Part 5 (1/2)

'Pa.s.s,' Penny hissed at her.

Amy understood her options perfectly: pa.s.s to Penny and she risked watching her score for the third time. Then Penny would definitely be picked for the Scottish team. Amy, who'd made her look so good, might even be picked too. Wouldn't that be a laugh? Training sessions with Penny, matches with Penny, away games and long foreign trips . . . with Penny.

No. No way. Absolutely no way! Never, ever. It was Niffy who should be picked for the national team. She was really, really good. She deserved a place. And anyway, if Nif was on the team, she'd be up in Edinburgh regularly for practices and Amy would get to see her much more often.

That was all Amy wanted: to see plenty of Niffy. She'd thought she needed to be on the team to do this, but now she saw that so long as Niff was on the team, it would be fine.

'Pa.s.s, you airhead!' Penny hissed across the pitch, and at these words Amy suddenly found it easy to deliberately fumble the ball and send off a wonky shot that landed exactly where someone on Niffy's team would get it.

Just three fast pa.s.ses later and Niffy had scored. She celebrated her victory by running straight up to Amy and giving her a high-five.

'Totally pathetic,' Penny fired at Amy, once she'd made sure the coach was out of earshot.

It was not until ninety minutes later that the coaches had whittled down their selection by playing the group of hopefuls in a series of brutal matches, and the Scottish under-seventeen squads were announced.

'Penny Boswell-Hackett' was read out, and there was a long wait as the coach went alphabetically down the list before announcing, 'Luella Nairn-Ba.s.sett.'

'Yessssss!' Niffy and Amy weren't shy in shouting out their excited response to this.

It wasn't a guaranteed place in the Scottish team for either of them, but a place on the thirty-strong squad.

'Nice try, losers.' Penny's comment was aimed mainly at Amy.

Amy turned her back on Penny and pretended she hadn't heard a thing. 'When's your train home?' she asked Niffy.

'No hurry. I thought we'd all go to the Arts Cafe for old times' sake.'

No one had told her about the ongoing awkwardness between Gina and Dermot then . . .

'You could go and see your dishy lover boy,' Niffy b.u.mbled on, quite unaware of the glances Amy and Min were shooting at Gina.

'Ha!' was the first thing Gina said.

'Oh dear has it all gone wrong?' Niffy asked. 'n.o.body tells me anything!'

'Oh . . . you know, not really . . .' Gina began. But inside, she was deciding not to be a baby. In fact, she was going to be big about this. Wasn't she? She'd been to the guy's house, she'd eaten lunch, met his mum. She couldn't go on just ignoring him. Could she?

'No,' she insisted, tucking her little Prada up underneath her arm, 'it's fine. Honestly, let's just go. I'll be fine.'

'Have you told him you might see him this weekend?' Amy wondered.

'Well, not exactly. Erm . . . vin fact, no. I told him I just wanted to be friends.'

'Oh . . .' Niffy, Amy and Min all replied together, finally understanding exactly how awkward this was going to be.

Chapter Nine.

Sat.u.r.day afternoon on a beautiful September day and the cafe wasn't too crowded because people were out and about shopping and strolling around and enjoying the very last burst of summer suns.h.i.+ne.

As soon as the girls came in, they were spotted by Dermot, who was working his usual Sat.u.r.day s.h.i.+ft. Because he was pale-skinned, his vibrant pink blush didn't exactly go unnoticed.

'There's a big table free over there in the corner,' Min pointed out helpfully.

Gina gave Dermot a smile and a wave, then followed her friends over to the table.

He stood very still and seemed at a loss unsure whether to smile and wave back, or turn on his heel, or glare . . . or what? He settled for running a hand through his hair with a confused look on his face.

As soon as Gina and her friends had settled down in their chairs, he approached them with his notepad at the ready.

'Well, h.e.l.lo there,' he began, his clear blue eyes meeting Gina's. 'This is a bit . . . unexpected.'

'Hi, Dermot.' She gave him a friendly smile back. 'How's it going?'

'Oh . . . I'm fine. Nice of you to ask,' he added pointedly. 'What have you been up to?'

'Well' Gina was finding his gaze unsettling; she was now fiddling with her hair a little nervously 'I've been busy at school . . . and Niffy's come up to see us. She's just been picked to play in the Scottish hockey team.' She hoped this would move the conversation on.

'Hey! Well done. That's great.' Dermot turned and offered Niffy his outstretched hand to congratulate her.

As he and Niffy shook, Gina took a proper look at him. He was in his cafe uniform: blue s.h.i.+rt, black trousers, blue and white striped ap.r.o.n. His hair had grown out just a little since she'd last seen him. Watching him hold Niffy's hand and smile warmly at her, Gina couldn't deny the pang she felt. But she still thought it was best if they were just friends. Friends was fine. Then she wouldn't need to feel jealous or anxious, or suffer any kind of pain when he went off with Scarlett . . . or whoever else.

'How's your mum?' Dermot asked Niffy.

'She's doing really well,' she told him, her voice resolutely cheerful although she was just beginning to realize, sitting here in the cafe with her three friends, that she would give anything to be back at St Jude's with them and for life to be back to normal. She was deeply jealous of their wonderfully normal lives.

'So you've left the Daffodils?' Dermot asked her. Last term the four had shared the Daffodil dorm at the boarding house.

'She has, but only temporarily,' Amy chipped in. 'And we're not Daffodils any more.'

'No, we're Irises,' Min told him. Although she was generally shy around boys, she felt at ease with Dermot because he was so nice and friendly to them all.

'Oh, Irises . . . Much more cla.s.sy.' He treated her to one of his kindest smiles. 'And how are you doing?' he asked her. 'They've managed to drag you away from your books for the afternoon?'

'Yeah . . . but apparently you're a bookworm too,' Min replied, remembering some of the details of Gina's date.

'Oh!' Dermot seemed almost fl.u.s.tered. 'Did Gina tell you that?' He nodded in her direction.

'Yes,' Min went on. 'She said your house was full of books, that you've read most of them and you're one of the smartest boys she's ever met.'

'Hmmm.' Dermot was colouring up a little at this. 'Did she say anything about me being cute though? Funny? No? Devilishly handsome? Because if it was all just about how clever I am, then I'm in big trouble.' He risked giving Gina a teasing smile.

But she was starting up with a fierce blush of her own. This was just too cheeky. Why was he asking Min to reveal her secrets?

Luckily, before Min had to try and come up with the tactful and diplomatic answer that these questions demanded, there was a sharp: 'Dermot! The orders!' from the gruff-looking man behind the counter.