The New Girl Read Online Free PDF Page B

“When was your last date again? Was it last year, or the year before?”
    â€œHa ha,” said Tim, pushing his older brother in the shoulder. He winked at Polly again. “So do you fancy a date, Lil’s friend? As you can hear, I’m a bit out of practice.”
    â€œYou could take her dancing at the Grand Hotel on the front,” Alex grinned. “I hear the waltz is the latest thing.”
    He grabbed Tim around the waist and started dancing around the hall with him.
    â€œGet off!” Tim shouted.
    Polly was standing by the front door and looking like she wanted to bolt. Lila felt anxious. It would be typical if her brothers scared off the only friend she had in this place.
    â€œIt’s Lila now, by the way,” she said, waving to get Tim and Alex’s attention. “Not Lil.”
    â€œYou’ll always be Lil to us,” said Alex, dropping Tim.
    â€œIckle Lilzy-wilzy,” Tim snorted.
    â€œJust remember, OK?” Lila said. She dragged Polly up the stairs. Tim and Alex were still laughing behind them about the “Ickle Lilzy-wilzy” thing, but at least they didn’t follow them up.
    â€œSorry.” Lila showed Polly into her airy room with its cardboard boxes piled to the ceiling. “They’re fools, but they’re harmless. They won’t be around much – Tim’s at college in London and Alex is at uni.”
    Polly seemed different here to how she was at school, Lila realized. Quieter, and less confident.
    â€œIt was just a shock,” Polly confessed. She hesitated. “Are they always like that?”
    â€œPretty much,” Lila said.
    They settled down to unpack Lila’s boxes. Clothes, books, make-up, ornaments, magazines – everything came tumbling out. Before long the room was a tip, without a millimetre of carpet to be seen.
    Polly put a magazine on top of a pile near the wardrobe, and straightened the edges so the magazines all lined up. “Why did you change your name?” she asked.
    Halfway through packing her chest of drawers, Lila hesitated. She was still unsure how much of her past she wanted to share.
    â€œI did . . . some bad stuff in London. I want to leave it behind, you know? Changing my name feels like a clean start.”
    Polly eyed the magazine stack again, and straightened it minutely. “The guy who texted you,” she said. “Is he part of it?”
    Lila nodded.
    â€œWith Eve’s behaviour today, you probably wish you were still in London.”
    â€œBelieve me, I don’t,” Lila said firmly.
    Polly stopped playing with the magazine at the sound of a car drawing up outside. She peeked through the curtains.
    â€œIt’s the police!” she said, wide-eyed. “Someone must have heard me scream earlier and called them. What do we do?”
    Lila saw a police officer getting out of the squad car parked by the kerb. Her tummy did its usual jumpy thing. It’s stupid to feel this nervous every time ,she thought a little hopelessly. She hadn’t even done anything! But old habits died hard.
    â€œWhat are we going to say?” Polly gabbled in panic. “It’s a crime if you call the police for no reason!”
    â€œDon’t worry, it’s just my dad,” Lila said, dropping the curtain back into place. “He’s a police officer.” She decided not to explain that her dad was the new chief of police in Heartside. It was too embarrassing. “Come and say hi.”
    Polly straightened the edge of the curtain so it hung better. Her new friend was clearly a bit of a neat freak, Lila thought. No wonder Lila’s house had spooked her.
    Lila’s dad looked sharply at Polly as the girls came downstairs.
    â€œDad, this is Polly,” said Lila, waving her hand in introduction.
    â€œPleased to meet you,” said Polly.
    Lila’s dad put his peaked cap on the hall table, and wiped a bit of dust off the brim. The braiding