The Kiss by Lucy Courtenay Read Free Book Online Page A

and stare at my phone like it’s a bomb.
    ‘What did you do that for?’ Tabby demands. ‘That was your chance to give him Sam’s number!’
    ‘I panicked!’ I say helplessly.
    My phone rings again.
    ‘I really want to kiss you again, Delilah. And you still haven’t given me your mate’s boyfriend’s number.’
    I can feel myself flushing. ‘I . . . I’ll text it.’
    I message Sam’s number and turn off my phone as quickly as I can. Then I shove it deep into my bag where I plan to forget about it all together.
    ‘Did you—’
    ‘I sent the number, OK? Can we now stop talking about this?’
    ‘Welcome to Friday, ladies!’ Oz bounds up the college steps towards us with his arms extended and his bag bouncing on his back. ‘Delilah Jones, will you be my date in Chemistry? I can’t think of anyone I’d rather go with.’
    Tabby is still looking at me with anxious puppy-dog eyes. Reminding myself how much she relies on me, I give her a hug. ‘Jem’ll call Sam and sort everything out,’ I tell her in my most bracing tone of conviction. ‘Trust me, your lippy will all be kissed off by lunchtime.’
    ‘I’m not wearing lippy.’
    ‘It’s a figure of speech,’ I say patiently.
    Tabby looks dreamy and disappears off down the long corridor to the Arts Department, her clumpy boots echoing on the lino.
    ‘Do you think Tab will ever kiss me?’ Oz asks, watching her go with the thousand-yard stare of a lovelorn sheep.
    ‘Move on,’ I advise. ‘There are hundreds of unattached girls here to suit your wide-ranging tastes.’
    ‘But I think I love Tabby,’ says Oz earnestly. ‘Seriously, Delilah. I’ve never felt like— hel lo .’
    A girl in a very tight tank has just swayed past us.
    ‘You’re breaking my heart, Osgood,’ I say.
    ‘Are all girls as sympathetic as you?’ Oz grumbles, pulling his eyes from the tank girl. ‘Coz if they are
I’m going to turn gay. What the hell have you done to your hand?’
    Chemistry is a lot more fun than Economics. I scrub my hand as clean as I can at the big sinks at the back, then stir and mix and measure and note stuff down. It soothes me, proves how the world – a world I am learning has way too many shades of grey – can sometimes just be straightforward black and white. It is, in scientific parlance, the dogs.
    I want to kiss you again . There was a focus in Jem’s voice that makes me nervous. I need to avoid him from now on or he’ll try it again for sure. And then where will I be? Making all the old mistakes again, that’s where.
    The class starts winding up. Kids are taking off their goggles, formulae are being scrawled on the whiteboard for us to copy down. I make a few final notes in the margin of my pad and stuff everything into my bag. My fingers close on my silent phone.
    I switch it on cautiously. A message flashes up.
    His phone was off. Will try later. Gaslight tonight?
    I delete it before I do something stupid like answer.
    ‘He couldn’t get through,’ I say, the minute I see Tabby, looking wan by the chillers in the canteen at lunch. ‘He texted to say he’d try again.’
    ‘How do you know he’s telling the truth?’ Tabby wails.
    I always mean what I say .I think of Jem exchanging greetings with the most untrustworthy guy in town and feel confused.
    ‘I don’t,’ I admit.
    My phone beeps.
    Please?
    ‘Can lunch be quick?’ I say, deleting the message and switching my phone off. ‘I need to go and see someone about my bank card.’
    ‘I’ve only got three quid on me so it’ll be as quick as one egg sandwich each,’ says Tab. ‘Do you want me to come to the bank . . .’
    Her voice trails off, her eyes fixed on the canteen door. Sam has come in, talking and laughing with a doe-eyed girl whose blond hair almost reaches her bum. Several other guys are with him, trying to get in on the conversation.
    ‘Who’s she ?’ I ask, so struck by her curvy figure, confident manner and gleaming poker-straight hair that I