Never Evers Page 14

  ‘Yeah, OK,’ said Max, chewing his bottom lip, as we all watched Sarvan crash face first in to one of the padded barriers. ‘To be honest, I think the best way is just to come straight out with it. We’ll find Mouse this evening and just say, “Look, Mouse, do you want to get freaky with that Roland dude? Because we met him last night, and he’s well up for some freakiness, if you are.”’

  ‘Very eloquent,’ said Toddy. ‘Could’ve come straight out of Romeo and Juliet, that.’

  ‘Yeah, maybe I should tell her,’ I said. The idea of getting to chat to Mouse alone was weirdly appealing, even if the only reason was to try and set her up with someone else.

  ‘What will your girlfriend think about that, though, eh?’ smirked Max.

  ‘What? Who do you mean?’

  Max thumped Toddy on the arm, and nodded at me. ‘Look at this guy – so many girls on the go he doesn’t even know which one I’m talking about. Lauren, obviously. The one you were holding hands with all last night?’

  ‘Oh, right. Dunno.’ I’d barely thought about Lauren since we left the ice rink. She wasn’t constantly muscling in on my thoughts like Mouse was. ‘Do you think she actually is?’ I said, rubbing the latest bruise on my thigh. ‘My girlfriend, I mean?’

  Toddy laughed. ‘Surely you must know?’

  ‘Well, that’s the thing … I don’t. I mean, she was holding my hand and stuff. And the way we she was acting towards me, it was like we were … going out. But …’

  Max finished my sentence for me. ‘But … you can’t be going out with a girl if you haven’t even kissed her, right?’

  ‘Well, yeah, exactly.’

  Max hauled himself up, and clicked his left boot back on to his snowboard. ‘Maybe we should ask Roland. He’ll know. We’ll ask him tomorrow at the press conference thing.’ He broke off and squinted across the mountain. ‘What the hell is that?’

  In the distance, we could see a huge red snow plough creeping up one of the other slopes below us.

  ‘That’s the snow ambulance,’ Basti announced to the whole group, with a worried frown. ‘Means someone’s had an accident.’ He glanced at Sarvan, who was still lying on the ground, rubbing his forehead. ‘Please, please, please … no one get injured. I’ll have to fill in, like, all these forms. Honestly, it’ll be such a hassle.’

  We got back to the hotel at around five to find the lobby crowded with people. I noticed Melody and Scarlett sat near the reception desk, and it surprised me just how relieved I was to see Lauren wasn’t with them. Then, on the other side of the room, huddled on a bench, I spotted Mouse, Connie and Keira.

  ‘Ah, result,’ whispered Max. ‘They’re right there. Let’s go and chat to them, and then, Jack, you can ask Mouse about Roland.’

  As we walked over, I caught Mouse’s eyes, and she flashed me a quick, brilliant grin. It hit me suddenly, hard and fast, like a punch in the stomach, just how much I fancied her. What was I doing trying to ask her out for another bloke?

  Keira was staring down her nose at Max, like he was a fly that had just landed on her lunch. ‘And what exactly do you lot want? I thought we’d agreed not to speak to each other for the rest of this trip?’

  ‘Well, you’ve just spoken to us, haven’t you?’ Max smirked. ‘So, you’re the one breaking the agreement.’

  Keira rolled her eyes. ‘Ugh. You’re ridiculous. You’re honestly the most ridiculous boy I’ve ever met. OK, let’s agree to not speak to each other from now on.’

  ‘Fine,’ said Max. ‘Fine by me.’

  ‘You’re still speaking,’ said Keira.

  ‘So are you,’ said Max.

  Keira sighed, and turned to Connie and Mouse. ‘I can’t be bothered with this. Let’s go.’

  ‘I gave Mr Jambon some nuts,’ Connie said to Toddy as they were leaving. ‘He liked them. Good tip.’

  Toddy went bright red, and just said, ‘Oh, cool, good.’

  Keira shot Connie a disapproving frown, and then said, ‘Come on, let’s go back to the room.’

  Before they could leave I blurted, ‘Er … sorry, Mouse? Do you have one second? So I can quickly ask you something?’

  Mouse stopped dead, and glanced at Keira, who looked more disapproving than ever. But then Mouse said, ‘Sure. I’ll see you guys back in the room in a sec.’

  Keira shrugged, and she and Connie walked out in to the corridor, followed closely by Toddy and Max, who gave me a not-so-subtle slap on the shoulder as he passed. Suddenly, there was only Mouse in front of me, looking at me intently with her big grey eyes.

  ‘Sorry …’ I said. ‘That was a bit weird.’

  ‘It’s all right,’ she said. ‘It’s actually quite funny watching Keira and Max fight.’

  ‘Yeah. They’re both ridiculously stubborn. They’re basically made for each other.’

  We both laughed. I noticed Scarlett and Melody watching us closely from the other side of the room. Mouse shuffled uncomfortably on the spot.

  ‘Erm, so listen, Mouse. There was something I kind of wanted to say to you.’

  ‘Yeah?’

  ‘Yeah …’ Roland fancies you. The sentence was right there on the tip of my tongue, but it wouldn’t unstick. I couldn’t say it. I didn’t care that Roland fancied her. Because I fancied her more.

  ‘What are you up to tomorrow?’ I spluttered, not even thinking what I was saying. ‘I mean, I just wondered if you wanted to get a hot chocolate with me, or something?’

  It was out there, between us, before I could take it back. I’d just asked her out. Not for Roland. For me.

  Mouse’s big grey eyes got even bigger. Her cheeks flushed and her mouth opened, but no words came out. I felt like I was on some cheesy reality show, waiting to see whether or not I’d been voted off.

  She shuffled on the spot again, shifting her feet inwards and then out. Then she said, ‘Erm … I’m sorry, Jack. I’m not sure …’

  My face flooded with heat. I didn’t even let her finish the sentence. ‘No, no, obviously. Sorry. It was stupid to ask.’

  All I could think was, Please, God, let something happen now to end this moment – a fire alarm, an avalanche, a rip in the space–time continuum … Anything.

  And then something did happen. Lauren walked into the lobby. On crutches.

  I turned back to Mouse. ‘I’d, erm … better see if she’s OK.’ She nodded. I felt the humiliation of the last few seconds all coiled up inside me like a spring, ready to explode painfully as soon as I thought about it properly. So, I didn’t think about it. I just walked towards Lauren.

  I joined the back of a whole queue of girls who were clamouring to get to her. She waved them all away, and hobbled over to me.

  ‘Lauren,’ I stuttered. ‘What … what happened? Are you OK?’

  ‘She’s been very brave,’ her teacher said.

  ‘I just fell badly and twisted my ankle. It’s not broken, but it was really horrible.’

  ‘That’s so bad. So you can’t ski any more, right?’

  Lauren laughed sarcastically. ‘Yeah, Jack, obviously I can still ski. I’ll just use my crutches as ski poles.’

  A group of girls burst in to fits of giggles nearby and I became very aware of the fact that I was having a conversation in front of a live audience. I wanted to turn around to see if Mouse was still there, behind me.

  ‘Oh, OK … Yeah, sorry,’ I mumbled. ‘That was stupid. Well, I’m glad you’re OK, anyway.’

  She laughed and said: ‘You’re so sweet, Jack.’ Then she leant in towards me, and for a seriously terrifying split second I thought she was going to kiss me. That I was going to win Max’s bet right here in the hotel lobby.

  But just as I was certain that it was really happening, and I was about to move off zero, she turned her head sideways and just brushed her lips softly against my cheek. The girls around us all made this weird, whispery noise at the same time – like a cross between a giggle and gasp.

  I didn’t really know what to do. I just stood there, feeling my f
ace get hotter and hotter. The Maria Bennett memory started flickering dimly in my head. I wondered if I’d somehow managed to miss my chance. Again.

  ‘Er, cheers,’ I said.

  Our little audience all laughed, but Lauren wasn’t even looking at me; she was looking directly behind me. I turned round just in time to see the back of Mouse’s head as she slunk out in to the corridor.

  Lauren hobbled in to breakfast to a kind of medieval fanfare. Scarlett and Melody walked ahead of her like footmen, clearing everything in her path and throwing exaggerated you-can-do-this smiles behind them every so often. A group of girls left their table so she could sit down and Miss Mardle brought her a huge tray of food.

  Keira rolled her eyes. ‘She hasn’t even broken it. And even if she had, you don’t become a nice person when a bone fractures. You are just the same person, but a bit crapper.’

  ‘Don’t look,’ Connie said. So I looked over. Jack, Max and Toddy were sitting with Lauren and the girls at the Royal Table.

  ‘He may as well start peeling her grapes.’ Keira shook her head.

  ‘I still don’t think he’s that bad,’ I said. The thought of how nervous he had been before he asked me out for hot chocolate, and the look on his face when I said no, was still imprinted on my brain. Along with the way Lauren had looked at me when she saw us together.

  ‘He’s a total player,’ Keira said, jabbing her fork into a melon chunk. ‘He is the worst kind cos he acts all shy and clueless. So, he flirts with you at the movie night—’

  ‘He barely even looked at me!’

  ‘Flirts with you, then literally breaks into your bedroom.’

  ‘He knocked.’

  ‘He did knock,’ Connie nodded. ‘A burglar with manners.’

  Keira prodded her with a fork, and turned back to me. ‘So, he flirts with you, breaks into your room, tries to pull you, tries to kill Mr Jambon, then literally leaves and gets off with Lauren. And then, yesterday, he tries to ask you out when he already has a girlfriend! Who incidentally was in hospital at the time.’ She held the fork up and pointed it at us. ‘Really. Nice. Guy.’

  ‘Do you really think he wanted to kill Mr Jambon?’ Connie whispered. ‘Should we report him to the National Hamster Council? I am a member.’

  I put my head on the table. It was damp and smelt like cleaning products. I didn’t know how to explain it. When Keira laid it out like that it did sound pretty conclusive.

  ‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘I feel kind of … like it’s fair. I wished something bad to happen to Lauren …’

  ‘Yeah, don’t say that too loudly, or ever again,’ Keira hissed.

  ‘But you know what I mean? It’s like karma. I did hex her. And if she gets to be with Jack to teach me a lesson, then …’

  Keira ate a piece of cheese and looked over again. ‘Look at her, she’s loving it. It’s like she’s at the Oscars. You’ve done her a massive favour. She’s the centre of attention now and will be for the rest of the trip.’

  After breakfast, we headed for a different ski lift. This one took us further up the mountain, to a slightly steeper slope, and it wasn’t the normal, easy conveyor-belt style. It was like a garden swing seat, but dangling twenty metres in the air.

  ‘I’m not sure we’re ready for this,’ Keira said to Tania, in the queue. ‘I mean, we can barely ski along on the flat. How are we supposed to jump off a moving chair?’

  Tania laughed. ‘It will be fine. I’ll be on the one in front of you. Just watch me and do what I do.’

  We stood on the red line, and let the chair lift sweep us up off our feet. Then we were whooshed upwards, and it felt amazing to be sitting in mid-air, shunting slowly up the mountain.

  ‘I feel like we’re at Alton Towers,’ Connie said.

  We talked about Roland and whether our igloo was still intact and whether other people would be carving the name of their true love in it for centuries to come.

  Sitting in-between Keira and Connie, tightly packed inside layers of padded jacket, I felt kind of amazing. Lauren wasn’t dead and even if Jack’s behaviour was impossible to understand, it was there in my mind to obsess about.

  ‘We’re actually doing it now,’ Keira said. ‘No more boring green-slope snowploughing for us, we’re going down a proper, blue slope today.’

  ‘This is where The Sound of Music is set,’ Connie shouted in to the mountains. She started doing an impression of a goat and yodelling while Keira swayed the lift violently from side to side. We sang as loudly as we could all the way to the top.

  Then we saw the sign that the unloading zone was approaching.

  ‘I’m scared,’ Connie said. ‘I’ve forgotten what to do.’

  On the lift ahead of us, we saw Tania effortlessly lift the bar and glide down the little slope. She made it look easy.

  ‘Keep your ski tips up,’ Keira said.

  ‘Stand up and glide,’ I said.

  ‘Yes, but when?’ Connie was starting to sound a bit frantic. The unloading zone was getting closer and closer.

  ‘Hold my hand,’ Keira ordered, as the bar released.

  ‘Tania said not to hold hands!’ Connie shrieked.

  ‘Connie, come on!’ Keira lifted the bar over our heads and started to stand up. ‘Now!’

  I launched myself down the slope and somehow stayed upright. I came to a wobbly stop just a few metres down. Keira was next to me, but when we looked back, Connie was still on the lift, swinging her way back down the mountain. She looked over her shoulder and yelled, ‘I’ll get it right next time round!’

  Scarlett sighed loudly. ‘So, what, now we all have to wait for her?’ she said, to no one in particular.

  Keira and I sat down on the snow. ‘Ugh, I hate them. You know, Connie never got it about Lauren. Why you were friends with her.’

  ‘I dunno, it’s hard to believe now, but she used to be really nice.’ I shrugged. ‘She was my best friend.’

  ‘Well, you’ve got us now,’ Keira said. It felt so good to hear. ‘I think you’re thinking too much about the wrong things.’

  ‘You’re right,’ I said firmly. ‘I’m putting a lid on it. Let’s never ever talk about Jack or Lauren again.’

  ‘Agreed,’ nodded Keira. Jack popped in to my head a second later. I had said ‘talk’ not ‘think’.

  ‘There she is!’ Keira shouted. In the distance, the bright orange outline of Connie appeared. She was still alone on the lift.

  ‘If she couldn’t do it when we were next to her, she definitely won’t be able to do it now,’ I said. We stood up and edged towards the little lump of snow you were supposed to jump on to from the lift.

  Everyone else in our group had now made it to the top and people were milling around, waiting for things to begin. Connie definitely had an audience this time.

  As the orange blob became more and more Connie, I could see how scared she was.

  I held my arms out like a mum waiting to catch a toddler. ‘Close your eyes and jump!’ I shouted.

  ‘Don’t listen to Mouse!’ Tania yelled. ‘Keep your eyes open! It’s very important you keep your eyes open!’

  Connie started screaming, ‘I can’t do it! I can’t!’

  ‘When I shout “jump”, JUMP!’ Tania yelled.

  Connie started to lift the bar. She was just a few metres away from us. Tania shouted, ‘JUMP!’

  Connie reacted by shrieking and lowering the bar back down on to her lap. We all stood and watched as she circled right round and headed back down the mountain.

  She turned and yelled over her shoulder again. ‘I can’t do it when you’re all watching!’

  Tania put her head in her hands. ‘Oh my god. This girl is ridiculous.’

  Me and Keira laughed, but I could see Melody and Scarlett rolling their eyes.

  By the time Connie was in sight again, the crowd had doubled in size. There were whole families and other random ski groups all waiting eagerly to see whether she would make it off the lift.

  ‘There
she is!’ shouted Tania, pointing at a little orange speck swinging towards us again. All at once, everyone was yelling instructions at Connie.

  The dad of a random Scottish family was screaming, ‘Take a deep breath and jump, sweetheart!’ while another ski instructor was shouting, ‘Eyes on the horizon! Don’t look down!’

  When Connie was close enough, we heard her shouting, ‘I told you, I can’t do it when you’re all looking at me!’

  Tania turned to the crowd. ‘Everybody turn round. Now!’ she yelled. Everyone laughed and then did as she said. Connie now had about twenty-five backs facing her as she trundled towards us. I heard Tania shout, ‘OK, Connie – nobody’s watching you now. Just lift the bar and jump off!’

  ‘Maybe we should try a spell to get her off?’ I whispered to Keira. ‘They do seem to be working quite well for us on this trip.’

  Keira laughed. ‘Sorry, I left my copy of Spells for Teen Witches Who Can’t Get Off Ski Lifts at home.’

  We all stood there with our backs to the lift, waiting and listening. I heard the metal creak of the bar being lifted, and then Connie’s screaming war cry. Then nothing. ‘What happened?’ said Tania.

  We all turned round to see the lift swinging back down the mountain, empty this time. Connie was lying, face first, on the ground in front of us.

  She looked up, her face a white mask of snow. ‘Third time lucky,’ she grinned.

  The whole crowd cheered, and me and Keira helped her to her feet.

  Tania led our group across to the point we’d be skiing down from. Even though the slope wasn’t that steep, or even that long, it still looked really scary. I took my goggles off and the sun dazzled me. I rubbed sunblock in to my cheeks and looked out across the endless mountains. I had moved away from Connie and Keira to psych myself up for what we were about to do.

  ‘You OK, Hat Girl?’ Tania swished to a perfect stop next to me.

  ‘Er, not really. From up here it looks really terrifying. It’s insane.’

  ‘I know. But that’s what makes it awesome.’ She looked so relaxed about it all.