Free Six Steps to a Girl by Sophie McKenzie Page B

strolled out to the front desk.
    There was an awkward silence.
    “I’ve got to meet my mum,” Eve said. “I was supposed to be shopping with her all morning. I had to make an excuse to come here.”
    She looked at me. I tried to work out whether there was some kind of hidden message in what she was saying.
    “Ben’s away all half-term on some football trip,” she said.
    Oh, good, let’s talk about Ben again.
    “Right,” I said, determined to turn the subject away from her stupid boyfriend. “Chloe’s grounded all half-term. It’s her third week, she’s going mental with it. I think she’s even sneaking out of the house.”
    But Eve didn’t seem to want to talk about Chloe any more than I wanted to talk about Ben.
    We walked outside onto the pavement. We were on a side road off the high street. Where the two roads met, about thirty metres away, traffic was zooming past. It filled our silence with a noisy hum.
    “Well I guess I’d better get off and meet my mum,” Eve said, again. She was staring at me, as if waiting for something. I started to panic. Jesus, what was she expecting me to do now?
    Ask for her phone number?
    Surely not, after she just mentioned Ben.
    Ask her if she wants to go for a coffee?
    No, you idiot, she’s already said she’s got to meet her mum.
    What about seeing her later?
    Suppose she flips out again and runs off? No. Get a grip. Be cool.
    “This was fun,” I said, playing for time. “Interesting.”
    She smiled. “Yeah, Ben would have hated it.”
    My face fell. Great. Back to bloody Ben again.
    “I mean I’m glad I was here with you.” Eve moved the tiniest bit closer to me. She kept her eyes fixed on mine, then she tilted her head back slightly.
    A thrill of anticipation tingled down my spine. I suddenly knew exactly what she was waiting for me to do.
    I moved closer to her. Her pale eyes were all I could see. The art gallery, the traffic sounds from the high street, the people passing by . . . They all fell away.
    I moved even closer.
    When she spoke I could feel her breath on my mouth.
    “I shouldn’t do this,” she whispered.
    Our lips were so close they were almost touching.
    “I know,” I murmured.
    I closed my eyes and the whole world exploded in my head.
    I pulled away, shivering.
    Eve was still standing there, her eyes shut.
    She drew in a tiny breath, like a soft whispery gasp.
    It was about the sexiest thing I’d ever heard in my life.
    She opened her eyes and drew back. A look of confusion crossed her face.
    I was desperate to kiss her again. But I wasn’t going to have her run out on me a second time, like she had in the art room.
    “See you then,” I said.
    Before she could reply I’d turned and walked away, praying my legs would hold me up until I got round the corner and out of sight.

 
11
Lunch party
    I’ll be the ticket if you’re my collector
I’ve got the fare if you’re my inspector
I’ll be the luggage, if you’ll be the porter
I’ll be the parcel if you’ll be my sorter
    ‘Love Song’
The Damned
    I walked halfway up the high street in a blissful, sexed-up daze. All I wanted to do was relive that kiss. How Eve had looked at me. How her mouth had felt. How she’d tasted.
    All that stuff about Ben – how she’d gone on about him being away. None of that mattered. She’d kissed me. She’d wanted to kiss me.
    I stopped, a sudden realisation hitting me like a bucket of cold water. How could I have been so stupid? Telling me Ben was away this week was obviously Eve’s way of saying I could see her again before he got back. And I’d walked away without even asking for her phone number. I groaned out loud. It was all Ryan’s fault with his stupid Steps. “Get an Angle.” “Be aloof.”
    Be aloof, my arse.
    Why the hell hadn’t I asked if I could call her? I hadn’t even had her stupid friends watching me this time, and I’d still managed to blow it. Of course, Chloe probably had Eve’s number, but unless I could sneak a look