Free Super Awkward by Beth Garrod Page B

all of our break-time milk into the teacher’s bag as a present for her. That was probably the first and last time Tegan did anything really naughty. Out of everyone I knew, she had life figured out. Which is why I turned to her for advice on anything, and everything. And why she was going to be the one to make me feel better.
    Rach popped her head over Tegan’s locker door, her perfect hair in those waves you only see on magazine covers. How do people know how to do these things? I have zero hair skills, so had guilt-tripped Jo into helping me put my short hair up this morning to try and look a bit more mature and fearsome just in case I did see Luke, but I’d just achieved Swiss goat herder instead. Still, goat herders must be scary to goats at least.
    I beamed at Rach.
    â€œHey, good lock-ing. Fancy seeing you here.”
    She jumped round the door and gave us both a big hug. I already feel short enough compared to Tegan, but Rachel is proper model tall. I really should have chosen friends more wisely. “So, Tegan was just explaining why one week away made her think it was fine to cut me out. . .”
    â€œ Errrr, no. I was about to explain the practical logistics of what happens when your battery runs out, and then your phone falls through a tiny hole in your gym bag meaning you think you’ve lost it, until you’re nagged into emptying it just before you set off for school on Monday morning, and then voila, there it is, full of slightly deranged messages.” She raised her eyebrows. “So then you message your friends asking if they want to walk in together, but they both ignore you.”
    Rach and I simultaneously looked at our phones. A group message from Tegan asking if we wanted to walk in with her. Ooops.
    â€œWell, for that I can only apologetic-face emoji at you, so let’s call it quits.” Tegan shook her head despairingly. We were chalk and cheese. If chalk liked sitting on sofas and cheese liked spending every hour achieving something useful. “So, while I’ve got you, all that’s left is to find out what you know about
this
.”
    I scrolled to the pic that Luke sent. Her brown eyes hardened.
    â€œAny idea why he’d send this to me and say it was you? We’re like a fallen tree here. Totally stumped.”
    Tegan took it out of my hands and zoomed right in. Did she shoot Rach a look? I looked back. Nah, she was staring at the screen. Damn loser Luke, he was even making me paranoid with the two people I trust most in the world.
    â€œSo weird. TBH the whole night was a bit of a blur. So unlike me.” Completely unlike her; she was always the sensible one. But I knew her well enough to recognize the signs that she might have something more to say if gently prodded.
    â€œSo you’ve got no idea
at all
?”
    She sighed as if not sure whether to answer. “Well, there’s
one
thing I can think of.”
    I KNEW it. Tegan lowered her voice to a semi-whisper.
    â€œSince Rach showed me the message at the party, I’ve been going over it trying to figure it out. See if we’d missed anything.”
    I knew Tegan would be able to clear this up. She always did. She’s basically like a TV detective, but in real life, and without the murders.
    â€œThe only thing I can come up with is that earlier in the night we’d been bigging up Black Bay. Majorly.” Rach nodded. It’s what she was saying yesterday. Tegan carried on. “Puke was sitting on the floor behind the armchair we were on. We
knew
he could hear everything we said. So we sort-of made out your holiday was wall-to-wall hot boys. And that they were all well into you. That at one point you were physically fighting them off with a stick. And . . . and that you said it had made you realize what losers you’d dated before. . .” She winced. “And what terrible kissers they’d been. . . With questionable breath. . . And terrible choice in slogan