The Real Rebecca Read Free Page A

the newsagent – I’m here to collect the paper money …’
    He was the new paperboy! We get the papers delivered at the weekends and the paperboy always comes around on Friday evenings to collect the money for them. But the paperboy didn’t usually look like this. The usual paperboy is all squat and blotchy and wears a tracksuit. Paperboy II is tall and skinny with short, sort of curly dark brown hair and green eyes. Instead of a tracksuit, he was wearing really cool battered jeans and a nice band t-shirt. A gorgeous boy! On my doorstep!
    Anyway, once he said who he was, I regained the power of speech and said, ‘Oh, right, um, the money’s round here somewhere ….’ And while I was trying to think of something snappy and witty to follow that profound statementCass and Alice came out to the door, all ‘where’s our food?!’ and ‘come on, Bex, hand it over!’ And then they too saw Paperboy and, like me, were STRUCK DUMB by his radiant beauty. I wonder does this happen to Paperboy all the time? It must make life rather awkward, if so. Anyway, luckily I noticed a fiver on the hall table next to a note from Mumwhich said ‘MONEY FOR PAPERS’ in large letters. So I gave the fiver to Paperboy and the three of us stared at him like love-struck loons as he counted out the change and gave it to me. I said, ‘Thanks!’ and he said, ‘See you next week’ (!!!!!) and I smiled and closed the door and then we ran into the sitting room and went ‘squeeeeeeee!’ And Alice said, in a very grand voice, ‘I am in love.’ Which was quite unexpected, because Alice is supposedly already in love with this bloke from St Anthony’s Boys’ School who goes past us on a bike every morning on Calderwood Road. She has fancied him for a year now, which is a long time to love someone you’ve never spoken to. But just one glimpse of the handsome paperboy was enough to make her forget the boy she has yearned for all year! Such is his power.
    Anyway, I think Alice will have many rivals forPaperboy’s affections. Me and Cass, for example. And we have a big advantage, because we live around here, and Alice lives off near Kinsealy, far from Paperboy’s paper round. In fact, Alice basically lives in the countryside. She used to live down the road from me on Glandore Road, but her family moved out to the wilds a few years ago. Her mum drops her near the top of my road on her way to work every morning and she walks to school with me and Cass, when we reach her road. So she will never see Paperboy unless she’s in my house on a Friday evening. But neither Cass nor I pointed this out to her, because it might look like gloating.
    Then the doorbell rang and for a split second I thought Paperboy might have come back because he was so smitten by our (or preferably just my) charms, but it was the Chinese food. Which was no substitute for Paperboy, but still, not bad. So we had a feast and we all kind of ate too much and felt a bit sick. But we recovered in time to watch our favourite old film, Ten Things I Hate About You, on DVD, which was brilliant even though none of the boys in it are vaguely as cute as Paperboy, our new love. Then we put on Beyoncé and danced on the couch, which was fun untilCass fell off. Her glasses fell off in a different direction from the rest of her, and we couldn’t find them for ages.
    Now it’s about one o’clock and the others have fallen asleep. Usually when we stay over in someone’s house we stay up all night, but we’re all exhausted tonight. I suppose it is the stress and strain of being back in school. And talking about Paperboy.
    I wonder what his name is?
SUNDAY 
    Went out to Alice’s house. I wouldn’t like to live so far away from town, but it’s really gorgeous out there. We went for a walk (a proper country walk) and saw a fox and some rabbits, which was cool. The fox just ran out of a clump of bushes, stared at us, and ran back in again.
    It was a lovely sunny day – no rain, hurrah –