Strawberry Sisters

by Candy Harper

  ‘No way! Who?’

  And I realised that maybe there was someone. Someone with big dark eyes, who was always making me laugh and who liked singing as much as I did.

  So then we spent the next half-hour discussing whether Bartek would say yes if I asked him to the party.

  Finally, things at school were how I’d been wanting them to be all term. Or at least they were close enough. Lauren still had to go home at lunchtime and she couldn’t do PE, but we were chatting and sharing secrets again and it no longer felt like there was some sort of invisible barrier between us.

  Walking to Dad’s on Wednesday, we were all really cheerful. Chloe was delighted because rugby was going so well and the other girls at training kept telling her how great she was for getting in the paper and making the Chiefs start the girls’ squad. Ella seemed like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. ‘How are things with Crystal?’ I asked.

  ‘Fine,’ she said. ‘I’ve just been hanging out with Ashandra and Kayleigh and sort of keeping my distance from Crystal. She’s got loads of other friends to talk to anyway.’

  I smiled at her. I felt quite smiley towards everyone these days. I even felt more friendly towards Suvi. She was quite human and actually a little bit nice after all. When we got to Dad’s house, I said, ‘Hi, Suvi!’ so enthusiastically that Chloe and Ella stared at me.

  ‘Hi to you all!’ she said back.

  ‘How’s Kirsti?’ I asked. ‘Is she sleeping well?’

  Suvi gave a rueful smile. ‘Maybe just a little better. We’re trying A Routine.’

  I wasn’t entirely sure what A Routine involved, but it seemed to have given Suvi hope.

  ‘That’s great,’ I said and I strolled into the kitchen. Lucy was there, under the table again, eating cereal and flicking through the pages of her friends book. I was feeling so upbeat that, instead of pointing out that she had both a milk moustache and a milk beard, I said, ‘All right, shortie?’

  ‘Urgh,’ she spat and picked up a felt tip to scribble something out.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ I asked.

  ‘Nothing.’

  She scribbled something else.

  ‘What are you doing?’

  ‘Mum said I can take two people to the play centre on Sunday.’

  ‘Who are you going to take?’

  ‘I’m counting their points.’

  I poured myself a glass of juice. ‘I see, so you’re finally going to reward the top scorers, huh? Who are the lucky winners?’ Personally, I was routing for Evil Emily; at least she’d attempted to stand up to Lucy.

  Lucy gave the sort of sigh that grown-ups do when they have to fill in a very long form. ‘I’m still counting.’

  ‘Let’s have a look.’ I took the book out of her hands and flipped through the pages. It was pretty hard to understand. ‘How come you’ve changed this bit? Mia had two points here for giving you her crisps and you’ve crossed them out.’

  ‘They were cheese and onion.’

  ‘And what about here? She got a point for sharing her pens with you and that’s crossed out too.’

  ‘Her green doesn’t work.’

  I skimmed through the rest of it. It looked like Mia had been a clear winner, but Lucy had gone back through her book and knocked off lots of her points for silly reasons.

  I crouched down beside her. ‘Do you know what I think? I think you already know who you want to take to the play centre. It’s Rose and Emily, isn’t it?’

  ‘But they haven’t got the highest scores.’ ‘Does it matter?’

  ‘But that’s how it works. The people with the most points are the best friends.’

  I felt quite old and wise. ‘But are they?’

  Lucy scowled. ‘I can’t just choose who I like! That’s not how the book works.’

  ‘It’s your book. You can do what you like with it.’

  I watched her face smooth out as she took that in. ‘I can, can’t I?’

  I nodded, then I took my juice into the sitting room and as I sat down on the sofa I heard the lid of the bin clang shut.

  The next day, I was eating lunch with Lauren when Ella came rushing up to me.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ I asked.

  ‘It’s Crystal. She asked me to go to her house.’ Poor Ella; she was clearly all stressed out again. ‘What did you say?’

  ‘I said I had to ask Mum, but she thought that was a yes.’

  ‘Why didn’t you just say no?’

  Ella’s face crumpled. ‘I thought she’d ask me why and I didn’t know what I’d say.’

  ‘It’s all right; you can tell her that you’re busy.’

  ‘But she might ask me again another time.’

  ‘And you can say you’re busy that time too. She’ll get the message eventually.’

  Ella twisted her hands. ‘That doesn’t seem very honest.’

  ‘It’s either that or tell her the truth.’

  The colour drained from her face. ‘I suppose I could tell her I’m busy.’

  I looked at my watch. Lunchtime was nearly over. ‘Listen, you’re walking home with me after your tutor captains’ meeting, aren’t you? We can talk about it then.’

  She went off to her lesson, but it was clear she was going to worry all afternoon.

  Rehearsal was fun. Whenever Mr Garcia got on a rant, Bartek waggled his eyebrows at me.

  When Mr Garcia turned his attention to another soloist, Bartek leant over and said, ‘Today, in English, you were very good in the debate.’

  ‘Thanks. And thanks for voting for my team.’

  ‘You were the best. Some of the people were so quiet and they have nothing to say. You were very . . . powerful.’

  I laughed. ‘So you’re saying I’m good at shouting? I’ve got four little sisters; I get a lot of practice.’

  ‘Really? I have three brothers! There is a lot of shouting at my house too. And when it’s time to eat it’s like this . . .’ He mimed rapidly stuffing his face, while keeping a protective arm round his plate. He looked like Chloe does when it’s pizza for tea.

  I nodded. ‘If you can’t eat it fast, you don’t get to eat it.’

  Then we had to do some more singing, but I thought next rehearsal I might ask Bartek about his brothers. And maybe work my way round to Olivia’s party.

  When Mr Garcia dismissed us, Ella was waiting for me outside the hall. Her face was flushed.

  ‘Crystal was at the meeting!’ she said. ‘Her class tutor captain is off sick so she came instead.’

  ‘Did you tell her you can’t come to her house?’

  ‘I was going to, but I didn’t. I hardly said anything to her and now she thinks I’m being weird.’

  I could only imagine that Ella’s behaviour probably did seem pretty weird.

  Ella grabbed my arm. She was staring hard at a girl at the other end of the corridor.

  ‘Is that her?’ I asked.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Why don’t you speak to her now?’

  Ella was still clutching my elbow. ‘I can’t.’

  ‘OK. You don’t have to.’

  ‘But I should.’ She nodded her head decisively. ‘I’m going to do it.’

  I squeezed her hand. Ella is pretty cool and she’s much braver than she thinks she is. If I was as afraid of things as Ella is, I don’t think I’d leave the house.

  ‘Hey, Crystal!’ Ella called and she rushed up the corridor to speak to her. I followed more slowly.

  ‘Hi, Ella,’ Crystal said. She sounded friendly enough, but I decided to hang back by the noticeboard and listen to how things went.

  ‘Can I talk to you about something?’ Ella asked.

  ‘What is it?’ Crystal asked.

  ‘I . . .’ Ella faltered. ‘I don’t think I want to come to your house any more.’

  There was a pause. ‘What’s wrong with my house?’

  ‘Nothing! It’s just . . . I feel uncomfortable about the way you speak to your mum.’

  ‘What are
you talking about? What about my mum?’

  I tensed. If Crystal was going to get nasty then I was definitely going to interrupt.

  ‘I don’t think you’re very . . . kind to her,’ Ella said quietly.

  Crystal sucked in her breath. ‘That’s rubbish. I’m not horrible to my mum. Anyway, who do you think you are? How I speak to her is none of your business.’

  ‘I know.’

  ‘I can do what I like.’

  ‘I know.’

  ‘Maybe I don’t like the way you talk. You can’t stop me thinking what I think.’

  ‘That’s true, but I think it’s really important to be nice. And I know that’s not important to some people, but it is to me, so I’m just saying that I don’t think I want to be friends with someone who’s rude to people.’

  ‘It was fine when you were laughing at everyone I was saying funny things about.’

  ‘I never laughed at that; I don’t think hurt feelings are funny.’

  I was sure that was true and Crystal must have known it too because she said, ‘Yeah, well, plenty of my friends think it is funny, so I don’t need to hang out with a boring geek like you.’

  Ella didn’t reply.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ Crystal sneered. ‘Bet you’ve got some rude things to say about me now.’

  ‘I don’t want to start a fight.’ Ella’s voice trembled. ‘I really liked playing hockey with you. I think you’re fun and you’re really nice when you like people. I just don’t feel comfortable when you’re rude.’

  ‘But I’m not rude to you! Or any of my mates. I’m not rude to anyone who matters.’

  ‘I think everyone matters.’

  ‘Then you’re dumb!’ Crystal snapped and she walked off.

  I rushed over to Ella. ‘Are you OK?’

  Her face was white and her eyes were watery. She nodded, but she couldn’t speak. I put my arm round her and she took some deep breaths.

  ‘She said I’m dumb,’ Ella said. ‘Do you think she’s right? Do you think it’s stupid to fall out with someone because of how they talk to the lady in the cinema?’

  ‘No, you’re absolutely right to care about the way people treat each other. I’m certain that you’re definitely right.’ I looked at Crystal slamming through the double doors. ‘And you know what? I think Crystal knows it too.’

  On Saturday afternoon, Mum took us Christmas shopping. Lucy had been going on about it forever.

  ‘I don’t know why you’re so bothered,’ I said, once we were all crammed into the car. ‘You don’t normally give much thought to our presents; last year, you gave me one of Chloe’s T-shirts. I wouldn’t have minded, but you’d got it out of the washing basket and it had ketchup all down it.’

  ‘I’m not doing shopping for humans today,’ Lucy said with more scorn than I think a seven-year-old ought to be using.

  ‘What do you mean, not shopping for humans?’ Chloe asked. ‘Who are you shopping for then? Aliens?’

  ‘I am shopping for my animals,’ Lucy said.

  Chloe pulled a face. ‘Well, I’m not buying you a present until you buy me one.’

  ‘I’m not sure that’s really in the spirit of Christmas,’ Mum said.

  ‘I’ve got enough Christmas spirit to pretend to like it when Lucy gives me a washing-up brush, but I haven’t got enough to be happy when she takes my good present and gives me nothing at all in return.’

  Then there was a bit of a row while Chloe and Lucy debated whether various gifts they’ve given each other, including a tin of cat-shaped spaghetti, a selection of pebbles and a home-made jelly mould, were worth anything at all.

  When we actually got to the shops, I was already quite tired.

  We worked our way up the high street and by the time we reached the clock tower we were all carrying several bags. Mum said she needed a break so we were heading up in the lift to the café in the department store when the doors opened and Mum’s ‘friend’ Greg got in.

  ‘Louise!’ he said to Mum. ‘Fancy seeing you here.’ He tore his eyes off her to notice the rest of us were there and said, ‘Hello, girls!’ His eyes widened as if he couldn’t quite believe how many of us there were. Although he must have known how many kids Mum’s got because obviously she must talk about us all the time. Maybe he couldn’t quite believe how much space we were taking up. That’s because Lucy had insisted on bringing her entire hedgehog family in a huge old hiking rucksack of Dad’s. That, plus all our shopping and Chloe’s ginormous behind, pretty much filled the lift.

  ‘How are you, Amelia?’ he asked. He seemed pleased with himself that he’d remembered my name.

  ‘I’m shopping with my little sisters,’ I said. ‘So obviously I’m in heaven. Any second now I’m going to break into an uplifting musical dance number.’

  He snorted. It’s nice to finally meet someone who appreciates sarcasm.

  ‘You won’t think it’s funny when she actually does start singing,’ Lucy said.

  ‘You must be Lucy,’ Greg said.

  ‘Of course,’ Lucy said. ‘What would you buy a hedgehog for Christmas?’

  ‘Er . . .’

  ‘I’m Chloe,’ Chloe said, elbowing Lucy out of the way. ‘I’m getting an England shirt for Christmas. Did you know that I helped to persuade the Chiefs to set up a girls’ youth squad?’

  ‘I did not know that. Congratulations.’

  ‘Thank you. If there’s something you think is really sexist, you can write to the newspaper about it if you like.’

  ‘Oh.’ His eyes slide sideways to Mum. ‘Well, I’ll certainly consider that.’ He turned to Ella. ‘Have you bought anything nice?’

  Ella nodded and turned bright pink.

  There was a long pause while everyone waited for Ella to tell him what she’d bought, but she didn’t, so eventually Mum said, ‘Which floor did you want?’

  ‘Ah, the third. I’m looking for gloves for my sister.’

  So Mum pressed the button and up we went again.

  ‘Gloves wouldn’t be very good for hedgehogs,’ Lucy said scornfully as if Greg had suggested them.

  ‘No,’ he agreed. ‘A scarf might be better for a hedgehog.’

  The lift stopped and the doors opened. Greg smiled at Mum. ‘Best get on then.’

  ‘Yes, nice to see you.’

  ‘I hope you find your hedgehog scarf,’ he said to Lucy. ‘And good luck with the rugby . . .’ He hesitated. I think he’d forgotten Chloe’s name.

  ‘Thanks,’ Chloe said.

  ‘Sorry to miss that musical number, Amelia.’

  I grinned. I couldn’t help being pleased that I was the one whose name he got right.

  He stepped out of the lift and turned back to look at Ella. ‘Enjoy your shopping.’

  Ella said nothing.

  ‘Ella,’ hissed Chloe.

  But still Ella didn’t say anything.

  ‘Right,’ Greg said. ‘I’ll, er, OK, so . . . bye again.’ And he backed away, giving a little wave, until he bumped into a mannequin dressed in a fluffy coat.

  Lucy cackled with laughter.

  ‘Lucy!’ Mum said in a low voice.

  ‘I’m just laughing. You can’t keep laughs in. Or farts. If you do, you explode.’

  ‘Shhhh,’ I said. Seriously. My sisters are so embarrassing. Fortunately, at that point, the doors finally slid shut.

  ‘At least I say things,’ Lucy snapped at Mum, who was holding a hand to her forehead. ‘Ella didn’t say anything. That’s actually really rude.’

  Ella was staring at the floor. ‘Perhaps Ella was feeling shy,’ Mum said. ‘Now who thinks we should have a doughnut in the café?’ My mum is very good at changing the subject. If you mention doughnuts, no one in my family can think about anything else.

  When we finally got home, I watched Chloe stowing her presents away under the bed.

  ‘Do you think Ella hates Greg?’ I asked her.

  Chloe picked her stuffed gorilla up off the floor and returned him to her pillow. �
�Dunno. Ella doesn’t normally hate anyone.’

  ‘But she won’t talk to him.’

  ‘She doesn’t like talking to strangers.’

  ‘I know, but she does do it normally; she says “yes” and “no” and “school is lovely” and all that sort of thing.’

  ‘Maybe she was just in a bad mood. Shall I tell Lucy that I’m only getting her stupid hedgehogs presents if she buys one for Bananas Gorilla? And that he only likes chocolate? Real chocolate, otherwise she’ll just draw a bar of chocolate. She did that the year I wanted money.’

  But I was still thinking about Ella. It seemed like either she hated Greg or she was just being spectacularly rude, but neither of those things seemed very Ella-ish. I’m not always great at understanding other people’s feelings. I thought I knew how Mum felt about the divorce and that she hated Dad, but it turned out that I was mixing up my own feelings in there. I think I sort of expect people to think the same way I do; but not everyone’s like me.

  I remembered Ella’s face in the café. She was obviously unhappy about something. She’d even let Lucy finish her doughnut so there must be something wrong.

  I left Chloe attempting to juggle two pillows and Bananas Gorilla and went into Lucy and Ella’s bedroom.

  Ella was lying on her bed, holding a book, but I don’t think she was really reading it.

  ‘Are you worrying about Crystal?’ I asked.

  ‘No,’ she said.

  ‘Really? You can tell me if you are. Has she been mean to you?’

  ‘No, honestly, she hasn’t said anything to me and I’m glad I told her the truth.’

  If it wasn’t Crystal then it had to be Greg.

  ‘Ella, I’ve got a problem; I want to help someone, but I don’t know how. You’re the best person I know at understanding people, apart from Mum, and I can’t ask her about this so I need your advice.’

  ‘You want me to advise you?’

  ‘Yep. So there’s this girl. This really nice girl who’s kind and polite and hard-working. She’s totally lovely. Sometimes she’s so good that it makes her evil big sister feel a bit queasy, but basically she’s nice.’

  ‘Okaaaaay,’ Ella said slowly.

  ‘But recently this girl has been a bit rude to her mum’s new boyfriend.’