The Boyfriend Dilemma by Fiona Foden Read Free Book Online Page B

and pin it down. The man beckons me into it but I shake my head.
    Like it makes any difference now. The whole town has seen me in my age-nine-to-ten Hello Kitty knickers and a grubby-looking vest. I march away with tears pricking my eyes.
    â€œYou poor thing,” says an elderly man with a straggly grey ponytail.
    â€œHey, where are you going?” someone shouts after me. Realizing it’s the woman from stall, I walk even faster. “Excuse me,” she cries out again, “are you OK, love? D’you have my dress?”
    â€œSorry, I left it in the tent,” I call back, knowing I should give her my tenner for ripping it, but CJ and Toni have appeared now, and are both snorting with laughter. As the word “vest” pierces the air I start running, past Jude and Danny, who are standing in a cluster with Harris and Kyle and – oh no, not Ben…
    Someone’s calling my name, and I think it’s Jude, but I keep running away from the stalls and the blue-dress lady and all the people who think it’s the funniest thing that’s ever happened in our town. I tear across the road, causing a car to brake sharply and the driver to toot his horn. “Layla, wait!” Jude shouts, some distance behind me. Without looking round, I keep on running as fast as I can, all the way to the park.
    The dodgems are still here but I have no intention of stopping. I’m just taking the quickest route home. I pelt alongside the river, with a stitch in my side and conscious of the flapping sole on my shoe. Worried that I’ll trip up – the last thing I need is to fall flat on my face – I stop abruptly and pull off both shoes, figuring I might as well run home in my socks. It’s not as if being seen shoe-less is worse than standing next to a bustling market in your vest and pants. Anyway, I’m past caring now, and the stitch is too painful for me to run any more. Clutching my canvas lace-ups in one hand, I start heading for home.
    â€œHey, Layla!” I ignore the shrill voice behind me.
    â€œLayla Burnett! Are you deaf?”
    I press my lips together and keep walking.
    â€œDecided to get dressed, did you?” Oh, the sparkling wit.
    â€œVery funny.” I turn and glare at Toni as she hurries to catch up with me.
    â€œWhy are you in such a rush?” she asks, catching her breath.
    â€œI’m not,” I growl. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot CJ running towards us in her khaki T-shirt, jeans and Doc Martens. Great – so now I’m in for the Jamieson-sisters experience. I glance down at my feet and notice my left sock has a splodge of something green and slimy on it. Duck poo, possibly. Fantastic.
    â€œWe saw you pouting and posing in that mirror,” Toni continues. “Love yourself, don’t you? Shame you couldn’t get that dress off!” CJ guffaws. Obviously, her job is just to laugh on demand, rather than coming up with any insults herself.
    â€œI was just trying it on, all right?” I snap.
    â€œSo we saw,” Toni says in mock seriousness. “Oh, I feel bad now but we couldn’t resist it, could we, CJ?”
    I frown at Toni. “What d’you mean?”
    She smirks. “Well, when we set the tent free…”
    For a moment, I don’t get it at all. “You set the tent free ?”
    She nods and slips into an infuriating little girl’s voice. “Yeah. Poor little tenty, all sad and tied up. We just let it go, didn’t we, CJ?”
    CJ nods.
    â€œYou mean,” I exclaim, “you unpegged it?”
    Toni smirks. “Just a little joke.”
    â€œYou let the tent blow away so everyone could see—”
    â€œYeah,” she says. “Nice choice of underwear, Layla. Won’t your mum get you a bra, then? Oh, I s’pose if you don’t actually need one…”
    My heart is thudding so fiercely it feels like it could burst out of my