I stare at him. “What do you mean? Jealous of what?”
“Of Noah. And of you.” Elliot looks away, embarrassed.
“Why are you jealous of me?”
“Because it’s so easy for you. You meet someone you like and your parents are fine with it. They’re like, ‘Hey, let’s go and spend Christmas with him!’ You can fall in love and live happily ever after just like Cinderella. But if I ever meet my Prince Charming I’m going to be disowned.”
“Oh, Elliot.” I hug him to me, my eyes filling with tears. The whole time we were away it never occurred to me that Elliot might be feeling like this, and how difficult it must be for him.
“And I hate myself for taking it out on you,” Elliot sobs into my shoulder. “You’re my best friend. My only true friend, and I wasn’t able to just be happy for you. But I was so scared, Pen. I’m so scared of losing you to him.”
I can’t help a sarcastic laugh when he says this.
Elliot frowns at me. “What?”
“There’s no danger of that happening.”
“Why not?” Elliot wipes the tears from his eyes and studies my face.
I sigh. “I take it you haven’t seen what’s happened?”
“Seen what?”
“Online?”
“No. I told you, I only just got my stuff back. I broke into Dad’s study while he was at work and stole them back.”
“It turns out that Noah is a musician.”
Elliot looks at me blankly.
“A famous musician. Well, famous in America anyway and—” I break off, barely able to bring myself to say it. “And he’s in a relationship with Leah Brown.”
Elliot’s mouth drops open. “What? Leah Brown, as in the chart-topper Leah Brown?”
I nod.
“Leah Brown, as in singer of the bestselling ‘Do You Wanna Taste My Candy?’ Leah Brown?”
I nod again, my eyes filling with tears.
“But that’s insane!” Elliot stares at me and I notice that there isn’t a trace of pleasure on his face, only shock and horror, and once again I feel terrible for doubting him. “Oh, Pen. Oh my God. But how—how did he manage to keep that from you?”
So I tell him all about the little clues that were there all along but I just didn’t notice. The girl by the vintage store, the overheard snippet of conversation with Sadie Lee, the fact that Noah barely went anywhere with me in public.
Elliot can’t stop shaking his head. “But what about the things you said on your blog—about him being your soul mate?”
“I was wrong.” A sob wells up inside of me as I say it. “And now the whole world knows because someone leaked it to a celebrity website. And everyone knows about my blog.”
“But how? Had you told Noah about your blog?”
“No. I hadn’t told anyone—apart from you.”
Elliot stares at me. “Wait a minute.” He takes his phone from his pocket and starts scrolling through his messages. “You thought I did it!”
“Only because you were the only one who knew. Or at least I thought you were . . .”
“But who else could know?”
“Megan.”
Elliot’s eyebrows shoot up so high they almost reach his hairline. “What? How would she know? You didn’t tell her, did you?”
“No. But maybe she saw something when she stayed over that night or maybe . . .”
“What?”
“Maybe Ollie told her.”
Elliot frowns. “How would Ollie know?”
“He was round at mine on Tuesday—in my bedroom. He could have seen my blog on my laptop.”
Elliot’s eyes are now practically popping out of his head. “OK, from now on can you please just assume that my response to anything you say is prefixed with a ‘WTF’!”
I nod and laugh.
“WTF was the Walking Selfie doing in your bedroom?”
“He came around to see me. He brought me a Christmas present.”
“A Christmas present? What was it?”
“I don’t actually know. I never got around to opening it. Ollie was the one who told me that Noah was a musician. He saw a photo of him on my mirror and he recognized him.”
“What—but—oh my God.” Elliot grips hold of my arm. “OK, I’m sorry but I think we need to be seated for this conversation. Seated in front of two chocolate milkshakes so that I don’t actually pass out from the shock.”
“Choccywoccydoodah?” we both say together. “Jinx!”
I link arms with Elliot—or attempt to link arms with the enormous Puffa jacket—and we walk out onto the pier. But despite the biting sea breeze, I feel a growing warmth inside of me. My worst fears from yesterday were all unfounded. I’m not alone at all. I’ve got my family and the twins and I’ve got my amazing best friend back.
Chapter Forty-Three
By the time we get to the café, I’m feeling even better. None of the nightmare scenarios I’d been afraid of happening yesterday have happened. We’ve walked right through town and not a single person has recognized me and there hasn’t been a single abusive comment. As long as I can avoid the Internet for the next year, I should be fine.
We order our milkshakes and find a table at the back. Normally I like to sit facing the door so that I can people-watch, but not today. Today, I instinctively sit with my back to the rest of the room, just in case.