Dead Romantic by C. J. Skuse Read Free Book Online

thinking, That’s just a ball he’s drawn a face on , but it’s all he’s got to talk to and then he goes and shouts at it and the ball floats off on the sea and he’s so upset. I tried drawing a face on the dry chewing gum ball I’d parked on the edge of my desk during History but it wasn’t the same. It was just a lump of chewing gum; it wasn’t my friend.
    Anyway, Poppy did eventually send me a pity text asking me to meet them all at the pier that Friday night and because I didn’t want to stay at home watching Gardener’s World with Mum and Dad, I decided to go. I showered, Impulsed my knickers and put on my lemon bridesmaid dress, yellow leggings, black Mary Janes and second-best lemon Alice band. It was my I’m On My Own But I’m So Confident I Don’t Care outfit. It made me feel good, like I’d made a real effort.
    When I got to the pier entrance, I wished I hadn’t made so much effort. It was cold and everyone was in jeans and hoodies so I immediately looked weird. All except Louis Burnett, I noticed, who was still wearing his Scottish-chimney-sweep-with-cardigan combo, with a scruffy black leather jacket on top. Splodge and Poppy were holding hands and feeding each other green candy-floss, and Lynx was batting her eyelashes at Damian and touching his chest.
    â€˜All right?’ said Damian, looking me up and down again. ‘You scrub up well.’
    â€˜All right?’ said Louis Burnett and Splodge together.
    â€˜Hi, Mills,’ said Lynx, laughing at something Damian had said before I arrived.
    â€˜All right?’ I said, fidgeting and generally being seven sorts of awks.
    My blushing cheeks and lemon dress turned me into rhubarb and custard.
    Lynx and Damian started strolling up the boardwalk with their shared box of chips. My heart pulsed. They were kissing, barely watching where they were walking. Oh to be that happy and in love, I thought. To be so hung up about someone all you want to do all day is hold hands and kiss.
    â€˜Look what Splodge got me, Mills,’ squealed Poppy, running over with a brand-new touch screen phone. ‘Well, I bought it but his dad runs Fone Frenzy in the High Street and he got me a really good deal. Isn’t it awesome? We can Skype on it.’
    â€˜I don’t have Skype,’ I told her.
    â€˜No, me and Splodge, I meant,’ she giggled. She’d always been happy with her old phone with the crappy Snake game on it until now.
    â€˜Wow,’ I said, about as un-wow as I could get away with.
    The little land train that took tourists along the board-walk pulled in, and Splodge took Poppy by the hand to run for it.
    â€˜See you up there, Mills!’ she called, and ran with him. A fist clenched in my chest. Everyone had someone except me. I was as spiky as a hedgehog.
    Louis Burnett was ordering a Hoydon’s Hug from The Bracht Shack. A Hug was made up of two blobs of vanilla ice cream, drenched in melted caramel then wrapped up in a thick buttermilk pancake. They were truly scrumbleshanks but I didn’t have them often cos of the fat,especially with all the free toppings you could get. Louis was adding all of them – cream, chocolate sauce, sprinkles and hot jam.
    He turned to me, a long dribble of ice cream down the centre of his Dracula T-shirt. ‘Guess you must be the spare girl,’ he said, spooning up the ice cream dribble with a fish fork. ‘Nice to meet you. I’m the spare boy.’
    This was the most words I’d ever heard Louis utter. I didn’t even think he could speak. Damian usually did all the talking for him and Splodge. We started walking towards the end of the pier, which was all lit up red and blue for the night and looked so beautiful. I wanted to cry. I wished I hadn’t come.
    â€˜History this morning was boring, wasn’t it?’ he said.
    â€˜Yeah,’ I said. ‘Always is. I don’t know why I chose it