CHERUB: Class A - Robert Muchamore Page 0,68

practice and you were battering me, there was something about you that I really liked. I mean … We’re always really good together, because you’re kind of stuffy and do everything by the book and I’m kind of … Well … I suppose you could say I’m an idiot at times.’
‘You really like me?’ Kerry grinned.
James felt like he wanted to die. ‘Yes.’
‘So you’re serious?’ Kerry asked. ‘Because if you’re messing with me, I’ll punch every single tooth out of your dumb head.’
‘I swear,’ James said. ‘So, you know … Am I wasting my time? … Or?’
Kerry smiled a bit. ‘Everyone we know has been going on about us having a thing for each other. I never thought you really liked me though. You’re always going on about tits and I’ve hardly got any.’
‘Yeah, well,’ James said. ‘I’m not perfect either. But you do like me?’
Kerry nodded. ‘When you’re not driving me insane, you’re just about my favourite boy on campus.’
James leaned forward to kiss her, but the hold-all was stuck in the middle of the tiny room and they had to shuffle around it. It was a only quick peck on the lips, but James got a massive rush.
‘I wish you were coming to Miami with me,’ he said.
‘It’s only a week,’ Kerry smiled. ‘And there’s one condition if I’m gonna be your girlfriend.’
‘What?’ James asked.
‘From now on, your underwear only gets worn once.’
27. MIAMI
James and Junior touched down in Miami on Saturday evening. Keith had changed his plans and flown out a couple of days earlier with his minder, George. The beefy ex-heavyweight met the boys at immigration and drove them to Keith’s house in a Range Rover.
James spent the whole drive with his face stuck up against the window like a five-year-old. He loved the little differences that make you know you’re in a different country: traffic lights strung over the road on wires, billboards with prices marked in dollars, the huge double-trailer trucks that looked like they’d roll over your car without the man in the cab feeling so much as a jolt.
Automatic gates parted obediently when the car got near Keith’s house. The pastel-blue building sprawled out behind a mass of palm trees. There were two storeys, with balconies overlooking the ocean and lush terraces planted with palm trees and flowering cacti.
‘Your dad is so loaded,’ James said as he stepped out of the car, shaking his head in disbelief.
‘Come and check out his cars,’ Junior said.
There was a separate garage, the size of which reminded James of a fire station. The boys wandered in as George dealt with their bags. There was a row of everyday modern BMWs and Mercedes, but the exciting stuff was parked behind: the outlines of seven Porsches, clad in protective blankets. Junior pulled up a corner of one, revealing a headlamp.
‘This ran in the Le Mans twenty-four-hour race,’ Junior said. ‘My dad had it taken up to Daytona for a track day. He got it up to three hundred kph on the straight.’
‘Class,’ James said.
‘Like my motors, James?’ Keith asked.
James turned around to see Keith standing in the doorway, wearing pool shoes and an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt.
‘You’ve got a different Porsche for every day of the week,’ James grinned.
‘I’ll take you for a cruise down South Beach in one of them tomorrow night,’ Keith said. ‘It’s all lit up with neon signs after dark and there’s heaps of great restaurants. Did you see anything else you wanted to do in that guidebook?’
‘Is it too far to go up to Orlando?’ James asked. ‘Junior said Universal Studios is cool.’
‘It’s a few hundred kilometres,’ Keith said. ‘But it’s no hassle driving out there. We can stay overnight and get a couple of theme parks in if you want. I’ve got some business to sort out, but that should be wrapped up in a day or two. Was there anywhere else?’
James shrugged. ‘I dunno, don’t put yourself out or anything. Me and Junior can hang out on the beach, go shopping and stuff.’
‘The fan boats over the everglades are good fun,’ Keith said. ‘And how are you set for spending money?’ He pulled a roll of dollars from the back of his shorts.
‘I can’t take money off you as well,’ James said. ‘You’ve already paid for my flight and everything.’
Keith handed James three hundred-dollar bills and gave the same to Junior.
‘Buy something for April at the mall,’ Keith said. ‘She’s sweet on you.’
‘Cheers,’ James said. ‘Is it all right if I use