Dating Dilemma (Book 1, Dilemma series) Read online

  Chloe: We had a great date and he asked me out! Updating my relationship status now!

  Ven: I'm so pleased for you! Way to go Chloe!

  Gina: Lucky thing.

  Kate: I wish I knew your secret. You've only known him for a day! But I guess now Jamie and I are finally together it doesn't really matter.

  Gina: So you're saying that after Ven gets with Matthew I'll be on my ownio?

  Kate: No, you'll finally see sense and be off snogging Chad LOL.

  Ven: Don't worry, we'll all still hang out with you, even if we do have bfs.

  Chloe: Yeah just be with Chad. You know he's perfect for you!

  Kate: Yeah and I'd love to see that creep's face when he sees what he's missing.

  Gina: Kate! Don't be so mean to Lee. That's one of the reasons I don't want to go out with Chad yet.

  Chloe: Babes, I'm sorry to say this again, but he didn't really give a stuff about your feelings when he moved on, so just do what you want and don't bother about him.

  Gina: ?

  Ven: You okay Gina?

  Gina: Yeah, I'm fine.

  Ven: Don't worry, I'm sure he would feel hurt if you do go with Chad, but you can't feel like you're not allowed to move on with your life just because of him.

  Kate: Yeah, you're single now so you have a right to get with someone if you want to.

  Chloe: If I was you I wouldn't worry too much about things. Just let him deal with it.

  Gina: Got to finish my homework now, I'll see you all tomorrow.

  Ven: Ok, bye!

  Kate: See ya Gina

  Chloe: Really hope I haven't upset you Gina. Bye

  Chapter 21

  After having fun on Sunday with the girls, it's back to school on Monday morning. We all look pretty glum now the weekend is over, but strangely Chloe arrives looking very excited, but we guess it has nothing to do with getting back to school

  "Guess what?!" she exclaims to us, a little too loudly for this early in the morning. "Y'know that totally cool, new night club called Bliss?"

  "Yeah," we all answer.

  Luckily we manage to remember, even though it is early in the morning.

  "Well, I saw the posters up this morning when I passed it on the way to school, and it said the under sixteen night will be starting this Wednesday!" continues Chloe and we all smile at each other excitedly.

  "Cool," grins Kate. "So I guess we're all going?"

  "Obviously! There's no way we're missing this," says Gina. "I can't wait to go."

  "Me neither," I say, feeling so happy at thinking maybe Matthew will go with me. "We could all bring our dates!"

  I feel extremely excited. In the past, it would have made me feeling lonely and sad going to a club without a date or boyfriend, since I don't usually have one, but now things are different. For once I'm lucky enough to have a guy who will go with me and that feels great.

  "Well, you three could go with your guys," Chloe says, looking sad. "Danny's too old to go, remember?"

  "Aww, that's sad," Gina says sympathetically.

  "Will you be inviting Chad?" Kate asks Gina.

  "Of course I will," she answers, blushing.

  "What's with all the blushing?" asks Chloe suspiciously. "I thought you weren't interested in having a relationship with him?"

  "I know, but he's just been so sweet to me," says Gina, looking blissful. "He keeps sending me wonderful texts and they're much better than the ones any of my other boyfriends used to send."

  Kate does a quick impression of Gina's blissful look, over exaggerating it a bit, and I giggle. Gina is too busy in Chad World to notice, so Kate luckily gets away with it.

  "So you're changing your mind about him now?" asks Chloe hopefully.

  "I might be," answers Gina grinning.

  "Good for you," says Kate. "I'm glad you're finally moving on from that creep."

  "Wait," says Gina, suddenly looking serious. The blissful smile is vanishing from her face. "What if he's going to be there?"

  Obviously the 'he' she mentioned is her ex-boyfriend Lee. We are all still being sensitive around her and not saying his name, so he is still known as 'he' or 'that creep'.

  Chloe looks awkward, not knowing what to say. "Well?.heaps of people from our school will be going?so maybe he will."

  Gina looks scared all of a sudden, "I can't go if he's there! There's no way I'm going to be anywhere near him, especially if he's with her."

  As you might have guessed, 'her' is the girl Lee is now with. We're not allowed to mention Chelsea's name either, so she's usually referred to as 'her', 'that girl' or even 'that slag' in Chloe's case.

  "Don't worry about him," Chloe reassures her. "It's a big club and they'll be loads of people there, so even if he does go, you might not even see him. Plus we'll be here for you and we'll stay well clear of him if he does turn up."

  "Yeah, you have to come. You can't let him spoil all your fun, Gina," insists Kate.

  "And you can't just not go somewhere just in case he's there," I say reasonably.

  "But I can't," she insists. "I can't bear to see him and that girl all over each other again. It makes me feel sick just thinking about it."

  "Oh, you don't have to worry about that," says Chloe, with a sly grin. It's always a tell-tale sign that she's got some mega goss. "I heard on Friday that the slag's gone off with someone else now."

  "Really?" I ask and feel surprised.

  I do kind of wish I could just get another boyfriend that quickly; although I don't want as many boyfriends as Chelsea has had. Chloe is right, that girl is getting a bad reputation with the boys and that isn't a good thing.

  "Yeah, I heard she's going out with Gerry Parkinson now," replies Chloe excitedly, loving to spill the hot news.

  "Eww," comments Kate and looks disgusted.

  Gerry Parkinson is in the year above us and he's the worst behaved boy in school. There's even rumors going around that he takes drugs.

  "So he's single now?" asks Gina, looking stunned.

  Chloe playfully hits her on the head with her magazine. "Don't even think about it!" she warns her. "You don't want to get back with that creep again, even if he does come crawling back to you. Besides, you've got Chad now."

  "Yeah, you're right," says Gina and looks a bit shameful. "Just hit me over the head if I think about him again."

  "Deal," says Chloe and then jokes, "but next time it'll have to be with my maths textbook, there's no way I'm getting my mag confiscated in class."

  At lunch, we all eat together at the cafeteria as usual. I've been feeling excited all day in case I see Matthew. I look out for him at every opportunity, hoping that maybe we can chat at school now that we're going on dates and know each other.

  Unfortunately, I haven't seen him at all yet, so I decide to text him instead:

  Hi Matt, I'm going to Bliss night club with my mates on Wednesday night. Wanna come? xxx

  He soon replies:

  Yeah sure. Thanx 4 inviting me. Do u want me to call for u and walk there? Or do u just wanna meet there? xxx

  "Where are we meeting before Bliss?" I ask the others.

  Chloe looks thoughtful, "can we meet at yours, Gina?"

  "Yeah, that's okay," she answers.

  "So we'll all meet at yours at seven and get ready together?" Chloe asks us and we all agree. "It opens at eight so we should get there in time."

  "Where should I tell Matthew to meet me?" I ask them, feeling a little sad that he won't be able to call for me at my house and walk there with me like he'd suggested.

  "The park?" suggests Kate. "Me and Jamie are meeting there anyway 'cause we'll be walking through on our way there."

  "Chad said he'll meet me at Bliss," says Gina, sounding quite excited.

  I quickly send a text message back to Matthew, explaining the arrangement.

  "I so wish I could take my boyfriend," says Chloe, looking all miz.

  "Never mind, you'll see him over the weekend," I remind her.
>
  I feel my mobile buzz as a reply arrives from Matthew:

  I'll meet you outside Bliss. Can't wait xxx

  I quickly reply back: Can't wait 2 c u either xxx

  I'm buzzing with excitement. Wednesday night at Bliss is going to be the best night out ever!

  Chapter 22

  Unfortunately, I don't get to see Matthew on Monday night. I'm gutted when he texts me after school, saying he has a practice exam on Wednesday morning and needs to stay in and revise. However, I know his exams are mega important, especially as he's taking GCSE exams in a few months' time; so Matthew and I agree to see each other on Wednesday night as planned and I can't wait.

  Tuesday seems to fly by and Wednesday we are all buzzing with excitement at going to Bliss tonight. Nearly everyone in the school is talking about it and will be going too.

  We meet at Gina's house as planned and get ready, then walk there together, feeling hyped up. Kate sees Jamie waiting at the park and runs ahead to greet him.

  By the time we've strolled over and caught up, they're still kissing and cuddling. They see us approaching and quickly break apart, look embarrassed and start walking ahead. I stay talking with Gina and Chloe while we follow behind them.

  When we arrive at Bliss, I see Matthew stood outside looking out for me and quickly go over, feeling shy. I introduce him to everyone and he doesn't seem at all nervous, acting friendly and chatty with them. I really wish I could be like that around guys I didn't know.

  When we start queuing up outside the entrance, Matthew casually reaches out to hold my hand and I can't help blushing madly. I feel so proud to turn up at the club with him and know that all the girls around will presume he's my boyfriend!

  Kate and Jamie join up with the other lads, who are waiting in the queue before us. They don't seem at all embarrassed anymore about showing that they're in a relationship and Jamie even has his arm around her.

  When we finally arrive inside the club, I look around in amazement. It's very trendy, with a huge dance floor, flashing disco lights and a DJ blasting out new, cool tunes.

  There's a bar decorated with silver fairy lights at the side of the room, so we all go over to buy some fizzies. Obviously they aren't allowed to serve any alcohol at the bar tonight.

  We all sit together on the white leather sofas stretched out around the walls and chill out for a while; listening to music, chatting and sipping our bottles of Pepsi. Not many people go on the dance floor at first, but soon a few girls get up to the dance to a cool song. I sit watching them and Chloe suddenly nudges me.

  "Look at Lee over there," she whispers to me and giggles. "He looks well cheesed off."

  I glance over to where she is looking and see Lee hanging out with two guys nearby. He's looking enviously over at Chad, who is sitting close to Gina on the sofa and feeding her crisps. I must admit, it really does look like they are a couple; even though we know from Gina that they are still just friends. No wonder Lee looks so jealous.

  "Do you think he regrets finishing with her now?" I ask Chloe quietly, thinking that he does look pretty gutted.

  "Definitely," answers Chloe. "Serves him right anyway. Lads usually only realize stuff when it's too late."

  I giggle. I hope Matthew hasn't overheard Chloe calling guys stupid, but luckily he's too busying talking with Jamie to overhear.

  "Gina and Chad look pretty close now, don't they?" I say. "I bet they end up together by the end of the night."

  "Yeah, definitely! I said that all along," answers Chloe. "No wonder Lee is getting all jealous. I bet he wishes he was the one who is cuddling up to Gina right now."

  We see Lee walk away, looking pretty miffed.

  "I feel kinda sorry for him," I say, feeling a pang of sympathy. He must feel how Gina felt when she saw him with Chelsea. "It must be hard for him to see Gina with someone else, especially now he's been dumped."

  "He made his choice so he'll just have to deal with it."

  I feel really happy for Gina though. She looks so happy as she laughs with Chad, unaware that Lee was nearby. She deserved to find a nice guy after what happened with Lee and I hope she will finally be able to move on. Gina and Chad would make a cute couple.

  "Matthew's pretty nice. I think you got a good one there," says Chloe, looking over at him.

  I look at him too, feeling my heart fill with happiness at knowing that he's actually here to be with me.

  "Yeah, I think so too," I say, feeling so incredibly lucky. I still can't believe I've found a wonderful guy who is so close to becoming my boyfriend.

  Matthew catches me looking at him and smiles, making me blush. I smile back, feeling shy all over again. He leaves Jamie and comes back over to me.

  "Wanna dance?"

  "Yeah, okay," I answer, with a big smile on my face.

  He takes my hand and we walk over to the dance floor. I'm so excited that I finally have a guy to dance with?but then I start to feel all shy. I'm so nervous I completely forget how to dance. I don't even know how to dance with a guy yet!

  I look back at Chloe for help, knowing she will know what to do. She gives me a look as if to say 'just go for it', so I start to dance the way I usually do with the girls. I even pretend that I'm just dancing with them, so I won't feel so shy.

  I start to wiggle my hips to the music like Chloe does and feel more relaxed. I feel Matthew put his arms around my waist as I dance and feel a flood of excitement rush through me at feeling him so close. He gently puts my arms around his neck and we dance together for the rest of the song.

  "Thanks again for inviting me," he says into my ear. "I've loved meeting all your friends, they're really cool."

  "It's okay, and I bet they've really loved meeting you too," I say, feeling thrilled that they all get on so well. "It's cool that we can all hang out together."

  We dance for a few more songs, and then he asks, "Do you want to go outside for a while?"

  "Okay," I agree, feeling tired from dancing.

  He takes my hand and leads me through the crowds of people until we finally reach the entrance. The person at the door lets us go through first, before dealing with the rest of the people waiting outside.

  The cold, night air makes me shiver and I start to wish I'd worn a jacket over my light blue top.

  "Here, take my jacket," he offers generously and carefully wraps it around me to keep me warm.

  "Thanks," I say, feeling wonderful to wear his jacket. I never want to take it off. I want to cuddle up inside it forever and just think of him.

  We stand outside the club and it's much quieter outside, although we can still hear the thudding of dance music from inside.

  "I've wanted to talk with you for a while now," he says, "so I thought maybe this would be the right time."

  I look up at him, feeling nervous.

  "I really like you, Vanessa," he says, looking shy, "and I was hoping that maybe we could go out with each other, if that's what you want?"

  I'm so happy! I feel like soaring through the stars.

  "Yes," I answer, feeling so incredibly happy that he wants me to be his girlfriend. "I'd love to."

  He smiles at me, looking very happy too.

  "Good, 'cause I don't know what I would have done if you'd turned me down," he jokes.

  "I would never do that," I reassure him. "I really like you too."

  He strokes my cheek affectionately and then leans forward and kisses me. I'm dizzy with excitement as I feel his lips on mine. He's such a great kisser that I melt inside.

  I feel dazed as we break apart. My head is buzzing because I still can't believe it. I have finally had my first kiss with the best guy ever and he's now my boyfriend! I'm sure I'll wake up any minute and find out the whole thing has been a dream; but luckily it's real.

  "Do you want to go back inside before they send out a search party?" he asks jokily. "I don't want your mates to worry about you."

  "Yeah, okay," I agree, although I feel like staying out here with him fo
rever.

  We go back into the club, holding hands, and Kate immediately springs on us as soon as we get inside.

  "We've been looking for you," she says.

  "Sorry, we just went out for some fresh air," I say, although I blush so much it's pretty obvious that it was more than that.

  "Well, are you coming for a dance with us or not?" she asks me.

  I see Gina and Chloe waving over at me madly from the dance floor. I look back at Matthew, not wanting to leave him.

  "Go on, have fun," he assures me. "I'll be fine talking with the lads for a while."

  "Okay. Thanks," I say, handing his jacket back to him reluctantly.

  I give his hand a squeeze to show I'm really grateful that he's letting me hang out with the girls for a while. He smiles back at me to show he understands, and then Kate drags me off to the dance floor.

  We join Chloe and Gina, who are still dancing.

  "What have you and Matthew been up to?" asks Chloe suspiciously.

  "Yeah, we saw you both sneaking outside," teases Gina.

  "They were snogging," says Kate and grins at me.

  I blush madly, feeling my whole face heat up and turn red. Had Kate really seen us kissing?

  "Were you?" asks Gina, starting to giggle.

  "We did kiss a bit," I admit shyly.

  They all give me a hug and tell me how happy they are for me.

  "So he's asked you out?" asks Chloe, looking excited.

  "Yeah, he did," I answer, still feeling stunned. "I can't believe I'm finally no longer single."

  "I'm chuffed for you; but tell him that if he ever hurts you, I'll make him regret it," jokes Kate protectively and I laugh.

  I happily dance along with them, feeling as if I can dance away all night long because I'm feeling so high with excitement. I feel so incredible lucky, but not just because I have a boyfriend. I have three, amazing best mates who will be there for me when I feel sad and lonely, and also be there to have fun when I'm feeling as happy as I am right now.

  I don't know why I've been so obsessed with getting a boyfriend. I've already had something much better right in front of me all this time. Sure, having a boyfriend feels like the best thing in the world, but I know from Gina that boyfriends don't always last.