Pete was sitting very close to her. She was conscious of his leg pressed against her, while she didn’t actually believe that room was at a premium. Then Rob threw in a real humdinger of a question.
“So, Kayla, how long have you been going out with Pete?”
It was a real conversation stopper. Kayla did her goldfish impression, Sally laughed and Pete went bright red.
“Um, Rob, we aren’t exactly going out. We’ve sort of only just met,” Pete managed to say.
“Oh, I’m sorry. The way you two fit together, I just assumed you were going out.”
“Kayla only arrived in England a few days ago. Pete may be fast, but he’s not that fast,” Sally said, still trying not to laugh too much.
Kayla was frowning.
“What is so funny?” she asked Sally.
Sally looked at her friend.
“Well, are you going to tell him?” she asked, a mischievous twinkle in her eye.
“Tell him what?” Kayla asked, slightly guardedly.
“What we were talking about earlier.”
“What’s this?” Pete asked.
Sally stared at Kayla, who glared back.
“Kayla was asking me whether you had a girlfriend,” she said, still staring at Kayla, who was looking mortified.
Pete frowned, clearly confused about something.
“I thought she had a boy in Sweden?” he asked.
“Sally, no!” Kayla said, but her friend carried on regardless.
“It wasn’t that serious. Do you, Pete?”
“You know I don’t, not at the moment.”
“Sally, this is so unfair!” Kayla said, and Sally saw tears forming in her eyes.
“I’m sorry. Forget it.”
“No, wait a minute. Is this true, Kayla?”
“I think Sally is teasing me,” Kayla said.
“Sally, you can be a cruel cow at times!”
Sally laughed and shook her head.
“I’m not really. Look, Kayla likes you and was unsure how to tell you, okay?”
“Sally!” Kayla said.
“Well, you do, don’t you?”
Kayla was really embarrassed and looked down.
“Don’t do this, Sally!”
Pete was pleased that the girl liked him, but was cross with Sally for making her feel embarrassed and uncomfortable. He stood up.
“Enough!” he said. “Kayla, thanks for being a lovely person, just forget this now. Can I get you a drink?”
She shook her head, feeling pissed off with Sally and not able to express herself in present company.
“Come on, a white wine?”
“Okay, a spritzer, please.”
“Sally, not that you deserve one?”
She giggled, unrepentant.
“The same, thanks.”
“Guys?”
“I’m good,” said Kelly.
“I’ll come with you. I started this damn fool conversation,” said Rob. The two lads disappeared.
“Sally, that was not nice!” Kayla said. She wanted to say so much more, but as a foreigner, she wouldn’t be expected to have the vocabulary.
“Was it? Now you both know where you stand, you don’t have to pretend any more!”
“Don’t I?” Kayla asked, and why Sally laughed so much was completely lost on Kelly.
Pete was standing up at the bar with Rob, waiting for service.
“Sorry man, I just figured you two were an item,” Rob said.
“I’d like us to be. But I thought she had a boyfriend in Sweden.”
“I can understand that, she’s a real babe, man, she’s gorgeous!”
Pete grinned.
“Yeah, she’s so different to any girl I’ve ever met.”
Both turned at looked back at the table. Kayla laughed at something that Sally said; looking so pretty that Pete’s heart ached. For a brief moment, their eyes met. She flushed slightly before looking away, a small smile on her lips.
Rob chuckled.
“She likes you, man!”
“You reckon?”
“I reckon.”
8.
In the car on the way home, Kayla was very cross. Sally withstood a verbal tongue-lashing with a smile. When it was over, she turned to Kayla and said, “Finished?”
“For the moment.”
“Okay, now hear me out. I’m sorry to drop you in it, as you said, but as your friend, I have to get real here. Every time you look at him, you go all gooey. Our conversations start off about all kinds of things, and always end up about Peter. The boy is besotted about you, and you him. I had to do something, if only to get you to say you weren’t interested in him. But you so obviously are, that now you can do the sensible thing and get together.”
“Sally, duh, aren’t you forgetting something here?”
“Like?”
“Like, I’m hardly the girl next door. The idea was to keep a low profile until exams, and then quietly disappear. It wasn’t to get embroiled with a boy and add to the many complications I seem to have created.”
“Kayla, take a look at yourself. If it isn’t going to be Pete, there’ll be a queue a mile long!”
“What do you mean?”
“Look, I know you. I know what you were, and what you are. But regardless of my knowledge, I can only see a really pretty girl. I used to fancy you as a bloke, but I can’t even see that bloke now. Believe me; I have tried - a lot! Pete is a nice guy, a bit arrogant and typically wrapped up in himself, but most blokes are, particularly the good looking ones.”
“Your point?”
“Kayla, I’m your friend, right?”
“I suppose so, so?”
“As your friend, I value your friendship, so I recognise the need to be as normal as possible at school. As far as the world is concerned, you’re a pretty girl, so you need to reinforce that by doing normal things.”
“Like?”
“Like having a boyfriend and fitting in. If you became a recluse, like you used to be, it would make everyone suspicious. If Pete was seen to be your boyfriend, the other boys would back off and the girls would accept you as you won’t be a threat to them.”
“But I’m not a threat!”
“Duh! Who’s being thick now? Take a look in a mirror, girl. Of course you’re a threat, you are attractive and foreign. As you said it - erotic and exotic! So, until you settle on one boy, the other girls will all feel insecure with you around.”
“Insecure? About me?” Kayla sounded genuinely shocked and surprised.
Sally laughed.
“Oh shit, when will it sink into your thick skull? You are not just a pretty girl, you’re stunningly pretty!”
Kayla went quiet. Her mind was having enough trouble coming to terms with the gender change. The added complication of what Sally identified, if right, was almost too great for her to comprehend. She thought back to saying goodbye to the others at the pub.
Pete had behaved strangely towards her after the ‘revelation’ by Sally. However, he managed to get her alone as they were all leaving.
“Kayla, I’m sorry you were upset by what was said,” he told her.
“I wasn’t that much upset. But I wasn’t expecting it.”
“Neither was I. Look, about the boy in Sweden…?” His voice trailed off.
“What about him?”
“I don’t want to go where I’m not wanted, but I like you Kayla, and, well, I was wondering… Oh shit, I was wondering how serious your relationship with him is.”
Kayla’s mind raced. If she said it was, then Pete would take a step away. However, others might not, and she did rather like Pete.
“He is a friend, that’s all. I growed up viz him.”
“That’s grew up with him.” Pete corrected her automatically. She blushed.
“I.. grew.. up.. wwwith.. him,” she said slowly and deliberately.
He smiled, his eyes scrunching up. Kayla felt a strange stirring deep within her. She liked his smile, so she returned it.
“Kayla, can I ask you out?”
She hesitated for a moment.
“You mean like a boyfriend?” she asked.
“Not if you don’t want to. Just as friends, if you like.”