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

It’s the only room that has any colour as Mrs Foster
favours neutral shades, on the carpets, curtains and walls. And she only wears
black. Black with pearls. Always immaculate and expensive-looking. Her dark
hair cut into a severe bob to match her personality.
    Izzie painted her room
herself and she’s done it a deep turquoise. ‘A very healing colour,’ she told
me. And she’s got purple curtains and cushions. It looks vibrant and
interesting. Like Izzie.
    She lit one of her
nice smelly candles then cranked up the computer. I looked at her posters.
Ewan, of course,
    Suzanne Vega, who’s
one of Izzie’s heroines, and a dolphin. Izzie’s big on them. She wants to go
swimming with them one day. Honestly, she’s more like my mum than I am.
    I flopped on the bed
and Izzie sat at her desk and starting pressing keys.
    ‘Right, I’ve been
dying to try this. I got some new software and it works out a personalised
horoscope for you,’ she said. ‘You were born May 24th, Gemini, right? What
time?’
    ‘Five past midnight,’
I said. I remember because it’s Dad’s birthday as well and Mum says I was his
birthday present. Only just made it by five minutes though.
    Izzie punched in the
information. ‘Give it a few minutes and it will tell us all about you. While
we’re waiting for it, we’ll do the Tarot cards.’
    She gave me the pack and
I started shuffling. ‘Have you done your chart yet?’ I said. ‘Yep,’ grinned
Izzie. ‘Aquarius, sign of the genius, humanitarian, eccentric…’
    ‘Barking mad, you
mean,’ I said. ‘And I dunno about the genius bit but the rest sounds like you.
I suppose you are humanitarian most of the time when you’re not swanning off to
see films without me.’
    Izzie threw a pillow
at me. She knew I was teasing. ‘What did you think of that lesson with Mrs
Allen?’ I asked. ‘Sad, wasn’t it?’
    Izzie nodded. ‘I’m
going to write a song about it.’
    ‘Why?’ I asked. ‘It’s
a bit of a depressing subject for people to listen to.’
    ‘Ah, but songwriters
have as much power, if not more than some politicians.’
    ‘How can they?’ I
laughed. She was always coming out with mad stuff like this.
    ‘Well look at Bob
Geldoff. He did loads, didn’t he, when he did that Band Aid concert? Raised
more money than anyone in years. And look at Comic Relief. Millions in a night.
And John Lennon. “All we are saying is give peace a chance.” I reckon if you
can write a song or a book or make a film, sometimes you can touch more people
that way than boring politicians droning on. Music makes people think. They
listen to lyrics. Better than lecturing them or dropping a leaflet through the
door that only gets put in the bin.’
    This is one of the
things I like best about Izzie. She makes
me
think. She’s so wise. Mum
says Izzie’s an old soul. When I asked if I was, Mum looked at me strangely and
said, ‘No, love, I think it’s your first time on the planet.’ I don’t know if
that was a compliment or an insult.
    And Izzie’s right. I’d
only thought about being a volunteer and going wherever needed and doing some
cooking or clearing up or something. But if you could reach people and touch
them, there’d be more people to help. If only I had a skill like she has with
her song-writing.
    ‘I was talking to
Nesta about it at break,’ continued Iz. ‘She wasn’t into going and being a
volunteer and sleeping in a tent and having no MTV. She says her plan is to be
mega mega rich when she’s a model then she can give some of her money away.’
    ‘What, Nesta? I
wouldn’t have thought she ever thought about anybody but herself.’
    ‘You’ve got to give
her a chance, Lucy, she’s OK. And I think it’s a good plan. I mean, you could
give your time and be a volunteer, or you could become mega rich like Nesta
wants to be and give your money instead and pay to train volunteers .You know,
actually do something with your money as well as having a good time with it.
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