Undeniable (8 page)

‘I turned the router off,’ he said without even looking up. He was scribbling in his rap lyric book. ‘Can I call you Gaybie? I can’t think of anything that rhymes with
Gabi except scabby.’

‘Or stabby,’ I muttered darkly. ‘I don’t even know what to write about.’

He gave me a look like it was obvious. ‘Do something like
Dawson’s
– like a couple or a love triangle or something.’

‘It’s meant to be literaturey. I’m supposed to do all long words and write about death or describe some leaves in a way that is actually talking about death.’

‘Lots of literature is about love.
Romeo and Juliet. Pride and Prejudice. The Notebook.’

I definitely heard Max’s voice break a bit when he said
The Notebook.
He cried for a whole hour more than I did when we watched it.

He slid over to me on the sofa and put his arms around me. ‘Come on, babe. You’ve got loads of ideas.’

So I started writing my story.

Before English about a week later
,
Miss Gregg came up to me. She said my story was ‘very funny and very real’ and she was going to use it as one of the examples we would
mark as a class.

‘OMFG!’

Miss Gregg frowned at this.

‘This has literally never happened to me ever
,
’ I told her.

She smiled back at me then, but I could see loads of pink pen marks and comments (they don’t write in red – it’s too aggressive) over the pages she held.

‘My spelling isn’t great,’ I admitted.

She said that could be worked on so I didn’t get marked down in the exams. And that the creative spark was the main thing.

But when she put it on the projector and it was so big that it took up a wall of the classroom
,
all I could see were the pink pen marks.

‘It’s really hard to read with all the mistakes,’ said Tina, whose story had been the first one to go up – all perfectly spelt and about someone dying.

‘It’s massive. Maybe you need your eyes testing,’ said Mia.

‘Maybe Gabi needs a special needs test,’ muttered Tina, too quietly for Miss Gregg to hear.

‘On task, please!’ said Miss Gregg brightly, but you could tell it wasn’t going how she’d planned. She tried to get everyone to talk about the observational comedy and
the message about friendship
–
it was about a guy who tries it on with two best friends, but when the friends find out they decide to humiliate him in front of everyone. But the whole
way through Tina and her squeaky little friend Melly (which isn’t even a proper name) kept pointing out all the mistakes.

Miss Gregg tried to talk to me at the end, but I just left and didn’t even take my story with me.

When my alarm goes off at five in the morning, I briefly consider quitting my job, but then I have an exciting thought. Filming starts today. I actually get to see some of
The Halls
being filmed.

And I’ll see Spencer.

Which isn’t important because I’ve decided I won’t be kissing him again.

Not that I was thinking of kissing him.

When I arrive at the university a line of white trailers are lined up along one side of the big park at the front of the campus. They use some rooms inside the university building for storing
props, but the make-up and dressing rooms and catering are all done from the trailers. Only I got a text this morning to say that the hot water in the catering van isn’t working, so I have to
go and find some urn in the university canteen to use for making coffee.

The morning air is still really crisp. I walk round one of the make-up trailers and it’s quite chilly in the shadow, but I come out the other side into soft, warming sunlight. Spencer is a
metre or so away, next to some people who are setting up a camera on a crane. He’s chatting to some girls on the crew and their laughter keeps breaking out over the dull murmur of everything
else. It feels like it’s at a higher volume and I keep looking over.

It’s a good thing that he’s chatting up other girls. If it was just me that might make us a thing. And that could be the first step towards something big and scary.

As I’m telling myself that I stop and watch Spencer talking. I feel like I’ve only just started really looking at all the details of his face. The sharp angle of his cheeks when he
smiles. And the way his lips are always slightly parted.

Which are all irrelevant. I’m about to creep off in the other direction, so he won’t know I was here, when he turns round and catches me staring.

‘Hello, hello.’ He arches an eyebrow in amusement. It feels a bit like everything focuses in a close-up and we are the only two people here.

Then one of the cameramen says, ‘I said, “White, two sugars”,’ and I accidentally shush him. I do a pretend sneeze to cover it up when I realise what he’s said.

‘Yup,’ I say and turn to the others for their coffee orders. My heart is pounding and I wish I hadn’t noticed how nicely Spencer’s T-shirt fits and his stupidly perfect
jawline. But I can’t stop the buzz that goes through me when I see to him.

I head into the uni building to find the hot water urn, waving at people in the crew I’ve already got to know. The location manager, Nina, and her assistants are all really nice.

I take ages to find my pass in my bag and the security guy – Ron – does the joke he’s done every morning where he pretends to not know who I am.

I’m in such a happy, skippy mood when I start doing the coffee that I turn the knob with a bit too much enthusiasm and hot water spills out onto the floor. Just at that moment, Spencer
appears at the door of the canteen.

‘People are wondering where their coffee is— Whoa!’

He comes strolling in and is now looking at the massive puddle by his feet.

I look up from my search for a mop. ‘Do
not
tell anyone about this.’

‘Oh, don’t worry, it’s my fault. I must have startled you.’ He barely suppresses a grin.

But he starts making coffees from my list while I find a mop and start clearing up the water. It is possible I am just sweeping it to the sides of the room so we’ll just have to hope that
no one hangs out by the wall.

Then someone else pops their head through the door.

‘I think they pay people to do that, Spence?’

It’s Heidi, who plays geeky Jas. She’s wearing little shorts and braces with a band T-shirt and definitely looks cool, even though she’s described as a misfit in her profile on
the website. She’s holding her glasses between her finger and thumb, looking intently at him.

All I can think is,
Why she is calling him Spence?
I’ll Spence her.

‘I’ve just been called,’ she continues. ‘Do you want to see my scene?’

He turns quickly towards her just as he puts a cup down and the coffee spills over his fingers. ‘Sure!’ he says, his voice catching slightly as he must have scalded himself a bit. He
sucks the hot coffee off his fingers. ‘Are you all right here, Gabi?’ His words are muffled by his hand.

‘Oh yeah, fine!’ I say, jamming my mop into the bucket a little bit too forcefully.

‘Tell you what, I’ll take some of the drinks out.’

I smile my thanks, and as we catch each other’s eye, it feels like the air crackles between us.

Heidi is inspecting her nails and breathes out impatiently.

‘So I’ll see you later?’ he says to me, a smile still at the corners of his mouth.

I hand out the rest of the coffees, and end up back at the make-up trailers in time to see the second scene of the day. About a million people touch up Johnny Green’s
hair before his first appearance, even though he’s going to be riding a bike so it will get messed up anyway. They are filming the opening of episode two, because episode one is set in the
Christmas holidays and they all go off to Paris for New Year’s. They are shooting that at the end of the summer after getting all the uni scenes filmed. I won’t get to go as my
internship will have finished by then, but I have already been to Paris.

Paris was awesome.

I yawn, then realise that one of the sound guys is watching me.

‘You’ll have to get used to this!’ he laughs. He explains that because series two is set in the second term of uni, which starts in January, all the outside scenes have to be
filmed really early in the morning so it doesn’t look too sunny.

Harry’s bike ride is filmed once by the camera on the crane, and then again with a camera next to him on a scooter, and then again with a camera fixed to his handlebars. It’s so
weird seeing him when they aren’t filming and he’s just standing around with his arms folded and looking at his feet. Then, when the cameras roll, he’s all full of energy and
confidence and Harryness. The scene is supposed to be Harry racing to get to a hearing at uni where they are deciding whether to throw him out for plagiarising in one of his essays. He’s
turned into a total waster since Jen rejected him in the finale of series one.

Then after that, Jas finds him getting drunk after the hearing and she offers to help him with the essay he has to do to avoid getting thrown off the course. It’s the start of a thing
between them, which is going to be majorly controversial because Jas is supposed to be best friends with Jen, Harry’s ex, which happened after Jen was there for her when her dad died and Jen
showed she wasn’t so mean after all. And because Jas is supposed to be all good and have morals and stuff. And you’re just not meant to go out with your friend’s ex.

Even if the break-up was your friend’s fault.

When I walk through the door at the end of the day, Granny says, ‘You look knackered.’

‘I am! And I’m grumpy. I miss Mia,’ I say. ‘I wish she hadn’t gone to France to farm grapes or whatever it is.’

And I wish I could stop thinking about kissing Spencer in his room.

‘Of course you do, love. Sit down and tell me. Have some sangria.’

‘Okay, thank— What?’

‘Sangr
iii
a!’ she trills. ‘And I made tapas. My running buddy, Alejandro, has inspired me.’

I hope that’s all he did to her.

She has made the tapas only in the sense of taking things out of the packets and putting them in the oven, but it is still progress from takeaways. It turns out that Sangria tastes like cold
mulled wine.

‘I have something for you.’ She points at me and then rubs her hands in excitement. I hope it isn’t anything weird. Granny’s been getting weirder lately.

She comes out of her bedroom holding a little box. She opens it to reveal a smaller blue box, fastened with a little gold clasp. Inside is a ring, with three tiny sapphires going across and then
two diamonds either side of the middle sapphire.

I look up at her. ‘Are you asking me to marry you? Because I would say yes with this ring.’

Granny laughs. ‘That’s pretty much what I said when it was given to me. Charlie squirrelled away money for months to get it. But I want to give it to you. And then one day, you can
give it to your granddaughter.’

I am choked up. Like there is a small rock sitting in my throat. I try to say thank you, but I can’t get any words out. It feels like my throat is too closed up to speak. Then Granny makes
it worse.

‘I know this break-up is sad at the moment,’ she says, ‘but you’re going to have so many adventures and meet plenty of new people who will understand how wonderful you
are.’

I try to say thank you again, but when my voice still doesn’t work, I hug her.

Gabi has joined the conversation.

Gabi:
Argh! So sorry I’m late, guys – work is mental and my phone keeps freezing! What a mare!

Rosie:
No worries.

Nish:
Sorting out Rosie’s birthday shenanigans – you need to get involved!

Gabi:
YES. Lads reunited!

Mia:
Except me.

Gabi:
That’s what you get, froggy!

Rosie:
So next Sat, out for a pizza, then Spanky’s?

Gabi:
Uh.May.Zing. Just have to check my work dates. I am dressing up as a giant condom next weekend. Argh, have to go now – they are filming a
bonfire scene where Harry plays Jas a song he wrote and they nearly kiss.

Mia:
You’re doing WHAT?

Gabi:
Not supposed to tell you storylines. FORGET IT ALL.

Nish:
Lol.

Gabi:
Bye! xoxoxox

Gabi has left the conversation.

The networking event is about a million floors up a massive tower. Apparently – according to my London tour guide – this is ‘the City’. Large buildings
loom over us, most of them made entirely out of windows, so you can see parties going on. Spencer points to the floor we are heading for. It looks very, very high up.

To distract myself in the lift, I twist the ring round my finger. It’s a bit too big for me, so I put it on my middle finger, but I might move it to my thumb. I would die if I lost it.

Spencer is looking annoyingly gorgeous in a shirt and smart trousers with slightly less messy hair than usual. He brushes it away from his eyes and fiddles with his collar.

‘Well, this feels wrong.’ He wrinkles his nose.

‘It was your idea!’ I reply, hoping that he’s changed his mind.

He’s making out like I dragged him here. He was the one who spotted the poster for the Friday evening television-industry event on a notice board in the Student Union. Then we talked about
how awful the idea of networking was. He told me how Heidi Adams had told him he should ‘totally’ go tonight, because he could ‘totally’ get an agent and
‘totally’ get some advert work. I told him that if he wanted to take the advice of a total knob that was up to him.