A Witch Like No Other (48 page)

“
Yes,” he said
quickly. “Pandora, pink is just a light form of red.”

“
Cindy, do you
know what your man is talking about?”

“
No,” Cindy
answered, then she reached up and tweaked his nose. “Stop being so
silly, Jamie! Let’
s go and get
something to eat.”

James stared down at her. He couldn
’
t remember
why
he had even dated the annoying little-

“
Come on,
Jamie! Jamie? James!” said Cindy, as he roughly detangled himself
from her tiny body. “Be gentle with me!”

Cindy saw her smirk, saying “We was once the same height,
but then he just shot up like a tree- Jamie,
what
’
s
the matter?”

“
I’
ve got to go,” James
answered, pushing her away from him and running down the corridor,
past Pandora. “See ya!”

“
Jamie, come
back right now!” screeched Cindy, but James ignored her.

“
See you
later,” Pandora said, amused. “Alice, I- Alice?”

Pandora grimaced as she carried on walking, by herself. She
didn
’
t
want to think about what those two were getting up to.

James waited impatiently, leaning against the wall. As soon
as Pandora exited the Sports Building he grabbed her arm, saying
“Do you always walk so slow? I mean, it looks good, but not when
I
’
m
freezing in the-”

“
The next time
I see Cindy on your arm, a dirty look wont be all she receives from
me,” she said quietly, making James smile.

“
Aaah, was my
Pandora jealous?”

“
I
wouldn’
t call it that,”
Pandora said thoughtfully, “Because I
’
ve seen you with loads
of girls and I don
’
t give a toss about them-”

“
But
Cindy’
s my ex,” James said
smugly. “So obviously you
’
d be upset.”

“
I’
m not
upset.”

“
But you
was.”

“
I was not,”
Pandora said flatly, and he burst out laughing.

“
If you say so.
Come here.”

“
Marlon, the
cameras!” gasped Alice, but Marlon ignored her.

“
You kept away
from me on purpose, didn’
t you
Alice?”

“
I
didn’
t keep-”

“
We have to go
back, Marlon- we left Pandora in there.”

“
She knows her
way home-”

“
Not home to
Dreamer’
s!”

Marlon closed his mouth. Alice folded her arms, saying
“Let
’
s
go.”

“
After you kiss
me again.”

“
Alice, wait
up!” he called, but Alice ignored him as she head a soft laugh. She
just about recognised the laugh. Just about. Pandora hardly
smiled,
let alone laugh like she was doing now.

Alice
’
s frown deepened. Laugh so softly like she was doing
now?

It
was Pandora all right, with her arms around
James
’
s neck as he lowered his mouth to hers.

“
Alice,
wait!”

“
Pandora!”
hissed Alice, but Pandora ignored her. “Marlon’
s coming!”

Right now, Pandora didn
’
t care. Neither did
James.

“
James, stop!
Let go of her!”

“
What’
s wrong?”

“
Pandora’
s gone home,”
lied Alice. “She just called, um… she
’
s gone.”

“
She
doesn’
t even know the way!”
said Marlon, outraged as he started to walk through the door, but
Alice pushed him back. “Alice, what-”

“
Let’
s go and look down
the building again.”

“
We’
ve looked already!”
Marlon said, but she wouldn
’
t let him pass. “Alice,
stop being so silly- we
’
ve got to go home. I want to see
Julian.”

“
How did you
feel, Marlon?” she said quickly, and Marlon frowned.

“
How did I feel
about what?”

“
About your
baby brother.”

“
Alice,
we’
ll talk about this another
time-”

“
Don’
t go out there!” she
said, trying to pull him back, but he was too strong. “I mean it,
Marlon! If you go out there you
’
ll regret leaving
Pandora on her own!”

“
Come on,
let’
s get out of
here.”

“
Go on then,”
she said, ushering him forwards. “Go out.”

“
Alice,
you’
re really weird
sometimes,” he said as he looked at her. “I
’
ll regret leaving
‘
Dora on her
own if I come out- and see zilch?”

“
I was just
seeing if you’
re one of those
weedy guys who do everything their girls tell them to.” Her smile
grew. “I
’
m glad you aren
’
t.”

“
Mmm. Come on,
let’
s go before more classes
end. I don
’
t want the bus to be packed.”

“
I’
d better go,” Alice
said, surprising him.

“
Where’
re you
going?”

“
My
father’
s picking me up,” she
said apologetically. “He
’
ll be waiting in the car
park like he always does.”

Marlon pouted. “Why isn
’
t he at the
clinic?”

“
Uh- huh. Well,
should I walk you to the-”

“
No,” said
Alice quickly. “I don’
t know
how he
’
ll take me seeing you.”

“
Ok,
I’
ll see you on Monday,”
Marlon said, kissing her on the cheek. “I
’
ll call you later
on.”

“
Make sure you
put Julian on the phone,” Alice said, as Pandora flounced towards
them. Alice’
s jaw dropped,
Marlon immediately stepping away from his sister
’
s friend.

“
I know
already,” Pandora said tonelessly. “I was going to get the bus,
camel mouth, but then James drove by. I forgot he had a car,
didn’
t you?”

“
Yeah, I did!”
Then Marlon frowned. “Wasn’
t
he with his girl?”

Pandora smirked. “He
was
with his girl, up
until… two seconds ago?” Alice smiled, shaking her head as she
continued “But she
’
s gone to get some friends of his, see if they want a
lift home.”

“
Oh,” said
Marlon, not clocking on. “Well, come on then,
let’
s see if
he
’
s
got room to fit us in. Alice-”

“
See you on
Monday,” Alice said, amused. “See you, Pandora.”

“
Bye
Alice.”

Pandora smiled, thinking
those days are long gone.

“
So uh... where
now?” asked James, looking at Marlon. “We’
re here.”

Marlon looked around, even though there was no point. He
didn
’
t
even know the
name
of the town let alone the road
Dreamer lived on.

“
I’
d better call Mum and
ask.”

Baby Julian bit his teddy
’
s paw happily, sitting
on Dreamer
’
s lap.

“
Are you sure
that’
s all you want to eat?”
Barbara asked anxiously as she looked from Dreamer to Ted and back,
then she glanced down at their plates. “You
’
ve hardly touched
anything.”

“
We’
ll be going out to
dinner at seven,” Ted said, smiling at her. “So…”

“
Oh, why
didn’
t you tell me?” said
Barbara, pleased. “Romantic dinner?”

“
Family
dinner,” Ted replied, flashing her a smile. “The whole
family.”

“
Well,
that’
s still lovely. I… you
don
’
t
mean Agnes and Paul will be-”

“
No,” Dreamer
said, smiling a little. “They wont be coming, Barbara. Papa would
give everybody a heart attack, ditto Mama.”

“
He’
s a mechanic,” Barbara
said proudly. “He loves cars.”

“
Mummy, can I
peas have cook-cook?”

“
Not now,
sweetie.”

“
Cook-cook?”
Barbara asked, perplexed. “What’
s that?”

“
Cookies,”
Dreamer explained, and the baby giggled. “He loves
them.”

As
Barbara started to say she had plenty in her biscuit tin
Dreamer
’
s mobile went off, making her close her mouth.

“
Dreamer
speaking.”

“
Hi Mum!” said
Marlon brightly. “We’
re
lost!”

“
I forgot you
haven’
t been before- are you
in town right now?”

“
Yep.”

“
What road are
you on?”

“
Uh…
Middleheart Road.”

“
That’
s real far, Marlon-
how did you end up all the way there?”

“
Um…” Dreamer
waited. “We got a lift.”

“
Well… we
didn’
t know where we was
going, so I thought we
’
d be better off in a car than a bus, because
buses cant turn back round and stuff-”

“
Stay where you
are, honey. I’
m coming to get
you.”

“
She’
s coming to get us,”
said Marlon, smiling back at his sister. “Cool.”

“
Why
don’
t you stand outside the
car and wait for her?” James said. “If she
’
s teleporting,
it
’
ll
be easier for her to see you.”

“
Ok,” Marlon
said. “Come on, ‘
Dora.”

“
You go,”
Pandora answered flatly. “Wake me up when she gets
here.”

Marlon shook his head at her and got out of the car, James
murmuring “You
’
re not really going to sleep, are you?”

“
No, but he
doesn’t
need to know that,”
Pandora answered. “And when my Mum gets here,
you
’
re
going to apologise to her.”