Grace raised an eyebrow. “Says … Dasher the imaginary-reindeer-looking-after Elf Girl?”
“And your point is…”
“My point is you can’t write this guy off for keeping secrets, when you’ve been doing exactly the same.”
“But!” Eurgh. She did make a great point. And from the little grin on her face, she knew it. “But … mine was for a good reason.”
“It’s fine. I know how to fix this.” She held her hand out. “Phone?”
Grace was the only person I’d hand it over to unlocked. She tapped the screen.
HOLY JINGLE BELLS! SHE WAS VIDEO CALLING RU!!!
Grace jumped up on my bed and held my phone in the air.
“Say you’re coming to London and ask if he wants to meet.” I WAS VIDEO CALLING RU! AND I STILL HAD SLEEP DRIBBLE ON MY FACE AND YESTERDAY’S MASCARA ON!
“Grace!” I leapt up for the phone.
But she bounced off the bed, yanking it away.
With a wail like a banshee, I hurled myself at it. But it flew out of her hand and slid under Billy’s bed.
And it was still ringing.
We both looked at each other. Oops!
“Dash?”
Ru’s voice came from under Billy’s bed. I dived towards it.
“American accents are so hot…” Grace hissed, fanning herself. She was loving this. But I was flat on my front, scrambling around to find my phone. What was Ru seeing right now? What on earth must he think?!
“One sec, Ru!” I yelled, flinging rosettes and horse magazines and forgotten about My Little Ponies out behind me.
“You OK? Are you calling me from a cave?”
Where was the stupid phone? “No, no, I’m all good!”
“Asssk himmmm,” Grace whispered. She was sitting calmy on my bed, like this was totally normal and she wasn’t in the middle of a storm of flying plastic horses. “Or I will?”
Fine!
“I just wanted to ask…” Was I really asking my first ever person out by yelling at my little sister’s collection of grooming brushes? “If…”
“You’re cracking up a bit,” Ru said back, not knowing I really was, in more ways than one.
“Just do it!” Grace pummelled both her feet into my bum as I rummaged about on all fours. “Grow some Christmas baubles and DO IT.”
FINE!
“If you were free before the event in London?” Had I really said it?! “To meet up.” I didn’t have a second to even take in what I’d just done. But he answered straight away.
“One hundred per cent.”
And then the call broke up.
CHAPTER
16
TO DO:
•Email yurt place! DO NOT FORGET
•Google “ funny things to talk about on first dates”
•Book cinema tickets
•Buy dental floss, new mouthwash, chewing
•gum Make 69 snowflakes
•Persuade Mum to change Cara’s ham air freshener for … anything else
I stood back and glared at my wardrobe, Billy watching from her bed.
Yes, I’d once chosen all of these clothes, so how come I hated them all?
