Forget Me Never

and we’d sat back in our seats taking in everything and exchanging light-hearted jibes with some India supporters sitting nearby. But then after the tea break the heavens opened, just as it looked like England were gaining the upper hand. The India supporters had launched into a very enthusiastic and very funny dance in celebration.
    It had certainly given us a lot to talk about over dinner. We’d also had a small argument over who was paying. Reece had offered, I’d said I wanted to pay my half, and then he’d accused me of ‘rejecting his attempt at being chivalrous’ and made out he was upset. He wasn’t really, and I was happy enough to let him pick up the bill. It felt strange and somehow grown-up for him to be paying for me. I guessed I would have to get used to all this if I was going to be his girlfriend.
    I’d realized that deep down I really did like him – and if I was honest, I probably had for a while. I’d just been too afraid that it would spoil everything. But Reece’s point about me needing to trust people had hit home. After spending most of the summer together, I missed him badly the first week of sixth form. I’d picked up my GCSE results a few days after Heathrow, and to my astonishment I’d done really well, exceeding most of my predicted grades. I’d even got an A* in geography, something I never would’ve thought possible. Reece’s results had been pretty good too. Zoe Edwards had done surprisingly badly; she’d been allowed into the sixth form, but she was noticeably subdued and more or less left me alone. Paloma’s party was old news now anyway.
    It was Paloma who made me act on Reece. We were in Broom Hill’s library and I’d ended up filling her in on everything that had happened over the summer. Before I even got to the end, she shrilled, ‘Sophieeee! Are you going out with him yet or what? Because if you aren’t, you are totally missing a trick.’
    This was absolutely typical. So much for kidnapping and murder and pharmaceutical espionage – all Paloma was interested in was my love life.
    ‘This is a silent library!’ barked the librarian, glowering at us from the check-in desk. Paloma ignored her.
    ‘Seriously, girl,’ she whispered, ‘how much more does someone have to do for you to agree to go on a date with them? Climb Mount Everest, rescue a baby from a burning house? Get outta the library right this instant and give him a call, else I swear I will do it myself.’
    In the end I went round to Reece’s house that same evening. I wasn’t sure what I was going to say, but he brought it up first. We were in the garden, sitting on the grass and drinking some disgusting but strangely addictive blue drink Reece had found in Londis in Hendon. Effie was inside having coffee with Reece’s aunt. She’d relented on her house ban, but I could tell she still didn’t like me coming over. ‘You know those Oval tickets,’ Reece said. He had his shades on so I couldn’t see his eyes. ‘There are two of them.’
    ‘Congratulations,’ I said. ‘You can count. I knew there was a reason you got an A in maths.’
    ‘One’s obviously for me. I was thinking, you might like to come too?’
    ‘Is this a date?’ I asked.
    ‘I was getting to that,’ Reece said. ‘You ruined my moment.’ I waited for him to continue. ‘So . . . how about it? I know you said it wouldn’t work, but I figure impossible, magical things can happen when you’re trapped in a dark pantry together.’
    He said it so lightly that if I didn’t know him better I might have been fooled into thinking it didn’t matter.
    ‘The pantry magic’s worked,’ I said, blushing a little. Reece flipped his sunglasses on to his head, blinking.
    ‘What?’
    I fiddled with a strand of hair. ‘I couldn’t have done this without you. You’re a bit of a hero. Just took me a while to realize. It’s like you said – some things are worth sticking with.’
    Reece looked smug. ‘I was a brilliant shrink, wasn’t I? Maybe a new career beckons.’
    ‘Thought you wanted to go into the pharmaceutical business,’ I said, giving him a push.
    It was a lot easier than I thought, getting used to Reece as a boyfriend. The first time we kissed, in his room later that evening, felt a little weird. We’d been talking about something to do with school and then, breaking off mid-sentence, Reece suddenly leaned in, pushing my hair away from my face. Our lips met for a few seconds before he pulled back, and I