The Perfect Girl

THE PERFECT GIRL KELLY GOLDEN CONTENTS Prologue1. Sunday 3rd July 20222. Sunday 3rd July 20223. Sunday 3rd July 20224. Sunday 3rd July 20225. Sunday 3rd July 20226. Monday 4th July 20227. Monday 4th July 20228. Monday 4th July 20229. Tuesday 5th July 202210. Tuesday 5th July 202211. Wednesday 6th July 202212. Wednesday 6th July 202213. Thursday 7th July 202214. Thursday 7th July 202215. Thursday 7th July 202216. Friday 8th July 202217. Friday 8th July 202218. Friday 8th July 202219. Saturday 9th July 202220. Sunday 10th July 202221. Sunday10th July 202222. Sunday 10th July 202223. Sunday 10th July 202224. Sunday 10th July 202225. Sunday 10th July 202226. Sunday 10th July 202227. Sunday 10th July 202228. Monday 11th July 202229. Monday 11th July 202230. Monday 11th July 202231. Monday 11th July 202232. Monday 11th July 202233. Monday 11th July 202234. Monday 11th July 202235. Monday 11th July 202236. Monday 11th July 202237. Tuesday 12th July 202238. Tuesday 12th July 202239. Tuesday 12th July 202240. Friday 15th July 202241. Friday 15th July 202242. Saturday 16th July 202243. Saturday 16th July 202244. Saturday 16th July 202245. Sunday 17th July 202246. Sunday 17th July 202247. Sunday 17th July 202248. Sunday 17th July 202249. Sunday 17th July 202250. Monday 18th July 202251. Monday 18th July 202252. Tuesday 19th July 202253. Tuesday 19th July 202254. Tuesday 19th July 202255. Tuesday 19th July 202256. Tuesday 19th July 202257. Tuesday 19th July 202258. Tuesday 19th July 202259. Tuesday 19th July 202260. Tuesday 19th July 202261. Wednesday 20th July 202262. Wednesday 20th July 202263. Wednesday 20th July 202264. Wednesday 20th July 202265. Wednesday 20th July 202266. Wednesday 20th July 202267. Wednesday 20th July 202268. Wednesday 20th July 202269. Thursday 21st July 202270. Thursday 21st July 202271. Thursday 21st July 202272. Thursday 21st July 202273. Thursday 21st July 202274. Thursday 21st July 202275. Thursday 21st July 202276. Thursday 21st July 202277. Thursday 21st July 202278. Thursday 21st July 202279. Thursday 21st July 202280. Thursday 21st July 202281. Thursday 21st July 202282. Friday 22nd July 202283. Friday 22nd July 202284. Friday 22nd July 202285. Saturday 21st October 202886. Wednesday 8th November 202887. Monday 25th December 202888. Wednesday 28th February 202989. Saturday 7th April 2029Letter from the AuthorMailing ListContact the Author PROLOGUE ‘Girlfriend, or girl friend?’ It was the first thing I ever asked Mike. It was the evening after our first seminar together. We’d gone to a pub with sticky floors and a live rock band with the rest of our class. As we had queued at the bar, Sophie had arrived. ‘Huh?’ He pushed his hair away from his forehead, thick and dark as molasses: rich-person hair. He was in the year above – I’d got myself onto a third-year course – and we’d only just met, but I already knew how I felt about him. ‘Girlfriend, or girl friend?’ I said again, nodding towards Sophie who was now on the dancefloor. She had gatecrashed our night, thrown her arms around him and kissed him on the lips. She was so small she’d had to do it with a little jump, and held onto him, toes off the floor. He hadn’t exactly kissed back, but he hadn’t pushed her away and when she withdrew they had laughed at each other. I saw immediately that they were mismatched. 1SUNDAY 3RD JULY 2022 She arrives today. I’d let myself believe Sophie had faded out of our lives, but she’s rented the Watsons’ house over the hedge for the summer. We’ve barely seen her in the last few years, but she gets here around noon with her new husband. It doesn’t seem real. The Watsons’ was built a few years before we moved here, in what used to be the bottom half of our garden. Mike’s dad sold it, the sea view from the ground floor and the little private beach it came with. My mum said it was the final betrayal of Humphrey, Mike’s grandfather. She said she couldn’t understand how someone’s family could let their wishes die with them. She called Mike’s dad, Donald, a cockroach, but never to his face. I’m curious. We keep spare keys for the Watsons’, but I’ve only been into the sleek, modern mansion three times. Our home is slightly quieter in its grandeur, though I admit it’s still luxurious, especially to someone who grew up in rented flats with thin