‘Typical Lilith,’ I said. ‘Has to be first in everything.’
‘Exactly,’ said Mary. ‘Aries types like to lead, like to be first in everything and she has her –’ she scanned the screen – ‘moon in Cancer.’
‘Let’s see if I am Aries rising with moon in Cancer too.’
Mary cleared the screen again and punched in my details. Once again, a chart appeared. Mary read the screen, then she clapped her hands. ‘See! There it is. Taurus rising. I knew it! I knew they’d be different.’
‘Same moon?’
‘Same moon. Moon in Cancer. That would probably mean that your home is important to you and there’s a need for security.’
‘What would Taurus rising mean?’
‘Well, it’s a very different sign to Aries, for a start. Aries is a fire sign, Taurus is an earth sign … there, read, it tells you.’
I leaned over to read the screen.
Taurus ascendant. Calm and deliberate, you hate to act hastily. You’re very practical, and every effort must count or you can’t be bothered. Patient, persistent and steady, but very stubborn – you hate to be pushed into anything. You seem confident outwardly, but you repress your inner turmoil. You exude an earthy warmth, charm and friendliness that draws people to you. You love comfortable surroundings and appreciate the good and beautiful things in life. You can be overindulgent and at times are lazy and difficult to motivate. You are not a self-starter by nature and sometimes need stimuli from others in order to get moving.’
As I was reading, the computer began to vibrate.
Mary looked concerned. ‘Oh dear, I hope it isn’t going to crash.’
It began to shake even more. Suddenly a loud trumpeting sound burst out. Mary almost leaped out of her chair. ‘Woah.’
The girl next to us gave us a filthy look and pointed to the quiet notice again as the trumpet noise began to crescendo.
‘I turned it off. I did!’ Mary objected, and she went to click on SOUND OFF again, but it was already muted. ‘I don’t understand it.’
The screen suddenly burst into colour – red, orange and yellow – and a banner appeared saying, ‘Congratulations, you are this month’s Zodiac Girl.’
‘Oh god,’ said Mary, ‘it’s one of those pop-up things.’ She began frantically pressing buttons. ‘I’ll clear it in a moment.’
‘Don’t shut down. This is for real, Zodiac Giiiiiirrrrrl,’ came a deep voice from the computer.
The girl next to us was huffing and tutting. Mary looked over at her. ‘I’m doing what I can.’
Eve Palumbo, this is your month, announced a banner, and then a gospel choir began to sing, ‘Zodiac Girl, you’re a star! One month with us and you’ll be, be, be, BEEEEEEE who you really AAAAARE.’
A few other people in the library had noticed the commotion and looked over at us. Even Mrs Andrews glanced up from behind her desk. Mary pressed the OFF button and the screen went blank. The noise stopped.
‘Phew,’ she said as the library became quiet again.
We got up and made a hasty exit.
‘What was that all about?’ I asked when we got out into the corridor.
Mary shrugged then giggled. ‘Dunno, it’s never gone crazy like that before and I’ve done it loads of time for just about everyone I know.’
‘Must be a pop-up. You know, hundredth person to use the site or something.’
‘Yeah.’
‘Yeah.’
‘Yeah,’ said Mary again, ‘but maybe you’ve won something.’
‘You think?’ I’d never won anything ever in my life. It was always Lilith who walked away with the prizes – but there hadn’t been an announcement that she was a Zodiac Girl. Could it be that for the first time in my life I, Eve Palumbo, had actually won something? Even if it was only something trivial, I didn’t care. It would be a first.
‘Worth doing it again,’ said Mary. ‘You’ve got a computer at home, haven’t you?’
I nodded. ‘Lilith and I share one.’
‘So do it later.’
‘I will,’ I said.
I couldn’t wait.
Chapter Three
Moving House
‘OK,’ said Dad after we’d finished supper that evening. (Penne with spinach, tomatoes, peas and Parmesan. Yum.) ‘We need to have a family conference. The removal vans will be here over the weekend and the professional packers will put everything in boxes, so this evening your job is to put anything personal in a small bag that you want to take with us in the car when we go.’
He got up from the table and went to put the kettle on. I winced when I saw his trousers. Mustard cord.
‘Dad, where on earth did you get those disgusting trousers?’ I asked. ‘They are, like, so last century.’
‘Found them at the bottom of my wardrobe.’
‘I hope you haven’t worn them out of the house,’ I said.
‘Why ever not? They do the job. Too many people spend too much time faffing about over what they should wear and what’s in and what’s out. Waste of time, waste of money, waste of resources. Clothes are to cover the body. End of story.’
I rolled my eyes up to the ceiling. I should have known that I’d get a lecture if I dared to comment on his absence of style. Not that Mum was any better. She was dressed in trackie bottoms and an old T-shirt. Not that that was unusual either. I don’t think she even owns a skirt. Neither of them have a clue when it comes to fashion or style. It’s so embarrassing whenever they have to come into school for parents’ evenings or end-of-term fairs because both of them look like they’ve got dressed in a hurry in a charity shop and grabbed the first thing that they could find.
‘You could afford nice clothes,’ I said. ‘There’s nothing wrong with looking good.’
‘As long as it’s not dictated by some self-appointed fashion guru who gets paid a fortune to spout their idiotic views,’ said Adam.
I sighed. Sometimes it was hard living in a house of brainboxes who thought that anything vaguely stylish was flippant or shallow. (Mum and Dad are both academics who work at the local university: Dad is a lecturer in physics, Mum in biology.) Even Lilith supported the anti-fashion philosophy with her argument that our goth style is a statement of rebellion – probably the only reason why Mum and Dad are cool with us dressing that way.
‘I should put you in for a makeover show,’ I said, ‘so that you get groomed. You could look great if you made an effort.’
Mum laughed, but Dad chose to ignore me. It’s a shame because they could look good. Dad is dark and handsome with a square jaw, which he hides behind a bushy beard, and Mum is pretty with long dark hair that she always shoves in a ponytail, which is forever falling down.
‘You can’t talk,’ said Adam. ‘You and Lilith go around dressed like extras from an Addams Family movie. You can’t exactly call that drab black gear the height of chic.’
‘It’s a … um, statement,’ I said. ‘Goth never dies and, anyhow, we were discussing Mum and Dad, not me and Lilith. Given their background and how stylish Italians usually are, they should take more pride in their appearance.’
Adam didn’t care much about what he wore either, but being a boy, and one who was naturally dark and handsome with no spots, he got away with dressing like a geek. He laughed, got up and slouched out of the room. He could do with a couple of lessons in wearing trousers, though; his trousers were virtually falling off his hips and the crotch of his trousers was almost down by his knees.
‘I haven’t got time to think about things as mundane as clothes,’ said Dad. ‘Now then, back to matters in hand. Did you hear me? Tomorrow. Have your personal items packed.’
‘And he means in small bags, no bigger than your school rucksacks,’ said Mum as she began to clear the table. ‘In fact, use those. The car boot isn’t that big and there won’t be much room in the back with the three of you.’
Instinctively, my left hand flew up to my mouth and I began to nibble what was left of my nails. I felt anxious abou
t the move. Not because we were leaving the old house, more because of what had been planned for the new.
Of course, I’d be sad to leave 23 Grebe Street; we’d lived there all my life up until now. And in many ways, the new house was going to be an improvement. More space, a bigger garden and it wasn’t far away, only ten minutes by car, so we could still go to the same school, plus it was nearer our local village of Osbury.
No. What was doing my head in was that Mum and Dad thought as Lilith and I were almost thirteen we might like our own bedrooms for a change.
My first reaction had been to say no way. Lilith and I had always shared. She’d always been there, every morning when I woke and every evening when we went to sleep, since I was born – and even before that in the womb, although of course I don’t remember that. Sometimes I look at Mum’s flat tummy and skinny frame and think, How the heck did I fit in there? And not just me. Lilith too. It’s astonishing. But my own room for the first time? Would I like it?
I’d been about to say ‘no thanks’, and had been sure that Lilith would say the same. But she didn’t. She was all for it. Gung ho. Wildly enthusiastic. Which left me with no choice but to go along with it. I didn’t want to be seen as a sissy or a clinger-on. And I especially didn’t want anyone questioning me about why I still wanted to share in case one of my secrets came out.
‘Eve,’ warned Mum as soon as she saw me biting my nails.
I put my hand down but it was hard. It felt like a magnet being pulled back to my lips.
‘And, Lilith,’ said Dad. ‘You make sure that you put your prizes and certificates somewhere safe, won’t you? We don’t want any of those going astray in the move.’
Lilith nodded and then we both went up to our room to finish packing. I couldn’t help but chew on my nails again as we set about going through drawers. I knew that at some point I needed to get out on my own into the garden to retrieve the hidden box that held two of my secrets. It was buried behind the shed and I’d been trying to find the right moment all week to get out there alone because I had to do it without being seen, but there always seemed to be someone around.
‘Do you realize that tonight and tomorrow will be our last nights sharing a room?’ asked Lilith as she made a pile of things she wanted to take.
‘No. I mean, yes … but we’ll still have sleepovers and things, won’t we? I mean when mates come over and if ever we feel like sharing.’
‘Yeah, course. Like, we’ll always be twins, but I’m looking at it as a whole new chapter. I can’t wait.’
‘Neither can I,’ I said, and put on my Oscar-winning fake smile again. She was looking so genuinely happy about being independent from me that I felt miffed. Had it been so bad sharing a room with me all these years that she couldn’t wait to get away at the first opportunity? Well, I was going to let her know that she wasn’t the only one that was happy about it. I would see it as a whole new chapter as well. ‘And not just a new chapter, a new book!’
‘It’s going to be so cool being able to decorate,’ said Lilith as she looked at the drab grey-green wallpaper on our walls. It had been there since the people who lived here before us, because although Mum and Dad had always promised to replace it, they had never got round to it. ‘Although I still can’t decide whether I want all the walls black for a really dramatic look, or whether to just do the ceiling so it will be like sleeping under a midnight sky.’
‘I know. It’s hard, isn’t it?’
‘One thing I do know is that I’m going to have a wall for all my prize certificates and poems and stuff. Like a display. You should think about doing the same with your favourite stuff.’
‘Good idea,’ I said, although inside I felt totally dismayed. I’d have nothing to put on my wall. Then I remembered the Zodiac thing. Maybe that would give me something to show. ‘Oh, by the way, did I tell you that I won a prize on the Internet today?’
‘Prize. Like what?’
‘Um … not sure. The computer started like … singing and people were looking over and … ’
‘It was probably one of those pop-ups – you know, always trying to get you to click on them so they get your details then rip you off.’
‘I don’t think so. It was on an astrology site.’
‘Astrology! What were you doing on an astrology site? Not looking at horoscopes again. Honestly, Eve, you know that they’re probably made up by some guy in an office somewhere who knows nothing about the stars. And Dad says that astrology is rubbish for people who have nothing better to do with their time.’
‘He says that about just about everything. And Mary said that horoscopes in the papers are very general, but if you do it properly then it’s like a real science.’
‘Mary. What does she know?’
‘Quite a lot, for your information. Like did you know that we have different ascendants?’
Lilith stifled a yawn. She hated that I (or Mary) might know anything that she didn’t, but I quickly filled her in on everything that I’d learned that day anyhow. After I’d finished, she still looked dubious.
‘OK, then show me,’ she said.
I got the web address out of my rucksack, turned on the computer and went through the steps that Mary had done earlier that day.
‘I’ll do yours first to show you how it works,’ I said, and prayed that the computer hadn’t reprogrammed itself in the afternoon and now Lilith was Zodiac Girl. That would be just my rotten luck, the story of my life. Moments later, her chart appeared and I explained what Mary had told me.
‘OK,’ she said, still doing her best to look unimpressed, ‘so print it out and I’ll read it properly.’
I clicked on PRINT and seconds later she had it in her hand.
‘Hm, Scorpio. That’s us, isn’t it?’ she said as she read the print out. ‘Intense, complex, secretive. Brood a lot. Unforgiving. Pff. We don’t sound like much fun, do we? Can lash out. Intuitive. Oh, this bit’s OK. Loves mysteries and the supernatural. That’s true. A good detective. Yeah. Wilful, powerful, passionate and loyal.’
‘Yeah, but read about your ascendant Aries,’ I said, ‘because that’s you too. We are made up of lots of different aspects and both of our charts are the same apart from the bit about rising signs. Mary said it explains a lot about why we are very different.’
Lilith put the papers down. ‘You don’t honestly believe this stuff, do you?’
‘I … I am keeping an open mind,’ I said. I knew she couldn’t argue with that. Mum and Dad were both always telling us how important it was to keep an open mind and not to jump to hasty conclusions. Tee hee. That shut her up.
‘OK, so do yours, then,’ she said.
I punched in my details and my chart appeared. I was pointing to the part that said I had a Taurus ascendant when the computer began to shake in the same way as it had back in the library.
And then came the trumpet sound and the gospel singers. ‘Zodiac Girl, you’re a star! One month with us, and you’ll be, be, be, BEEEEEE who you really AAAAARE.’
Lilith made a scornful face. ‘Ohmigod, how totally juvenile. So, Zodiac Girl, what do you get? A pen? A badge? An ickle tiara with the words Zodiac Girl on it?’
‘I don’t know,’ I said as I scanned the screen. There was no evidence of any prize or anything asking for my details or address so that a prize could be sent and as I scrutinized the page the singing faded and the screen went back to simply the text explaining my chart.
Lilith immediately picked up on my disappointment and put her hand on my shoulder. ‘Never mind,’ she said. ‘Sorry I made fun of it, but it was clearly just a silly promo. I didn’t want you to feel let down. Don’t let it get to you.’
‘I won’t,’ I said, but I did feel let down. I had really thought that for once something good might have been happening just for me. But I was wrong.
After we’d packed a few things into our rucksacks ready to take to the new house, we went down to watch television.
‘Anyone want a hot chocolate?
’ I asked.
Adam looked up from where he was draped on the sofa. ‘Yeah, course, but … what’s the catch?’
‘No catch. Just I want one so I may as well make one for everyone.’
‘Me too, then,’ said Lilith, and she moved Adam’s legs aside and settled down on the other end of the sofa.
I checked to see what Mum and Dad were doing and found that they were down in the basement. ‘You all right down there?’ I called.
‘Just packing up the good wines,’ Dad called back.
That’s a joke, I thought. Dad’s wine collection was his pride and joy. It wasn’t an expensive collection like Mary’s dad’s; he gets his wine from vineyards in France. My dad makes his own. He likes to experiment with flavours and makes rhubarb wine, orange wine, grapefruit-and-mint wine. Lilith and I tasted the elderberry-and-gooseberry one once. It was awesomely awful and I got stomach ache afterwards. We nicknamed it Krudo, which Mum thinks is funny but Dad doesn’t. He takes his wine-making very seriously.
Once I knew that everyone was occupied, I filled the kettle, switched it on, found the torch on the back porch and snuck out into the garden. It was so cold outside and the air smelt of damp and woodsmoke. My heart was beating fast at the thought of anyone coming through and seeing me, so I quickly raced over to the shed area. Once there I shone the torch down to the back where the area was paved with York stone. Two slabs along was the loose one. I lifted it out of the way, and reached behind and under the shed where there was a small gap. I dug with my hands and pulled out a bit of loose earth, removed a couple of bricks that I’d placed to mark the spot then dug a little more. It only took a few minutes as I hadn’t buried the box too far in.
I felt around in the soil until I found the hard surface of the tin and then I pulled. It came out easily. I hid it under my jumper and ran back inside. I quickly checked in the living room to see that Adam and Lilith were still absorbed.
‘Won’t be a mo with the drinks,’ I said.
‘Yeah, hurry up, slave,’ said Adam.
I ran upstairs and was about to shove the box into my rucksack ready for the move when I realized something. Given that my secret tin contained only papers that would shock Lilith if she saw them, it felt heavier than normal. I’d had this box since I was ten years old and used it to collect pages from magazines or newspapers that I liked but didn’t want to have explain why to any of my family. Also in there were my poems that I’d never shown anyone. I opened the lid and looked inside. My heart skipped a beat. There were two packages wrapped in crimson tissue paper. One small, one medium size. I hadn’t put them there. Someone knows about my secret place! I thought as I heard footsteps on the stairs. Oh no. I knelt down and quickly shoved the packages under the bed. As I did, I caught a glimpse of a label on the side of the medium package. To the Zodiac Girl, it said.
Double Trouble (Zodiac Girls) Page 2