‘Not a clue,’ says Tori. ‘But everything comes out in the end.’
***
I tell Ms Harkness theCroydon Postnews before I leave school. After all, I have her to thank for pushing me, but I have also asked her not to tell Tori. She’ll find out eventually.
‘Secrets always cost you, Selena,’ she says. ‘But I’m glad you got into the programme. You’re talented.’
There is one person I am definitely not keeping this a secret from. I have to tell Ty as soon as I get home. I run to his door and knock on it.
A man opens it.
Paul. Ty’s dad. Even though he lives here, I am surprised to see him, for some reason. He’s dressed in jeans and an expensive-looking jumper. Normally whenever I’ve seen him, he’s going to and from work in a suit.
‘Hello,’ he says. I can see a bit of Ty in him, the angle of his eyes, his high cheekbones. I would bet in his youth Paul Brown was a handsome guy.
‘Hi,’ I say. ‘Is Ty home?’
‘Ty!’ he calls out behind him. He turns back to me. ‘You’re our neighbour. Nice to meet you,’ he says.
‘Yes, I’m Selena,’ I say, realising I should introduce myself. ‘Nice to meet you too.’
‘Paul,’ he says. ‘I’m Ty’s dad. My boys have been telling me all about you, the girl-next-door. They’ve become quite besotted with you.’
‘That’s enough, Dad,’ says Ty, appearing. ‘Hey,’ he says to me.
‘Come on in,’ says Paul, opening up the door. ‘It’s freezing outside.’
He leaves us in the corridor and heads upstairs.
‘I’ll be quick,’ I say. ‘I didn’t know your dad was home.’
‘He’s working from home today. But you know you can be here when he’s here,’ says Ty, rolling his eyes. ‘Come in properly.’
I look along the hallway, and suddenly it hits me. All I can think about is Ollie. There are new photos on the wall, but the familiar corridor looks strange, and seeing Ty standing here . . . Well, it feels very disorientating.
‘I need to get home for dinner,’ I say quickly. ‘I wanted to tell you I got into the newspaper internship.’
‘Seriously?’ says Ty. ‘Selena, that’s amazing!’ He hugs me and I’m crushed into his chest. I wrap my arms around him, inhale. How does he smell this good?
‘I wanted to thank you,’ I say, still holding on to him. ‘For believing in me and telling me I should do it.’ My voice cracks a bit. ‘It means a lot.’
‘Selena, a lot of people believe in you.’
I think about it: Kira, Mum, Faye, Ms Harkness. And now Ty.
‘You’re right,’ I say, ‘they do. But you gave me a final push. When I needed it.’
I look up the stairs, the ones Ollie and I played on as kids. We’d skid down them on our bums. Once I got carpet burn on the back of my thighs.
‘I should go,’ I say. ‘But thanks again.’
I turn around and head home. As I do, I think about the list Imade, and how Ollie wasn’t on it. I haven’t even told him about the work experience, because I haven’t told him about the Secret Sender. The whole thing feels too long and confusing to explain to him. But it’s more than that too, I think.
As I walk into my front door and take out my phone, I think about how Ollie would be pleased for me, but as I take a look at our text history, I can’t deny it, we’ve been talking even less since my trip to Manchester.
What will happen when he comes to my party? Will we reconnect again? Will this be a love story for the ages? Will I finally experience the type of love Rose Conrad has been singing about?
Or is our childhood friendship a thing of the past? Will we keep growing further apart as we follow our own paths?
