The Celeb Next Door (10 page)

‘Too. Much. Information.’

He doesn’t take any notice. In his mind he’s gone back twenty-five years, and he’s at university, falling in love with my mother. ‘ … But one day, in my third year, I bumped into her in the university canteen – literally, bumped into her – and then she spilled coffee all over herself, and the expression on her face made me melt. She looked like she wanted to kill me …’

‘La la la la la la la la …’ I have my hands over my ears now.

‘And after that, I couldn’t stop thinking about her. And then,’ he winks, ‘I invited her to come and see my etchings …’

‘Stop it! Please! You’re torturing me.’

He laughs at me.‘Sorry, Rosie. But you’ll be forty-five one day too and nostalgic for your youth.’

‘No I won’t,’ I say.‘That’s never going to happen to me. And if it does, I think I’ll kill myself first. Anyway, it’s taking long enough to get to fifteen.’

He sighs and rubs the back of my head. I grimace – I’ve told him not to do that because it makes my hair frizz. ‘Oh, Rosie, my love.’

I duck away from him. ‘So, getting back to what I asked, if you don’t fancy someone the minute you see them, it doesn’t mean you never will?’

‘That’s right. So why are you asking? Who’s the lucky fella?’

‘No one,’ I say. ‘I was just wondering.’

‘OK.’ He looks hurt that I won’t tell him, like he thinks I don’t trust him.

I pause. ‘If you really want to know, it’s Max, Rufus’s brother. Rufus told me he likes me and I don’t know if I like him back. Like that, I mean. I’m kind of enjoying having a guy friend.’

Dad smiles, kindly. ‘Don’t rush into anything, love. Just because he’s a guy and he likes you doesn’t mean you have to go out with him. You can stay just as you are. It’s perfectly possible to be platonic friends.’

‘Yeah, but I don’t want to hurt his feelings. He might not even want to be my friend any more if I knock him back. It would spoil everything.’

‘It’s a tricky one. If it makes any difference, both your mum and I think Max is a very nice young man. We wouldn’t have any objections.’

‘Daaaad!’ I cringe. ‘Is that like a reverse psychology thing? If you say you like him, you hope you’ll put me off?’

‘Course not. I know you’re far too clever for that to work.’

‘Hmm. There’s another thing: Vix fancies him. She actually said so.’

‘Oh, yes, I can see that is awkward.’ He ponders my dilemma for a moment. ‘But you know what they say, Rosie? All’s fair in love and war. I’m sure you’re all going to have lots of boyfriends along the way. If you’re good friends, you won’t let them come between you.’

I nod. Dad hasn’t really told me anything I didn’t already know, or helped me to make my mind up, but I do feel a bit better.

Later, Sky pops round to my house. I’ve been leaving messages for her all afternoon, saying I want to talk, but not telling her why. She hates it when I do that but I don’t like leaving voicemails, especially about complicated stuff like this; I feel like such a rambling idiot. When I tell her what Rufus told me, she grips my shoulders and jumps up and down with excitement, forcing me to jump too. She’s far more thrilled about the fact that Max fancies me than I am, which probably isn’t a good sign.

‘I thought he liked you!’ she practically screams. ‘It was so obvious, the way he kept staring at you when you were talking.’

‘Was it? Did he?’

‘Yeah. Like, derr.’ She giggles. ‘And what’s even better is
that Rufus Justice gave you the news – how cool is that! Just think, if you go out with Max you’ll be practically in the Justice family! You’ll be a rock star’s little sister. Almost.’

‘Yeah, but …’

She isn’t listening.
‘Rosie and Max sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g
,’ she chants, teasing me.

Oh God, I think, if I go out with him I’ll have to kiss him. I picture his face. I can’t imagine doing that. That’s not a good sign either. I tell her my fears and she tries to reassure me.

‘I wasn’t into Rich as much as I am now, at first,’ she says. ‘He was much more into me.’ She looks a bit wistful. We both know that now it’s the other way around.

‘You know what?’ she says. ‘I think you should go for it. Go out with him one evening, sort of on a date, but not an actual proper date, and see how you feel then. It would be like trying before you buy.’

‘Yeah, that’s a good idea.’

‘It would be so cool if you had a boyfriend too, one who I get on with. Hey, if it works out, you and Max and me and Rich can double date.’

‘Yeah, but what about Vix?’

‘She’ll be OK. She’ll get used to the idea. And I’m sure Max has some nice mates he can introduce her to, someone else she’ll like. Then all six of us can hang out. Just talk to her, Rosie. Sort it out before she gets upset.’

‘I will,’ I say. And I do mean to. I know I should call Vix
right now, but I’m too much of a coward. It can’t do any harm to leave it a few days, until I have a better idea of how I feel about Max, can it? There’s no point upsetting her until I’m sure.

I
t’s Friday evening, and tonight is my ‘sort of ’, ‘kind of ’, ‘try before you buy’ tester date with Max. Max doesn’t know this, of course. He thinks it’s a real date, a proper first date, and he’s made a big effort tonight. He’s wearing really smart, dark blue jeans with an actual shirt, which it looks like he’s tried to iron, and he’s doused himself in too much of Rufus’s aftershave again. I think he might even have had his hair cut, although he’s still got so much of it, it’s hard to tell. I’m slightly more low key, in a hoodie, vintage jeans and Converse. Well, I don’t want to look like I’ve tried too hard and give him the wrong impression, do I? Or maybe I do? I guess that’s why I’m here: to find out!

Over the past few days, since he asked if I’d like to go out for dinner tonight, just the two of us, I have tried to make it clear that I’m not sure if I want to be more than friends. I avoid too much eye contact and I’m trying not to play with my hair while we’re talking, as I’ve read this is a sure-fire sign that you like someone. But I don’t think he’s quite got it. I’m pretty sure Rufus told him what I said, but I also think he might have said I was ‘playing hard to get’ and, that, unfortunately, has just made Max even keener. He’s started looking really intensely into my eyes whenever he talks to me, and when I act shy and uncomfortable, I think he thinks I’m being coy and flirtatious.

I’ve finally spoken toVix about what’s going on. I knew I had to tell her, but it never seemed to be the right time, so I kept putting it off. I know it’s awful, but I left it until the last possible moment. I was hoping Sky might say something for me, but she said that wasn’t fair, it was up to me. She also said Vix had been talking about Max a lot, wondering when we’re all going to go out again, and that not being honest with her was cruel.

I called her a couple of hours ago. I keep replaying the conversation in my mind.

‘Hey, Vix, I need to talk to you about Max,’ I began.

‘Yes?’ She sounded excited. Bum, I knew that was the wrong way to start.

‘God, I don’t know how to say this. Ur, I might like him too. Maybe. Sort of.’

‘But you said you didn’t. When I asked you, at the picnic.’

‘I know, I’m sorry. I wasn’t sure, I was confused … I’m still confused. The thing is, God, um, it turns out he likes me. He told Rufus.’

‘Oh,’ she sounded hurt.

‘I’m really sorry, Vix. I know that you’ve got a bit of a thing for him and all. I didn’t mean it to happen and I didn’t do anything to make it happen, honest. I was actually going to say something to him about you liking him, before Rufus told me.’

‘It’s not your fault,’ she said, generously.‘It’s just the way it goes.’

‘Yeah. Thanks, Vix. I knew you’d understand.’

‘So how are you going to tell him you’re not really interested? Are you going to let him down gently?’

‘Um, well, not exactly. Not yet. You know I said I wasn’t sure how I feel? Well, I’ve decided there’s only one way to find out. I’m going out with him, like on a date. Er, tonight.’

‘What, you’re actually going on a date with him?’

‘Just to see how I really feel, yes. It won’t be that different from the other times I’ve been out with him. Date’s just a label, doesn’t mean anything.’

She paused and took a deep breath. ‘Rosie, I’ve known you for ever, and I know you wouldn’t go on a date with someone if you didn’t think you fancied them. I think you’re just doing it for the VIP passes, so you can hang out with Rufus and his mates. You don’t really like Max. You’ve
never once said you thought he was cute. If it was anyone else, you wouldn’t be going. You’d just have said no. You’re becoming totally obsessed with celebrities. It’s like you’ve forgotten about real people.’

‘That’s not fair,’ I said. What she suggested hurt me, because I’m not using Max – although I can’t pretend that the thought of backstage passes and a summer with the Fieldstar crew isn’t a tiny part of it all. ‘I do like Max a lot. You know I do. And we get on so well, I need to see if there’s something more there.’

‘You said you’re going tonight?’ She sounded tearful. ‘And you never said anything to me till now.’

‘I know, I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to upset you.’

‘Well, you have.’

‘I know. And I’m really sorry.’

‘Enjoy your date,’ she said, and she sounded bitter.

‘Thanks.’ I tried to think of a way to make things better. ‘I promise I’ll come round tomorrow and we can catch up properly. I don’t like leaving things like this.’

‘If you want,’ she said.

‘So what are you doing tonight?’

‘I dunno. Sky’s seeing Rich. Some of the girls from school are going to the cinema. Maybe I’ll tag along.’

‘Cool,’ I said. ‘Have a good night. Speak tomorrow.’

‘Sure.’ She didn’t say,‘Have a good night too.’ She just said, ‘

I guess you’ll tell me all about it tomorrow then, won’t you?
’

I made a right mess of that, didn’t I? I didn’t feel good
when I hung up the phone. Vix and I used to do everything together, share everything together. This is one thing we can’t share. It feels weird.

So here I am, sitting in a local restaurant, across the table from Max, who can’t stop grinning at me. We’ve come to Marine Ices, which is probably the oldest and best Italian ice cream parlour in London. It’s right on my doorstep, just opposite Chalk Farm Station and it serves real, home-made Italian ice cream, in every flavour you can imagine, with tons of sprinkles and sauces. You can take them away in big, fancy cones, or eat them in, in bowls or glasses – knickerbocker glories and all sorts, with wafers sticking out … But I’m getting ahead of myself. It isn’t dessert time yet. There’s also a proper Italian restaurant attached to Marine Ices and that’s where we are. The walls are decorated with signed photos of all the celebrities who have been here over the years, actors and musicians and even Hollywood film stars from way back. I gaze at them, trying to figure out who I recognise, and I wonder whether I should ask Max if Rufus has come here yet.

Max is such a gentleman. When we arrived, he held open the door for me and he pulled out my chair behind me (which was a bit unfortunate because I wasn’t expecting it). He’s asked me what I want to drink and eat, ordered the food for both of us, then waited for me to start when his meal came first. I think he’s the sort of guy who’d do this even if you weren’t on a date with him. I’m
not used to it. It’s actually quite lovely.

I’m eating spaghetti pomodoro, which is possibly the least romantic thing you could eat, as the tomato sauce flies everywhere when you slurp the spaghetti. I didn’t pick it deliberately to put him off me, honestly. If I’d wanted to do that, I could have had garlic bread, and I didn’t. It’s just the least calorific thing on the menu, and I’m saving myself for dessert. Max is having a pizza with spicy pepperoni on it. It’s the size of a satellite dish, but he’s working his way through it impressively. As usual, talking to him is a breeze, even though I’m feeling a bit more self-conscious than I normally do. We talk about our friends, moan about our parents and our teachers. He tells me about the term he decided to turn vegetarian, mainly because he really liked a girl in his class who was an animal rights activist. The problem was, he couldn’t resist the lure of a bacon sandwich, and when she found out, their relationship was toast.