‘I’m so sorry.’ Beth mopped ineffectually at the stain. ‘I’ll buy you some new kit.’
‘Honestly, gym kit is right at the bottom of my list of worries at the moment.’ Poppy gave a honking sniff and said, ‘Okay, I can’t talk about this any more. I want to be distracted. How’s everyone else? Give me something interesting to think about.’
Georgie, Beth and Ankita all mumbled nothings.
‘No, I mean it. I want to hear what’s going on with you. When I’m lying awake tonight, wallowing in Declan misery, I want to have some gossip to think about too. Come on. You must havesomething.’ Poppy was so brave. Georgie wanted to cry on her behalf. And, yes, she personallydidquite possibly have‘something’, and she certainly wasn’t going to be sharing that right now.
‘Erm, one of my Year Eights wrote really bad swear words all over the wall of a loo cubicle this morning, in full view of several other boys and had been suspended by lunch time,’ she offered.
‘Immediately suspended? Howbadwere the swear words?’ Poppy said. ‘You have to tell us.’
‘Lean in,’ Georgie said, and whispered what he’d written.
Gratifyingly, Poppy did join in with Beth and Ankita in saying, ‘Noooo.’
‘Okay, I need more to distract me.’ Poppy looked at Ankita. ‘You have to fill us in properly on the job thing. Your old and new boss. Alex. What’s he like?’
‘Very nice.’ Ankita sounded odd. Georgie suddenly wondered whether she had a thingfor Alex. She couldn’t actually remember the last time Ankita had had a serious boyfriend.
‘Nice?’ asked Beth, her head on one side, like she always did when she was asking a question that she felt was a bit over-curious.
Georgie knew her friendssowell. She couldnotlose them. What wouldhappenif her secret was true? Or if it wasn’t but someone read it? It might well blow their friendship group apart. Shehadto find out soon if it was true.
‘He’s very nice,’ Ankita was saying, in a slightly strange, brisk kind of voice. ‘Very decent. We went out for dinner with clients a couple of weeks ago and he stuck up for me when one of them was a complete letch, and he totally didn’t have to. Not every boss would have done.’
‘What did he say to them?’ Poppy asked.
By the time Ankita had finished describing Alex’s forthrightness to the client and the way she and Alex had then marched out of the dinner and gone and got a burger, Poppy seemed fully distracted, thank goodness.
‘So, Alex?’ Beth had her head to one side. ‘And you?’
‘You’re such a romance junkie,’ said Ankita. ‘Seriously.’
Georgie looked at Ankita and then at Poppy, and then Ankita raised an eyebrow in Beth’s direction. Yep, it was a shame that Beth – Mrs Romance – was in the most un-romantic engagement ever.
‘No romance with Alex,’ said Ankita.
‘I think there’s abut,’ Poppy said.
Ankita screwed up her beautiful face (and still looked beautiful).
‘Ankita,’ Poppy said. ‘Is there romance with someone else?’
‘No?’ Ankita said. ‘Ish? Maybe.’
‘Ankita, you have to tell us,’ Poppy commanded. She spread her hands. ‘I’m miserable so you have a duty tell me everything.’
‘Fine,’ Ankita said. ‘Total emotional blackmail,sounfair. But okay. And to be fair you’re my best friends and I might need some moral support if it all goes wrong.’
‘And?’ Poppy urged.
‘Okay. I have a date lined up for next Sunday.’
‘Who with?’ asked Georgie. She was pretty sure that Ankita went on quite a lot of dates, but this one seemed like a big deal.
Ankita was screwing her face up again. ‘I don’t think I can actually get the words out.’
‘Er, what?’ said Georgie. ‘You’reAnkita. You’re fearless.’
