Page 66 of The One Plus One
‘I don’t feel at home anywhere.’
‘For now.’
Nicky considered this. ‘So where was yours?’
‘Computing room at university. I was a bit of a geek. I met my best mate Ronan there. And then…my company.’ He looked a bit serious after he’d said that.
‘But I’m stuck there until I finish school. And there’snothing like that where we live, no tribes.’ Nicky pulled his fringe down over his eyes. ‘You do things Fisher’s way or you stay out of his way.’
‘So find your people online.’
‘How?’
‘I don’t know. Look up online groups for things you’re…interested in? Lifestyle choices?’
Nicky registered his expression. ‘Oh. You think I’m gay too, right?’
‘No, I’m just saying, the Internet’s a big place. There’s always someone out there who shares your interests, whose life is like yours.’
‘Nobody’s life is like mine.’
Mr Nicholls shut his laptop and slid it into a case. He unplugged everything and glanced over towards the café.
‘We should head back. Your mum will be wondering what we’re up to.’ He opened his door and then turned back. ‘You know, you could always write a blog.’
‘A blog?’
‘Doesn’t have to be under your real name. But it’s a good way of talking about what’s going on in your life. You put a few keywords in, and people will find you. People like you, I mean.’
‘People who wear mascara. And who like neither football nor musical theatre.’
‘And who have enormous stinking dogs and sisters who are maths prodigies. I bet you there’s at least one person like that somewhere.’ He thought for a minute. ‘Maybe. Perhaps in Hoxton. Or Tupelo.’
‘I’m not a hairless baboon, you know.’
‘What?’
‘Nothing.’ Nicky pulled at his fringe some more, trying to cover the bruise. It had gone this really grim yellow, which made him look like he had some weird disease. ‘Thanks, but blogs are…not really my thing. Blogs are like for middle-aged women writing about their divorces and cats and stuff. Or nail varnish obsessives.’
‘Just putting it out there.’
‘Do you write one?’
‘Nope.’ He climbed out of the car. ‘But I don’t particularly want to talk to anyone.’ Nicky climbed out after him. Mr Nicholls pointed his fob and the car locked down with an expensive thunk. ‘In the meantime,’ he said, lowering this voice, ‘we didn’t have this conversation, okay? It wouldn’t go down too well if anyone knew I was teaching innocent kids how to hack into private information.’
‘Jess wouldn’t mind.’
‘I’m not just talking about Jess.’
Nicky held his gaze. ‘First rule of Geek Club. There is no Geek Club.’
‘Good man. Right. You going to walk this disgusting dog of yours before we head off?’
16.
Tanzie
Nobody really wanted to get back in the car. The novelty of spending hours in a car, even one as nice as Mr Nicholls’s, had worn off pretty quickly. This, Mum announced, like someone about to give an injection, would be the longest day. They were all to make themselves comfortable and make sure they’d been to the loo because Mr Nicholls’s aim was to drive almost to Newcastle, where he had found a B&B that took dogs. They would arrive at around 10 p.m. After that, he had calculated that with one more day’s driving they should arrive in Aberdeen. Mr Nicholls would find them somewhere to stay close to the university, then Tanzie would be bright and fresh for the maths competition the next day. He looked at her hopefully. ‘Unless you think you’ve got used to this car enough for me to go above forty now?’
