didnât think most people would exactly have fortunes waiting to be taken, so what did kids do? I had a sneaking suspicion that maybe they went on the streets and begged, or even worse, they sold themselves. I wouldnât want to do that! No way!
I decided not to think about it. As Iâd said to Honey, you canât plan everything in advance. Sometimes, you just have to wait and see what happens.
Thatâs the good thing about fantasies. If thereâs a part you canât work out, you just skate over it and move on to the next bit.
It was still a fantasy. But growing more and more real, every day.
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Next morning, at school, Marnie comes up to me and says, âHey! Wanna know something?â So Iâm like, âYeah, what?â She tells me that this boy, Rory Mansell, thatâs in Year 10, has a thing about me. She knows this cos sheâs going out with Jason Dobbs thatâs also in Year 10. She says Rory told Jason in the hope that he would tell Marnie and Marnie would tell me, and then maybe I wouldâ
Would what? Marnie giggles and says, âAsk him if heâd like to go on a date?â
I think to myself that if Rory Mansell wants to go on a date he could ask me himself, but Marnie says heâs too shy. I say in that case heâs a wimp.
âHeâs not a wimp,â says Marnie, âheâs just scared youâll turn him down.â Then she tells me off for being prejudiced and says, âHeâs actually quite nice.â
Heâs not bad, I agree, but as I explain to Marnie, I donât really fancy him. Marnie says, âSo who do you fancy? You havenât been out with anyone for ages! Youâll get out of the habit if youâre not careful. Peopleâll start thinking youâre a lesbian!â
I say, âNow whoâs being prejudiced?â And then, without any warning, I hear myself blurt out, âThere is someone I fancy!â
âOh?â Marnie spins round. All ears. âWhoâs that, then?â
âThis boy I met. In Birmingham. Me and Honey, we bumped into them, there were two of them, they were down here from Glagow and we all got talking andââ
My voice burbles on. Itâs got a will of its own. I canât control it, itâs gone mad! Now itâs telling Marnie how me and this boy have been speaking on the phone every week. Weâve been texting, weâve been emailing.We fancy each other like crazy.
Marnie says, âWow! Whatâs his name? How old is he? Gimme, gimme, I want to know!â
I say that I canât give her his name. âItâs a secret!â
Marnie says, âWhy? Is he someone famous?â
I struggle with a momentary temptation to say yes, but manage to resist it. I say no, heâs not famous, heâs just an ordinary boy.
âSo whyâs it a secret?â
âCos heâs a secret! I shouldnât ever have mentioned him. I donât want Dad finding out! You know what my dadâs like. He nearly went ballistic that time I went out with Soper. He did go ballistic!â
Marnie says, âYeah, wellâ¦Soper.â She then agrees with me, however, that my dad is impossible. âIâm surprised he even lets you have a mobile phone.â
I say, âHe wouldnât, if he had his way. Itâs only cos of Mum.â
âI bet he checks on your calls!â
I mutter darkly that nothing would surprise me. âItâs like living under a dictator.â
âSo what you gonna do?â says Marnie. âAbout this boy?â
I tell her that I donât yet know. âBut if things get much worse, with my dadââ
âWhat? What?â Sheâs all breathless and eager. âWhat dâyou reckon youâll do?â
I say, âSomething desperate!â
I spend the rest of the day trying to decide whether Iâve finally flipped and started to believe my own fantasies, or whether