by Gwyneth Rees
I just stared at her in disbelief. I was pretty sure she was making this up, but still …
‘You do realise I can easily check this out with Mum?’ I said crossly. In fact, this was probably just what I needed to get Mum to see past Sadie’s perfect-little-foster-girl act. How would she feel when she heard what Sadie had just said about her, I wondered.
But Sadie was one step ahead of me. ‘She won’t like me any more if you tell her, which is why you can’t tell her. I mean it, Poppy – if you say anything to your mum about this, then the whole deal’s off.’
‘What deal?’
‘The deal that I won’t tell my social worker what your mum did, so long as you tell yours that you like me staying here. And you also have to keep quiet about me sneaking off to see Alison.’
I gaped at her. ‘Sadie, why are you doing this?’
‘I told you. I want to stay here. At least until a better option comes up.’
I stared at her in dismay. Not that I believed any of what she was saying about Mum, but even so …
I couldn’t help remembering what Mum had said about falling out with Sadie’s dad and wishing she’d handled things differently.
I badly wanted to go and talk to Mum about it but I decided I’d better play it safe and keep quiet for now. Dad was bound to know what had really happened and I was seeing him on Friday. After I’d spoken to him, I could talk to Mum, and she would be forced to see what Sadie was really like.
As for the very minute possibility that Sadie was telling the truth … well, that was so unlikely it wasn’t worth thinking about.
And that’s when the pain in my tummy started.
I had a sudden flashback to the time just before Mum and Dad split up, when I’d had lots of tummy pains. Our doctor hadn’t found anything physically wrong with me, but had told Mum that tummy aches in children can be a sign of some kind of emotional problem or underlying stress. I curled up on my side on my bed, trying to relax, waiting for the pain to stop. Only it didn’t. In fact it started to get worse …
Chapter Fourteen
At school the next day my first lesson passed slowly. I started getting tummy cramps again soon after I walked into the classroom. I’d taken some painkillers when it had happened the night before and by the time I’d gone to bed I’d felt a lot better.
I hadn’t brought any pills with me to school this morning but luckily the pain was easing off by itself by morning break. I had decided to avoid Sadie as much as I could that day, but as I walked into the playground I spotted her chatting to a group of Year Sevens. They were all looking towards the main door, where our headmaster, Mr Jamieson, was standing.
What was Sadie up to now? It was bugging me so much not knowing that in the end I decided to go over and see.
‘You’re just winding us up,’ I heard one of the Year Seven girls say as I approached them.
As soon as Sadie spotted me she called out, ‘Hey, Poppy, I was just pointing out that Mr Jamieson would make a perfect target, the way he stands in one spot like that, at the same place at the same time every morning. He’d be a hitman’s dream, don’t you think? Even your mum couldn’t miss and she’s the worst shot in the family!’
‘Don’t be daft!’ I snapped.
‘I don’t see why he’d be a target for a hitman,’ somebody said.
‘Ah,’ Sadie said, making her voice all mysterious. ‘Just because he’s our headmaster now doesn’t mean that’s all he ever was! We don’t know what he was doing before he came here, do we?’
‘Yeah, cos a lot of gangsters are getting new identities as head teachers these days,’ I said.
Sadie hid a grin as Mr Jamieson walked right out into the middle of the playground to tell somebody off. ‘Is that a clean shot or what?’
Suddenly there was a loud crack that sounded exactly like a gunshot and I nearly jumped out of my skin. A couple of girls actually screamed. It took a few moments to realise it was only a car backfiring in the teacher’s car park, then we all burst out laughing.
‘Phew!’ Sadie said with a grin when we’d recovered. ‘You know, Poppy’s mum is always saying that if you can time it right a gunshot can be totally camouflaged by a car backfiring. But my dad says it’s always better to use a silencer. Those two are always disagreeing about the best way to do the job, but I guess that’s families for you, eh, Poppy?’
‘Sadie, stop talking rubbish!’ I said. But as I watched the Year Sevens grinning their heads off, clearly hugely entertained if not convinced at all by her story, I could see how much she was enjoying being the centre of attention.
It was only as I walked away from them that I registered something. If she was talking about our ‘family business’ so openly, that meant she must no longer be trying to hide the fact that I was her cousin.
At lunchtime I headed reluctantly to Mrs Smee’s classroom, where she was holding a meeting about the school open afternoon. Apparently Mr Jamieson had decided this week that there wasn’t enough already planned, and so he had delegated several more projects to be prepared by certain staff and pupils. Our year, together with Year Nine, had been told to organise a short debate, and Mrs Smee had been put in charge of it. She had told both me and the Year Nine school council rep to round up a few pupils who weren’t already contributing to the open day and bring them to a meeting about it at lunchtime today. Mrs Smee had made it very clear that she expected me to be her chief helper on the day since the Year Nine rep had a prior commitment.
The first question Mrs Smee asked when I walked in was whether I was going to take part in the debate myself.
‘No way!’ I responded, horrified at the thought.
‘Well, you may have to if we don’t get enough volunteers,’ she said tersely. ‘And as a member of the school council I shall expect you to pull your weight. I must say that compared with some of the other year reps, you haven’t been as visible as you could be, Poppy.’ She reached down to scratch her knee under her skirt and I caught a glimpse of the tops of her popsocks.
The first person to arrive at the meeting was Anne-Marie. For as long as I’ve known her, Anne-Marie’s never had a problem speaking out in public, which is why I’d begged her to come today. I’d also begged Josh and Sean, though I wasn’t sure they’d turn up.
While we were waiting for more people to arrive I went over to talk to Anne-Marie. ‘Sadie found your rhyme,’ I warned her. ‘Has she said anything to you?’
‘Oh, she messaged me this morning,’ Anne-Marie said. ‘We had quite a long chat. I told her I think it’s cool that she’s your cousin. She said my poem was pretty funny and that we should totally hang out together since we both love animals. She even says she really wants to come and see my pets. In fact, I might see if she wants to come round after school today. You can come too if you like. You haven’t seen our new baby rabbits yet, have you?’
I frowned. Considering Sadie’s outburst last night, this just felt all wrong to me. ‘Anne-Marie … you’re sure Sadie wasn’t being sarcastic or pulling your leg or something?’
Anne-Marie scowled at me. ‘Why are you asking that? Are you jealous or something?’
‘No! It’s just …’ But I couldn’t think how to say what I wanted to say. I wasn’t sure what Sadie was up to exactly, but I was certain it wasn’t anything good.
‘Look … there she is with Josh,’ Anne-Marie said, giving me a nudge as the two of them walked in together laughing.
What was Sadie doing here when I hadn’t even told her about the meeting? And why was she being so pally with Josh all of a sudden?
‘Guess what, Poppy?’ Sadie greeted me as if we were the best of friends. ‘Me and you are going on a double date this Saturday with Josh and Sean!’
I pulled a face. ‘Quit winding me up.’
‘She’s not. It’s not a double date exactly, but we thought we’d all go bowling,’ Josh told me with a grin. ‘If you and Sean are up for it, that is.’
‘Sean should be here any minute,’ Sadie
said. ‘He wasn’t planning to come to this but he changed his mind when I told him you wanted him to, Poppy.’ She gave a knowing little giggle and Josh was smirking too.
I glared at both of them. What was happening here? I felt totally wrong-footed, as if I’d just missed something significant.
Before I could think too much about it Mrs Smee clapped her hands together for silence.
‘As you all know,’ she began loudly, ‘Poppy is this year’s Year Eight representative on the school council.’
There was a snigger from the doorway and I saw that Katy and Julia were standing there. I certainly hadn’t invited them.
‘As such,’ Mrs Smee continued, ‘I have asked her to help me organise a short debate to include as Year Eight and Year Nine’s contribution to the open day. So first of all we need a suitable debate topic.’
‘How about: Zoos should be abolished?’ Sadie suggested at once.
Mrs Smee held up her finger for silence. ‘If you would please let me finish, Sadie … I have to say that one topic that always works well is the school uniform argument. Now I wouldn’t normally say this, but on this occasion I think we need to choose something tried and tested. Mr Jamieson’s rather sudden idea to have this debate has left us with very little time to prepare.’
I wanted to smile as I imagined how Dad would scoff if he could hear her championing a ‘tried and tested’ debate: ‘You should be choosing a current and highly contentious issue, not some nice safe topic that’s been discussed to death already!’
‘But the ZOOS one will be much better!’ Sadie spoke up. ‘It won’t be too difficult and it’s a more important topic. I already know loads of arguments and –’
‘Sadie, I want this to be a well researched debate with equal representation for both sides,’ Mrs Smee interrupted impatiently. ‘I do not want it turning into some kind of animal rights presentation!’
Meanwhile, Sean was whispering something to Josh, who seemed to be struggling not to laugh.
Mrs Smee glared at them. ‘Perhaps you’d like to share the joke, boys?’
Sean grinned as he readily complied. ‘I was just telling Josh something I … um … heard about Mr Jamieson. Apparently he’s always going on about how Edinburgh Zoo is the best zoo in the UK, because some ancient relative of his actually founded it.’
Everyone started talking at once then. Most people thought that would make the zoo debate even more entertaining and that we should definitely do it.
‘Though I think Sadie should argue FOR zoos!’ Sean said mischievously. ‘Just to give herself more of a challenge!’
‘I’m NOT arguing for something I don’t believe in!’ Sadie declared hotly. ‘And no way am I going to try and convince people that locking up animals and taking away their freedom is a good thing!’
‘Yes, yes, calm down …’ Mrs Smee was looking at her watch impatiently. ‘I would like six volunteers to make up the two debating teams, please.’ She looked at me expectantly and I swiftly ducked my head.
‘So are we doing the one about zoos or the one about uniforms?’ Anne-Marie asked.
‘I’d like volunteers who are prepared to debate either topic,’ Mrs Smee stated firmly.
Out of the corner of my eye I could see Josh and Sean grinning at each other before raising their hands to volunteer. Anne-Marie volunteered too and so did Sadie. Julia also put her hand up and persuaded Katy to join her. I let out a sigh of relief as Mrs Smee said, ‘That’s six, then. Good. Now I’m going to quickly hand round these worksheets which have some examples of sensible “for” and “against” arguments. Of course, you can also prepare your own.’
‘But these are just arguments for the school uniform debate, Mrs Smee,’ Katy said.
‘Yes, well, quite frankly I can imagine the zoo debate getting rather one-sided.’ She was staring at Sadie as she said that. ‘However, if you wish, we can have a debate about zoos at a later point.’ She handed round the sheets, completely ignoring everyone’s protests.
Sadie looked terribly disappointed and she even stayed behind afterwards to try and convince Mrs Smee to change her mind. I stayed too, but for a different reason. My tummy cramps were back and I felt like I needed to sit down for a minute.
‘Are you all right, Poppy?’ Mrs Smee asked as she noticed me sitting there clutching my abdomen.
‘I’ve got a bit of tummy pain, that’s all,’ I muttered.
‘Sadie – please take Poppy to the medical room,’ she instructed.
‘But –’ Sadie was scowling.
‘It’s OK, Mrs Smee … I can go on my own,’ I said as I stood up quickly.
Unfortunately Mrs Smee insisted – I had a feeling she was only too pleased to get rid of Sadie herself – and my cousin ended up accompanying me, looking extremely cross.
Chapter Fifteen
‘She’s a miserable, dictatorial old bat,’ Sadie spat out as soon as we were no longer close enough to be heard.
‘I think she just wants to play it safe and not offend anyone,’ I said quietly.
She snorted. ‘Can you imagine what those debates in the House of Commons would be like if nobody wanted to offend anyone else?’
I smiled. Now she was starting to sound like my dad.
She turned to me to say something else, but stopped when she saw me hugging my tummy. ‘So what’s wrong with you? Is it your time of the month?’
I didn’t get what she meant for a moment. ‘Huh?’
‘You know … is it your period?’
‘Oh!’ To be honest it hadn’t even occurred to me that this could be period pain. I hadn’t started my periods yet and since Mum had told me she hadn’t started hers until she was fourteen, I’d always assumed I had a little while to go.
Sadie was staring at me impatiently. ‘Well?’
‘I don’t think so!’ But even as I said it I thought about the low crampy pains I’d been having on and off since last night.
Sadie led me towards the nearest girls’ toilets. ‘You’d better check. Cos you seem like a big bag of hormones to me.’
‘Of nerves, you mean,’ I mumbled.
‘Hormones,’ she repeated firmly. ‘Believe me, I’ve seen Alison like this enough times to know.’
So I did as she suggested, and once we were safely inside the toilets I went into the nearest cubicle and had a look.
And there it was.
Not bright red blood, but some brownish-red spots. Mum had told me that’s how it would probably start.
‘Well?’ Sadie demanded impatiently from the other side of the door.
‘You were right,’ I said. I felt a bit stunned actually.
‘You’ve started?’
‘I think so.’ And I know it probably sounds sappy but I really just wanted to go home and see Mum.
‘Told you!’ Sadie sounded almost triumphant. ‘It’s probably why you’ve been so cranky.’ She immediately went all serious and businesslike as she instructed, ‘Wait here and I’ll go and ask in the office for a sanitary towel or something.’
‘No, it’s OK!’ I called out urgently. ‘I’ve got some stuff in my bag.’ As I sorted myself out I could hear Mum’s voice in my head telling me I shouldn’t be afraid of the changes taking place in my body and that each one was just another step in my journey towards womanhood. I knew she was going to think this was a really special thing and make a massive fuss of me when I got home.
But meanwhile I still had to get through the rest of the day at school.
A few minutes later as I emerged from the cubicle, Sadie looked puzzled as she asked, ‘So how come you’ve got stuff in your bag already?’
‘Oh … Mum put it in there ages ago. She didn’t want me to get caught out.’
‘Oh.’
I went to the nearest sink to wash my hands, sensing that something was up by the way Sadie had gone so quiet. ‘What’s wrong?’ I asked her.
‘Nothing.’ But as we left the toilets together she murmured, almost self-consciously, ‘You’re
lucky, that’s all.’
‘Lucky I’ve started my periods?’ I said, pulling a face, but she was shaking her head emphatically.
‘No, no … not that. It’s just … well … it’s just really sweet of your mum to make sure you’re all prepared like that.’
Then, of course, I got it. I mean, it must be pretty horrible not having a mum around when you start your periods.
‘So have you started yours?’ I asked her as casually as I could manage.
She shook her head. ‘Alison reckons it won’t be long now though,’ she added a little defensively.
‘Oh, well … if Alison says so …’ Frankly the way Sadie seemed to believe everything this Alison girl told her was starting to bug me a bit.
Sadie looked put out and I realised I’d probably sounded a bit harsh. ‘Actually Alison knows a lot,’ she said coolly. ‘She says I should’ve got Linda to take me to buy a bra. As if!’
I couldn’t help looking at her then. She was definitely still a fair way behind me in the bust department – but maybe she wasn’t as flat-chested as I’d previously thought. So far she’d been very private when it came to getting dressed and undressed and she’d always done it in the bathroom or in her bedroom with one of those KEEP OUT signs that hang on the doorknob.
‘So why didn’t you ask Linda?’ I said.
‘Because it would’ve been way too embarrassing! Linda is so … well … not discreet. I was dreading starting my periods there because I knew she’d make a massive fuss. She was always reminding me that when it happened I wasn’t to put any sanitary towels down her loo in case it got blocked! And then, the last time we were in the supermarket she suddenly says in this really loud voice, “You do realise tampons can block the toilet too, don’t you, hon?” ’
I couldn’t help laughing. ‘At least she called you “hon”.’
She rolled her eyes. ‘Ha, ha.’