Strictly Friends? (15 page)

‘I've got a better idea,' said Danny. ‘Why don't we go to the ice-cream place down the road?'

Megan stared. ‘We haven't got time. We'll miss the second half.'

‘That's the plan. Come on!' Danny grabbed her hand, but Megan pulled away.

‘I want to see the second half.' He surely didn't mean it?

‘I can do it for you.' Danny jumped up and down a bit, kicking up his feet in a ridiculous way. ‘There, you see? Come on, let's go and get warm.'

‘I've been looking forward to this.' Megan felt tears prick at her eyes. She knew the soundtrack inside out; it would be too unfair to miss half the show! ‘And I bought the tickets.'

Danny paused for a moment and looked at her more closely. Then he unexpectedly put his arms around her. ‘Don't be sad,' he said softly in her ear. ‘You can see it another time, can't you? It's just that my legs are killing me. I don't think I can spend another hour in those seats. And the woman next to me hates me too. I'll just get on everyone's nerves.'

Megan resisted. ‘You could put up with it for my sake.'

Danny sighed and let go of her. ‘You go back in then. I'll meet you down the road after it's finished.'

‘What?' Megan stared.

‘I can't sit through any more,' said Danny in a pleading tone. ‘I'm really sorry, Megan. I'll go and get some ice cream and wait for you.'

‘But . . .'

The bell rang, signalling the imminent start of the second half. Megan felt torn. She really wanted to see the rest of the show. But they were on a
date
; she couldn't just let Danny go off on his own, could she? It wasn't his fault he didn't like dancing; it was her fault for asking him along to something she should have known he wouldn't like.

Danny put a gentle hand under Megan's chin and tilted it up. ‘Come and get ice cream with me,' he said in a coaxing voice. ‘You can have whatever you want. Honeycomb? Coffee and walnut? Blueberry sorbet? They've got it all, you know.'

Megan pulled a rueful face and gave in. ‘Oh, all right. I suppose I can't force you into that seat.'

‘That's my girl.' Danny put an arm around her shoulders and they walked away from the theatre.

Megan ignored the tiny sorrowful protest inside her.

‘So,' said Danny, once they had their chocolate brownies and ice cream in front of them, ‘you ever done any modelling?'

‘Me?' Megan was startled. ‘No, never.'

‘I think you should.' Danny dug into his brownie with gusto. ‘They love red-heads. And you've got good bone structure.'

Megan laughed. ‘What do you know about bone structure?'

‘They told me about it at the agency,' Danny said complacently. ‘They looked at my photos when I first went in with Samantha.' He grinned. ‘They said I had better bone structure than her. She was really mad.'

Megan still felt disappointed about the show, but she tried to sound interested. ‘Have you done a lot of modelling?'

‘More than Samantha. There are more girl models than boys so I get more work.'

‘I wouldn't have thought . . .' Megan stopped. She didn't want to offend Danny. ‘I'm surprised you like doing it, I mean.'

‘You get paid to wear stuff and just stand around,' he said. ‘What's not to like?'

‘Does it pay well?'

‘Yeah, mostly. Mum and Dad only let me have half though. They put the rest into a bank account.'

‘And you think I could be a model?' Megan was thawing a little. ‘Am I pretty enough?'

‘It's not just about being pretty,' Danny said. ‘It's about charisma. You know, when people can't take their eyes off you. You've got something that makes people go “wow!”'

Megan raised her eyebrows. ‘Have I got that?'

‘Oh yeah, definitely.' He grinned again. ‘Why do you think I'm hanging out with you?'

Megan felt a warm glow. She could forgive him for making her miss the second half of the show if he said things like that! He couldn't take his eyes off her! He must fancy her, then, if he felt that way . . . ‘I really like you,' she said impulsively, and then bit her lip. She hadn't meant to say that out loud!

‘Yeah, me too,' said Danny, cutting chunks off his brownie with the side of his fork.

Megan blinked. That wasn't quite the reaction she had expected. Should she say more? ‘I love spending time with you,' she said. ‘And I love trying out new stuff. You know, like the go-karts and the bikes the other day . . . it was amazing! I never thought
I'd like doing things like that. I've spent most of my free time dancing, since I was little.'

‘You should try rollerblading,' Danny said. ‘You'd love it.'

Megan felt a bit frustrated. Couldn't he see what she was trying to say? ‘What I mean is,' she said carefully, ‘I
really
like you. You know?'

‘Yeah. I really like you too.' He grinned. ‘Are you going to finish yours?'

‘Huh?' Megan stared. Danny gestured towards her plate. ‘Oh. No – you have it.'

‘Cheers.'

Out of nowhere, Megan felt an irresistible urge to laugh. Were all boys this dense? Here she was, trying to pour her heart and her feelings out to Danny, and he . . . well, he was still thinking about ice cream! She couldn't help it. She giggled.

Danny looked up. ‘What? Have I got ice cream on my chin or something?'

‘No.' Megan flapped her hand. ‘No, it's nothing.' This was so ridiculous!

‘This is good ice cream,' said Danny.

Megan giggled even louder. ‘Sorry,' she gasped. ‘I don't even know why I'm laughing!'

Danny smiled. ‘You look cute when you laugh.'

That just made Megan laugh even more. He thought
she looked cute when she was angry, sad, laughing . . . and yet he didn't notice when she tried to tell him how much she fancied him! She had to get a grip.
Think about something else. Think about dancing
. Oh – the Christmas party! ‘D'you want to come to a party? Middle of December.'

Danny looked interested. ‘Yeah, why not? Who's having a party?'

‘My salsa class. We're going to hire a hall or something and have a proper party, with fairy lights and a Christmas tree and everything.'

‘Oh.' Danny didn't look so impressed. ‘
That
kind of party.'

‘And dancing,' Megan went on. ‘You could come and see what I do. What I'm good at. It's not like
Riverdance
,' she added hastily, seeing his expression. ‘It's proper ballroom dancing. They've even asked me to choreograph a jive for the whole class!'

Danny raised his eyebrows. ‘Is that good?'

‘It's brilliant!' Megan beamed. ‘The jive is such a cool dance. Will you come?'

Danny looked uncertain. ‘Dunno. It's not really my kind of thing.'

Megan's face fell. ‘Oh. Well, see what you think nearer the time. It's not for another couple of months.'

‘Yeah.' There was a pause.

‘We're going out for dinner soon too.' Megan tried to change tack. ‘The Ace of Hearts is having a salsa evening. Do you know it?'

Danny nodded. ‘Too posh for me.'

‘It's just for the salsa class,' said Megan. ‘We're going as a group next month. It should be a really fun evening.'

‘Yeah.' Danny sat back and gave a satisfied sigh. ‘That was good. I could eat another whole one of those.' He looked up and smiled at Megan. ‘You want me to call the agency and ask them if they'd take a look at you?' Megan looked blank. ‘The modelling agency?' he prompted.

‘Oh – uh, yeah, OK. That would be great.'

‘Come on.' Danny got up. ‘Let's go for a walk.'

It was a beautiful clear evening. ‘Stars,' said Megan, looking up.

‘Yeah. Not many, are there?'

‘It's because of all the street lights. We could see loads more in Milton, where I used to live.' Megan felt sad as she said it.

Danny took her hand. ‘You cold?'

‘No, I'm fine.'

‘Sorry about the show,' he said unexpectedly. ‘I know you wanted to see it.'

‘It's all right. I should have known you wouldn't like it.'

‘I'm just not used to sitting still for so long.' He gave a sudden leap onto a low wall. ‘My legs just want to keep moving. You know?' He did a kind of shuffle along the wall, then jumped straight up and landed securely in exactly the same place.

Megan laughed. ‘You should do gymnastics.'

‘Nah. Too much like ballet, all those tights and stuff.' Danny glanced ahead and his face lit up. ‘You see that flight of steps?'

Megan nodded. About thirty metres ahead of them was a wide flight of stone steps leading up to Parchester's museum. ‘What about them?'

‘Someday I'm going to jump those on my board.'

Megan gaped. ‘What, the whole flight? From the top to the bottom?'

‘Yup. It can be done, I've seen people do it on YouTube.'

‘But that must be . . . how many steps are there?'

‘Twenty-six. I've counted them.' Danny grinned. ‘I just have to get up enough speed. Paul's going to video me doing it.'

‘But that's so dangerous.' Megan waved an arm at the road running past. ‘Even if you jump the steps, you'll end up in the middle of the road. You could get run over!'

‘I'll do it at night, duh,' said Danny, as though she were stupid. ‘When there aren't so many cars around. Paul can be lookout. Or you can, if you want to come.'

‘Me?'

‘Yeah.' He grinned. ‘Don't you want to see me jump this? It would be massive!'

Megan gazed at the flight of steps. She could just imagine Danny speeding towards it, kicking off from the ground . . . rising through the air . . . soaring above the steps . . . jolting to a triumphant landing . . . A tiny flame of excitement lit up inside her. It
would
be massive, he was right. Dangerous, of course – but imagine if he pulled it off! ‘What if you crash? You could really hurt yourself. What if you break something?'

‘Oh, I've done that before,' Danny said airily. ‘My left arm twice, my right arm once, left ankle once too. And a couple of toes.' He smiled at her and jumped off the wall. ‘Don't worry, I'm not asking if
you
want to jump the steps.'

‘As if!'

He laughed. ‘I think you need a bit more practice first, don't you?'

‘Just a bit.'

He put his arms around her. ‘Don't worry. I'll help you practise . . .' His eyes softened as he leaned towards her. ‘. . . All sorts of things . . .'

Megan closed her eyes. This was her chance to experience it all over again – kissing Danny. But instead of being lost in the moment, she found herself absurdly aware of her left foot, which was definitely lower than her right foot, even though she was standing with both feet firmly on the ground. Was she standing in a hole?

‘Mmm,' said Danny, breaking away and gazing at her. ‘You're a good kisser.'

Megan smiled. ‘Thanks.' She leaned towards him again – maybe she could concentrate this time?

Danny's gaze flicked back to the stone steps. ‘D'you think I should try to jump the railings at the sides too?'

‘Huh?' Megan was taken aback. Didn't he want to kiss her again?

Danny was dragging her over to the steps. ‘Look – they're not that high. It would make the jump even more awesome, wouldn't it?'

Megan made a non-committal reply. When she got a chance, she cast a quick look back at the pavement.

She was right; she had been standing in a hole.

‘
HEY. IS NOW
a good time?'

‘Yeah, it's fine.' Jake sounded more cheerful this time. ‘How's it going?'

‘Great!' Megan hesitated for a moment, but then why shouldn't she tell him about Danny? He was her best friend, after all. ‘I went out with Danny last night. You'll never guess what – he said I could be a model!'

Jake was amused. ‘How would he know?'

‘Oh, didn't I tell you? He does modelling himself. Him and his sister. Well, he says he gets more work than her because he's a boy. But he said I had really good bone structure and charisma.'

‘Charisma?'

‘Yeah, it's like when you can't take your eyes off someone. You know? When you look at them and go “wow”.'

‘Oh, right. I know what you mean.'

‘Pardon?'

Jake cleared his throat. ‘I said, I know what you mean.'

‘So anyway, we went for an ice cream and a walk. And he was talking about this jump he wants to make on his skateboard – this massive flight of steps outside the museum. Totally mad – he could practically kill himself!'

‘Whoa.'

‘I know! He is so wild!'

‘So you went out for ice cream?'