Angels

by Meredith Badger

  ‘I’m really, really sorry,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry I said what I did, and I’m really sorry I nearly made you cry. I shouldn’t have said it. And if I could un-say it, I would.’

  Lucy looked at her for a moment. Then she nodded. ‘You hurt my feelings a lot,’ she said. ‘But it’s nice of you to say sorry. Thanks for saying that.’

  ‘I am sorry,’ said Chloe earnestly. ‘And I’m going to try really hard not to say dumb or mean things like that ever again.’

  Lucy cocked her head to one side. ‘So we’re friends then?’ she said, a little shyly.

  Chloe felt so light and happy it was like she might fly off into the air. ‘Definitely!’ she nodded.

  Suddenly, they heard a yell from the kissing booth. ‘Hey! Who let this wet dog get in here!’

  Chloe and Lucy looked at each other. ‘Scruffy!’ they both said, giggling.

  Lucy stood up and tested her ankle. ‘It feels fine now,’ she said.

  ‘Phew!’ said Chloe. ‘I was worried you’d broken it. Then there would be two Angels with casts!’

  The girls hurried over to the kissing booth. As they got closer the sound of yelling and barking got louder.

  ‘What’s going on?’ called Chloe.

  When they looked into the tent they both burst out laughing. The boys were inside, covered from head to toe in tomato juice! Scruffy was jumping all over them, trying to lick the juice off their arms and legs. His beautifully clean fur was now covered in tomato pulp.

  ‘Hi, Devils!’ laughed Chloe. ‘Looks like lots of people have paid to throw tomatoes at you. But has anyone bought a kiss?’

  ‘That’s none of your business!’ said Luke, as Scruffy jumped up and tried to lick his face. ‘Now get this dog off me!’

  Chloe grabbed Scruffy. Then Lucy found a piece of rope and made a lead. ‘Come on,’ she said to Chloe. ‘We’d better get back to the dog wash.’

  But Chloe grabbed her arm. ‘Hang on a minute,’ she said, with a mischievous smile. ‘Don’t you think we should help the Devils raise more money?’

  Lucy grinned back.‘Absolutely!’ she said. The girls dropped their coins into the money box. Then they chose two of the juiciest, fattest tomatoes they could find.

  ‘Hold still!’ commanded Chloe, as she and Lucy raised their tomatoes, ready to throw.

  ‘I’m sooo scared,’ snorted Luke.

  ‘Not!’ added Joey.

  ‘Ready … aim … FIRE!’ yelled Lucy.

  Then the girls launched their tomatoes into the air, heading straight for Luke.

  Lucy’s was the first to land. Splat! It hit Luke smack in the middle of his right shoulder! The juice dribbled down his arm.

  ‘Hey!’ said Luke, looking surprised. ‘Good shot for a girl!’ And then Chloe’s tomato splattered in exactly the same spot on his other shoulder!

  ‘Double bulls-eye!’ the girls laughed, dancing around.

  ‘Beginner’s luck,’ mumbled Luke, as he scraped the tomato off his T-shirt.

  ‘Would you like us to try again?’ asked Lucy politely.

  ‘No, no,’ replied Luke hastily. ‘We’re closed for the day anyway. It’s almost three o’clock.’

  Chloe grabbed Lucy’s arm.‘We’d better get back to the dog wash,’ she said.

  They returned to the dog wash just in time to give Scruffy another bath before Ching Ching came to pick him up.‘He looks great!’ she said happily, giving him a hug.

  It was true. Now that he was washed and dried, Scruffy looked like a totally different dog. His fur was very shiny and clean.

  ‘Hopefully Mum will let me keep him now,’ said Ching Ching, as she led Scruffy away with the rope lead.

  ‘OK, everyone. That’s it!’ said Annabelle, looking at her watch. ‘The dog wash is officially closed.’

  She picked up the cash box. ‘I’ll add up the money,’ she said. ‘I’m dying to know how much we made.’

  Everyone else flopped down onto the grass, exhausted. ‘Thank goodness we’ve finished,’ groaned Bonnie. ‘Check out my hands! They’ve gone all wrinkly, just like walnuts.’

  Just then, a woman walked over with two girls and their dogs.

  ‘Sorry, we’re closed,’ said Chloe politely. And then she recognised their very first customers – Leo and Noodle. ‘Are they dirty again already?’

  Faith shook her head. ‘No,’ she explained. ‘We came back because our mum wanted to meet you.’

  ‘Hi! Holly and Faith told me that you were raising money for the Lost Dogs’ Home,’ said the girls’ mother warmly. ‘I’m Mary Grundon and I work as a vet at the Lost Dogs’ Home. I wanted to come over and say thanks.’

  She looked around the group. ‘What is your team called?’ she asked.

  ‘The Angels,’ Bonnie said proudly.

  Dr Mary nodded. ‘Well, the dogs will definitely think you’re angels when we buy them new blankets for winter, with the money you’ve raised,’ she smiled.

  Chloe nodded happily. She didn’t even care if they lost this challenge. As far as she was concerned the dog wash had been a big success. And it had been fun, too.

  At assembly on Monday morning, Chloe found it hard to concentrate. Firstly, she couldn’t stop looking at the new charm that Bonnie had given out to all the Angels. It was a tiny silver paw print!

  And secondly, Chloe couldn’t stop looking at her cast. Sophie had drawn the coolest thing on it! It was the word Angels in lovely writing with a little halo drawn above it.

  Lucy nudged Chloe. ‘Hey, there’s Luke and Joey,’ she said. The boys were sitting one row ahead. ‘Matilda told me that the Devils only sold five kisses!’ she giggled.

  ‘Five?’ said Chloe, surprised. ‘I’m surprised they even sold that many! Who bought them?’

  ‘Their mums!’ laughed Lucy.

  Chloe was puzzled. ‘But there’s six Devils,’ she said. ‘How come they didn’t sell six kisses?’

  ‘That’s the funniest bit of all!’ chuckled Lucy. ‘Luke’s mum bought a tomato instead of a kiss – apparently he forgot to clean his room on Saturday!’

  Just then Mrs Clarke walked briskly into the room. Immediately everyone fell silent.

  Annabelle grabbed Chloe’s arm. ‘This is it!’ she whispered excitedly. ‘Mrs Clarke is about to read out the amounts everyone raised. I know the Zebras did pretty well, although some of the lamingtons melted. And the Super Stars made heaps of money at their face painting stall. I wonder who won?’

  ‘I suppose you all want to hear the results of the recent challenge,’ said Mrs Clarke in her usual no-nonsense way. An excited murmur rippled through the room. ‘Well,’ said Mrs Clarke sternly, ‘I’m not going to tell you.’

  Everyone stared at her in surprise. What was going on?

  Then Mrs Clarke softened. ‘Don’t worry,’ she said. ‘I’m not cross. Far from it. Let me read out an email I received this morning.’

  Dear Mrs Clarke,

  I am just writing to let you know what great work all your students did on the weekend – particularly the Angels. With the money they raised for the Lost Dogs’ Home we will be able to buy enough new blankets to last us all winter.

  The Angels struck me as a perfect example of what a team should be. And they also did a great job of washing our puppies Leo and Noodle!

  Please thank them for me again, on behalf of all the lost dogs.

  Dr Mary Grundon.

  The Angels all looked at each other as Mrs Clarke read the letter. It was nice of Faith and Holly’s mum to write that. But it was kind of embarrassing too!

  Chloe felt a squeeze on her shoulder. It was Dani, one row behind her. ‘Well done, Chloe!’ Dani whispered, grinning broadly.

  When Mrs Clarke finished reading the email, she looked around the room. ‘This is just one email,’ she said. ‘I’ve received more from the other groups you raised money for. And those who haven’t emailed have rung. All of them said the same thing – what a great job you did and how proud I should be of you all.’

&nbs
p; Then Mrs Clarke did something she didn’t do very often. She smiled! ‘I am very proud of you all. Very, very proud. and because of this I’m going to declare the round a tie.’

  ‘But what about the competition?’ Bonnie called out.

  ‘Oh, the competition is still going,’ said Mrs Clarke. ‘It just means that the next round is going to be the most important one of all!’

  As everyone left assembly, Chloe looked at the other Angels. The performance challenge was going to be very exciting. It would be tough, too. But Lucy will do a great job, she thought. And I’ll help her … if she wants me to.

  Suddenly Chloe felt really happy. It was so cool being a part of this team.

  ‘Go, Angels!’ shouted Chloe. Then she drew an invisible halo around her head.

  Immediately, all the other Angels did the same sign back to her. ‘GO, ANGELS!’

  Lucy stacked all the beanbags in the corner. She packed up her magazines, and put them away on the shelves. Then she took all the glasses and plates back to the kitchen.

  I don’t think the playroom has ever looked this tidy! Lucy thought.

  It was Saturday afternoon, and the Angels were coming over to Lucy’s house. They were going to need lots of space.

  Finally, finally, they were up to the performance challenge, and Lucy was ready to be the perfect leader.

  Lucy thought back over the other Team Terrific challenges they’d done. The soccer game had been awesome. She couldn’t help giggling when she remembered the Angels falling into the pool during the raft race. And even though Mrs Clarke said that the Help Others challenge was a draw, Lucy still thought the Angels’ dog wash had been the winner!

  The last challenge had been hard, though. Lucy had half-expected Chloe to ruin it with her short temper, but the Angels had come through it fine.

  Actually, Lucy thought, the Angels keep getting better at working together! Everyone was getting on really well, and Chloe seemed fine now that Bonnie had chosen Lucy as the leader of the final challenge. That was definitely a relief!

  Lucy felt as though she knew all the Angels really well now. The performance was going to be the best challenge yet. Lucy could feel it in her bones.

  When the doorbell rang, Lucy charged madly up the stairs and down the corridor to the front door.

  ‘Hi, Angels!’ she yelled. It was great that they’d all got a lift from Sophie’s dad. It meant that they would be starting practice right on time.

  ‘Hi, Luce,’ the other Angels yelled back.

  ‘Hey, cool house,’ Sophie added.

  ‘Thanks, Soph,’ she replied. ‘Now, Angels, follow me.’

  Lucy couldn’t help skipping as she headed back down the corridor with the Angels behind her. As she turned around, she noticed everyone else was skipping too! Well, everyone except for Chloe. But that was understandable – her arm was in a sling. Sometimes Chloe lost her balance. Lucy had already planned out the routine so that Chloe had some easy dance moves.

  ‘Hey, whose room is this?’ Annabelle asked.

  Lucy looked over her shoulder. All the other Angels had stopped outside Frankie’s closed door. Loud music thumped through the gaps.

  ‘Oh, that’s just Frankie’s room,’ Bonnie said, making her voice loud enough to be heard over the music.

  ‘She’s my big sister,’ Lucy explained.

  ‘Wow, where did she get those cool stickers?’ Lola asked, pointing to Frankie’s decorated door.

  Lucy shrugged. She actually didn’t like the stickers on Frankie’s door very much. All of them seemed to be directed at her!

  Chloe came up behind Lucy, bumping her on the arm with her cast as she stopped walking. ‘My big sister Ashley is a total meanie,’ she said. ‘Is yours?’

  Lucy crinkled up her nose. That was a hard question to answer. Sometimes Frankie was a meanie. But other times she was actually pretty nice.

  ‘Frankie’s OK, I guess,’ Lucy said. ‘Most of the time.’

  Lucy’s thoughts drifted away from the Angels and onto Frankie. She’d been so busy with school work and the Team Terrific challenges that she’d barely thought about what was happening with Frankie. Or maybe she’d been trying not to think about it.

  Frankie was going to Spain in just one week. She was actually leaving straight after the Angels did their performance. She was going on a student exchange, and she would be away for a whole year!

  ‘Come on,’ Lucy urged, heading down the hallway and sliding down the banister. Now was definitely not the time to start thinking about Frankie leaving. ‘Let’s practise.’

  ‘I found the best song in Mum’s old CD collection,’ Lucy said excitedly. ‘I really think it will be perfect to dance to.’

  ‘Put it on,’ Bonnie urged.

  ‘It’s called Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,’ said Lucy, as she put the disc in the CD player and pressed play. She watched the Angels’ faces as they listened.

  ‘This song rocks!’ Chloe said, tapping her foot to the beat.

  ‘Yeah, it’s like it was made just for the Angels,’ Lola giggled.

  ‘Angels, they want, wanna have fun,’ Annabelle sang loudly, making up her own lyrics to the song.

  Lucy grinned. ‘So, who wants to use it for our performance?’ she asked, laughing as everyone put up their hands. She was totally rapt that all the Angels liked the song as much as she did. Even if it was an old song, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun was still really cool and dancy. There were plenty of great moves Lucy had learnt in dance class that would work with the beat.

  ‘OK, I’ll play it again,’ she said, feeling confident. It was funny how dancing always made her feel so great.

  ‘This time, we should stand in three rows of two. I’ll stand up the front with Lola.’ Lucy pointed to a place on the floor where she and Lola could dance. ‘Next row, Annabelle and Sophie,’ she directed. ‘And then Chloe and Bonnie at the back.’

  ‘Hey, why do we have to go up the back?’ Chloe asked.

  Lucy bit her lip. ‘Well,’ she said slowly, ‘I’m going to give you guys some easy moves to do at the back. I thought that would be easier for you with your arm in a sling. And Bonnie … well, Bonnie’s not really that …’ Suddenly, Lucy found herself searching for the right words.

  Bonnie found some before she did. ‘I’m not a good dancer,’ she said.

  Lucy didn’t like the way Bonnie’s voice was kind of small as she said it. It made her feel a bit bad. But the performance was important. Bonnie would understand.

  ‘OK, we’ll do the easy steps first. Follow me,’ Lucy instructed. She started the music from the beginning.

  ‘Step behind, step kick,’ she called out as she did the actions. ‘Step behind, step clap.’

  Lucy turned around as she called and danced. Sophie and Annabelle were doing well. Chloe was really good, too … well, except for the clap. Maybe Lucy would have to think of something else to go there. But Bonnie … Lucy sighed as Bonnie tripped over her own feet. She was really glad she’d cleaned up the playroom!

  ‘OK, let’s try again,’ Lucy said. She made sure all the Angels were in their proper places, and restarted the music. Then she heard the playroom door open.

  ‘How’s it going, Angels?’ Lucy’s mum asked. She was carrying a tray of hot chicken wings.

  ‘Yum, Mrs B,’ Bonnie said. ‘Are these with barbeque sauce?’

  ‘Yep,’ Lucy’s mum said with a smile. ‘Enjoy, Angels!’

  Lucy’s mum was always making Lucy and Bonnie yummy after-school snacks. Usually Lucy loved it. But right now, she kind of wished her mum hadn’t brought snacks down to the playroom. The Angels had a lot of work to do.

  As Lucy’s mum left the room, the Angels hovered around the tray. Lucy waited impatiently as the others devoured the food.

  At least they’re fast eaters, she thought. It wasn’t long before the tray was empty.

  Lucy put on the music again. ‘OK, step behind, step …’ But then the playroom door creaked open again!

  ‘Keep going
, Angels. Watch your feet,’ she said. Lucy kept her eyes at floor level, checking out everyone’s footwork. But someone else’s feet were in there too. Frankie’s strappy high heels! Purple toenails that exactly matched her fingernails peeped through the gaps of the shoes.

  All the Angels stopped dancing.

  ‘I’ve got a move you could do to this song,’ Frankie said. She pulled out the elastic band from her hair and shook her hair over her shoulders. Lucy could see Frankie had been at the hair dye again. Frankie’s hair was a different colour just about every time Lucy saw her! Right now, it was brown with big golden streaks through it.

  Lucy sighed as the Angels watched her big sister. Frankie clicked her fingers. She did a grapevine, and swung her hair back at the end of the step. She was wearing a strapless top with a drifty skirt that flared up as she moved.

  It was exactly the same step Lucy had shown them. Except for the hair flick.

  ‘Wow,’ Lola said softly. ‘That was really good.’

  ‘Can we try it?’ Sophie asked, already pulling the elastic out of her hair. Annabelle swung her bob around.

  ‘Of course you can,’ Frankie said. ‘OK, everyone, you do it like this …’

  Lucy bit her lip as she watched the Angels try to copy Frankie’s move. The music rang out through the playroom.

  None of the Angels had even noticed that Lucy wasn’t joining in.

  ‘Watch out, Belle! Mrs Clarke is on the prowl,’ Sophie said with a giggle. Annabelle put her sandwich back in her lunchbox and sat on her hands as Mrs Clarke walked by.

  ‘That was close,’ Annabelle laughed, stretching her polished fingernails out in front of her. Lucy rolled her eyes. The purple polish didn’t even look that good. Annabelle had managed to paint the skin around her fingernails, too!

  Lucy knew that Annabelle was trying to look like Frankie, but she didn’t want to say anything about it. She definitely didn’t want to start another conversation about how cool her big sister was!