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mind if you’d rather go find your own mates.’
    He shrugs. ‘They’ll be fine without me.’
    â€˜But it’s your birthday.’
    â€˜Actually, it’s after midnight, so not any more.’
    I roll my eyes, waving a hand in a ‘whatever’ gesture. ‘Details.’
    â€˜That’s them.’ I point to where Julia, Ellie and Cathy are huddled together on the pavement near a phone box. Jules is on her phone, and Cathy is chatting to Ellie. We’ve stopped at the end of the road, and there are so many people around on the pavements that they haven’t seen me yet.
    I turn back to Sean, and smile, but it feels stiff, almost formal. Suddenly, everything feels awkward. The air is thick, like it’s charged with tension that doesn’t know where to go. The kind of weird and awkward tension that I recognise from the end of first dates with boys when you don’t know whether to kiss them or hug them or just call ‘bye’ and walk away.
    Only this isn’t a date.
    And I’m not going to kiss him.
    Besides, Sean was probably just being nice. He didn’t want to go clubbing, saw an easy escape with me for a few hours, and that’s all it was. I bet the last thing on his mind is dating me, when he saw me in such a state back on Valentine’s Day.
    I bite my lip, though, because in spite of what I tell myself, I’m nervous.
    Sean clears his throat. He obviously feels the suspense between us too. ‘Thanks for tonight. I had a really great time.’
    â€˜Me, too.’
    I can practically hear crickets chirping in the silence that follows.
    â€˜Um…’ He clears his throat again. God, I think Sean’s even more nervous than I am. ‘So, I guess, I’ll maybe, um, see you around, some time?’
    â€˜Sure.’
    Then the girls notice me, because over the din of people on a night out and the music spilling out of the open doors of the clubs along the road, I can hear Cathy shouting, ‘Alex! Alex! Alex, over here!’
    â€˜I’d better go.’
    â€˜Sure.’ Sean rubs the back of his neck, and then before I can turn away, he ducks down to kiss me on the cheek. I jump back, totally startled. ‘Bye, Alex. Have a good Easter.’
    â€˜You – you too,’ I stammer, and blink at him a few times before walking to meet my friends. When I meet them, I can hear them talking to me, but I can’t focus. I’m too stunned. Instead, I just lift a hand to touch my cheek where he kissed me, and look back over my shoulder to see Sean raise a hand to me in farewell.

Reasons to want to date Sean
    â€¢ He’s the most handsome guy in the history of guys
    â€¢ He might like me
    â€¢ Even after seeing me in a state on Valentine’s Day he hasn’t ignored me
    â€¢ He seems like a really, really great guy
    â€¢ He’s funny
    â€¢ He’s smart
    â€¢ He’s kind
    â€¢ Did I mention how good-looking he is yet?
    Reasons not to date Sean
    â€¢ Dating is a bad idea right now
    â€¢ He kissed me on the cheek and that means he’s probably not actually interested
    â€¢ There’s no way he’s interested. He was just being nice.
    â€¢ I’m not really over Will
    â€¢ I’ll get my heart broken. I always do.

Chapter Five
    Two days later, Cathy and I are both at the house for a couple of hours, before I have to go to work. The other two girls are still at classes.
    I managed to avoid most of their questions on Saturday night (or, rather, Sunday morning). I dismissed it, saying we were friends and that was all.
    Cathy isn’t falling for it, though. She knows me too well.
    She hasn’t mentioned to Julia or Ellie that she knows Sean the waiter from university, and I’m glad. It’s hard enough to get my feelings straight in my head without a bunch of other people pitching in.
    Right now, we’re sitting in the living room with some left-over Chinese