Golden Girl Read online

  First published in Great Britain in 2012 by Simon and Schuster UK Ltd

  A CBS COMPANY

  Copyright © 2012 Cathy Hopkins

  This book is copyright under the Berne Convention. No reproduction without permission. All rights reserved.

  The right of Cathy Hopkins to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

  Simon & Schuster UK Ltd

  1st Floor,

  222 Gray’s Inn Road,

  London WC1X 8HB

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  PB ISBN: 978-1-84738-760-8

  E-BOOK ISBN: 978-1-84738-995-4

  Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY

  www.simonandschuster.co.uk

  www.cathyhopkins.com

  Contents

  1. Easter Hols

  2. Invite

  3. Bollywood Babes

  4. Flight of Fantasy

  5. Udaipur

  6. The Rules

  7. Alone with JJ

  8. Movie Set

  9. Queen of Deep

  10. It’s Raining Gurus!

  11. Rajasthan Rumbles

  12. The Human Cannonball

  13. Rescue

  14. JJ’s Birthday

  15. Home Sweet Home

  ‘It’s time for some serious study,’ said Mrs Moran, my English teacher, before she dismissed class for Easter. ‘You all have to get your heads down this holiday.’

  ‘No late nights,’ Dad said when I got home from school. ‘If you’re to get good grades in your GCSEs, you have to focus.’

  ‘Time-manage your studying,’ said Aunt Maddie when she dropped by as we were having supper. It was macaroni cheese, one of my faves. ‘Break it down into do-able chunks. Oh, and we need to have a long talk soon about the subjects you want to do for A-level.’

  ‘You need fish oils,’ Gran said, when she called later the same evening. ‘They’re good for the brain.’

  What planet are they all on? Planet B-4-Boring, that’s what. I’m so not looking forward to the holidays. Not that I don’t take my schoolwork seriously, I do, but I take having fun seriously too.

  ‘Study, study, study. What subjects are you going to do in Sixth Form? What do you think you might like to do when you leave school?’ I said to my mate Pia, when she came to sleep over. ‘That’s all I hear lately. And fish oils? Doesn’t anyone realise it’s spring? The daffodils are out. The skies are clear. Birds are singing. The nights are getting longer and I, Jess Hall, have a boyfriend!’

  I do too. A proper one. My first, even though I’m fifteen. I’ve not had a lot of luck with boys up until now. But all that’s changed. It’s finally happened. He’s not someone I have a crush on from afar who hardly notices me. Or someone who likes me but won’t commit and messes with my head (like Tom Robertson – he’s so last term). No. I’m having a relationship. Dates, texts, holding hands, listening to music curled up on the sofa, snog sessions . . . something I have to say he’s very good at. And it all feels absolutely blooming lovely.

  His name is JJ Lewis. We’re JJ and Jess. Jess and JJ.

  Pia got into her blue-and-white striped nightie, sat on the end of my bed and began to apply apple-scented body lotion to her legs. ‘My mum’s just the same,’ she said. ‘Nag, nag, nag. Like, I don’t know what I want to do when I leave school. I keep changing my mind.’

  ‘Me too! Art? English? I have no idea,’ I said as I got into my nightie, which is like Pia’s, only pink and white. We got them in the sale at Westfield shopping mall after Christmas.

  ‘It’s not as if we want to be strippers, for goodness’ sake,’ said Pia. ‘Now that really would give them something to talk about!’ She got up and began to shimmy around my bedroom.

  I laughed and looked at my reflection in the mirror. A tall, slim girl with shoulder-length chestnut-coloured hair and big blue eyes looked back. ‘Hey, you. What do you want to be?’ I asked myself. ‘Come on, girl. Make up your mind!’

  Pia came to stand next to me. At five foot three, she only just comes up to my shoulder but I never think of her as small. She’s a curvy cherub with a big, big personality.

  ‘Look at us. Here we are in Year Eleven, both fifteen,’ she said as she slicked back her short, dark hair, ‘and I wonder who we’ll be in five years – or even ten. What will we look like then, I wonder? Will we be lawyers? Doctors? Dancers? Teachers?’

  ‘Mates,’ I said. ‘We can be sure of that much.’

  Pia nodded. ‘For life.’ She knelt down on the floor and got into the sleeping bag I’d laid out for her earlier on top of the roll-out mattress beside my bed.

  ‘I was thinking I might like to work in a cats and dogs rescue home,’ I said as I looked over at my cat, Dave, who had settled himself for the night as he always did – a mass of black-and-white fur at the foot of my bed.

  Pia shook her head. ‘You wouldn’t last a week, Jess – you’d get too upset. People take their pets to those places when the animals get ill or old. You’d bring them all home with you and have to hide them in your wardrobe. Probably doesn’t pay much, either. So it depends on whether you want to be rich.’

  ‘I want to do something that pays well, course I do. Who doesn’t? But I don’t know what. In the meantime, all anyone goes on about is studying, subject choices and careers.’

  ‘I’ve tried telling Mum that life has to be all about balance but she’s a workaholic, just like your dad.’

  ‘They ought to get married,’ I said.

  ‘Yeah, right. They’d kill each other. I don’t know which of them is the bigger control-freak.’

  Pia and I live next door to each other in the staff area at Number 1, Porchester Park. My dad’s the general manager and Pia’s mum runs the spa and there’s a mews house on site for each of our families that comes with the job. They’re pretty ordinary houses with small box rooms, built for the staff who have to be there twenty-four seven to cater for the every need of the people who live in the main apartment block. Lots of the residents have their own private live-in staff too: chefs, chauffeurs, minders, masseurs, housekeepers, PAs and so on but there’s also a fleet of staff that comes with the place to provide whatever else they might want – be it a limo, the latest designer dresses brought in for a bit of home-shopping, or a cheese-and-tomato sandwich at midnight. Porchester Park is the most luxurious, prestigious address in London and its residents are the super rich and the international elite – A-list actors, businessmen, some royals, celebs or just plain old billionaires. Dad’s job is to keep things running smoothly and ensure that what a resident wants, a resident gets.

  I sat on my bed and began to apply my aloe vera moisturiser. ‘Let’s forget about school for a bit. For this evening, anyway. Let’s talk about more important stuff. Like, what do you think is the secret of a good relationship? Do you think opposites attract and that’s the best combination? Or do you think you need to share your views on everything? Or can that get boring? And how do you keep a boy interested in you after the first few dates?’ I needed to know all this stuff, being a relationship newbie. I wanted it to work with me and JJ.

  Pia snuggled down into her sleeping bag. I love these late night chats with her when it’s just girlie time and we can talk about anything and everything, from boys, friends and school to what we want to do with our lives, our fave beauty products (lately we’re taking moisturising very seriously) to deep stu
ff like whether there’s a God or not. Pia’s more of a boy expert than I am. She’s had three relationships so far and is now dating the lovely, handsome Henry, who also lives in the staff area. His dad looks after the underground car park and the fleets of limos and cars that belong to the richies.

  Pia considered my question. ‘A bit of both, I think,’ she said. ‘Like, if you’re total opposites, you might end up arguing all the time, but if you’re very similar, then it can be a bit blah and dull like cottage cheese and you won’t learn anything. No fire, spice or challenge. With Henry, we both like a laugh and are chilled about most things, but he’s a total music and movie geek, which I’m not. But he gets me into loads of stuff I wouldn’t have thought of listening to or going to see, and I end up loving it.’

  I felt like I was on a huge learning curve now that JJ and I were dating. Up until now, my love life had consisted of a few flirtations that had come to nothing and trying to find a boy I liked who wasn’t into messing around and just seeing how many girls he could get off with (like Tom). ‘I want to make it last with JJ and I think I can learn a lot from him,’ I said, ‘and him from me, because our worlds are totally different . . . but I hope that won’t cause problems.’

  ‘Why should it?’

  ‘Duh. He’s the son of one of the most famous actors on the planet and I’m Jess Nobody.’ JJ is Jefferson Lewis’s son and he lives in one of the apartments at Porchester Park. He travels by limo, while I go by tube, bus and foot. He holidays in far-off exotic locations, staying in private villas or five-star hotels. I’m lucky if I get a weekend away in Bournemouth with Dad’s younger brother and his family, where I have to sleep on a pull-out sofabed in the study. JJ’s home-schooled, while I go to the local state. He dresses in top designers like Ralph Lauren, Armani and Tommy Hilfiger, while I can barely afford Topshop in the sale. Basically, his family is loaded, and my dad can only just about manage to pay for items on my brother Charlie’s and my school list, never mind extras. So, basically, although we live within a few metres of each other, we’re worlds apart.

  ‘You’re not Jess Nobody. You shouldn’t talk yourself down like that. And anyway, the fact that he picked you when he could have gone out with someone from his world means he likes you, not what your family do or how much your dad earns.’

  ‘I guess, though I do feel bad when he wants to go somewhere and I can’t afford it. But we do agree on loads of stuff, like we’ve both said that we don’t want to play games in our relationship. It’s so nice not to think that I have to act cool or keep my feelings to myself.’

  ‘Early days,’ said Pia. ‘Sometimes you do. I don’t think boys like it if you go on about having PMT or how insecure you’re feeling about your looks or something – which is why I don’t think you should call yourself Jess Nobody. If you really think that, he’ll pick up on it. Boys like confidence.’

  ‘Yeah, but I don’t want to put on an act.’

  ‘No, I know, I just think you should be yourself right from the beginning. Some girls put on an act when they first start going out with a boy, pretending to always be in a good mood, or always finding his rubbish jokes funny, basically doing whatever he wants to do and going wherever he wants to go, like they’re some kind of perfect girl. Then weeks down the line, they can’t keep it up and the boy can’t make out why they’ve changed.’

  ‘It’s complicated,’ I sighed. ‘And what you’re saying is contradictory. Don’t put on an act but don’t let him know if I’m feeling insecure? Which is it?’

  Pia grinned. ‘Both. You’ll get the hang of it.’

  My phone bleeped that I had a text.

  Need 2 C U. Urgent. JJ.

  It was eleven o’clock at night. Dad was downstairs. No way would I be able to creep out without him seeing me. I texted back: Am in pjs having sleepover with Pia. Dad on sentry duty downstairs. I cd b shot if I try to leave. Can it wait til a.m.? Is problem?

  He texted back. I didn’t mean now. No prob. I have a plan for Easter. Surprise. Hope U like. CU tmoro at 9. My place. JJ XXX

  I texted back. XXX

  God, life was good – even if I did have to do some studying and swallow some fish oils along the way.

  I got up early the next morning, even though it was a Saturday. I needed time to prepare to see JJ. I showered, washed my hair and tried on everything in my wardrobe while Pia snored away on the floor. That girl can sleep through anything. I wanted to look my best but also not appear to be trying too hard. I settled for my skinny jeans, a red top and my red Converse. A touch of make-up and a squirt of the Chanel no 19 that Gran had given me at Christmas and I was ready. I was looking forward to seeing JJ and talking through our plans for the holidays. It was going to be his seventeenth birthday soon. I wanted to quiz JJ’s sister, Alisha, about what he might like as a present. What to buy the boy who has everything? I also wanted to take him somewhere special, which was a challenge considering some of the places he must have been in his life. I’d made out a list of things that we could maybe do if he liked the sound of them. I checked it over as I had a quick cup of green tea. Bleurgh. It tasted like boiled grass but, along with the daily moisturising, it was all part of my and Pia’s new health and beauty routine.

  The list:

  A movie.

  There were a few new ones opening in Leicester Square but that might be dull for him as he gets to go to all the premieres with his dad and all the stars. I crossed that off.

  Greenwich.

  He’d never been to Greenwich on the boat down the Thames, so I could take him there. It’s like visiting a whole new country and there are loads of shops and stalls to browse plus the park with the Royal Observatory at the top which is the home of Greenwich meantime and the biggest telescope in England. I ticked that one. I thought he might like that.

  Covent Garden.

  We could go to watch the street performers then head down to the river to sit at one of the cafés and watch the world go by. I ticked that one too.

  Various museums, churches and art galleries.

  Could be fun but would be heaving with people, seeing as it was Easter.

  Swimming in the ponds at Hampstead Heath.

  Again, might be busy but worth considering. JJ and I are both big swimmers and swimming outdoors together would be different.

  Richmond Park for a picnic.

  I ticked that one.

  All these places could be fab except for the fact that JJ might not be allowed to go without Vanya, the family minder, in tow. Mr Lewis insisted that he accompany JJ and his sister, Alisha, whenever they went out in public. I made a mental note to try and find out if JJ could escape without Vanya and, if so, where to. So far, on the few dates we’d had, Vanya had come along too. He was very discreet and kept himself at a distance but both of us were aware that he was always there, watching us. Safety and security are very important to the residents at Porchester Park, both in the building and outside. The only real time we’d had alone was at my house or in his apartment and, even then, my family was around at my place and his family and assorted staff were always there at his. We’d been interrupted mid-snog a few times. Très embarrassing.

  I’d been to all the locations on the list with Charlie or Pia, but I hoped that it would be different, more romantic, going to them with a boyfriend. I also wanted to get to know JJ better. Because we’d had so little time on our own to talk, I didn’t feel that I’d got to know the real boy behind the charming, very polite manner he had. I wanted to know what he thought about all sorts of things, what he wanted to do after college – I think he’d mentioned something about being a lawyer once, but I wasn’t sure. I wanted to know what made him laugh, what made him cry. Maybe I’d give him a questionnaire as a joke. It was really hard to find out stuff like that when I was constantly surrounded by my friends. Not that I wanted to shut my mates out. No way. I know the rule. You don’t drop mates for a boy. All the same, there has to be some private boy/girl time if we’re going to make it work.

/>   At ten to nine, I checked in on a still sleeping Pia, decided to leave her there and set off for the Lewises’ apartment.

  I stopped at the door that opened into reception from the staff area so that the cameras could read my irises. The security at the block was very high. It was designed by the SAS and all the apartments had bullet-and-bomb-proof windows, plus most of them had panic rooms. It felt cool that I could cruise my way in like this, but then all the staff know who I am and that I’m no threat to anyone. The doors swung open to let me through and I waved to the receptionist, Grace. I noticed she’d had her blonde hair cut into a neat bob. She gave me the briefest of nods as she spritzed water onto an elegant display of bamboo and white orchids in a vase to the right of her desk. Out front, through the floor-to-ceiling glass window, I could see Didier, the doorman and security guard. He glanced over but then turned away to open the door of a sleek black Mercedes that had just driven up. When he isn’t busy, he’s much friendlier than Grace. She’s cold and business-like and saves her smiles for the residents. Yoram, the other security guard, is the same. He doesn’t do chit-chat. No-one questions me going upstairs any more, even though, generally, staff don’t mix socially with residents. However, everyone who works here knows that I’m mates not only with JJ, but also with Alisha. I often go up to see her or she comes down to hang out with me and Pia. Most of the teens at Porchester Park stay in their exclusive little world, not going out without minders and not mixing with the other teens in the block, never mind the sons and daughters of staff. JJ and Alisha are the exceptions – and Alexei, a Russian boy who arrived just after Christmas. They’re all home-schooled and are glad to meet people their own age. Life can be lonely for them up there in their beautiful homes and the one thing that their parents’ money hasn’t been able to buy them so far is true mates.

  None of the staff know that I’m dating JJ, apart from Dad, of course. He doesn’t totally approve but he can’t object, not with his mantra that what a resident wants, a resident gets. I just don’t think he ever expected that a resident would want to date his daughter. It’s a mad world and sometimes feels like ‘us and them’, upstairs-downstairs, but I’m getting used to it and finding out that the residents are not so different, just because they’re loaded. They might dress in expensive clothes but inside their feelings are the same. Alisha’s the same age as I am and she’s never had a proper boyfriend either. She says it’s because, for the last few years, her family haven’t stayed in one place long enough for her to get into a relationship but I think that it’s also because, despite the luxury lifestyle, she doesn’t get to meet a lot of boys our age.