Spurt by Chris Miles Page A

Gran.’
    Marlene, who’d found a corner of the back room where she could escape the mess, glanced up from her phone. ‘Hmm?’
    ‘I said, Jack still hasn’t moved your stuff.’
    Marlene rolled her eyes. ‘Tell me about it, dear.’
    ‘We’ve just got a few more things to move out of my room,’ said Jack.
    ‘I can’t believe this is even happening,’ said Hallie. She called out to Adele, who was busy unloading some supermarket shopping in the kitchen. ‘I said, I can’t believe this is even happening !’ She turned back to Jack. ‘But then, why should I be surprised? You always get special treatment. I just didn’t think she’d actually let you kick Gran out of her flat.’
    ‘I didn’t kick her out. It was an agreement. Wasn’t it, Gran?’
    ‘Y–yes,’ said Marlene. ‘Something like that.’
    In fact, Marlene had been totally against the idea at first. ‘But Jack, I’d lose all my privacy!’ she’d complained. Which had immediately got Jack thinking about how strange she’d been acting when he’d dropped off her prescription, and how she’d been furtively checking her phone all week. He had no idea why she was being so secretive. All that had mattered to Jack was that he had a bargaining position. He’d felt his Bigwigs mojo coming back to him.
    ‘I see …’ he’d said, narrowing his eyes and rubbing his chin. ‘Interesting.’
    ‘What is, dear?’
    ‘Your reason for not wanting to swap rooms. Privacy. Very interesting.’ He’d paused, keeping her in suspense. ‘It almost suggests there’s something you’re doing you don’t want anyone to know about …’
    That was all it had taken. Suddenly the bungalow was Jack’s. Frankly, even Jack was surprised at how easy it had been. She couldn’t have minded the switch too much.
    Hallie shook her head. ‘So unfair.’
    ‘It’s just for this Bigwigs thing,’ said Jack.
    ‘I know,’ said Hallie, looking at him darkly. ‘ Everything’s about Bigwigs . You don’t need to remind me.’
    Adele had finished unloading the groceries. ‘What’s all the shouting about? Oh! You’re still here, Philo.’
    ‘Hello again, Mrs Sprigley,’ said Philo.
    Adele glanced meaningfully at Jack and Hallie. ‘Maybe we could avoid having an argument while there’s a Dawson in the house?’
    ‘There wouldn’t be a Dawson in the house if you hadn’t let Jack move into Gran’s bungalow! Now the whole house is a disaster zone, and I’ve got people coming over in, like, ten minutes!’
    ‘What? Who’s coming over?’ said Jack.
    ‘She’s going to the pool with Natsumi Distagio,’ said his mum. ‘Aren’t you, Hallie?’
    Hallie groaned. ‘Great. It’s not enough that Jack gets everything he wants. Now he’s going to stand around ogling my friends.’
    ‘I’m not a pervert,’ said Jack.
    ‘Oh, so you’ll actually keep your grubby little hands out of your pockets this time?’
    ‘It wasn’t what it looked like,’ Jack muttered.
    The doorbell rang.
    Jack turned to Philo. Meeting Nats in the flesh was a chance for Jack to show everyone that he wasn’t a pervert or a weirdo, despite certain evidence to the contrary. But there was no way he could risk the Philo factor. The potential for embarrassment was too great. ‘Hey Philo, I was thinking maybe you could start clearing the rest of the stuff out of my room?’
    ‘Sure thing, Jack!’
    Philo zipped off down the hallway.
    ‘You know what?’ Hallie grabbed her tote bag and beach towel from the kitchen bench. ‘I don’t want Jack humiliating me. I’m not even going to let them insi–’
    ‘It’s open!’ shouted Adele.
    Jack heard the sound of heels on the slate tiles in the foyer.
    ‘Hello? Hals?’ came a voice.
    And there she was, standing in the space between the foyer and the kitchen. High-heeled sandals, loose white dress over her bikini, hair impossibly golden.
    Natsumi Distagio.
    Adele welcomed her in.
    ‘It’s Natsumi, isn’t it? I’m Adele, Hallie’s mum.’