"He's not the type of guy you can have a long term thing with!" I said as a flicked through a magazine. I wasn't even bothering to look at Kathy. She bored me senseless when she rambled on about Two-Bit Matthews. Today she was worried that her brother was onto their secret relationship. I lay down on my pillow and looked at my discoloured ceiling, willing her to change the subject.

"He is! If you knew him like I did, Erin. Honestly - he's hysterical". Kathy was playing with her hair in the mirror adjacent from my bed.

"Hysterical doesn't mean you've got a future. Your brother will kill you if he finds out - and that's if he doesn't already know. If you're going to date in secret at least keep it a secret!" Kathy had been at the nightly double with Two-Bit last night, and one of her brother's friends had seen them looking rather close - she had stayed at mine last night, dreading the thought of going home and facing Michael.

I sat up and looked in the mirror. Being in the same reflection as Kathy was embarrassing. She was tall, skinny and blond. Her blue eyes were big and doe-like, her nose was a perfect button and her lips were full and soft. She had long, almost white hair that was sleek and finished at her lower back. And there, lurking behind her reflection was me, the meek best friend. I was shorter than Kathy, and bigger built. My face was round and freckled, I had brown eyes, shoulder length brown hair and a crooked nose. I was plain but I wasn't hideous, but put me next to such a radiant beauty and I just merge into the background. Even as a reflection.

I got up irritably. "Come on, let's get this over with. For all you know your brother is still clueless and you had a sleepless night for nothing."

Kathy lived about a mile away and as neither of us had a car we had a while to kill as we walked over. Unfortunately, Kathy only had one thing on her mind. Two-Bit flamin' Matthews.

"He just makes me feel so special, you know?" She swooned goofily. "He's smarter and kinder than people would reckon. He pays for everything, and he says he's never met anyone like me!"

"It's a line, Kath! And of course he pays for everything - it makes girls like you put out!" I winked at her mischievously, but I wasn't entirely joking. Kathy was stupid for falling for a line like that, especially coming from one of the most notorious heartbreakers in Tulsa. Two-Bit had a different girl on his arm every month. Scrap that. He had several different girls on his arm every month. That guy had the gift of the gab. He was charming, good looking, and he made girls feel like they were the only one in the world, even though it was obvious to everyone else that they were just one of many. I doubt he had ever been turned down by a girl. Two months ago he turned his attention to Kath at a school rally, she didn't even play a little hard to get, but she did set one rule: they had to keep it from her big brother, which is really a dream situation for any guy - all the benefits of a girlfriend with no obligation to meet the family! And for a womaniser like Two-Bit, it also meant it was easier to hide Kath from his other girls.

Kathy knew that she and Two-Bit were not strictly exclusive yet, but she foolishly thought that what he had with the other girls was innocent and that she could make him fall in love with her, and only want her.

"I have not put out yet, thank you very much!" Kathy said unconvincingly. The one thing we didn't talk about in our friendship was sex. I didn't discuss it because I had nothing to discuss and to be honest, I got embarrassed just thinking about it, let alone hearing about it! I had only ever kissed one boy - just the once - and hadn't really liked it. I knew Kathy wasn't a virgin, that much she had told me, but ever since then she didn't mention it to me. Maybe she knew I was uncomfortable, or maybe she thought I was too much of a kid for that kind of conversation - I didn't date, I didn't flirt, I didn't even have crushes - Kathy probably looked at me like a younger sister, even though we were both 17 and I was actually 10 months older than she was.

We got to Kathy's climbed the battered wooden porch steps. She gave me an ominous look and pulled the screen door open and walked into the house. Kathy's two brothers were stretched out in the sitting room watching. Tony looked up and waved at us, then turned back to the TV. Michael didn't even move at first, but slowly looked up at Kathy.

"I need a word, Kathleen" he said coolly as he stood up and walked into the large kitchen off the sitting room.

Kathy looked at me desperately, but I sat next to Tony to make it clear I was staying out of this one! Kathy walked into the kitchen as hopelessly as if she were walking into the gas chamber. She closed the door slowly.

Tony was trying to blow smoke rings and when he saw me watching he offered me a weed. I smacked him round the head and told him he was too young to smoke. He told me that at 13 he was a late starter, and he was right. In our neighbourhood everybody smoked from an early age, some of the boys started before they were ten, and the girls started as soon as they realised it made them look cool. I never got into the habit - it smelt real bad and every time I tried I had a coughing fit, my lungs just couldn't get the hang of it.

After a few minutes the kitchen door opened and Michael walked through. He gave me a lingering look, as though trying to suss something out, but then he went upstairs without a word. Michael was a guy of few words, but he scared me with just his demeanour.

Kathy stuck her head out the door with a awkward smile on her face. She looked guilty of something and motioned for me to join her in the kitchen.

"So, how did it go?" I asked as she fiddled with a dish cloth by the sink.

"Fine, fine, fine. He doesn't suspect a thing,"

I could tell she wasn't being straight with me. Kathy gets all flustered when she's being dishonest. "You sure? You seem strange, I dunno, jumpy or something. What did he want to talk to you about then?"

"Oh, umm. He, er… he just wanted to talk to me about family stuff. Nothing major."

Now I definitely didn't buy it, but I couldn't work out what it was she could be lying to me about. "OK, well I'm going to head off", I said irritably, and I left wondering why my best friend was being weird with me, about something that wasn't even my business. But it turns out, it was my business.