The Day She Came Back(5)

Victoria laughed again. How she loved being with her friend. Encouraged now by her laughter, Daksha elaborated.

‘I mean it, Vic. Roscoe once asked me which module I had chosen out of four we’d been given, and just as I was about to reply “Quadratic equations”, Courtney appeared around the corner and his mouth fell open and so I said, “I’ve chosen the one on cat farts. Why is it my sister can eat a whole jarful, but I literally have one mouthful of cat fart and I shit myself?” And he just nodded and watched Courtney walk past before turning back to me and saying, “Yep, good choice . . . good choice . . .”’

Victoria sprayed her laughter. ‘I am Courtney Woman!’ She raised her fist over her head and placed the other hand on her narrow waist as she tried to look sultry. ‘I have huge tits and I can make a man’s pants fall off just by looking at him like this!’ She directed a hard stare at Daksha.

‘You actually look more constipated than sexy.’ Her friend sighed. ‘Might need to dip into that jar of cat fart – works for me.’

Victoria dropped her pose. ‘As I said, I think our appeal lies elsewhere.’

‘Do you think boobs help?’ Daksha cupped her own blossoming bust, which rested on her equally blossoming stomach, and stared at Victoria’s rather flat chest.

‘I don’t think they do any harm.’ She pulled her shoulders forward inside her cotton vest, trying and failing to achieve a cleavage of any note. ‘I think that if the situation should ever occur where we are liaising with a guy of our choice—’

‘Ooh, good use of “liaising”!’ Daksha interrupted, batting her lashes and feigning coy.

‘Yes, if we are liaising with a guy, we need to do our very best to summon our inner Courtney. I mean, how hard can it be?’ Victoria pictured pulling a Courtneyesque face that was both vacant yet sexy and realised it might actually be harder than she thought.

‘Not hard at all! The secret is in the giggle.’

‘The giggle?’

‘Yes.’ Daksha tutted at her friend’s ignorance. ‘Have you not seen the way they flick their hair and do that kind of high-pitched, silly little giggle that is doll-like and dumb?’ Daksha gave a less than convincing example.

‘Doll-like and dumb. I can do that. Probably.’ She logged this instruction away for future reference.

‘Anyway, forget that.’ Daksha flapped her hand the way she did to indicate a change in topic. ‘My sister is in Maisie McNamara’s class.’

‘So?’ Victoria was missing the point.

‘Flynn’s sister!’

‘Yes, I know who she is, but I told you, don’t meddle!’ She felt conflicted; in part she wanted to glean, if not access to the beautiful Flynn, then any information that might further fuel her fantasy of spending time with him. This boy who seemed to take life in his stride, who whistled as he walked, looking teachers in the eye and giving all manner of excuses about late work or absent assignments, which they fell for! As if they, too, were unable to resist his easy manner and unwavering gaze. It was like Flynn had life figured out. But sadly, she also greatly mistrusted Daks’s sister Ananya’s ability to act as go-between. Ananya, she knew, would not have to try so hard to achieve doll-like and dumb.

‘I’m not meddling! As if I would!’ Daksha rolled her eyes theatrically. ‘But I just might have some information that you may find useful. And anyway, as I seem to recall, you said, “Don’t meddle” as it would be too embarrassing “while we were at school”. But in case you hadn’t noticed, we have finished school. Case in point, it’s the end of August and I haven’t had a panic attack about the start of term.’

‘Okay. Just give me the information already.’ Victoria cut to the chase and stood in the lane with her hands on her waist.

‘Flynn has got himself a job.’

‘Is that it? So what? How is that good information?’

‘I haven’t finished. Jeez! He’s got a job in the sports shop in town.’

‘Well, we are hardly sporty!’ She sniffed, while simultaneously trying to swallow the leap of joy in her throat at the prospect of sauntering casually by.

‘Yes, but he doesn’t know that!’ Daksha beamed.

‘I think he might. Seeing as we were in the same academic year for the whole of secondary school and neither of us made any sports team, ever.’

‘How dare you!’ Daksha laid her palm on her chest. ‘Do I need to remind you that I was selected to throw the discus in that athletics match against Therfield! They even gave me an orange segment at half time!’

‘Selected?’ Victoria laughed. ‘You were only there because the actual athletics team were competing in Leeds and they had to trawl the year looking for anyone willing. I believe you were one of the only people with your PE kit in school that day!’

‘You are cruel. But this is good intelligence, Vic. It means we can swoop by whenever you need a Flynn fix. You just need to brush up on Chelsea FC – his team, apparently. Ananya thought it might be useful to know who he supports.’

‘God, is this what I’m reduced to?’ Victoria hid her eyes with her hands. ‘I refuse to learn about a football team just to impress a boy. I don’t want to be one of those girls!’