Soul Love (12 page)

I was settling down with
Vintage Verse
on a rainy Tuesday morning when the bell rang. I didn’t look up at first. I was engrossed in a poem by Ben Jonson. I was particularly taken by
the lines:

Someone coughed. I looked up and saw it was Cleo.

In a panic, I glanced back at my book to give myself time to think.

Maybe she had just come in to browse . . .

‘I want a word with you,’ she said, her voice as sharp as a stiletto heel.

‘Plenty of words around here,’ I said, trying to make her laugh. If I could make her smile, then maybe just maybe she wouldn’t kill me. I gripped on to the spine of my poetry
book.

‘Stop bothering Gabe,’ she said in a steely voice.

I swallowed and frantically searched my brain for something to say. Bothering? He certainly didn’t seem very bothered.

But Cleo was in no mood for an in-depth discussion. She leaned over the counter, jabbed me in the chest and said, ‘Leave him alone.’

‘Hey,’ I said, weakly, as her finger seemed to have superhuman powers and knocked me a little off my feet. The high street was deserted. Where were all those prying eyes when you
needed them?

I took a deep breath and attempted to get some of my fighting spirit back.

‘Isn’t that for Gabe to decide?’

Cleo frowned. ‘He doesn’t
need
you messing him around. I’ve seen the way you look at him.’

The venom she put into the ‘you’ was scary. I was a low-life, repellent, foul-smelling scum of the earth.

I forced myself to look in her eyes. Her lips were curled into a sneer, but her eyes had a startled look like she was afraid. I suddenly felt a bit sorry for her.

I decided to try the soft, reasonable approach.

‘I know that you and Gabe are friends and I don’t want to spoil that.’

Cleo’s eyes flashed. ‘You haven’t a hope in hell of knowing the extent of our friendship.’

‘You’re right. I can’t know what it’s like to grow up without a mother.’

Cleo stopped short and spluttered, ‘Gabe told you
that
? He had no right telling you. You are totally messing with his head. Wheedling your way into the band so you can be with him.
Just back off. Because in the long run, you’re wasting your time.’

‘My time to waste,’ I snapped back and cringed inwardly. This situation was heading into a slapping match and there was nothing I could do or say to stop it.

‘Gabe and I have a special bond that you will never have!’

I was literally saved by the bell as Ava walked in. She was wearing a bright pink plastic apron and carrying a large plunger.

‘Blocked sink. Thought I’d pop in and check on you, Jenna.’ She waved the plunger menacingly in the air and turned to Cleo. ‘Everything all right at the café?
Backed-up drains can create havoc. Not to mention the smell.’ Ava sniffed theatrically. ‘There is a faint whiff of something unpleasant in here.’

Cleo treated us both to one more glare and left the shop.

Ava rustled her way towards me, plonked the plunger on the counter and said in a whisper, ‘Watch your back with that one. It has claws and sharp teeth.’

‘What have I done to her?’ I said.

Ava nodded and said theatrically, ‘You’re young. You’re beautiful with a shady past. You’re competition.’

I wasn’t convinced. Cleo was afraid of something more than just a rival for Gabe’s affection.

Chapter Twenty-Four

W
hat if Gabe and I hadn’t kept the secret as well as we’d thought? Someone could’ve easily seen
us scrambling up the treehouse or walking through the fields. Cleo was definitely suspicious. She’d been to the treehouse a couple more times, forcing Gabe and me to stay away. Ava was
driving me nuts by winking knowingly at me at every opportunity.

But why did it matter so much?

What was it about me that made boys embarrassed to be seen with me? Jackson had always shifted the ground from under my feet. Doing things like texting me all the time, but then never being
quite sure if he was available when I suggested we meet up. Or he’d ask me to meet him for coffee and then I’d find out he’d asked Mia and about six of his mates along as well.
With Jackson I always felt that I had to impress him to get noticed.

Gabe could be moody, stubborn and totally paranoid about people knowing his business, but when it was just the two of us it was different. I felt that I could be myself again. Maybe, deep down,
he was ashamed to be seen with a delinquent like me. Whether he liked it or not he had a position in the community, being the son of Lord Netherby.

As for my shady past, as Ava had put it so dramatically, it was time for me to face facts. Mia was not going to do anything for me. That wasn’t how our friendship worked. We were social
friends not deep soulmates. Being known as her friend had made my school life easier, but that’s all. The sooner I faced up to that sad fact, the sooner I could move on and make some real
friendships.

I was left with two choices. I could do something about the situation myself or shut up and live with my bad girl reputation. That really made me think about how easy it is to get a bad label
stuck on you. And how hard it is to take it off once people have made up their minds about you.

I was just about to close up the shop when the bell went and Freddie and Charlie ambled in.

Freddie said, ‘Bodacious news! With only days to go, the Stale Pumpkins have pulled out of the festival and we have been offered their slot.’

‘Is that good?’ I asked.

‘Does a cat like cream?’ Charlie said.

‘Does a bear . . .’ Freddie began.

‘OK, I get the point,’ I cut in.

Charlie went on. ‘It’ll mean loads more rehearsals. Only problem is we can’t have the village hall. It’s been fully booked up by other festival bands.’

They looked at me like a pair of lost puppies until I cracked and said, ‘It’ll be a bit cramped, but I’m sure Sarah wouldn’t mind us practising here. If we gave her
something towards the electricity. Besides, I owe you something, Freddie, by way of an apology for being so rude to you the other day.’

I’d hardly got the words out before Charlie had leaped on to the counter and given me a big kiss. Then he blushed the deepest red I’d ever seen a face go.

‘Way to go, bro,’ Freddie cheered before he slapped his hand over his mouth and said, ‘Oops, what I meant to say was, “What a fantastic idea!”’

Charlie bundled him out of the shop.

As I was mulling this over, the phone rang. I was of two minds whether to answer it or not. I wasn’t in the mood for answering book questions. So I put on my snootiest voice.
‘Sarakai Books, how can I help?’

‘I think the question is more, what can I do for you?’

‘Mia, is that you?’

‘No, it’s her body double speaking.’

‘How did you find this number?’ I asked.

‘Ways and means, ways and means. Look, I can’t talk long. Just thought I’d ring to let you know that I . . .’

‘You’ve told the school, I knew you would. What did they say?’ My voice went racing on and on.

There was a long pause at the other end.

‘It’s the summer holidays. There’s no one in school at the moment. I was calling you to say that I got your e-mail. A bit threatening for my liking . . . but Jackson and I are
coming down to see you. We’ve got tickets for the Netherby Festival.’

‘I thought you weren’t allowed to associate with me.’ My mouth felt dry.

Mia laughed. ‘Justin is driving us down if we pay his petrol money and buy his ticket. Mum hasn’t made the connection between you and Netherby.’

‘I’m touched at the lengths you’ll go to see me,’ I said sarcastically.

‘I’m borrowing a tent. It should be great fun.’

‘I’ll be working. I’m running a food stall with Sarah,’ I said. The thought of Mia and Jackson in Netherby unnerved me. Mia and Jackson were part of my London world. They
didn’t belong here. I was a different person here and I didn’t want them to spoil things.

Mia continued chatting. ‘I want to hear all about your mystery boy. Or was he just a product of your fevered brain?’

Why had I bragged about Gabe in that first e-mail I sent her? Stupidly trying to impress Mia. I couldn’t bear the thought of her knowing about Gabe.

‘He’s called Charlie and he’s really funny.’

‘Dying to meet him,’ Mia said, then her voice changed. ‘Yes, Rebecca, I think you’ll find that is the correct use of the apostrophe.’

Her mum must’ve come into the room. I put the phone down.

After Mia’s call I felt unsettled and stifled. I needed a temporary change of scene. I’d heard that there was a cool café in Netherby, so after work I decided that now was a
good time to check it out.

Netherby was a smaller version of Greater Netherby. The shops were mainly antique and bric-à-brac. This would’ve been a much better location for Sarakai Books, I thought.

Every shop window was full of posters advertising the coming festival. One small antique shop had a poster that said:
Boycott Netherby Festival. Keep thugs out of our village!

So not everybody thought the festival was a good idea, then. As I was staring at the poster something caught my eye. You could hardly miss a large gaudy vase like that. The price tag attached to
it was pretty breathtaking too. I rubbed my eyes and looked again.

It was still there.

Chapter Twenty-Five

‘
I
s it better to hurt someone quickly by telling them some bad news or better to say nothing and
just wait for them to find out for themselves?’ I asked Gabe later that evening. We sat side by side in a corner of the treehouse sharing a bag of cherries.

‘If you’re thinking of dumping me then I’d prefer to be told right away.’ He hurled a bad cherry out of the window.

I told him about seeing the vase in the shop, Sarah thinking I had something to do with it, and my suspicions about Kai having stolen it.

Gabe shook his head. ‘Kai can be a bit of a smoothie where the ladies are concerned and his poetry sucks, but I can’t believe he’s a thief. Besides, he doesn’t need to
with that valuable record collection of his.’

I nearly choked on a cherry stone. ‘Are you telling me that that box of old records is actually worth something?’

‘Thousands of pounds. But I don’t think he’d ever sell them. He thinks of them as his children.’

‘Then why leave them behind?’

‘He probably thinks that is the safest place for them whilst he’s travelling round for the summer.’

‘In the meantime Sarah has to manage the shop alone . . . She totally refuses to see any of Kai’s bad points,’ I said.

‘What I don’t understand is why Sarah assumed that you might have had something to do with it?’

‘Because I am a bad girl with a terrible reputation,’ I replied bitterly. Then a weird thing happened. Out of the blue, I exploded into tears. A huge volcanic eruption of hot tears
and snot completely overwhelmed me.

Gabe just let me get on with it. Then he handed me a crumpled tissue from his coat pocket.

‘You can talk to me about it . . . if you trust me.’

I nestled against his T-shirt, breathed in his sweet smell, and considered. I wanted to tell him . . .

‘It’s not that I don’t trust you. Even though I’ve only known you a few weeks, there’s something about you. You’re solid. But you’re not always open
with me and I totally respect that, because I’m just the same and I know how you hate people making assumptions about your life . . . And I want to tell you, but . . . Oh my, I’m
babbling on like a total fool.’

Gabe said, ‘Who cares? There’s no one around for miles. Apart from me.’

‘That’s the point. I care about what you think of me. I don’t want you to think less of me,’ I said, my voice getting smaller.

‘How do you know that I will?’ Gabe looked into my eyes.

I looked down and said, ‘Because when I allow myself to think about what I did, I feel so bad that I start gasping for breath.’

Gabe squeezed my arm.

‘I don’t think I could ever think badly of you, Jenna. People make mistakes, have regrets . . . Sometimes you have to learn to live with them, learn
from
them.’

‘Sometimes the mistakes you make can really hurt people. Mum was desperate to get me into Coot’s Hill School. It’s incredibly hard to get into and I’m not a super-genius
or anything. She had to spend a lot of money on a house in the right area for me to be considered. That and my musical ability got me in.’

‘I didn’t know you played anything.’

‘The clarinet, and I sang in the choir at my primary school.’

‘You are full of surprises, Jenna. I didn’t take you for a choir girl.’

‘Not all of them are good surprises . . .’ I tried to laugh, but my face felt tight. I was aware that this was my chance to get it off my chest. Find out Gabe’s true feelings.
Let Gabe know what I was capable of and see how he liked me after that.

‘I pretty much hated the school from Day One. The atmosphere was too stuck up and competitive. Life in Year Seven was pretty tough. I didn’t know anyone as we’d only recently
moved into the area. When I started Year Eight, Mia moved in next door and joined the school. She was fearless and right away she helped me fit in better at school.’

‘Having someone to look out for you is important,’ Gabe added.

‘Then in April, at the start of last term, Jackson arrived. He’d been at my primary school. So for the first time it felt like I had a group of friends. We fell into a habit of
mucking around. We all got off on the wrong foot with our new French teacher, Ms Rose. She had a really sharp tongue and a way of looking down her nose at you if you made a mistake. Even Rebecca
Worth, a complete swot, struggled with the homework – and she has two brains. I used to like French, but I found myself losing interest and, eventually, confidence.’ I looked up at
Gabe. He smiled back at me. No matter how many times I swallowed, my throat felt dry. The aftertaste of the cherries in my mouth made me feel sick.