Free Johnny's Girl by Paige Toon

around the small pitch. I scan the scene and see smoke trails drifting into the air on the far side of the park, under the trees. I’ll bet my
beanie Natalie’s there. I set off in the direction of the trails, preparing to turn around if I’m wrong. One of the guys playing football scores a goal and his teammates are ecstatic.
Honestly, you’d think they’re playing at Wembley. I roll my eyes as one of them lifts up his shirt and hooks it over his head like he’s Cristiano flippin’ Ronaldo.
    It’s then I notice Tom Ryder. He’s shaking his head with amusement at the guy showing off. He glances my way and I force myself to look past him and not catch his eye. I heard he
split up with his girlfriend a few weeks ago, but I doubt he’ll be single for long. He’s in the year above me, and always seems to have girls after him.
    My pulse speeds up as I walk past the game, keeping my eyes trained on the group of four people sitting halfway up the bank. They’d better be my friends because I’ll die of
embarrassment if I have to turn back now.
    ‘Alright, Jessie?’ The sound of Tom’s voice makes me jump, I hope not noticeably.
    ‘Hi, Tom,’ I reply as casually as I can, barely looking at him.
    ‘Come to watch me play football?’ he asks cheekily, and I give him a withering look instead of an answer. But that doesn’t deter him. He’s got so much confidence he could
bottle it and sell it on eBay. ‘You going to Mike’s tomorrow night?’ he asks, scratching the top of his head. He has shortish, brown hair which always looks sort of stylishly
messy.
    ‘What’s it to you?’ I reply. I am, actually. Mike is Natalie’s older brother by only a year. Their parents are away this weekend. Party time!
    Tom shrugs and grins at me, and my treacherous heart flips.
    ‘Hey!’ I hear a shout and turn to see Natalie coming towards me, her hand raised in a half-wave. Relief surges through me and I can’t help smiling as she beckons me over.
‘I didn’t know you were coming out tonight,’ she calls.
    ‘Neither did I.’ I turn away from Tom, and make my way over to her. I swear I can feel Tom’s brown eyes burning a hole into my back as I do so.
    As I reach her she gives me a hug, then pulls me towards the rest of the group. I can’t help it: I look back just in time to make eye contact with Tom for a split second before the ball
shoots in his direction and distracts him.
    God he’s gorgeous. The only trouble is, he knows it.
    I say hi to the others, who turn out to be Dougie, Em and Aaron.
    Dougie and Em are in sixth-form college. Aaron and Natalie are in the year above me and destined to join them soon. I’ve only really been hanging out with them for a few months, but
I’m already dreading my final year at school once they’ve gone.
    ‘What was Tom saying to you?’ Natalie demands. Her blue eyes stare at me intently, as she pushes her long dyed-black hair from her face. Em turns to me as well. She’s less
striking than Natalie, with brown hair and a slightly orange complexion.
    ‘Nothing.’ I shrug. ‘He just asked if I’m going to yours tomorrow night.’
    ‘It’s going to be awesome,’ she says with a grin. ‘Do you want to crash over?’
    ‘Yeah, maybe.’ I think about my argument with Stu and the fish finger sandwich he made me and feel a prickle of guilt. I know he’s not going to be happy about me going out
tomorrow too. Natalie passes me her can of cider and I take a big swig, and try to put Stu out of my mind. Not that I really need it – the cider I had earlier has already gone to my head and
I’m still really hungry. I look over at Tom as he jogs across the pitch.
    ‘Let’s go on the zipwire,’ Natalie says suddenly, pulling me to my feet. I laugh and follow her.
    We’re still mucking about ten minutes later when the football game comes to an end. I notice Tom glance in our direction as Natalie drags the pulley back along the line and hands it to me.
I climb on and