“Thanks,” I call, as Mrs Green heads off down the path.
“No problem, dearie.”
Carrying it carefully inside, I place the parcel down on the floor.
“Ooh, what’s that?” says Harry, bounding up to have a look.
“It’s for me.”
“Who’s sending you enormous presents?” she says in disbelief.
I shrug.
It’s tempting to offer to let her open it, in case there’s something horrible inside. But I won’t. After I’ve tracked down the scissors, I carefully slice through the brown tape. Harry’s watching out of the corner of her eye. It’s so obvious she’s trying not to look interested, when really she’s desperate to know what it is.
I pull away the outer wrappings, and inside is a beautiful white box tied with a silky white ribbon.
I extract the box and gently untie the bow. As I lift the lid, I’m still confused what this is all about. It’s fabric of some kind… a beautiful turquoise colour. I reach to lift it out and it tumbles down to reveal the most stunning dress I’ve ever seen. And I’m a girl that doesn’t do dresses. It’s floor-length and V-neck, with ruching to one side, and a delicate scattering of beads round the neckline. I don’t recognise the name on the label, but I don’t have to. It’s obvious this dress is very, very expensive, most likely designer. Underneath there’s a gorgeous pair of oyster-coloured heels, still with labels on, and a bottle of expensive-looking hair serum.
“Why’s someone sending you this stuff?” Harry asks.
“No idea,” I say.
“There’s a note at the bottom of the box!” Harry picks it up. ‘Isn’t that Isabella’s handwriting?’
“Hey, give that here,” I say, snatching the paper from her hands. It’s been folded into four, and my name is on the outside, surrounded with more doodles.
Dear Suzy,
Surprise! I know you don’t want to go to the party at school, so here’s a little something to make it more bearable. This is one of my favourite dresses, I got it a couple of months ago from a Covent Garden boutique. I’ll take you there one day, promise.
You can still look great even if you feel rubbish on the inside, right?
The dress is on loan, so look after it! But the shoes I’m giving you as a gift. I hope I remembered your size right. And the hair serum is supposed to be amazes – thought you’d want to try it.
Lots of love,
Isabella xxoo
I’m absolutely speechless. I can’t believe she would do this!
“Why did Isabella send you a dress?” Harry asks.
“To wear to the school party later. Only I’m not going,” I say, putting the lid back on the box sadly. Such a pretty dress. And such a shame I’ll never get to wear it. I won’t feel right keeping the shoes Isabella sent if I don’t wear them tonight, so they’ll have to be returned too. I hope she kept the receipt.
“Why not?” Harry asks. “Don’t you have to be there? Didn’t you organise the whole thing?”
I shrug. “Not really feeling in a party mood,” I say.
Harry screws up her nose. “You’re weird.”
I take the box and carry it upstairs, stashing it first carefully under the bed, then realising there’s a chance Crystal will pee all over it if I leave it there, so I slide it onto the top of the wardrobe.
Then I collapse on the bed, fold my hands behind my head, and stare up at the ceiling. Yep, that same ceiling I spent hours staring at when I couldn’t sleep last night.
You can never get too much of a good ceiling, I find.
I don’t move when I hear the doorbell, or when I hear Harry talking to someone in the hall. Then I hear footsteps up the stairs, before a knock on my door.
“Who is it?” I say grumpily.
“Me,” says Millie. She drags Murphy, her enormous and un-tameable dog, into the room behind her. Oh brilliant, that’s all I need, her insane canine eating the entire contents of my room.
“Did you have to bring him?” I ask.
“Yup,” says Millie. “We’re off for a pre-party walk, aren’t we, Murph? No, we’re not walking yet. Sit! Sit!”
As Murphy starts to whine and pull frantically at his lead at the mention of the word ‘walk’, Millie’s left wrestling the giant beast, pushing at his hindquarters to try to get him to lie down. It only takes about ten minutes.
“Finally!” Millie says, clambering onto the bed and kneeling on the end, facing me.
“How are you doing?” I ask. “You know, with the whole Jamie thing.”
I still can’t believe Jamie’s moving.
It breaks me up every time I realise he’s not going to be hanging around with us anymore. And if I feel like that, Millie must be devastated.
Millie shakes her head. “Can’t think about it. Not today. Got to get through the party. If I think about it too much I’m going to fall to pieces, so let’s not talk about it, okay?”
“Okay,” I say, but I give her a hug. She squeezes me back gratefully.
“So, how was your dad’s party?”
I shrug. “Great, actually. He loved it. Apart from the part where Aunt Loon mowed him down, along with almost taking out half of the other party guests.”
“What?!”
“Yup. She’s got a mobility scooter and pressed the wrong button. Those things can move way faster than you’d expect.”
“Hilarious! Is everyone okay?”
“A couple of bruises and minor cuts, and Uncle Jim sprained his ankle when he jumped out of the way. Oh, and the leftover cake didn’t make it. But otherwise, yeah. Harry’s ecstatic. She got it on camera; she’s hoping the video goes viral and makes her a ton of money.”
“Smart kid. Anyway. How are you doing?”
“About as well as someone who is going to be hated by her whole school in a matter of hours. I’m going to get slaughtered now people know there’s no way The Drifting are going to be there.”
“Jamie, Danny and me have been spending most of the day contacting everyone we can think of,” Millie says. “Most people are still coming later, you know. Despite everything.”
“Thanks, Mills. You guys are the best,” I say. “Does everyone hate me? I bet they’re only coming so they can attack me in person.”
“Um, overdramatic, much?” Millie says. “Nobody’s going to attack you. It’s going to be a great party, people are looking forward to it.”
“Don’t they feel let down?”
Millie’s phone pings with a text message.
“It’s Jamie,” Millie says, pulling her phone from her bag. “Wondering when we’re going to get there. We need to get a move on, there’s loads that needs doing.”
Oh, help. Millie’s assuming I’m still going. I’m just going to have to come out with it and tell her.
“Um, about the party,” I say. “I don’t think I’m going to go.”
Millie stares at me in horror. “You what? What are you talking about?”
“I don’t think I’m going to go,” I mumble again.
“Okay, I’m going in with some tough love,” Millie says. “You don’t get to bottle out of this. Seriously, you don’t. You helped plan this party. You helped put it all together. You’ve done most of the work. And yes, things went wrong, but you’ve managed to pull it back, and at least everyone knows The Drifting won’t be coming now. But you need to be there to make sure it’s the best it can be, because even without the band it’s still going to be epic. I can’t wait to see everyone all dressed up, it’ll be such a laugh. And the raffle prizes are amazing; we’re going to make a ton of money.”
“But –”
Millie holds up her hand to stop me. “I know you messed up about The Drifting. And everyone else knows it too. I’m not saying you won’t get any snarky comments, and Jade and Kara will probably have a few people onside being horrible, but you can handle that. You’ve dealt with worse and got through it. It’s not going to be more unpleasant than appearing half-naked dressed in only
a towel in front of the whole school, is it?”
“Thanks for the reminder,” I mutter.
“That was pretty funny, though,” Millie says. “And the picture of you as a werewolf…” She gives a little snort. “I so wish I’d seen you in that costume.”
“Shut up,” I say, but I’m starting to smile.
“It’ll be fine,” Millie says, leaning over to wrap me in a huge hug, and I know she’s not annoyed with me any more. “You’ve got me. You’ve got Danny and Jamie. You’ve actually got tons of other people who want to have fun tonight. It will all be great. Trust me, okay?”
“I –”
“Stop,” Millie says. “No more. You’re not allowed to say anything else. In fact, all you’re allowed to do is come and give us a hand, because there are things that need doing and you don’t get to ditch us now. I’ll drop Murphy back home and meet you there.”
Millie’s phone plays a chirpy tune. She reads the display and then turns the phone to show me. “Another text from Jamie. They really need us.”
I’m going to have to do this, aren’t I?
“All right, I’m coming,” I say, taking a deep breath.
“Yay!” Millie says. “Decided what you’re wearing yet? We’re getting ready at the school after all the setting up’s done, right?”
“Isabella sent me a designer dress and shoes,” I say, pointing up at the wardrobe.
“She what?” Millie shrieks. “Oh my God, I am so totally and utterly jealous! She didn’t send me anything. You’re so lucky. You have to show me. Immediately!”
As Millie coos and fusses over the dress, I start to tell myself maybe it won’t be so bad. Maybe it will all be okay. And if all else fails, I’ll hide. Or buy a disguise for the rest of my school year.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
I pause outside the double doors that lead into the gym and take a deep breath.
“Ready?” Millie asks.
“I think so.”
“Good,” Millie says, “because there’s something else I need to tell you.”
“You do? What?”
“When Jamie texted earlier, the reason he wanted us to come so urgently is because Jade and Kara haven’t shown.”
“What? I thought they were due here hours ago!” Apart from the thrones April sorted, and the stage, they’re the ones supposed to be providing all the decorations for the hall!
Mille nods her head, biting her lip. “Uh huh.”
“So we have nothing other than the thrones and stage? At all?”
“I don’t think so.”
OMG. And we still don’t even know if there are going to be any costumes. Mrs Morgan was still chasing her friend yesterday, trying to get an answer.
“Let’s go in and talk to the boys and find out the score,” Millie says.
Could things get any worse? Actually, I really shouldn’t tempt fate by asking that.
As I push open the door and take in the scene in front of me, my heart sinks into my shoes. Actually it sinks into my shoes and tunnels on downwards.
The trestle tables for the food are in place, and so is the stage, which looks utterly fantastic – the boys have done a brilliant job. They’ve painted the wooden wings purple, and they’re covered in black musical notes and silver stars. There are purple velvet curtains on either side that they’ve borrowed from the drama department, and it all looks very dramatic. Over in the corner, there’s a guy I assume to be the DJ busy setting up all the equipment we need for ‘The Star Factor’ to happen, like the mikes and the buzzers. The photo booth has been placed against one wall. There’s also a huge projection screen, ready to show Mrs Cooper’s farewell photo montage, a load of empty tables, four gold and purple thrones in the middle of the room and the banner we made in art, which reads ‘Goodbye and Good Luck, Mrs C! Thanks for everything!’
But that’s it.
There is nothing else going on.
The place still looks like a gym hall.
Oh no.
Oh no, oh no, oh no! This is worse even than the terrible parties the PTA throw for us, which have limp streamers and balloon animals.
What are we going to do? People are going to be seriously unimpressed when they see this.
And the local paper’s coming to record the whole thing for posterity. Apparently they’re still covering the event, even though they know The Drifting are a no-show.
Danny and Jamie are talking to Mrs Morgan in front of the fire doors, along with April, Sophie and Eve. Nobody else has turned up. They all spin round when we enter.
“Finally, you’re here. I’ve got to go and make a few calls,” says Mrs Morgan, seeming proper frazzled. “I’ve been trying to catch up with the caterers all day. They’re not answering their phones.”
“The caterers aren’t the only ones not answering their phones,” Danny and Jamie say as we join them. “Kara and Jade aren’t, either.”
“They so planned this, didn’t they?” I say. “They had no intention of ever doing any decorating. They wanted to make us look even worse than we already would when The Drifting didn’t show.”
We stare at each other hopelessly.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do,” I say. “It’s not long until the party starts, and we haven’t got enough time to go to the shops, they’ll be closing soon.”
“Maybe people won’t notice,” Sophie says. “We’ve got the stage and the judges’ chairs, with the lights dimmed it might not look too bad…”
“People have paid a bomb for their tickets,” Millie says. “They’re going to notice. At least your stage looks great.”
“Yeah, you did a brilliant job,” I say.
“Glad you like it,” Jamie says. “We were up pretty much all night finishing it off.”
“Thanks for the thrones, too, April,” I add. “It’s great you managed to sort those for us.”
“At least I could do something to help,” April says.
“Hello?” There’s a woman I don’t recognise peering round the double doors.
“Can I help you?” I say suspiciously. The last thing we need is more hassle. And everyone in this gym seems to have problems coming out of their ears at the moment.
“Do you want Mrs Morgan?” Millie says, much more politely. “She’s had to go and make some calls. She’ll be back in a minute.”
“Okay, thanks,” the woman says, smiling. “I’m Anna, I’ve got the costumes for tonight?”
I let out a small scream of joy and run over. “We didn’t know if you’d be able to come!”
Anna laughs. “You wouldn’t believe how many release forms I’ve had to sign to take these. Took forever. Now, I’ve got two rails of outfits in the van. Julie – sorry, that’s probably Mrs Morgan to you – has said she’s happy to supervise them, making sure they get put back after every song. Not that I don’t trust you, but y’know. We have insurance, so don’t look so worried,” she says, seeing the look on my face. “And in all honesty they’re probably never going to get used again, they’ve been gathering dust in our props cupboard, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
“Thank you so much for lending them to us,” I say. “We really appreciate it.”
“No worries. Can someone give me a hand to get the rails out?”
“Yeah, we’ll get the boys to help,” Millie says, sending Danny and Jamie after Anna.
“At least we have costumes now,” Millie says. “And costumes worn by actual famous bands and singers, so it’s not all bad. And you know, later, when it’s dark, maybe nobody will notice the lack of decoration. I’m sure the DJ has got a disco ball and some coloured lights or something. I can get Jamie to stand on the stage flicking a torch on and off if he doesn’t.”
As Danny and Jamie return, helping Anna with the clothes rails, Millie runs over and starts rummaging through the outfits, squealing with delight.
“These are fantastic,” she says. “Everyone’s going to look so good! Check out this wig. And these glasses!
Just brilliant. It’s going to be amazing.”
“Happy to be able to help,” says Anna. “These things are always so much more fun if you can get people dressing up. It really adds to the atmosphere, gets people in more of a party mood. Um, I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but aren’t you leaving it quite late to start the decorating?”
“There’s kind of been a decorating disaster,” I mumble.
“How so?” Anna asks, frowning.
“A couple of girls on the committee were supposed to be in charge, but they’ve let us down,” I explain.
“That’s a shame,” Anna says.
“That’s Jade and Kara for you,” Jamie says. “We’re pretty sure they did it on purpose.”
Anna looks shocked. “But why would they do that? Why would they want to ruin the party for everyone?”
“It’s a really long story,” I say. “But, uh, they kind of have an issue with us.”
“They didn’t like the fact everyone picked our idea for the party and not theirs,” Millie adds. “It didn’t go down too well.”
“Well, that’s not on,” Anna says. Then she looks thoughtful. “Do you know, I might be able to do something. Give me a minute, I’ll make a quick call.”
“We’re quite tight on time,” I say nervously.
“I won’t be long.” Anna smiles reassuringly, finds a number in her phone and wanders off, chatting.
My friends and I look at each other, then shrug. Who knows what Anna’s up to?
“So I spoke to my friend who co-owns Party Props,” Anna says when she returns.
My face falls.
“Don’t look like that,” Anna says. “She told me about what had happened with you lot and spoke to her business partner, and they’re happy to help out now they know I’m here and that the props are needed for a charity do. They’re going to lend you some stuff for free. They figure they’ll get some good publicity out of it, especially as the local paper’s coming along to cover tonight. Just make sure you mention the Party Props name if they send a journalist to interview you, okay?” Anna checks her watch. “My friend shouldn’t be long. Back in a minute!”
We wait nervously for Anna to come back. When she finally returns, she’s got another woman in tow, both dragging huge boxes and bags behind them.
Suzy P, Forever Me Page 20