Cathy Hopkins - [Mates, Dates 07] (17 page)

So, all in all,
there’s been a lot going on, but I think it’s all been for the best. Our family
is certainly talking about stuff more openly than we did before. On top of all
the confrontation and communication, the girls and I have decided that we have
to have lots of jobs when we grow up, so that all our eggs aren’t in one basket
career-wise. Tony said he thought I ought to be a journalist as well as an
actress and when I asked him why, he said because I speak in headlines. Huh! I
don’t know
what
he means.

Dad never did tell us
what he and Mr De Biasi said in the car, but whatever it was, it mended the
rift between them and we’ve been invited for Sunday lunch with them. We’re also
having a big birthday bash there as a late celebration for Tony’s eighteenth. I
get the feeling that the De Biasis are going to be regulars in our lives from
now on. Hhhm. Don’t know how I feel about that. My parents being chummy with my
boyfriend’s parents. Is it a good idea? Tony’s removed himself from the cosy
set-up already. He’s taking Lucy out next weekend, but he’s taking her to some
place in Hampstead. ‘Somewhere where no one knows us, so no one will be
watching us and seeing what we’re getting up to.’ Hhmm, I thought, sounds like
he has something in mind. I’d better warn Lucy, but on second thoughts, she can
handle herself these days.

After we’d rinsed off
our face packs, we got down to the serious business of painting our nails.
Izzie pulled out a bottle of her favourite colour and a pack of stick-on
diamonds.

‘Want any of these?’
she asked.

Looking at them gave
me a brilliant idea.

‘Yes please,’ I said
and took the sheet she was holding out to me.

I went to the mirror
and stuck the diamonds on my brace, then I turned and smiled. ‘Designer braces.
What do you think?’

Izzie and TJ cracked
up. ‘Excellent,’ said TJ. ‘A million dollar smile.’

‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘I
decided I can’t go round for the next year hiding behind my hand. I decided I’m
going to wear my brace with pride.’

‘Does it still hurt
having it in?’ asked TJ.

‘No. It hasn’t hurt
for ages,’ I said. ‘It’s like it’s hardly there now.’

Lucy came back in with
a tray of Cokes, so I smiled for her too. ‘Cool. Mouth jewellery,’ she said as
she handed me a Coke. ‘You’ll start a trend.’

‘I’ve also been
thinking,’ I said. ‘All that stuff about being shallow, well, I’ve decided that
it’s not a bad thing and, actually, I like being the way I am. So,’ I raised my
Coke, ‘here’s a toast to frivolity.’

‘What’s brought this
on?’ asked TJ.

‘I’ve been thinking
about it a lot over the last few weeks. I was really worried that you all
thought I was lightweight, you know, shallow, but I realised something the
other night when I was at Luke’s house watching his war film. I’ll never be
into heavy stuff like politics or war. I’ll never be into reading literary-type
books with clever words that only brainboxes understand. But I’ve realised that
it doesn’t matter. There’s room for everyone and that includes people who are
lightweight, in fact there are times people
want
lightweight. There’s
room for all types of films, for all types of books and for all types of
people. And one sort shouldn’t make the other sort feel unworthy or inferior.
This is my new philosophy. There’s a place for black and there’s a place for
pink. Room for garlic
and
for roses. Garlic smells um… garlicky, roses
smell sweet. There’s a time and place for both of them, but imagine if the rose
suddenly developed a complex because it smelled flowery and not pungent. It
would be really sad. No. As I said, everything has its place. Same with people.
We’re all different and that’s what makes life interesting. You can’t
be
everything and
know
about everything nor can you be what you’re not.
Shouldn’t even try to be. Um, a rose shouldn’t try to be garlic, nor the other
way round. Um… what am I trying to say? Um… that all you can be is true to
yourself.’

Izzie was giving me a
really strange look, then she cracked up laughing.

‘What? I asked. ‘
What
?’

‘Just… wow,’ said
Izzie. ‘That’s
really
deep.’

‘Is it?’

‘Yeah,’ said TJ. ‘And
it’s exactly what Shakespeare wrote in
Hamlet. “To
thine own self be
true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to
any man.’”

‘Really? Then he
sounds really cool, does old Shakespearie dearie,’ I said, feeling really
chuffed that Izzie had said I was deep. ‘Yeah. Yo! Shakespeare. My man.’