But Poppy kind of wished they could. She would have liked to know what Norah’s life was now and what had happened to her in these years.
How was it possible that they’d been what they’d been, and now they were this? This... nothing? Because once, for a time, Norah had seemed like the centre of the universe to Poppy. She didn’t like remembering that, but now that she was back in Northwood and Norah was regularly in her line of sight, it was all flooding back.
Twenty Years Ago
Poppy wasn’t completely certain if it was OK to kiss Norah under these circumstances. But Norah had been insistent enough to override Poppy’s doubts. It didn’t feel wrong—far from it. She could feel Norah coming closer to her every second they were kissing. Poppy’s whole body was electrified by Norah’s kiss. It was like she’d stuck a fork in a mains outlet. But in a nice way.
They were still on the floor, in the same position as Poppy had collapsed into, but that stopped working after a few minutes. It didn’t allow for the bodily contact that Poppy needed. She wanted it all. She had to tell herself to calm down and take it slow. This could end any second.
Norah pulled back from the kiss, and Poppy thought that was it—the miracle was over.
‘My legs are going a bit numb. Shall we get on the bed?’ Norah asked shyly.
Poppy was on her feet in a second, pulling Norah up gently but hastily.
Norah lay down on her back on the bed, scooting backwards toward her pillow, pulling Poppy towards her. Poppy slid up next to her and waited to see if Norah would initiate another kiss, which she did quickly.
They were side by side, body to body. Poppy softly placed a hand on Norah’s waist. Norah reacted by slipping her leg over Poppy’s leg, pulling her in tighter, her hand coming up around Poppy’s head. This was Poppy’s first kiss with a girl, but she knew it wouldn’t be the last. Norah was delicate and beautiful. Her hands around Poppy’s head were so firm but gentle. Her lips were soft as cake and just as delicious. No boy could have begun to compete.
Poppy was getting dangerously turned on. She could feel certain urges growing. Though it would be her first time going there with a member of her own gender, her body was pretty clear about what should happen next. She ached to touch certain parts of Norah. But she was fighting her wants as best she could. The situation still felt a little tenuous. She didn’t want to spook Norah.
But then Norah’s hand moved from Poppy’s head, ran down her back, and cupped her bum. Poppy matched her, moving hand to touch Norah’s bottom. It was bouncy and squeezable, so that was what Poppy did, softly kneading it. Norah gave a very encouraging little moan.
And then, incredibly, Norah suddenly rolled right on top of her. The weight of Norah’s body on Poppy’s felt so good it was almost torture. Poppy pressed into her and began to grind against her. Norah moved with her, making little sighs and moans. Poppy felt like she was seconds from coming, even with their clothes on.
And then Norah’s Mum exploded through the door.
‘Why is your light on so late? You should be—’
Poppy and Norah jumped apart; Norah’s mum was frozen in the doorway. She knew what she’d walked in on. Her eyes looked like someone had pulled the power plug out of her brain. Eventually, something clicked back into place, and she walked back out without a sound, shutting the door behind her.
‘Oh Jesus,’ Norah groaned. ‘That wasn’t good.’
‘No,’ Poppy could only agree.
‘I don’t know what to do.’
‘Neither do I.’
‘Was she angry?’
‘I don’t know,’ Poppy said, aware of how utterly useless she was being. ‘Should I go?’
Norah sighed. ‘Probably.’
‘OK. I’m sorry.’
‘What for?’
‘If this is gonna be a problem...’
Norah shook her head. ‘I mean... I think she was just shocked. I can understand that.’ She gave a nervous giggle. ‘I’m kind of shocked myself.’
Poppy nodded and kept nodding for longer than was normal or necessary. ‘Yeah, right, shock. Yeah. It’s all... Yes.’ She finally managed to stop her head from going up and down and climbed off the bed. She realised her clothes were somewhat askew, and she tucked and smoothed until she felt vaguely together. ‘Sorry. I mean, not sorry. About all of it. Just that last bit. That wasn’t good. The rest of it was... nice.’
Norah looked up at her. ‘Nice?’ she repeated. She looked slightly offended.
‘It was awesome,’ Poppy said quickly, which felt like an overcorrect. She needed to get out of here before she could completely fumble this. Why was she acting so bloody goofy? ‘Let’s talk tomorrow.’
Norah smiled. ‘OK. Tomorrow.’
She left the bedroom carefully, looking around in case Mrs Cauldwell was waiting to beat her to death with a frying pan. But the hallway was dead silent, and Poppy fled without further incident.
Eleven
Now
Well, that was that. Norah wasn’t gonna be able to go back to The Sugar Cube now. If she wanted a lunch out, she’d have to go to the newsagent for a prepackaged parody of a sandwich.
That was annoying. She liked The Sugar Cube. How much territory was she prepared to surrender to Poppy? What if Poppy turned up in Tesco? Would she quit eating altogether?
No. The Sugar Cube was one of those little pleasures that made Norah’s life bearable. She couldn’t let it go.
It was funny that it took a bagel to turn Norah’s thinking around, but that was her red line. She was going to have to figure out how to be a normal person around Poppy. There was no better time to start on that because it was almost time to get Freddie. She was going to see Norah at the school gates imminently.
She grabbed Freddie’s post-school snacks out of the cupboard and headed to the school, arriving at the gates just in time to see Poppy pull up in her car across the road. She got out and jogged across the road.
Norah braced herself. ‘Hello,’ she greeted Poppy.
