✅ The Last New Start [NaNoWriMo2021]

19. Exactly What You Wanted

The perfect place for a quick lunch was a little café called Brunchietta, although Tess had never known anyone not to call it Nigel's. The menus and signage had changed about a year ago to bring in a new kind of customer, but everyone still knew the place by the old name. Even if Nigel himself (a middle-aged man with grey-gold hair that seemed to grow only around his ears) wasn't there as often as he used to be, it was still a place that held so many happy memories for her friends. They got food at the counter, and went to sit at one of the weird little wrought iron tables on the street outside. There were only a few tables that actually belonged to Nigel's, but the pedestrian area of Ashfields had benches everywhere, and there were already people all across the courtyard enjoying an early lunch or a late breakfast.

"I said I'd get you lunch," Spike said with one eyebrow raised.

"I can afford a sandwich," Tess answered. "I got enough to last until my parents get my allowance sorted out. You can save your money for nice things."

"What kind of nice things?"

"I mean, you..." Tess started, and then cut herself off, blushing. Was he offering her a gift? Had she implied that without meaning to? She didn't know the right words to say now, She didn't want him to feel like he owed her something, but she also didn't want to risk rejecting him if he actually wanted to give her something. Why were people so hard to read? She could never tell if Spike was being serious, and right now she was really wishing she could be sure.

"Don't worry about it," he said, cutting off her confusion. "But I do need to get you a housewarming gift. You're in a new place now, it's tradition."

"You don't have to. But if you want to, I'm sure it'd help me feel more at home there."

Chloe changed the subject soon after that, but Tess couldn't stop wondering what this gift was going to be. She wished that she could invite him to her new house, but she was still too embarrassed. She hated that she couldn't spend time with him without all of her friends around, and that made her feel a little guilty too. She didn't even know what she wanted, so it was just as well that she didn't need to think of something else to say.

Lunch was pretty good, as usual, and the topic of conversation changed so quickly that probably nobody could remember all of the things they talked about. Kim and Spike both got cakes, and walked around town with their mouths full for a few minutes. Tess could have had one if she wanted, but wasn't particularly hungry by then. The chatter continued, not about anything in particular.

To a casual observer, they might have seemed like a group of friends who got together like this, just killing time. It seemed a little weird to Tess when she realised that Spike wasn't normally with him. He was a year younger than all of the girls, and he was only here because he'd wanted to spend time with her, but he was instantly a part of the group. That was his talent, more than anything else. Everybody liked Spike, apart from his own family.

Tess tried not to let herself think about anything so serious. For the most part she threw herself into staring into shop windows, chatting with her friends, and making up imaginary histories for the people they saw on the street. She'd been worried that Spike would think that was a weird hobby, but he seemed to have a natural talent to go with all his charisma. She hoped that he would be able to join them more often in future, and that next time she would be the one offering to get him something for lunch.

The day wasn't particularly remarkable, until the sky started fading to grey and the girls were starting to glance at the time occasionally. Then they passed a charity shop, and there was only one thing on Tess's mind. She didn't know why it had caught her attention; it had probably been standing there on display for weeks, and she had never noticed. She was in a different frame of mind now, or something had jogged her memory. Standing in the window, a little to one side, was a weird little rubber figurine with purple hair and a glitter-coated jacket that looked like it had come straight out of the 1980s. It certainly wasn't something any of this group would consider buying, and it would be a safe guess that everyone else passing the shop felt the same. But when she saw it, Tess remembered something that made her stop right away.