Free The Accidental Wife by Rowan Coleman

shaken her head.
    ‘No, I’m not, you’ll never –’
    Alison interrupted her. ‘When you hear what happened you’ll understand,’ she said.
    Alison was so used to telling her stories, it would never cross her mind that Catherine might have one to tell in return.
    ‘Go on then, but be quick. Mum’ll be up as soon as the news is finished to tell me to turn my light off.’
    ‘I was just leaving to meet you when
Aran Archer
rang me up and asked me if I wanted to watch a video at his. Well, I had to go, didn’t I? Samantha Redditch has been after him since Easter. I thought she’ll die if she knows I’ve bagged him.’
    ‘But I thought you like –’
    ‘Yes, of course I like him, I
love
him, but he’s never noticed me yet so while I’m waiting, why not go out with Aran Archer? There’ll be parties and I’ll get to hang out with my true love more.’
    ‘If you say so,’ Catherine said. She’d learned never to question Alison’s plans, because Alison did what she wanted to do and worried about the consequences later.
    ‘So I go round to Aran’s, and his mum is out, of course. He draws all the curtains in the living room, tells me to sit on the sofa, and gives me a drink of orange
squash
!’ Alison shook her head. ‘What a saddo! Of course the film hadn’t been on five minutes before we were kissing. His tongue was down my throat straight away and his hand was up my top, squeezing them like they were lemons.’
    Alison laughed, remembering to cover her mouth with her hand at the last second in case Catherine’s parents heard her.
    ‘It was so not sexy,’ she said. ‘So I pushed him off me and he says, “Oh, go on, Alison, let me see them, please!” And I said to him, “Are we going out or what?” And he says, yeah we are, all sort of desperate and pathetic. So I said, “OK then.”
    ‘I couldn’t get him off of me for the rest of the afternoon. He wanted to go further but I wasn’t having any of that. I’m not losing it to him. Still, he’s quite sweet really when he’s not with his mates. He said he’s fancied me for ages.’
    ‘So you’ve chucked Ryan, then?’
    ‘Well, I will do,’ Alison said, glancing at her watch. ‘What about you? What did you do? I would have phoned you here to tell you but I knew you’d rather get out than be stuck in here all afternoon.’
    Catherine thought about her kiss with Marc and she thought of how it would sound if she tried to explain to Alison in the way Alison had just described her afternoon with Aran Archer. The moment was too precious for her to share with anyone, even Alison. Especially Alison, because once she knew she’d have questions like, whose hand went where and what did it feel like and when could she meet him? Catherine realised with a sudden lurch she didn’t want Alison to meet him. The afternoon she had spent with Marc, the talk they’d had and the kiss was hers. It was perhaps the very first thing that she had properly owned in her entire life, even if it was something as transient as memories and sensations, and Catherine wasn’t ready to share them.
    ‘We can do something tomorrow, if you like,’ Alison said. ‘Aran will be begging me to see him but I don’t think I should, do you? I’ll be fighting him off again all afternoon and it’s such a drag.’
    ‘Actually, I can’t tomorrow,’ Catherine said quickly.
    ‘Really?’ Alison looked surprised and Catherine was sure she’d be caught out in her lie. ‘Parents?’ Alison asked.
    Catherine nodded.
    Alison gave her a sympathetic hug. ‘Just think, one more year and you’ll have A levels and we’ll be off to university. Then you’ll never have to see them again. One more year and you’ll be free.’
    ‘Yes,’ Catherine said thoughtfully. ‘One more year.’
    They heard a footfall on the bottom stairs.
    ‘I’ll be back tomorrow,’ Alison hissed as she climbed out of the window. ‘Same time, same place, OK?’
    Hastily Catherine pulled the window shut