Spurt by Chris Miles Page B

She paused. ‘And since Hallie’s obviously not going to make the introductions, that’s my mother, Marlene … and this is Jack. Jack Sprigley. Obviously,’ she added.
    Nats smiled at Adele and Marlene. Then she turned to Jack, and a look of recognition passed across her face. She frowned and tilted her head to one side. ‘I’m sure I’ve seen you somewhere recently. You look really familiar …’
    Jack realised she was probably thinking of the spectacle he’d made of himself at the Mayor for a Week information session. He had to act fast.
    ‘Maybe you just recognise me from TV?’ he said nervously.
    ‘Oh, were you in one of those Sultana World ads?’
    Jack shook his head. ‘No, not Sultana World.’
    ‘Avocado World?’
    ‘Jack was on national TV,’ said Adele. ‘He was on Bigwigs . You know, that reality show? And he’s about to go on it again, aren’t you Jack?’
    Jack tried to ignore Hallie’s sharp intake of breath. Nats looked at him in awe. ‘National TV? Really?’
    He shrugged nonchalantly.
    Nats nudged Hallie. ‘Hals, you didn’t tell me your brother was a TV star!’ Her eyes grew wide as she said ‘TV star’.
    ‘That’s because he’s not. It was just a dumb reality show for kids.’
    ‘I really want to be on TV one day,’ said Nats.
    ‘Really?’ said Jack. ‘Because if there’s anything you want to know –’
    ‘I want to know everything !’ said Nats.
    Jack realised what a momentous occasion this was. His first meeting with Natsumi Distagio – and straight away it seemed they had so much in common. He’d been on TV, she wanted to be on TV …
    ‘What’s it like?’ Nats asked.
    Jack stared back at her. ‘It’s like … being in a dream.’
    He realised he wasn’t just describing what it was like being on TV – it was also how he felt being appraised by those soft, brown eyes. It didn’t seem possible this could be happening to him.
    ‘Maybe I could go on one of those supermodel shows,’ said Nats.
    ‘Yeah, definitely,’ said Jack. ‘I mean, you’ve got the body for it.’
    Adele cleared her throat nervously. Marlene glanced up from her phone. Hallie shot him a look of icy censure.
    ‘ A body,’ said Jack. ‘You’ve got a complete body. N-not that people with less than the usual number of body parts can’t be models. I think you’d probably win one of those supermodel shows even with a bunch of limbs missing.’
    ‘Oh god,’ said Hallie.
    ‘ Limbs missing?’ said Nats.
    Hallie stepped between Nats and Jack, trying to usher Nats out of the house.
    ‘ This is why I wanted to just meet you guys at the pool. I told you it was a mistake to come here.’
    ‘But I wanted to!’ Nats turned to Adele. ‘My parents say that family is the most important thing in the world, and I truly believe that.’
    Hallie glanced warily at Nats. ‘Well, just don’t hold it against me?’
    ‘Hals, what are you talking about? Your brother was on TV ! That’s a major plus!’
    Hallie rolled her eyes. ‘Maybe we should get going?’
    Nats seemed to shake herself free of the spell that Jack’s fame had cast over her. She rattled her car keys in her hand. ‘Yeah, I guess we should make a move. Yaz and Stace are waiting.’
    Just then, Philo wandered into the back room from the hallway, wearing a querying look on his face.
    ‘Jack, I tripped over your schoolbag and found this.’
    Jack looked at what Philo was holding. Not that he was really holding it so much as waving it in the air .
    Marlene and Adele squinted, trying to work out what exactly they were looking at. Nats frowned. Hallie looked faint.
    Philo held the merkin up and looked at it, like a ventriloquist exchanging dialogue with his puppet. ‘I wasn’t sure if you wanted it in with your jocks and socks or –’
    Jack thought fast. He needed to divert attention from the question of why he’d been keeping a bundle of pubes in his room, without giving anything else away – like, for instance, the fact that