He's After Me

Chapter THREE



‘What the hell does she see in him?’ gasps Zoe as we walk off.

‘Goodness knows!’

‘He gives me the creeps.’

‘Me too!’ I don’t want to admit it, but I’m feeling a bit freaked out after that encounter, like I’ve been threatened or something. ‘Actually, Zoe, I think I’m going to make a move now, if it’s OK with you.’

‘See you Monday.’ Zoe gives me a hug. I make my way through the mall, head down, trying to avoid the couples with their arms wrapped around each other. Am I the only single in the world? Suddenly I go slap-bang into someone. I hear them grunt like the air’s been knocked clean out of them and my bag goes flying.

‘Sorry!’ I say. ‘My fault. Sorry!’

‘You!’

I stare into a pair of surprised eyes. I don’t believe it! It’s him again. The boy from the bus. I look around for my bag but he beats me to it. He picks it up along with its scattered contents and hands it back to me. Our hands touch. I can feel my cheeks burning.

‘Are you stalking me?’ he says.

‘No!’

‘Only we keep bumping into each other.’

‘I never saw you before last night!’

‘And this morning.’ He grins and I realize he’s winding me up. He’s gorgeous when he smiles. ‘Do you live in the Docklands?’

‘No. My dad does. With his girlfriend.’

‘That old warehouse they’ve done up?’

‘Yeah, Wharfside. Top floor.’

He nods, studying me, like he likes what he sees. ‘What’s she like?’

‘Who?’

‘The girlfriend?’

He obviously wants to talk. I shrug my shoulders and the corner of my mouth curls. He laughs out loud. ‘That good, hey?’

‘We call her The Bitch.’

‘Some girls are,’ he says and nods understandingly. I wonder if he’s been hurt. His dark eyes are studying me. ‘Look,’ he says, then he hesitates, like he’s about to say something important and doesn’t know how. My heart starts racing. He’s going to ask me out.

‘Anna? Anna!’

Oh no! I’d know that voice anywhere. I turn around to see my father waving at me. Behind him, Jude emerges from a shop doorway. I groan aloud.

‘That’s all I need. My dad – and he’s got The Bitch with him.’

The boy’s eyes shift past me and he takes a step backwards.

‘See you around then,’ he says and I want to say, ‘No, wait!’ but instead I echo, ‘Yeah, see you around,’ and he walks away.

Thanks, Dad. You don’t just screw your own relationships up, you screw mine too.

The only guy I’ve been remotely interested in for ages and I don’t even know his name.