Girl, 15: Charming but Insane by Sue Limb Read Free Book Online Page B

milkshake – straight into the vein!’
    Jess couldn’t help noticing that he hadn’t said please .
    ‘What about you, Ben?’ she said. She was trying to make her voice sound low and sultry, but unfortunately, as she spoke, a little drop of spit shot out of her mouth and landed on Ben’s shirt. He flinched. Oh no! That was the end of everything! She had hoped to seduce him and had instead spat on his clothing.
    Ben Jones said, ‘Er – I’m OK, thanks.’ He didn’t brush the spit off or anything, although Jess knew that he knew it was there. She could see it still glistening. Luckily Flora and Mackenzie were gazing into each other’s eyes and hadn’t noticed.
    ‘I’d like some milkshake, too, please, Jess,’ said Flora. ‘I just so adore chocolate.’ She licked her lips and sighed. Both the boys gawped at her, clearly wishing they could be turned into Easter eggs right there and then.
    Jess went out to the kitchen. The milkshake was only one day past its sell-by date. Jess sniffed it. It didn’t smell too bad, although there was a faint whiff of garlic about it from one of her mum’s jars of salad dressing which had been standing next to it in the fridge, with the lid off. So far, so good: a chocolate’n’garlic milkshake only just beginning to go off. But there was only enough left to fill one glass.
    Wait! If she used smaller glasses, maybe she could fill two. She found a couple of wine glasses and poured the milkshake into them. Then she got a Pepsi for herself. Then she ate a cracker to dry her spit up, so she wouldn’t shower Ben Jones with saliva again. She inhaled a cracker crumb, choked and had a coughing fit. Her eyes watered. Her mascara ran. She reapplied it in the downstairs cloakroom: hurry, hurry, hurry! She smudged it. Would she manage to get back into the living room before one of her guests died of old age?
    Jess re-entered the sitting room red-faced from coughing, and with her left eye so smudged, she looked like some kind of pirate. It became clear the moment she entered that it wouldn’t have mattered if she had grown a third eye out in the kitchen and lined it with red mascara – nobody would have noticed.
    Flora had moved and was sprawling on the rug at the feet of the boys. It would be impossible for anybody sitting on the sofa to avoid looking down her cleavage and up her skirt at the same time. Jess peeped sideways at Ben Jones to see if he was looking down Flora’s cleavage. He certainly was. Well, he’d have had to fix his eyes on the ceiling to avoid it.
    ‘Cheers,’ said Mackenzie, picking up the glass of milkshake. He downed it in a single gulp.
    ‘Haven’t you got any bigger glasses, Jess?’ asked Flora with a superior little frown. ‘These are wine glasses.’
    ‘I know these are wine glasses, for goodness’ sake,’ snapped Jess. ‘The tumblers are dirty. What does it matter anyway?’
    ‘No need to get narky with me,’ said Flora with a strange, hostile glare. She turned to the boys, and Jess saw her face glide from irritation to seduction. Mackenzie and Ben were both looking down Flora’s cleavage with the kind of eager, addictive stare that suggested a crucial football match might be taking place across her chest.
    ‘Tell me about this band of yours,’ said Jess.
    ‘Yeah, it’s ace! Wicked!’ said Mackenzie. ‘We’re gonna start band practice as soon as we can find somewhere to rehearse – hey! What about here?’
    ‘You can’t,’ said Jess hastily. ‘My granny’s going to be living with us.’
    ‘A granny!’ said Mackenzie. ‘Cool! Is she hot? Maybe she could front our band!’ Everybody laughed, although Jess felt slightly sick and guilty, and wished her granny lived in Alaska and had never been mentioned.
    ‘We can’t rehearse in my house,’ said Flora, ‘because of my dad. I won’t even be able to tell my parents I’m going to sing in the band. Jess – when I go to band practice, can I say I’m coming round to see