Cathy Hopkins - [Mates, Dates 01] Read Online Free PDF Page A

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    Love
at   First Sight
     
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    School was awful. I was
avoiding Izzie and Nesta. I’d been really hurt last night. But I’d got the
message. Izzie’d moved on and didn’t want me around any more.
    I ignored them both in
English though I could see Izzie was trying to catch my eye. I kept my head
down and pretended I was fascinated by Shakespeare’s sonnets.
    Mr Johnson was taking
the class and I usually like his lessons. He’s big and jolly with a red beard
like a Viking. He chalked a load of stuff up on. the board then said, ‘Now,
watch the blackboard while I go through it.’
    Everyone cracked up
and when he realised what he’d said, he started laughing as well. But not me.
Me and Hamlet. We got things to think about. To be friends with Iz and Nesta or
not to be? That is the question.‘
    After English, we had
a special lesson with Mrs Allen all about third world countries and their need
for help. Mrs Allen is our headmistress so everyone was on their best behaviour
and really quiet. But it wasn’t just because she was taking the class. It was
depressing hearing about the hunger and wars in some areas.
    We had to get into
groups to discuss the lesson so I made sure I was in Mo Harrison and Candice
Carter’s group so I didn’t have to speak to Izzie or Nesta.
    ‘I don’t understand
why people fight,’ I said, feeling guilty that I was having my own conflict
with Izzie, ‘and over something stupid like land. I reckon it’s like, if you
look at the sky there aren’t any fences or boundaries. It should be the same on
the ground.’
    ‘Yeah,’ said Mo. ‘Why
can’t we all just share everything?’ ‘Same sun, same air, same earth,’ I said.
‘It hardly makes sense that there’s famine in the world when you see all the
shops with food spilling out the doors. And people over here on diets all the
time when on the other side of the world, other people haven’t even got enough
to eat.’ The lesson made me feel very sad. I mean, Mum’s been going on about
poor people and the starving for years. Like when one of us wouldn’t eat dinner
or something. But I never took much notice. Watching the slides Mrs Allen showed
and seeing the real people was different. I could see it made us all think. I’d
got all freaked out about not having a best friend any more but in some places,
some people have just lost their parents or their kids.
    I don’t know what to
do about Izzie and Nesta. It seems so petty to fall out, especially after
today’s lesson. I feel really confused now and don’t know what to think.
    Maybe I could go and
be a volunteer in the third world when I grow up. But then what could I
volunteer to do? My only special talent is making cheese omelettes so it’s
probably best I learn a skill first. But what?
     
    At lunch-time, I was
out of class before Nesta and Izzie could catch up and made my way to the
library. I needed time to think and decided I’d go and look through books about
courses and careers and stuff and see if there was anything I fancied or might
be good at.
    It all seemed a bit
daunting as I leafed through the pages; there’s so much to choose from.
    ‘Hey, Luce,’ said
Izzie, coming up behind where I was sitting at a desk. ‘What’re you doing in
here? Me and Nesta have been looking everywhere for you.’
    I pointed at the
books. ‘Trying to decide on my brilliant career.’
    I carried on reading
as if she wasn’t there but the silence felt uncomfortable and the words were
swimming on the page in front of me.
    ‘You’ve been very
quiet lately, Luce. Is everything OK?’
    I felt as if I’d
swallowed a wad of chewing gum and it had got stuck in my throat.
    ‘Luce?’
    ‘How was the film?’ I
finally said.
    Izzie looked
embarrassed. ‘I know. Mum said you called.’ She slid into the chair next to
mine. ‘Nesta’s got drama tonight so why don’t you come back to mine? Just us.
We’ll have a laugh. Tell you what, I’ll do your