Alysha glances at me with a worried look. Could she have told Michi, or was it Mia?
Michi reaches over and pats my arm. ‘They’re not going to split up or anything, are they?’
I look over at Mia but her head’s down, like she’s studying her shoes.
‘H-how did you know?’ I ask Michi, my voice tiny.
‘Mia told me last week,’ she says, a puzzled look on her face. ‘She said you’ve been really upset about it, and that’s why you’ve been acting strangely lately.’
‘I’ve been acting strangely?!’ I suddenly roar, then slump down onto the cushions.
‘Calm down, Lexi. It’s all ri–’ begins Mia. But I cut her off with a nasty glare.
How could Mia have told Michi? I made her swear never to tell anyone. I want to shout and scream at her, but instead I just sit there, fuming. She must have told Michi the night of the sleepover. All the time I thought they were sitting around watching movies and feeding their faces, Mia was spilling the dirt on my family. Giving away my secret.
I have to get back at her. But how? And in a way that she won’t know it’s me?
And then I see it. Peeping out from under a cushion over near the door. Michi’s mobile. She must have dropped it there.
Carefully, making sure no-one can see me, I inch towards it, then pick it up and put it in my pocket. Just you wait, Mia Zugaro, you are not going to know what hit you!
I only half-listen to what everyone’s saying after that. I’m too busy planning the text message I’m going to send to Mia from Michi’s phone. Words like ‘snotty little princess’ and ‘no talent’ come into my mind.
But then I get an even better idea.
I’ve always been careful about sending messages since I accidentally sent one to the wrong person. Instead of Dad receiving it, it went to Dan, this guy at school! So embarrassing! Especially as it was all about how I wanted him to pick me up from Alysha’s place. Now Dan probably thinks I like him or something. Anyway, this could really work for me here. I can write a message on Michi’s phone bagging Mia – and then send it to her. Only I’ll make it look like it’s meant to be for someone whose name is next to Mia’s on Michi’s contact list.
Hey, I’m not even sure it’s going to work! But this is way better than me telling Mia what I think of her to her face. Why not let Michi do the dirty work for me? Not that she’s going to know anything about it till it’s too late. This way, I can get Mia back for giving away my secret and I can ruin things between her and her new best bud. Snotty-nosed little cows. Just who do they think they are?
I play along with everyone else when we rehearse our audition song but my heart’s not in it. My mind’s buzzing like a hive of bees, plotting my revenge. After our fifth run-through, Mia and Michi decide we can’t do anything more to improve our performance, and we start packing up.
‘Did you want to stay for dinner?’ Mia asks me, as if nothing’s happened. ‘Mum’s making lasagne. We can try on our outfits after.’
I stare at her. Fake fake fake. Skinny slimy snake.
‘Come on,’ Mia coaxes me. Is this her way of apologising? ‘Give your mum a call and let her know you’re eating here.’
‘Maybe another time,’ I tell her, pretending to wave to Alysha so I don’t have to meet Mia’s eyes.
Michi gathers up a pile of clothes and carefully packs her violin into its case. ‘Bye, Lexi,’ she says as she leaves. ‘I’m sorry about … you know …’ ‘Thanks,’ I say, smiling sweetly. ‘But there’s no need to be. Everything’s going to be just fine.’
You don’t know the meaning of sorry yet, I think, as I head out into the street and scroll through Michi’s contact list.
Mark, Meg, Mia, Mum.
Meg is perfect! I remember Michi saying Meg was a friend from her old school.
I start texting.
how r u meg – thinz not so good Mia is
snotty princess has NO talent wish she’d get
over herself miss my real friends Mich x
Then I find Mia’s name and send it to her. Tomorrow, when Michi denies sending it, she’s going to look so two-faced! And Mia will have lost her new bestie!
Chapter 14
Today’s the day of the Starsearch competition. Mia’s really quiet on the bus on the way to school. I’m dying to ask her if everything’s okay, just to check that my little plan’s worked, but I decide to wait till the others turn up. That way everything will be so much more dramatic!
At lunchtime, the four of us meet up in the toilets to change into our outfits. Along with what seems like half the school. Bad idea. There’s so much hairspray wafting round the basin area we can barely breathe. Mia’s obviously avoiding Michi, but Michi doesn’t seem to notice. She’s too busy stressing out about how we’re going to go with our performance. That’s normally my job but I’ve got other things on my mind today. And by the look of the scowl on her face, so does Mia. Alysha always thinks she’s a star whatever she does so she never gets nervous. We do a final mirror check then head over to the hall for the Starsearch auditions. None of us is saying much.
There are heaps of random kids milling about. Seems like everyone wants to have a go, whether they have any real talent or not. Mr C’s wandering around with a clipboard and a stressed look on his face. One of his helpers tells us to wait in the area down the back till it’s our time to go on. Michi goes to sit down next to Mia but Mia just gives her the death stare then moves to the other side of Alysha. Looks like Operation Payback’s definitely working.
I wait till Michi’s busy fiddling with her guitar case, then slip her phone into her backpack. Crime Scene Central is one of my favourite shows on TV so of course I’ve been careful to remove any fingerprints first. No way will Mia ever be able to trace the text back to me.
‘Something wrong?’ I ask Mia sweetly. ‘You don’t seem very happy today.’
‘Yeah,’ says Alysha. ‘Aren’t you excited about playing in front of an audience? I can’t wait.’
‘Why would I be,’ says Mia, giving Michi another greasy, ‘given that I have “NO talent”?’
‘Huh?’ Alysha and Michi exchange puzzled looks.
‘Don’t play Little Miss Innocent with me,’ Mia tells Michi. ‘What was the other thing you said? Oh yeah. That’s right. “Snotty princess.” How long did it take you to think that one up?’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ says Michi, her eyes wide.
‘The text message. The one you sent last night to your friend? About me? Oh, didn’t you realise you made a major mistake and sent it to me,’ snaps Mia. ‘What?’ splutters Michi. ‘But I didn’t have my phone last night. You know that. What time was it sent?’
Mia grabs her own phone, punches some buttons, and shows Michi the screen. ‘See? Time sent. 7.02pm. Just after our rehearsal finished. Try and deny it.’
Oh, this is perfect. I am loving this.
Michi looks hurt. ‘How could I have sent it?’ she says. ‘I lost my phone last night, remember? You even helped me look for it.’
‘Now she’s just trying to cover things up,’ Mia tells us. ‘But I’ve worked it all out. She probably never even brought her dumb phone to Pink HQ in the first place.’
‘But I did,’ insists Michi, her face turning red. ‘My mum rang me, right after I got to your place. Tell her, Alysha. You remember, don’t you?’
Alysha shrugs. ‘If you say so. There was a lot going on last night.’
This is turning out better than I expected! Michi’s digging an even bigger hole for herself, desperate to prove she really did lose her phone, and Mia obviously thinks she’s putting it all on. And it’s all down to me! I feel like a puppeteer, pulling everyone’s strings.
Now for my masterstroke. ‘So how come your phone’s in your bag now then?’ I say, reaching over to grab it out of her open backpack, then waving it in the air triumphantly.
Michi’s eyes are huge. ‘But how … ?’ Then she grabs the phone from me. ‘Give me
that, Lexi. You put it there, didn’t you? And you’re the one that sent the text!’
‘Me?’ I say sweetly. ‘Why would I do something like that?’
‘Who knows?’ says Michi. ‘Maybe you’re jealous or something. I don’t know.’
Now Mia’s looking at Michi strangely. ‘Don’t be silly, Michi. I’ve known Lexi forever. There’s no way she’d ever do something as nasty as this. There must be some other explanation.’
Suddenly everything seems to be spinning. I feel hot and cold at the same time. Bits and pieces of the conversation keep coming back to me. ‘Maybe you’re jealous or something.’ Am I? Is that what this has all been about? Sure, I wanted to get Mia back for betraying my secret. But am I also jealous of her new friendship with Michi? By letting her think the nasty text came from Michi, was I really trying to split their friendship up? I think back to last night and feel ill remembering what I was thinking about Mia and Michi being snottynosed cows.
And then I think about what Mia said. ‘There’s no way Lexi would ever do something as nasty as this.’ She’s actually sticking up for me? After all I’ve done to her? Oh, Mia. What have I done? How could I ever have doubted your friendship? Stupid stupid stupid.
Michi’s standing firm. ‘Come on, Lexi. It was you. It’s obvious it was you. Why can’t you just admit it?’
‘No, it wasn’t,’ I mutter. ‘It was you. It came from your phone. Plus I don’t even know your friend Meg.’ ‘Yeah?’ says Michi, victory in her eyes. ‘Funny how it was you who knew exactly where to find my phone today, then, wasn’t it? And that the message was supposed to go to Meg. No-one’s actually told you that, have they? So how did you know which name to say?’
Both Alysha and Mia are gawping at me now. I stare down at the floor, my face flushed, willing a hole to open up down there so I can disappear into it.
‘Lexi.’ Mia’s voice sounds sad. ‘How could you?’
Exactly. How could I? I actually really like Michi. She’s cool. And it’s not like she’s purposefully done anything wrong to me. But how do I put all this into words that actually make sense, when I don’t really understand it all myself? My stomach twists like a contortionist. Heart thumping, I lift my head and force my eyes to meet Mia’s. What on earth am I going to say to her? ‘I … ah …’
At the last second I’m rescued by one of Mr C’s helpers tapping me on the shoulder. ‘Are you lot Pink Elf?’ he asks, squinting at his clipboard.
‘Pink Inc.,’ snips Alysha, tossing her hair. ‘Get it right.’
‘Sorry,’ says the guy, backing away. ‘You’re up next, okay?’
Woah. I’m off the hook. For now anyway. We gather up our gear in silence and head towards the stage. This was supposed to be a really exciting day and now I’ve wrecked it for everyone. I keep sending sideways glances over to Mia to see if I can work out what she’s thinking but she keeps her head down and her expression guarded.
Crazy thoughts keep spinning through my head as I walk up the steps of the stage and get ready to play. I should be thinking about the music. Getting into the Starsearch final would be awesome. Instead, all I can think about is what I’ve done to Mia – and Michi. Somehow I’m going to have to find a way to apologise, to make things all right between us again. Beside me, Alysha clears her throat, getting ready to sing. I thought Alysha was my friend too, but she let me down. I guess hanging out with the shiny people is more important to her than our friendship. One thing I now know for sure. No way would she ever stick up for me like Mia just did.
Mia. My friend. My best friend forever. And now I’ve crushed that friendship, and thrown it all away. And then suddenly, I get an idea.
Michi picks out the introductory notes and I settle down to play our song, feeling a little happier. And the further I get into the song, the better I feel. We sound good, really good, even after all the drama that’s just taken place. I sneak a look out into the crowd in front of the stage. Mr C is giving us a thumbs up. Some of the other kids waiting to play are dancing. And – OMG – Jack’s here! He’s here and he’s seeing me play. And he looks impressed. Does this mean … ? Well, I’m not going to start hoping again that we’re going to get together or anything. But who knows? Maybe from now on he’ll start noticing me a bit more in class.
And right now, I’m more concerned about my friends. We grin around at each other. Looks like our song is a hit!
Maybe, just maybe, everything else will turn out okay too.
Chapter 15
I’m sitting in Pink HQ, surrounded by old photos, scissors and paste. I have to hurry and get this finished before the others turn up. They’re bound to want to have a celebration here after we played so well at the Starsearch auditions today.
Nobody noticed me sneak away early. They were too busy chatting to the other kids in the hall about their acts. So I’ll have a bit of time to myself to get things right.
I’m cutting up a photo when I accidentally knock the corner of the photo box with my elbow. It bumps Mia’s laptop, which is propped open on the edge of the table. The screen fires up, revealing an email message. A message with my name in it, I can’t help noticing. Why would Mia be writing about me?
Should I read it? I’d hate it if someone read my private emails. But I can’t help myself.
It’s a message from Mia to her cousin Grace. Grace lives in Adelaide but they’re really close and they look so alike – they could be sisters rather than just cousins. Whenever her family comes to stay she always comes along to our sleepovers. Mia must have been interrupted before she got a chance to finish or send it. I try to look away but my eyes are dragged back to the screen. Okay. I’m a bad person. I already know that. I’m going to read it.
Hi G
What’s happening in your world? r u and your fam coming over to visit us again soon? I really really hope it’s soon cos I really need to c u.
It’s hard to explain properly but something really weird’s going on with Lexi. She’s just not the same old Lexigirl any more. She doesn’t really talk about it to me (do you think this means something?) but I think she’s having a really hard time at home at the moment. Something to do with her parents fighting all the time. But it’s more than that. Maybe something at school? You know how I told you we were put in different classes? It means I don’t see much of her anymore, so it’s hard to say. But she always seems to be grumpy or sad when I do see her. And like I said, she never talks to me anymore about stuff. How can I help her out if she won’t let me in?
I miss all that. All those times we had together, sharing our secrets. Everything’s changing and I don’t like it.
Call me on the weekend, okay? I really …
Woah. I activate the screensaver again and sit there for a moment. And I thought that I was the only one who was worried that everything was changing. Looks like Mia’s going through the same stuff. And she’s such a good friend – even if she did tell Michi about my mum and dad. She obviously really cares about me, while I’ve been … OMG, what will I do if she never speaks to me again? My peace-making idea has to work. It just has to.
I find an empty spot on the Wall and start pasting up a series of photos of Mia and me in happier times: piggybacking each other up the street, building a cubby, spinning a zillion hula hoops around our waists.
Next to that I write up a verse my nana showed me once from her autograph album:
“True friends are like diamonds, precious and rare. False friends are like autumn leaves, found everywhere.”
Underneath that I add something I saw in a magazine once:
“If friends were flowers, I’d definitely pick you.”
Then I scribble it out. It sounds really lame. Instead, I draw a sad face, with the words ‘SORRY’ and ‘PLEASE FORGIVE ME’ underneath it. And then I start to get really nervous. Will Mia forgive me? It’s hard to know. Hey, once upon a time we were part of the Awesome Threesome. We can never be that again. Any of us. But maybe Mia and I can still be friends.
; I can hear footsteps coming. And the sound of someone singing. Mia. It’s definitely Mia. I’d know her voice anywhere. I cross my fingers and take a deep breath.
Mia comes over to where I’m sitting. I’m too scared to look at her face. Silently, she looks at my photos and reads what I’ve written there. Is it enough to mend the damage I’ve done?
I really, really hope so.
Chapter 1
monday morning
‘Mia! Hi! How was your holiday?’
Mia breaks away from Lexi and comes over to where I’m hanging out near the front gate with Amira and Jess. Students mill past us in a steady stream, their faces a mix of excitement and gloom about being back at school for the new term.
‘Fab,’ she says, giving me a hug. ‘Adelaide was a blast. Didn’t you get my texts?’
‘You know I did,’ I grin. Mia managed to find time to send me daily updates while she was away interstate, staying with her cousin Grace. The movies they saw. The clothes they tracked down in op-shops. The cute guys they met on the bus.
‘So, Michi, how were your hols?’ Mia asks me. ‘All ready for your violin exam?’
I pull a face. ‘Don’t remind me,’ I tell her. ‘Dad made sure I spent most of my holidays locked in my room practising for it.’
‘You’ll breeze it in,’ says Mia, ever the optimist.
‘We’ll see,’ I say. ‘Put it this way: I’m dreaming about some of that music, I’ve played it so much.’ But I’m quietly confident. There’re some really cool pieces on the exam list this year. It makes it easier to practise when you enjoy what you’re doing. And besides, there wasn’t a whole lot of other stuff going on. With Mia away, Pink HQ (our hangout at the back of Mia’s house) was shut down for the week. And Amira, my old friend from primary school, was away too. Her family has a holiday house down on the coast. Jess and I went to a movie one day, but that was about it.
A Year in Girl Hell Page 7