

‘Hi,' I said and introduced them to Erin.

‘Hi,' said Erin very coolly. ‘India has told me so much about you, all bad, hahahaha.'

Nicole looked closely at Erin as if she wasn't quite sure how to take her. Erin kept her expression a mask of indifference.

Ruby went into flattery mode. ‘So how are you? And don't you both look lovely.'

‘And so do you,' said Erin in exactly the same tone and the two girls looked at each other with pure hate.
Oops,
I thought.

‘So. How naff is this?' said Nicole as she and Ruby took a plastic cup of cranberry juice that a passing waiter handed her. ‘I mean they can't even afford real cups.'

‘Oh I'm sure they can,' I said. ‘Leela's parents own three pharmacies. I think they're being very sensible as it wouldn't be practical to use the best crystal in a garden, would it? Broken glass and all that.'

‘Suppose,' said Nicole, then she proceeded to do her run down on everyone present, laughing at what people were wearing and criticising who was with who. She didn't seem to notice that Erin and I weren't laughing.

Suddenly Ruby looked behind us. ‘Stop everything. I have just seen the love of my life. Ohmigod. Who is he?'

We looked over to where she was looking and saw that Rajiv had come in and gone over to the disco area, where he was talking to the DJ.

‘Oh that's Leela's brother, Rajiv,' I said. ‘Would you like me to introduce you?'To my right, I could tell that Erin was having a hard time not laughing.

‘Absolutely,' said Ruby, ‘he's lush.' She turned in her usual flamboyant manner, but as she did,
whoosh,
she'd slopped her cranberry juice all over Erin.

Erin leaped back and so did Nicole and so did I.

‘Ohmigod,' gushed Ruby. ‘Oh I'm soooooo sorry. Let me get you a cloth. Oh God. Thank God your dress is black, Erica.'

‘Erin,' I said. ‘E. R. I. N.'

But Ruby didn't look that sorry and I swear that Nicole was having trouble holding back a snigger. I felt as if I was seeing them in a totally new light.
How come I hadn't noticed before how bitchy they can be?
I asked myself.

‘It's OK,' said Erin, ‘but oh no, India, it's splashed your lovely jacket and that does show.'

I glanced down. There was a great red stain on the sleeve. ‘Oh noooo,' I said.

Ruby looked down too. ‘It will be OK. I'll pay for your dry-cleaning and you look so fab in it no one's going to notice a little stain. Oh God, I'm so clumsy.'

‘It's OK,' I said. ‘I am
sure
you didn't mean to do it on purpose.'

Erin shot Ruby a filthy look. ‘Come on, India, let's go and find a loo where we can sponge it off while it's still wet.'

Ruby looked at Nicole and shrugged as if to say, What can I do? Nicole raised an eyebrow as if in agreement.

When we got to the bathroom, I took the jacket off and Erin did what she could to soak it.

‘India. I totally forbid you to be friends with those girls,' she said.

‘Yeah I —'

‘Ruby's patronising and uses you to dump on when no one else will listen to her, like last night, and Nicole is just mean. Don't you see how insecure she is? That's why she feels she has to run everyone at the party down. It makes her feel big.'