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“Clyde Langer? I thought that was you.”
Clyde froze in the middle of the pavement, pausing mid-sentence in his mobile conversation, at the sound of the girl's deep voice. He turned slightly, enough to catch a glimpse of her, then remembered his conversation. “I'll be up in a few minutes,” he said into the mouthpiece. He pressed the “end” button, ignoring the echoing voice coming from the earpiece, then turned to face the girl fully. “Kelsey Hooper.”
She'd traded the pig-tails for a straightening iron, and wore a long fringe now, but the rest of her was classic Kelsey. Trendy, slightly too-tight clothing, lips pursed in a not-quite frown, arms still folded over her chest, one foot tapping the pavement, waiting for him to finish his conversation and acknowledge her. Bit too much make up, like she was still getting the hang of it. When he acknowledged her, she smirked. “Didn't think I'd run into the coolest of cool on Bannerman Road,” Kelsey said, looking at the street with a slight air of disgust. “What you doing here?”
Clyde tilted his chin up slightly, suddenly tense, and defensive. “I could ask you the same thing,” he said. His mobile buzzed in his hand, but he ignored it.
Kelsey rolled her eyes. “Divorce. Pass the child. I'm at Dad's for the weekend, down the end of the road.” She tilted her head back the way she'd come. “So shaming.” She glanced at the drive opposite and snickered. “At least it's at the other end from the crazy lady.”
“She's not -” Clyde started to say. The wicked grin on Kelsey's face made him break off mid-sentence.
“Not there anymore? Brilliant.” She misunderstood him, but Clyde pressed his lips together, not bothering to correct her. She looked at the house in front of them. “That weird girl still live here? What was her name? Martha...Mariah....”
“Maria,” Clyde said, tone clipped, as his mobile buzzed again. “And no; she and her dad moved about a year after you did.”
Kelsey smirked at him. “Listen to you, all defensive. Didn’t date her, did you? Didn’t think she was your type.” There was a sing-song lilt to her voice, laughter behind the words.
“Nothing like that,” Clyde said. “We were mates is all.”
“So who’s there now?”
He glanced at the door of the house. “The head of our school, his wife and his daughter, Rani. She's our year.”
“She cool?” Kelsey asked. Not another word about Maria, no questions as to how she had been doing. Maria had said she and Kelsey had been friends before Kelsey moved away. Figured it was more of a one-sided friendship.
Clyde nodded. The mobile buzzed again. He glanced down at it while Kelsey was looking up at the house. He looked across the road, wondering if he could get a text off without Kelsey badgering him about who it was for and what he was writing.
“She cute?” Kelsey teased, turning back to him. “Can't see why else you'd bother with the head's daughter.” She stepped forward, grinning. “Unless you're planning a joke? One of your famous pranks? What is it, Clyde? Let me in on it.”
Clyde shook his head, glancing up at Rani's house, then across the road to Sarah Jane's. “Jokes aren't cool anymore, Kelsey. Not jokes like you're thinking.”
She smacked him playfully on the arm. “Come off it, Langer. They are always cool.”
Across the street, Clyde saw the front door open. Luke jogged down the drive, arm raised in greeting. “There you are, Clyde! I was worried when you didn't answer, and Rani said you'd hung up mid-conversation. Come on, hurry, we‘ve got -”
“Who's this, then?” Kelsey asked, interrupting Luke and looking him over. Clyde saw the girl take stock of his friend, the messy brown hair and normal, non-trendy clothing, and saw when her gaze turned from mildly interested to dismissive.
“This is Luke, one of my mates,” Clyde said, tense again. “Luke, this is -”
“Kelsey Hooper,” Luke said, surprising them both. “You used to live in this area. You were Maria's first friend here, and one of mine, too.”
Kelsey and Clyde exchanged a look. “No way,” she said. “I don't know you.”
“Yes, you do,” Luke insisted. “The Bubble Shock Factory? The Bane? You met me on the first day of my life.”
“You know about the Bane?” Clyde asked, turning to Kelsey. Maria hadn’t mentioned that. He saw the flash of recognition in her eyes for a split second, before it was replaced with a more typical Kelsey expression – scorn. And Clyde's hopes for resuming a friendship fell. For one moment, he thought she might have grown up a bit.
“You,” she said to Luke, “are mental. I've got no idea what you're talking about. And you.” She turned to Clyde, poking him in the chest. “Why do you hang out with this loser? He's mental! I thought you were the king of cool around here, Langer.”
“Don't poke him like that,” Luke said, his brow furrowed.
“Shut up,” Kelsey scoffed, not even bothering to look at him. She rolled her eyes.
“No, Kelsey. You shut up.” Clyde frowned at her. She stared at him, mouth hanging open, and took a step back. He shook his head. “You know what isn't cool? Making fun of my mates and pretending to be something you're not.” He glanced at Luke. “If he says you've met, you've met. He doesn't forget things.”
“What, massive hallucinations from pop? Why would I want to remember that? Why would anyone?”
Clyde shook his head. “Whatever.” He grabbed hold of Luke by the upper arm and turned to go across the street. Sarah Jane stood in the doorway, arms folded. “I don't have time for losers anymore, Kelsey. Come talk to me when you're interesting.”
“So the crazy lady and her mental son are more important than an old friend?” Kelsey shouted after them.
Clyde looked up at Sarah Jane and smiled. He caught sight of Rani hovering over her shoulder, and the smile widened. Then, he looked at Luke, nodding, before he turned to Kelsey. “Yeah. They are.”