Blondetourage by Allison Rushby Page B

gives me a whack on the
arm.
    'No. Really. They're healthy teenage urges.
Nothing to be embarrassed about.' I try to keep a
straight face and fail completely.
    George just shakes her head. 'You really are
disgusting, aren't you?'
    'Yes. Yes, I'm afraid I am.'
    'They locked you up for too long, didn't they?'
    'Yes. Yes, they did. And now I have been let
loose on society.'
    George watches me with interest. 'This could
get scary.'
    I reach out and tap one of the green lampposts
as we walk past on the gravelly ground. 'It might.
If you don't tell me everything about you and
Toby.'
    George blushes again now. 'I said there's nothing
to tell. We're just friends.'
    'Mmm. Sure,' I nod, when what I really want to
say is, 'Hardly!'
    'It's true!' George protests. 'Anyway, I'm not his
type.'
    I eyeball her to see if she's joking. OMG. She's
not. 'You can't be serious,' I say. 'The poor boy
can't talk about anything but you. I think you
might be his favourite flavour. In fact, I think
you might be his only flavour.'
    George snorts. 'Oh, yes. I'd be the ultimate girlfriend, wouldn't I?'
    I frown. 'What's that supposed to mean?'
    She rolls her eyes at me. 'Oh, come on. I'm
hardly the dating type, am I?'
    I falter in my step and Fluffy looks up at me.
'What are you talking about? What's the "dating
type" look like?'
    'Um ... Romy? Anouschka? Those names
suddenly spring to mind.'
    Huh? 'Um, I don't know if you've noticed, but
a lot of people in the world date besides Romy
and Anouschka. Lots of people have even dated
Michael Jackson. Some of them even went so far
as to marry him!' We both stop for a second and
shudder before I can push the bile down again and
continue. 'I think there's more than enough room
for one dating "type".'
    George just looks away and shrugs, but I keep
on at her. 'Well, I think Toby's into you. Big time.
Whether you want to do anything about that or
not is up to you, I guess.'
    And as we walk on in silence, I have to bite my
lip in order to say all the other things I really want
to grab her by the shoulders and say. Like, 'What's
with you? Why are you so down on yourself? And,
while we're at it, what's with the black? There are
other colours out there, you know. Unless you're
the undead!'
    But of course I don't grab her by the shoulders.
And I don't say any one of these things. Instead,
we walk on in silence, all the long way back to the
apartment.
    $$$
    'Now, you're going to be on your best behaviour,
right?' Melinda's head pokes in the cab window
and asks the same question in a different way for
about the five hundredth time.
    'Yes, Melinda,' George and I drone together.
    'Which pretty much means being invisible,
right?'
    'Yes, Melinda.'
    'And doing as you're asked the second you're
asked to do it?'
    'Yes, Melinda.'
    'Hmmm.' Her eyes narrow. 'I hope so. And
remember, Elli, JJ will pick you up at three o'clock.
George, you'll be coming back to the apartment
with the crew.'
    George sighs. 'And here I was thinking I'd hitch
a ride back with the girls.'
    'Georgiana Thomasina ...' Melinda starts.
    George yelps like she's been stuck with a pin.
'All right already! I'll behave like an angel. Just
don't say those evil words!'
    Melinda laughs. 'I'll see you two at dinner.' She
pulls her head back out of the car and waves at us.
    'Look after Fluffy for me,' I call as we pull out
and Melinda nods at me. One last wave and we're
off, headed towards the flagship LV store on the
Champs-Elysées.
    'Georgiana Thomasina?' I look at her.
    Beside me, George groans. 'I think my father
may have wanted a boy.'
    I laugh. 'Well, at least he got a George! So,
Melinda's slightly scared me now with the invisible
stuff. Any tips for today?'
    'Sure,' George says. 'Keep out of the way. Like
Melinda said, act invisible. I don't usually tag along,
but you've got to see this place. It's completely
mad.'
    'In what way?' I ask.
    George pauses and stares out the window for a
minute, thinking. 'Well, I don't know. It's hard to
explain.' She turns back