Heart of Glass Read Online Free PDF Page A

Well, apart from the fact
that you walked around for the entire evening looking like a reject
from the Red Cross Op Shop in that stained top, I'd say he’s
stoked. You should have seen him checking you out when he thought
you weren’t looking. He looked as if he wanted to eat you
up.”
    “ Really?” I smiled. Ben
eating me up was not a prospect I had considered. I hadn’t got past
him ravaging my lips.
    Prue was silent for a
moment. “So, are you going to see him again?”
    “ I don’t know. He didn’t
ask me outright. Should I call him? I have his number.”
    “ Good heavens no! He’ll
think you’re desperate or something.”
    “ I s’pose so. Anyway,
enough of me, what do you think of Paul? He’s quite a spunk and he
has a car, that’s a bonus. Did he say he wants to see you
again?”
    There was an audible groan
from the other end of the line. “He mentioned something about going
to the movies next time he comes to town, but I don’t know. He’s
nice enough and he’s a good eight ball player but is that the basis
for a relationship?”
    “ At least you have
something in common. I’ll probably never see Ben again. There are a
million other girls more experienced than me. I must be so boring
to him.”
    “ Don’t bet on it. I think
he’ll call soon.”
    “ Maybe. Look, I have to go
Prue, tonnes of homework, you know….”
    “ Yeah, right, and I’m the
Queen of England. See you at school.”
    ***
    Petulant, I threw myself
onto the grass of the top oval. Three more days to go. How could I
last another three days until I saw Ben again? My copy of ‘I Was
Made for Lovin’ You,’ illegally taped from the radio, was starting
to sound as if it was on it’s last legs and Mum was threatening to
throw it away while I was at school. Without that I’d never survive
until I saw him again.
    I hadn’t needed to worry
about that Saturday being our one and only date. It had turned out
just as Prue had said. As soon as he had gotten home from his
journey, Ben had been straight to the phone. He wanted to see me
again.
    “ I had a good time,” he’d
said.
    “ Me too.”
    “ Paul and I are in town
again next weekend. Can we come to your house on Saturday after
dinner?”
    “ Sure. I’ll tell Prue to
come too.”
    Had I sounded cool? Was my
voice too eager? Love was so difficult; I didn’t want to scare him
away. Deciding there was nothing I could do about it now, I lay
back on the grass and closed my eyes, sketching out my wedding
dress in my head. Bella James. What a lovely name.
    Prue tossed her books onto
the grass and sat down beside me.
    “ Oh God, we don’t need
three guesses to figure out what you’re thinking about. Have you
calculated the hours and minutes yet?” she asked, taking a chip
from the bag she was carrying and offering one to me. The ‘eat
anything brown diet, had been usurped by the ‘eat as much as you
want’ regime. If she continued along that vein she wouldn’t be able
to complain when her Levi’s wouldn’t do up. Her bottom was
straining to escape the confines of her school skirt as it
was.
    I waved the chips away. “I
can’t eat, I’m too excited. You are coming on Saturday?”
    “ Of course, I can’t wait
for another evening of watching you and Ben get it on. What else do
I have to do?”
    “ Paul is coming too, I’m
sure he won’t want to play eight ball all night.”
    “ No, with my luck he’ll
bring his Monopoly board. What a hoot!”
    ***
    The chemistry between us was
‘palpable’, Prue said, when we made a trip to the kitchen on the
pretext of getting more Cheezels. God knows what that meant, she
had read it in a Mills and Boon novel, but it sounded good. All
evening Ben and I had skirted around each other but not quite
getting together. I had relaxed in his company. He’d me with
compliments and told me funny stories about his friends and rested
his hand on my forearm. I’d found myself flirting back, teasing him
and smiling at him under my lashes.