Page 37 of Take My Hand

“I remembered. In fact,” I said, lowering my voice, “I remember a lot of things about you.” As I thought about her soft skin, her smell, her gorgeous eyes, my natural instinct kicked in. I shifted my chair closer to the table, petrified that Maddy might walk in and see what was happening in my kecks. “You’re unforgettable, Maya.”

There was another soft sigh on the other end of the line, and then silence. Like we were both knew it could be the start of something but didn’t want to spoil it with words. Didn’t want to ruin the perfection of it.

After a few moments, I was the first to speak. “When and where?”

“Like I said, I’m free all week,” Maya replied, her voice strong and confident because she knew I would go wherever and whenever to see her again.

“Tomorrow. I can come to you. I can be in Leeds for eleven.”

“That’s good for me. I’ll message you the address of a coffee shop close to me.” Voice strong and confident. Assured and certain.

“See you then.”

When the line went dead, I wondered whether I should have played it differently. If I should have suggested later in the week, not come across so desperate. Then I realised that I was desperate, so why bother lying?

Chapter Fifteen

Maddy

After getting home on Sunday evening, I’d replayed what had happened at Zak’s house that day. Not so much having pizza with his family, even though they were lovely, but all the other stuff was on repeat in my head.

His thumb gently rubbing my arm. Him pulling me closer. Tickling me. I kept going over and over it, all with a huge smile that I couldn’t get rid of. It was Monday, we were back at school, and I was still thinking about it, and still beaming. Then I realised that I was about to see Zak for the first time since the day before, and my grin melted away.

“Oh, bloody hell.”

“What’s wrong?” Ana asked as we walked across the concourse towards the canteen, to the weekly sixth form meeting.

“Erm, nothing.” I hadn’t told her, or any of my friends, that I’d spent the day with Zak. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to; I just didn’t have time. That was what I was telling myself, anyway. The real truth was that I was too embarrassed—embarrassedthat I might have imagined it all and that when I saw Zak, he would act like it was nothing. I would hate that because, to me, it was something.

“Your face says different.” We both stopped walking, and I stared at Ana as her lips, painted a deep purple, broke into a grin. “Wouldn’t have anything to do with a certain boy, would it?”

How the hell had she worked that out. I stiffened and gave a quick shake of the head. “No idea what you’re talking about.”

“You liar,” she gasped and nudged me. “You’ve been weird since Emma’s sleepover.”

“How would you know?” I protested. “I haven’t seen you.”

“I’ve spent all morning watching you.” She raised an eyebrow. “In Psychology you went all funny-looking while we were talking about the memory. Like you had a special memory of your own.”

“I was not.” I rolled my eyes and carried on walking.

“And in Social Care, you were gazing outside when we were talking about nutrition. Were you thinking about Cockney boy’s arm around you on Saturday night?”

She laughed, and I was glad I was two paces ahead of her and she couldn’t see my face. Ana would see straight away that I looked guilty. She was wrong, though; it was everything from the day before, not the sleepover, that had me daydreaming.

“Just hurry up, Ana, we’re going to be late.”

“We’ve got ages,” she said, running up beside me. “Hey, did you see Emma and Liam chatting this morning before they went into History? Looking very cosy. In fact, I almost suggested they get a room—they were so close, their lips were almost touching.”

We were nearly at the canteen, and my stomach was doing somersaults. Zak would be in there. He would be sitting there, looking gorgeous, with the rest of the sixth form girls hanging around him. All gazing at him and flirting. Milly Rogers woulddefinitely be flicking her hair and fluttering her false eyelashes. No doubt she’d be wearing a low-cut top, too. Showing off that stupid bright pink bra she liked to wear.

“I didn’t see them,” I replied.

I had, and I’d felt a hint of jealousy that they felt comfortable enough to openly flirt with each other. I wouldn’t dare do that with Zak. I had no idea whether he had been flirting with me because he liked me, or just because he could.

“Well,” Ana continued, searching in her bag, “they needed to get a room. It was hot, but she needs to spill the tea. She’s never told us she likes him.”

“Right,” I said, distracted by the fact that we had arrived at the canteen.

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