Perfect Match. Amber Aitken

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СКАЧАТЬ Jasper, and now they aren’t even talking to each other any more.”

      “Madly flirting?” murmured Coral and Nicks.

      “Oh yes!” replied Jem with a nod. “On Friday she went to the cinema with Rory. And on Saturday she met Duncan at the Milkshake Shack.”

      “The next day she was giggling with Jasper on a bench at the beach,” added Em with a frown. “And every Thursday afternoon she keeps Jack company while he works at his mum’s garden centre. The girl is diabolical. But the boys blame each other, not her. It’s so out of order.”

      “They’re all so in love with her,” agreed Jem hopelessly. “They’ve always been competitive, but before it used to be for the team. Now they’re all intent on working against each other.”

      Coral and Nicks listened to every word spoken by the two older girls before turning to face each other. It was obvious they were thinking exactly the same thing. Finally they turned back to Jem and Em.

      “Cecily isn’t exactly a bad sort,” said Coral out loud.

      Nicks also looked confused. “Yes, she’s always seemed quite careful with other people’s feelings before now.”

      They both paused and stared up at the blue sky for a few moments. Coral was thinking about the time Cecily didn’t laugh at her for walking straight into a lamppost in front of (practically) the entire school. Nicks was remembering the day that Cecily personally thanked her for selling the most raffle tickets to raise money for the new school flag.

      “That may be, but she’s still a troublesome flirt!” growled Jem.

      “And a ferocious four-timer!” grumbled Em.

      But they didn’t have time to say more because suddenly there came the sound of loud laughter near them. The day was getting on and cooling quickly and the beachfront was emptying rapidly, so it was not difficult to spot who was making the noise. Coral and Nicks turned to see Duncan and Cecily sitting on a picnic bench in the shadow of a very low tree. The laugh had belonged to him. Cecily was just as amused, but hers was more of a delicate giggle. The girls watched as she brought her sparkly nails to her mouth, her eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings. She then swung her glossy, strawberry-blonde curls over one shoulder and lifted her chin so that the soft, pale skin of her neck flashed in the fading sunlight. There was no doubt about it – the girl was in full-throttle flirting mode.

      But perhaps Jem and Em were wrong. Maybe Cecily really did love Duncan. Just Duncan.

      It was like Jem had read Coral’s mind.

      “Don’t be fooled,” she groaned. “She behaves like that with the rest of the team too.”

      Coral’s shoulders slumped. She felt let down. She’d always liked Cecily. In fact, she had been working on being just like her one day. But as a dedicated champion of romance, she now realised that Cecily clearly had the wrong idea about love. Unless…

      “Einstein moment!” she announced loudly. “Just leave it to us, we’ll sort this out.”

      Chapter 3

       lessons in love

      “It’s fate!” declared an excitable Coral to Nicks as they walked double-time in the direction of Nicks’s house. It would be dark soon.

      “Really…” murmured Nicks with a vague nod (because it was not always wise to encourage Coral).

      “Definitely! We have been personally summoned by Aphrodite the goddess of love.”

      “Personally, huh?” Nicks quickly sidestepped a boy on a skateboard without slowing down.

      “Well, maybe not personally, but it was absolutely our destiny to witness Cecily’s behaviour for ourselves. It made me realise just how desperately the poor girl needs the services of the Cupid Company. She should most definitely become our next client.”

      Nicks did not look convinced. “But we’re matchmakers, remember? Cecily doesn’t seem to have any problems finding a boyfriend, Coral.”

      “Matchmakers!” replied Coral indignantly. “We are far more than just matchmakers. We are Cupid’s arrow. We are Aphrodite’s coworkers. We are love’s sat nav. And it’s all suddenly very clear to me. Only this time our mission is quite different. This time we have to help Cecily, er… love a little less.”

      “Mmm. So instead of helping her find romance, you mean we help her to find less romance?” replied Nicks, looking confused.

      “Exactly,” said Coral. “We have to point Cecily in the right direction and help her to find true love. Right now she is simply love-struck with four boys at once. It would be much better for the Spikers if she gave up on all of them altogether and found someone completely new.”

      Nicks gave this some more thought. It would certainly be a different direction to the one they were used to. But there was the volleyball team to think about. By helping Cecily they would put the Spikers back on track and unite the team to victory.

      “Coral – this time you have definitely experienced an Einstein moment!” declared Nicks finally. She then put her head down and starting thinking through ideas to jot down. This really would be a different sort of challenge. Just how would they get Cecily to focus her affections?

      “Hello, Romeo!” Coral called out. They had arrived at Nicks’s house to find the caramel and white terrier pup waiting on the top step of the porch. The Westie dog, Miss Honey, was not far away. The two pups were still hopelessly in love.

      Coral knelt down and fussed over her pet. She scratched his head, tickled his chin and gave him a squeeze. Truth be told, she’d missed him today. They used to go everywhere together, but now Romeo often hung back and canoodled with Miss Honey instead. Of course Coral was pleased he’d found love. After all, wasn’t that what life was really all about? Still, it had taken some getting used to, though it helped that Miss Honey belonged to Nicks’s mum’s boyfriend, Ben, so Coral always knew where Romeo was.

      “Hi, Ben!” said Nicks just a little too loudly. She had a really wide grin on her face that looked completely forced. Coral recognised the signs. Nicks’s mum and Ben hadn’t been dating all that long and Nicks wasn’t sure about him. Coral liked him though. He was the manager at the aquarium and had all sorts of interesting things to say.

      “So Ben, how is that blowfish getting on?” Coral asked now.

      Ben chuckled and his kind eyes crinkled up at the corners. “Still shooting straight to the top of the tank every time it gets a fright!” he replied.

      “Scaredy fish!” Coral and Ben both laughed together loudly. Nicks tried to join in but made more of an uneasy chug-chug sort of sound.

      “Hello, girls.” Nicks’s mum stepped through the screen door of the house and on to the porch. Miss Honey sat up straight and wagged her tail instantly. Soft and round, she was a girly sort of girl dog who loved Ben very much but clearly enjoyed having another female around too. She especially loved the new pink bow in her fringe and the sparkly-studded collar around her neck.

      Nicks’s mum stared at Coral’s shiny waistcoat for a moment and then smiled. “That’s a rather distinctive-looking waistcoat,” she commented.

      Coral СКАЧАТЬ