‘Oh no! I’m sorry. Last night?’ They’d been out on a date but I’d been in bed when she got home.
‘Yeah. We get on really well but that spark didn’t last long and I felt like he was more of a friend than boyfriend material. He felt the same and we’d both been wondering how to say it, so it’s all good. We can still see each other and I can still go out with him and his friends.’
I paused brushing Pip and looked at Maddie expectantly, sensing abut.
‘I like someone else,’ she said.
‘One of his friends?’
‘Ew, no! That’d be awks. It’s Lindon. Willow says he’s single and she thinks he likes me cos he was asking her about me.’
‘I didn’t realise you’d met him.’
‘We got chatting when he dropped off that first batch of pictures for the café gallery.’
‘Of course! He’s a lovely lad. So what’s the problem?’
‘Not a problem, really, but I don’t want to hurt Hunter by moving straight on to someone else.’
‘That’s sweet of you,’ I said, smiling at her and loving how her empathy for others had returned, ‘but you and Hunter have only been dating for a month and you always said he wasn’t your boyfriend because it wasn’t that serious. You’ve both admitted it’s more of a friendship and you’ve felt that way for a while so I don’t think you going on a date with someone else is going to hurt Hunter. But, to make sure it doesn’t, you might want to tell him if you and Lindon do go on a date. The truth has the potential to hurt but the lies are worse, as you know.’
Maddie smiled as she scratched Tammy’s chin. ‘You’re very wise, Mum.’
‘I’ll take that as a compliment.’
‘It is one.’
* * *
The Thursday of the following week was A level results day. As Maddie had moved out of the area, she’d arranged for her results to be emailed to her. She’d been told to expect them somewhere between nine and ten in the morning but she’d get an earlier indication as to how her exams had gone by logging onto the university applications portal. Although it wouldn’t give out the results, it would show whether she’d been accepted into her firm choice of the University of York. And if that was a decline, there’d be an acceptance or decline from her insurance choice of the University of Warwick.
As Maddie remained convinced she wouldn’t get the AAA grades needed for York or the AAB needed for Warwick, we’d talked a lot about her next steps. We’d worked through the list she’d made of alternatives and had ranked them, we’d found routes to re-sit her exams via an online learning provider and through attending a local college, and we’d considered her taking a year out and going through the university applications process afresh next year.
I was in the kitchen with Mam and Jude making a fresh pot of tea when Maddie called my name and came thundering down the stairs.
‘Results?’ Mam suggested.
Glancing at the time – nearly 8a.m. – I shook my head. ‘Portal.’
Maddie ran into the kitchen and thrust her phone in front of me. ‘It’s a no from York but I got into Warwick.’ She looked and sounded puzzled rather than pleased.
‘Congratulations!’ I stood up and hugged her. ‘So you must have got really good grades after all. I’m so proud of you, although I’d still have been proud even if it had been a no from both of them.’
Mam and Jude congratulated her too as Maddie sat down beside me. Her hands were shaking and I couldn’t read her expression.
‘Are you pleased?’ I asked.
‘I don’t know. I thought I would be but I feel a bit flat. I obviously didn’t screw up my exams as badly as I thought, so that’s good, but Warwick? It’s so far away.’
‘It is, but we’ll make the distance work if it’s what you want. There’s no pressure to accept if it’s not. There are lots of other options.’
Maddie reached for a banana from the fruit bowl, nodding slowly. ‘I might go for a walk. Ooh! Hang on! Email from sixth form. That’s early.’
I watched her eyes widen as she read it.
‘I got an A-star for psychology. How the hell did I manage that?’
‘Because you knew your stuff,’ I said. ‘That’s incredible, Maddie. What about the other two?’
