Dream Guy by A.Z.A; Clarke Page B

reach her eyes. She swigged from the glass. “Denise, I’m out of here. Do you want to get a taxi with me or not?”
    “Not. See you, Ange.”
    “See you. Don’t do anything too stupid.” Her glance drifted to Smokey, her lip curled and her eyes hardened. She turned and left. Denise threw her arms around Smokey’s neck and nuzzled him. She whispered in his ear. Joe felt uncomfortable.
    “I’m going home, Smokey. Hope you don’t mind.”
    “Send the limo back, yeah?”
    “Limo?” shrieked Denise. “You got a limo?”
    Smokey nodded and she tightened her grip on him. Joe was not sure what would happen if he and Smokey separated, but he’d had enough of the nightclub. He didn’t want to drink. He was intimidated by the women and he felt uneasy about the way the thief had stared at him in the small office.
    “If I can, I will. Have a good night.”
    As Joe walked outside, he saw Angela waiting for a taxi. The limousine pulled up. The chauffeur opened the door. Angela stared in disbelief.
    “Can we give you a lift?” Joe waited at the open door. She glanced at the chauffeur, a man with a grandfatherly face. Then she looked at Joe. He met her eyes, and she turned away first, then she climbed in. She huddled in the far corner of the car.
    “Where to then?” asked the driver.
    The girl leaned forward and gave the name of her street.
    It wasn’t far from Joe’s home. The car rolled away, and she sat back, still tense. Joe started an idle conversation with her about how often she went clubbing, but she bit out monosyllabic answers so he left it. What was the point in trying to get to know a person he’d never see again? Soon enough they reached her front door. She gave a perfunctory thank you and rushed out of the car.
    “Back home then?”
    Joe nodded and found himself dozing off.
    The next thing he knew, the alarm was ringing. He was back in bed, and it was morning. Dazed, he dressed, went downstairs, ate, left for school and met Smokey in the same place as yesterday.
    Smokey looked absolutely shell-shocked.
    “Did the limo make it back then?” Joe asked.
    “I don’t know. She took me back to hers. It was weird. I was there, and we were snogging away, then I conked out and when I woke up, I was trying to snog my pillow at home.”
    “Really?” Joe could just see his friend trying to make out with a pillow.
    “Yeah, really, no suit, no dosh, no limo, no slapper in the bed next to me.”
    “She was a slapper.”
    “I know. She looked good in the club though. Good body, great arse.” Smokey cocked his head. “So what’s going on, Joe? How’d we get there? It was like a dream, going into some club and everyone treating us as if we were over eighteen.”
    Joe hesitated. “I can’t really explain it.”
    “I think you can. What I don’t get is why you did it. You hate discos and loud music and boozing. What was in it for you?”
    “I wanted to see whether I could make it happen.”
    “And you did, didn’t you? Just like the fish. I knew you made that happen, no matter what you said.”
    Both boys were silent. Joe wasn’t comfortable with Smokey knowing about this. There’d be pressure. It had been stupid to give way to misplaced guilt and a desire to show off. Now that Smokey knew, there’d be requests and hassles, sure enough.
    “I’ll tell you what. Next time we go out for a night on the town, at least let me get a little bit further. I want a bit more than a snog next time.”
    “I thought you said you’d slept with Kelly Reynolds,” Joe commented.
    Smokey mumbled and shuffled.
    “What did you say?” Joe pressed.
    “I didn’t think you’d ever ask me right out, and I knew you wouldn’t ask her. But as it happens, no, we…er…didn’t get that far.”
    “She dumped you, didn’t she?”
    “No need to go into details.” Smokey went on the offensive. “So how d’you do this stuff then?”
    “I can’t really explain. It hasn’t happened that often yet. I’m still getting