by Dawn McNiff
I got on with decorating Gran’s envelope. I’d have to ask Dad to take it to her, I supposed.
But then there was a soft knock at the door, and Kyle stuck his head in.
‘What?’ I said, giving him a dirty look. ‘Go away!’
‘I can assure you that I don’t want to talk to you either,’ he said, pushing his glasses up his nose. ‘But Mum said it’s tea now.’ He hesitated. ‘And Dad’s … er … gone out.’
My heart seemed to balloon in my chest. I caught my breath sharply and sat bolt upright. Dad never went out. Not unless there’d been trouble.
‘Oh no … but when?’
‘Don’t get your knickers in a twist – he’ll be back. I’m just warning you that he’s not here for tea, that’s all.’
‘They had another fight, didn’t they?’ I said, pushing all my pens off my lap and scrambling up. ‘What about?’
‘I dunno, do I? I didn’t even hear cos they were out in the garage. Probably just another pathetic shouting match about a pointless load of nothing.’
‘Dad’s probably just in his Shed,’ I said, hoping.
‘Nah, he flounced off, out the front … ’ Kyle curled his lip.
Ugh. Where had he gone?
My eyes started to prickle. And what was I doing, drawing in my room? I should’ve been downstairs ready to have a worry dream to make things better …
‘Why didn’t you come and TELL me they were fighting?’ I said. ‘I didn’t even KNOW.’
Kyle gave me a scoffing look. ‘Why would I do that? There’s nothing YOU can do – duh!’ And he just closed my door again.
Well, Kyle – yes, there is actually.
Chapter Eleven
I went down for tea.
Kyle was in the lounge, watching telly, and Mum was serving up. They both had grim faces, and no one mentioned Dad.
And even worse, tea was that old ham quiche from the day before. Yum.
While I waited, I nipped to the downstairs loo to see Henners. He lived in this huge, posh cage in there – Dad said it was 5-star deluxe.
I knelt down and fed him some raisins through the wire. He took them out of my fingers, and nibbled them with his whiskers twitching. Raisins were his complete favourite – they were like his sweeties – so I kept this secret store of them for him. Every time I had muesli for breakfast, I picked the raisins out and hid them behind a flowerpot in the kitchen. He never seemed to mind that they were a bit dusty.
‘Courts!’ Mum called. ‘Tea’s on the trays.’ No one was in a chatty mood so we ate on our knees in front of the telly. We were halfway through when Dad clattered back through the front door.
I was on the chair nearest the lounge door, so I waved. He had a misery face on, but he smiled hello to me as he took off his coat.
He slung it over the bottom of the banister, but as he did it, something fluttered out of his pocket onto the carpet. He didn’t pick it up – he just stomped straight upstairs to his room.
I finished my tea quickly and told Mum I was going to bed to read. And on my way up, I stopped to pick up what Dad had dropped.
Oh, it was only a tissue …
But a pink flowery tissue … like, really, proper girlie. One of those posh ones out of a little packet that some ladies keep in their handbag. Mrs Eadie who played the piano for our primary school assemblies always had them.
Strange …
We didn’t have any of that kind in our house. And Dad would never have bought tissues like that for himself. So where had he got it from?
My mind started speeding then.
I whipped up to my room and lay on my bed, chewing hard at my thumbnail.
Had Dad been to someone’s house? But whose? Dad didn’t have any friends nearby, and certainly not any ladies. Only Mum did.
My tummy flipped over suddenly.
Oh no – he didn’t have a GIRLFRIEND, did he?
Maybe he’d found someone who didn’t yell at him. Someone who looked like that weather girl on the telly he always whistled and giggled at.
Of course it took me ages to go to sleep with that thought in my head, and I was still worrying about it in the morning.
Chapter Twelve
The next day was Saturday. The day I was supposed to visit Gran. Before Dr Plop got me left out.
I knew Dad was going to the hospital later after he’d finished his garden work – or, huh, was he actually visiting his girlfriend?
I stomped downstairs, feeling really sulky. Dad had already gone and Mum was getting ready to go to her shift at the sanctuary. Well, at least I didn’t have to worry about sorting out their silly fights for a few hours.
So I sat spooning in my cornflakes and texting Lois to check if she was still up for swimming. She sent me back a big YES and lots of smiley faces. Me and Lois were swimming-mad. We went together any time we could, but always every Saturday morning. We hardly ever missed it – it was like a regular thing, just us two.
The pool was only at the end of my road. Lois’s house was in the wrong direction, but I usually went to call for her, otherwise I stood outside the pool waiting cos she was always late – she was so scatty.
It was cold, but there was a pretty, blue-and-white, stripy sky, and the sun was out. I was super-early so I took a long way round through the park and stopped for a quick swing, chucking my swimming bag down on the bench. Me and Lois had the same ones – bright yellow, thick plastic, see-through bags that looked like they were made out of lemon jelly. We loved them.
When I got to Lois’s house, I knocked and her big brother Max flung open the door, wearing just jeans and holding a bowl of cereal. He cheesy-grinned at me under his floppy fringe.
‘Aha, it’s Naughty-Courty,’ he said, through a mouthful.
‘Hey, Max!’ I stepped into the hall, giggling. Max was always a bit of a joker, and such a cool brother. Not like geeky Kyle, who was really quiet, and wore embarrassing, too-short joggers and computer-shop T-shirts.
Max turned and bellowed up the stairs –
‘LO-O-O! Get down here.’ He winked at me, and scuffed barefooted back into the kitchen.
Lois came hopping down, rubbing on some lip balm. I recognised that sickly, fruity smell straight away – she’d bought herself the same one as Bex! I felt myself tense up a bit, but Lois seemed so happy to see me, I managed not to frown.
She hooked her lemon-jelly bag off the hall pegs and we bowled out into the sunshine, and down the street, arm in arm, singing and larking about.
Oh, I loved Saturdays with Lois. Everything seemed easier when I was with her. I even forgot to worry …
But even as I thought that, my tummy tightened – oh dear, but maybe I should be worrying. It was weird – NOT worrying always worried me. In case things were going wrong without me realising …
I shook all that out of my mind. It was OK for a few hours. Mum and Dad weren’t anywhere near each other. And Lois kept pushing me in puddles, so I had to think about THAT, or I was going to be soaking wet before we even got in the water.
It was quite busy at the pool, but we found a quieter corner, so we could play about. Swimming under each other’s legs; throwing a coin for each other to collect from the bottom.
Then we played our favourite game – SHARKS! – which we’d invented that summer. The idea was to choose the most serious-looking swimmer and pretend they were a shark. It was always hilarious.
We picked this man with goggles and a funny moustache that made him look like he was doing that charity thing, Movember. He was swimming loads of lengths, and every time he came near us, we did these silent screams and swam away from him in a panic. Sometimes when we played it, people smiled. But this man just gave us the stink-eye, which made us laugh even more.
And all the time, I kept thinking how Lois seemed to have forgotten about being more grown up and boring like Bex. I was dead glad she wasn’t … but I still wasn’t ready to tell her about the magic. Not yet.
The sun started shining through
the window, making bright patches on the water. So we floated on our backs in the sunshiney bits, watching the ripply reflection on the ceiling, and listening to the muffled noise of the pool. I always liked being in my own little world with my ears under the water. Everything felt softer and a long way away – sort of safe.
When we got cold, we climbed out and had our usual long, hot showers, using loads of Lois’s strawberry shampoo. Then we blasted our heads under the big driers and plaited each other’s hair. It was our routine and it always felt kind of comforting. And because we both had long, brown hair, people sometimes thought we were twins – even though we looked nothing alike – which always made us giggle.
‘I’m starving,’ said Lois, after. She said that every week.
So we queued up at the machine to get some crisps. Only salt and vinegar would do after swimming.
In the queue me and Lois messed around, doing our Dementor faces, practising for Halloween.
‘Mwahahahaha!’ Lois pulled down her bottom eyelids, screwed up her face and leered at me.
She was really pretty, but she could pull the worst mean faces.
‘Argh, you actually look like Voldemort,’ I squealed. ‘Look – you’re even scaring the children!’
A toddler with chocolate around his face was peeping up at her from behind his mum’s legs while his mum nattered to her friend. His lip was wobbling and he looked proper terrified.
‘Oh no!’ said Lois. She couldn’t bear upsetting anyone. She bent down and flashed the boy her biggest, friendliest smile. ‘It’s OK – it was only a game,’ she said gently. He grinned back at her then, all chocolatey teeth.
‘Come on, get your ugly mug out of here before you make anyone else cry,’ I said, pushing her towards the doors and out into the cold. We were still laughing, stuffing down our crisps, and dawdling along the road when –
‘LOISSSSSS!’ cried a voice from behind us. ‘I’m, like, soooooo made up to see you.’
We turned and it was Bex.
I sighed quietly to myself.
Oh, not YOU …
She was wearing skinny jeans and a teenagery top that showed her tummy, and was carrying two huge bags of shopping.
‘My mum made me go to the shop for her, but I’m so staying out with you now,’ she said, dropping the bags so they crashed onto the pavement and bouncing up to Lois.
Oh right … invite yourself along then.
And she still hadn’t even looked at me.
‘You been swimming? You shoulda told me cos I got this new bikini!’ She did this model pose with her hand behind her head. ‘I’ll come with you next time.’
WHAT?!! Swimming was mine and Lois’s special thing we did, just us. No way did I want her coming.
But Lois smiled and nodded.
‘Yeah … um … OK,’ she said.
I widened my eyes at Lois – like, Uh? – and gave a tiny shake of my head. But she sort of made an awkward face and shrugged.
She literally couldn’t say no to anyone – even if she wanted to.
Unless she really DID want Bex to come – secretly.
My worries started worming back.
Maybe Lois was getting bored of Saturdays with just me. Tired of our old kiddy games …
I chewed my lip and followed behind them.
And then Bex managed to say something which got on my wick EVEN more.
‘Oh, and I love your yellow bag, Lois – it’s lush! Where’d you get it? I want one too!’
OMG.
Why didn’t she just GO AWAY!
Chapter Thirteen
But of course Bex didn’t go away.
She stuck to us like bubblegum, all along the street towards my house.
I’d wanted to ask Lois round for lunch, seeing as Mum and Dad were out for a bit. But Bex wasn’t coming to mine – that was for sure.
How was I going to get rid of her?
But when we passed the park gate Bex started up –
‘Oh, come in the park with me, Lo,’ she begged. ‘I’m bored out of my mind at home. I’ll text my mum and say I’ll bring the shopping laters. Yeah?’
‘Er … OK,’ said Lois, looking at me like she wanted me to come too. ‘But I gotta go in a while cos my mum’s making me go to my little cousin’s birthday party.’
I wasn’t letting Bex push me out, so I had to go with them.
The sun had brought tonnes of people to the park. Toddlers and prams. People sat outside the cafe. Some older boys were playing football using jumpers as goals, and a group of Year Ten girls I recognised were sitting on a bench, shouting stuff to the football boys. It felt almost like summer, not October.
We lazed about on the swings for a while, swinging as high as we could and hanging upside down so our hair swept the floor. Bex kept standing on her swing to peep over the wall into a garden, because apparently some boy called Dominic Butler she liked in Year Eight lived there.
One time she thought she saw him come into his garden. She screamed, ducked down and pretend-fell off her swing.
Lois laughed, but I didn’t actually think it was that funny at all.
After that, we flopped about on the bench, sort of sunbathing, and wolfing down a pot of Flumps Lois had in her bag.
Bex had managed to squeeze her bum in between me and Lois, and just chattered on non-stop, showing off about how she was going to get a nose piercing, and maybe even a tattoo. Obviously it was all rubbish – she SO wasn’t allowed.
I tried to catch Lois’s eye, but she always seemed to be looking at Bex.
Why?
‘Hey, Lo,’ said Bex, ‘so when d’you want to come to mine again and watch more VampireWAGS?’
I felt my eyebrows fly up. They’d watched that without me … and Lois hadn’t said.
‘Yeah, we got through nearly the whole first series yesterday,’ said Bex, actually speaking to me for once, and looking well pleased with herself. ‘It was amazies, wasn’t it, Lo?’
‘Um, yes … ’ began Lois, glancing at me quickly. ‘But, Courts – of course, we missed you … Remember you had to go and meet your mum, so you couldn’t stay out?’
I gave her a tiny smile, digging my heels into the dirt. ‘Yeah, yeah – it’s fine,’ I muttered.
But the whole thing was totally bugging me. Lois must have spent nearly ALL evening with Bex, then. So maybe I’d been right to worry – perhaps Lois really was starting to like Bex more than me …
I felt tears begin to pool in my eyes, and I quickly blinked them away.
Then suddenly Bex threw her arms up, proper drama-queen style.
‘Hey, HEY, guys!’ she said, cracking her gum. ‘I just had this mega idea. Let’s play Truth or Dare!’
‘Um … OK!’ said Lois, grinning.
But I shook my head hard.
‘Oh, why not, Courtney?’ said Bex, tutting. ‘Me and Lois both want to … it’ll be super LOLZ.’
I shook my head harder. I just knew playing a game like that with Bex would be horrible.
‘Looks like it’s me and you playing, then, Lo,’ said Bex. She turned her back so she was blocking me out.
She was so trying to get rid of me. Well, it wasn’t going to work …
‘OK, I’ll play,’ I sighed.
‘I’m FIRST!’ cried Bex. Obviously …
‘Truth or Dare?’ said Lois, clapping her hands.
‘Truth!’ said Bex. ‘And my truth is … I think Dominic Butler is lush!’
Lois giggled. ‘Well, we kinda knew that already … ’
‘No, but Dom is my one true love,’ she said, clutching her heart. ‘Bex Butler … does it sound nice?’
Lois laughed again, but I didn’t.
Since when was Lois interested in talking about boys? She was just copying Bex.
Huh, next time I hoped Bex would choose dare. Then I’d dare her to stick her head down a toilet and leave it there for a week.
‘My turn!’ said Lois, bouncing on her bum. ‘Give me a dare!’
�
�Oh yeah, Lo-Lo!’ said Bex. ‘OK, hang on … ’ She sat thinking.
‘I’ve got one!’ I said. ‘Lois – I dare you to walk right into the middle of those boys playing footie, and do the splits!’
Lois roared with laughter. ‘Oh please, no!’
‘Or you have to put your shoes on the wrong feet, and ask one of them for a Gangnam Style dance-off,’ I said, giggling too.
Lois roared again. ‘I’m not doing that either … but you’re so funny, Courts!’
Bex curled her top lip. She didn’t like Lois thinking I was funny. Not one little bit.
‘No, I’ve got a better idea,’ Bex said. ‘I double-dare you to pretend to be sick. Make a sicking-up noise and pour water out of your bottle from behind your head. Then everyone will think it’s true!’
‘No way, gross!’ shrieked Lois. ‘Do I have to?’
‘YES! said Bex. And of course, Lois did what Her Majesty Bex said.
She stood up, bent over, and held her water bottle behind her face. She made a small, gagging noise and poured a tiny splash of water onto the grass. But then she just started laughing, and fell back down next to us.
‘How embarrassing,’ she squealed, her face bright red. ‘Was everyone staring at me?’
‘No, you’re all right – no one even saw,’ I said.
‘Phewee!’ she said.
I smiled at her. But to be honest, she hadn’t done her dare properly at all.
‘Right,’ said Bex, turning to me. ‘We’ve both done ours. Now YOU!’ I didn’t like the way she said ‘YOU’. ‘Truth or dare, Courtney?’
‘Nothing or nothing,’ I said, swivelling away.
‘You have to choose – it’s the game,’ Bex said.
‘Oh, go on, Courts,’ said Lois. ‘Choose dare – it’s wicked. And I’ll think of a fun one for you.’
‘OK,’ I sighed. ‘Dare.’
Bex looked at me and sucked in her cheeks. I knew she was thinking up some mean things. I turned to Lois for her dare, but she hadn’t thought of one yet.
Then Bex grinned. ‘Got it!’
She dug into her shopping bags, and pulled out a box of Frubes – those yoghurt-in-a-tube things.