Free Strictly Friends? by Jo Cotterill Page B

skate park. ‘Oh my God, haveyou not been listening to a word I said? That’s Samantha Brooks! She’s only the most evil cow-bag ever!’
    â€˜But . . . but . . .’
    â€˜And you’ve been
hanging out with her
?’ Mari suddenly dropped Megan’s arm, a horrified expression on her face.
    â€˜I didn’t know it was her!’ protested Megan, suddenly defensive though she had no idea why. ‘I’ve only just moved in! How would I know anything about what happened?’ A sudden thought struck her. Danny had said something about Samantha being ‘off track’ since what happened in the summer . . .
    Mari was glaring at the ground. ‘Megan, you’ve got to stay away from her. She’s a nasty piece of work.’
    Megan felt uncomfortable. ‘Well, it’s not that easy, if I’m going out with her brother.’
    Mari actually took a step backwards. ‘You’re GOING OUT WITH HIM?’
    â€˜Not like that, not like that! Mari, you’ve got it all wrong!’ Megan gabbled. ‘We’re not going out like boyfriend and girlfriend, it’s just I only ever see him at the skate park and I said it would be nice to go somewhere just the two of us and so he said he’d take me somewhere really cool and we could . . .’ Her voice trailed off under Mari’s steely expression. ‘He’s really nice,’ she ended lamely.
    â€˜He can’t be nice,’ Mari said in a decided tone. ‘He’s a Brooks. He’s Samantha’s brother.’
    â€˜Exactly,’ said Megan, feeling a little more sure of herself. ‘He’s her brother. He’s not
her
. I mean, you can’t say just because she’s nasty that he is too. Have you even met him before?’
    â€˜No,’ admitted Mari.
    â€˜Well, then.’
    Mari shifted from foot to foot. ‘But if you hang out with him, you have to hang out with her,’ she said. ‘That’s what you said. She’s always around.’
    Megan felt frustrated. ‘Well, what do you want me to do? I like him. He’s really cool on a skateboard and he wants to teach me. She’s not very friendly, but I don’t have to be friends with her, do I?’ She took a breath. ‘Look, Mari, I know why you feel the way you do, but I only just moved here. I haven’t got many friends yet. Danny’s been nice to me. I don’t want to stop seeing him.’
    Mari sighed. ‘Sorry, Megan. I didn’t mean to go off the deep end. I know I put my foot in it sometimes. It’s just that Samantha and I – we have a bit of history, let’s say.’
    â€˜I know, but . . .’
    â€˜And I will
never
forgive her for what she did to Fliss,’ Mari went on. ‘But I don’t know Danny at all.He could be nothing like her. And you have a right to be friends with whoever you want, of course you do.’ She glanced back towards the skate park. ‘Just be careful, that’s all. You don’t want to get on the wrong side of Samantha.’
    Megan grinned. ‘All right. And thanks for looking out for me.’
    â€˜He’s waving at you,’ said Mari. ‘I should go.’
    â€˜No, don’t.’ Megan grabbed her arm. ‘I’m showing you where I live, remember?’ She waved back at Danny and then firmly turned away, although she really wanted to run over to him. ‘I can talk to him tomorrow.’
    â€˜I’m impressed,’ joked Mari as they walked away from the skate park. ‘You may be smitten, but you’re staying strong. Good on you, girl.’
    â€˜Mari,’ said Megan affectionately, ‘you are an idiot.’

Chapter 7
let’s do it again!
    MEGAN’S JAW DROPPED. She’d never seen anything like this before.
    â€˜Cool, isn’t it?’ said Danny enthusiastically.
    Everywhere she looked, Megan saw red and white stripes, rubber tyres, steel beams, tarmac . .