Katy Read online

  ‘Hey, guys,’ he said, as if he were in some stupid American High School movie. He was even trying to talk with an American accent. He nodded at Cecy. ‘Fancy a spin?’

  I struggled not to burst out laughing then, he sounded so ridiculous. How could Cecy possibly have a crush on him? He was absolutely pathetic. Surely she’d come to her senses and fob him off. She was staring up at him, her whole face shining.

  ‘Yeah, that would be great,’ she breathed. But then she glanced at me anxiously. ‘Is that OK, Katy?’

  No, no, it’s not OK. Don’t dance with this idiot! Stay with me!

  I took a deep breath.

  ‘Of course it’s OK,’ I muttered.

  So Cecy rushed off with Richie and I was left on my own. And it was awful. The music seemed to get louder, the lights brighter, the laughter more mocking. My eyes had gone blurry, so I couldn’t tell if people were staring at me pityingly or not. It didn’t matter. I felt they were. I’d been mad to come. I knew this would happen. If only I could be back at home. I looked down at my red Docs, wishing I could click them together like Dorothy and be safe at home in an instant.

  ‘Cool boots!’ It was Miss Lambert, smiling at me.

  I sniffed and did my best to smile back. ‘You’re the one with the cool boots,’ I said.

  ‘They’re a bit over the top, aren’t they? They’re my clubbing boots. I don’t know why I wore them here. I’m hardly going to be dancing with any of Year Seven or Eight,’ she said, sitting down beside me.

  ‘You could dance with Mr Myers,’ I said.

  ‘Hmm. We’re good mates but I don’t think that would work. Anyway, you lot would all laugh at us.’ She peered round. ‘Do you think everyone’s enjoying themselves?’

  ‘I suppose so.’

  ‘What about you?’

  I shrugged. ‘Dances aren’t exactly my thing.’

  ‘Dances are always a bit weird, especially at first. If it’s any comfort, all the best literary heroines don’t go a bundle on dances. Look at Jo March in Little Women. And Elizabeth Bennet snubbed by Darcy in Pride and Prejudice. And have you read Rosamond Lehmann’s Invitation to the Waltz? It’s an adult book and it’s pretty dated, but you might like it. The girl in that has a terrible time – only leery old men or losers want to dance with her.’

  ‘Yes, but Jo and Elizabeth and the Waltz girl can still dance,’ I said.

  ‘That’s true,’ said Miss Lambert. ‘Point taken. Sorry.’

  ‘It’s OK,’ I said, because I liked her and she was just trying to be friendly. But it wasn’t OK. And the evening didn’t get any better. Cecy came back to sit with me, but Richie came too, and the three of us had to make stilted conversation together.

  Ryan came back three times, bringing me more fruit punches. It was sweet of him, but I had to keep hiding them because there was a limit to how much liquid my bladder could hold nowadays. He didn’t just dance with Eva. He danced with lots of other girls too, but he danced most with Eva. Then she got up to do a showy-offy dance routine with Sarah and Maddie, and Ryan came hurrying over to me again.

  ‘Can I get you another fruit punch, Katy?’ he asked eagerly.

  ‘No thanks.’

  ‘There’s still some food left. Shall I fetch you a plateful?’

  ‘No, honestly, I’m fine.’

  We sat still and silent.

  ‘Are you OK?’ said Ryan.

  ‘Everyone keeps asking me that. Do I look a right grouch?’ Well, you’re acting like one.

  ‘No. No, you look great. Love your boots.’

  ‘Thanks. Like we said, great for giving people a good kicking. If I could.’ Will you stop it! It’s like you’re begging for pity.

  Ryan laughed uneasily. The music switched to that ‘Happy’ song and everyone started bouncing about. Eva waved at Ryan. He seemed not to notice. She gestured again.

  ‘Your girlfriend’s beckoning you,’ I said. Now you just sound petty and jealous.

  ‘She’s not my girlfriend,’ said Ryan.

  ‘She says she is.’

  ‘Yeah, well, she’s not.’

  ‘Don’t you like her any more?’

  ‘She’s OK. She’s very pretty. She makes all the other boys jealous of me,’ said Ryan. ‘But I’m not really into that boyfriend–girlfriend stuff.’

  You once asked me to be your girlfriend, back in Year Six, when everything was different. You probably don’t even remember.

  ‘Though I did want you for my girlfriend once,’ said Ryan, as if he were reading my thoughts. ‘Only you didn’t reckon me.’

  ‘I did. I mean … it was just, well, I’m so tall and you’re …’ Don’t say it!

  ‘And I’m so small,’ said Ryan.

  ‘No, I didn’t mean that,’ I said quickly, though we both knew I did.

  ‘Tell you what – I’m taller than you now,’ said Ryan, standing up. ‘See? I practically tower over you.’

  ‘So you do,’ I said.

  ‘I wish we could have a dance together, Katy. Remember the leavers’ disco? We had a fantastic dance, didn’t we?’

  ‘Yeah, we did.’

  ‘Look, how about you sit in your chair and we hold hands and you whirl me about, like you’re the man and I’m the girl. I could dance all round you, see?’ Ryan said.

  ‘We’d look weird,’ I said. ‘It’s OK, Ryan. You don’t have to be kind to me.’

  ‘I want to dance with you, you nutter. Come on, let’s give it a go.’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Come on.’

  ‘People will laugh at us.’

  ‘Let them. What do we care? Go on, Katy, I dare you.’

  That was it. I always had to accept a dare, no matter what. I wouldn’t wheel myself into the middle of the floor. I stayed right on the edge, hoping that somehow – miraculously – no one would notice us. But Ryan was a flamboyant dancer. I tentatively spun him round and he immediately got into this new way of dancing and put his whole heart and soul into it, jumping about and waving his free arm in the air. I could see people nudging each other and staring. Some people actually stopped their own dancing to watch. I got so hot with embarrassment my hand was almost too sweaty to keep contact with Ryan – but somehow, by the very end of the track, I’d got into the rhythm of the music, and was kind of bobbing about from my waist up.

  When the music stopped there was a sudden cheer and clapping. Mr Myers, Miss Lambert, Cecy, lots of other Year Sevens, all of them clapping us. Not Eva. She was flouncing about, raising her eyebrows and obviously saying something catty to Sarah and Maddie. And did I care? No, I didn’t!

  ‘I was thinking, Katy,’ said Ryan, when we were all saying goodbye and wishing each other a happy Christmas. ‘Me and the lads still go to Baxter Park and skateboard. Could you get yourself over there some day in the holidays?’

  ‘Well, I had a hard job finding it even before I was stuck in a wheelchair. And it might be OK for a bit, but it’s too cold just to sit and watch you guys having all the fun,’ I said.

  ‘No, I wasn’t meaning watch us skateboard. I know you’re not that sort of girl. But I could ask some others in our class too. We could get up our own teams for Myball. And you could join in.’

  ‘Hmm.’ I thought about it. ‘Are you going to ask Eva too?’

  Ryan laughed. ‘Do you think I’m daft? Then you wouldn’t come, would you? Give us your mobile number and I’ll get it all fixed up and give you a date. Right?’

  ‘You bet,’ I said.

  25

  It was nearly Christmas. Dad bought old-fashioned do-it-yourself paper chains and we all sat around one afternoon, slotting each chain into place. Even Phil joined in, though he licked his chains so thoroughly they wouldn’t stick.

  I couldn’t help with the hanging of the chains and I couldn’t decorate the top of the Christmas tree this year, but the littlies and I made a brilliant job of festooning the lower branches while Clover and Elsie finished off the top. They both made felt angels with yellow sewing-thread ha