by Gwyneth Rees
Leo remained sombre, raising a finger at him like he was telling off a young child. ‘You don’t deliberately waste food.’
Sean immediately went on the defensive. ‘Especially not if you’re the one buying it, I suppose? Well, Mum said she was going to pay for lunch, so you don’t have to worry!’
‘Sean, shut up,’ I hissed at him.
Leo was looking angrily at my brother. ‘Sean, do you ever watch the news? Because I can’t believe you’re completely unaware of what goes on in other parts of the world … the developing world, for example …’
My brother instantly looked uncomfortable. I mean it was easy to see where Leo was going with this.
‘You don’t deliberately waste food,’ Leo repeated just as sternly as when he’d said it the first time. He paused for a moment, giving Sean a searching look. ‘Do you?’
Sean didn’t answer him.
‘Do you?’ Leo repeated, glaring at my brother.
Sean looked like he was finding it hard to swallow.
And right at that moment Granny and Mum arrived.
Leo jumped up straight away and started shaking Granny’s hand as Mum did the introductions and apologised for being late.
Granny sat down next to me and immediately started to stare at Leo like she was examining an item in a shop, trying to decide whether or not it was worth buying. I could see Leo beginning to go a bit pink under her scrutiny.
I winced as Sean dug his fork a bit too vigorously into the food mountain on his plate and accidentally dislodged the entire potato salad section, which tumbled half on to the table and half into my brother’s lap. I saw him glance warily at Leo, and I saw Granny noticing the glance.
Mum suddenly shoved back her chair saying she needed to use the ladies’ room. That was typical of Mum – opting out as soon as the going got tough. I felt a bit cross with her as I watched her leave the table. After all, this had to be way more difficult for Leo than it was for her. I mean, she wasn’t the one being inspected by Granny.
Suddenly Sean whispered to Leo, ‘I’m sorry.’
Leo nodded. ‘Eat half of it,’ he said quietly.
‘OK.’ Sean was looking relieved.
That’s when I noticed the expression on Granny’s face changing slightly. There was a flicker of surprise as she looked at Sean, then Leo, then back again, as if she was reassessing something or other. Then she reached out and helped herself to garlic bread. ‘So … Leo … I see you’ve started lunch without us. You young people and your appetites, I don’t know!’
‘We were starving, Granny,’ Sean protested. ‘We’ve been waiting ages for you!’
Granny eyed my brother with amusement. ‘Well, at least you weren’t allowed to starve for too long, Sean.’ She turned back to Leo. ‘I must say it’s good to know that you’re experienced when it comes to dealing with children, Leo. Though I should think it must be extremely difficult to keep discipline when you’re so close to your pupils in age, mustn’t it?’
I gaped at her. What was she trying to do?
‘Um, well, I don’t think that’s really a problem, thank goodness,’ Leo said with a forced smile.
‘Still … it’s not an easy job, I’m sure. And I hear from Annabel that you don’t get paid enough either.’
Leo immediately flushed bright red. ‘Annabel said that?’
‘Well, yes … of course it’s probably an adequate salary for a young man like yourself with no responsibilities, but I must say that for a man with a family –’
‘Mum only said that she doesn’t think teachers get paid enough for the job they do,’ I interrupted quickly. ‘All teachers, she meant.’ I looked sternly at Granny to let her know that I could see exactly what she was up to.
Granny smiled sweetly, sat back in her chair, took her glasses out of her handbag and began to study the menu.
Just then a waiter brought a bottle of champagne over to our table. Mum was right behind him and she sat down with a smile as Granny raised her eyebrows at the sight of the bottle.
‘I took the liberty of ordering it for us,’ Mum explained.
‘Oh, are we celebrating something?’ Granny asked, looking for all the world like she genuinely didn’t have a clue.
‘Mother …’ Mum’s teeth were gritted and I think if the waiter hadn’t been there she might have completely lost it.
‘Ah, your engagement … of course! Sorry, my dear … a momentary lapse. No doubt you’ll get them too when you’re as old as me.’ She looked straight at Leo as she added with a sugary smile, ‘Of course for some of us that’s still a very long way off.’
Thankfully the champagne seemed to relax the adults and the conversation got easier. Perhaps Granny relaxed a bit too much though, because as the waiter cleared away our plates (and Sean began to eye up the ice-cream machine, where you could go back for endless refills), she said with a wicked gleam in her eye, ‘Leo, you do realise Annabel is going to have grey hair and wrinkles whilst you’re still a young man in your prime?’
The silence that followed was awful.
Then Leo put down his glass with a bit of a bang and said brightly, ‘You know, I think it’ll be fine so long as Annabel uses a good hair dye and doesn’t hold back on the Botox!’
Mum looked shocked for a few moments and Granny looked totally gob-smacked. Then Mum burst out laughing, and that was when I first thought that maybe … just maybe … everything was going to work out all right after all.
‘What time is your party finishing?’ Sean asked me as the two of us walked back home after seeing Granny off on the train. Granny had managed to chisel in a few more awkward moments, but Leo had totally kept his cool. Mum and Leo had stayed behind to have coffee and a debrief at the station cafe.
‘Eleven thirty. Raffy says ending it any earlier will look too pathetic.’ I tried to sound confident, but Sean must have picked up on my nervousness.
‘There’s still time to cancel if you don’t want to go through with it,’ he said.
I gave him a get-real look. It was already half past three. Right now Lily and the girls would be at the pound shop buying supplies. It was way too late to cancel and he knew it.
Just then my phone started ringing.
‘Mum, is everything OK?’ I asked as I lifted it to my ear.
‘Yes … but Leo and I have decided to take the train down to his parents’ place this afternoon to tell them about our engagement. We’ll see how it goes but we were thinking we might stay the night in a B&B and come back tomorrow since you’re staying at Lily’s tonight and Sean’s staying at Zack’s.’
This was the first I’d heard of my brother sleeping over at Zack’s place, but then, like I said before, he doesn’t always tell me everything these days. ‘OK, Mum. Good luck!’
As I relayed the message to Sean, the news began to sink in and I started to grin. Now the coast was completely clear for us to hang out at Blossom House tonight! And I realised that part of the reason I’d been feeling so anxious all day was that I was worried Mum would somehow find out and stop it all happening.
Suddenly that threat was gone, and it felt like Lily and Raffy had been right all along. A party at Blossom House was the best idea ever!
As soon as I arrived at Blossom House that afternoon I felt happy. It was a beautiful spring day and the trees were still covered in blossom, though some petals had fallen and there was now a light pink scattering on the grass. The sky was blue, with only a few small clouds, and the sun was shining. I stood motionless for a few minutes listening to the birds tweeting, wondering if there were any babies in nests nearby.
‘I love it here,’ I actually said out loud.
I knew I had to go inside but I let myself stand there taking it all in for just a few moments longer. I couldn’t believe that this would be my last spring here.
I’d brought my dress for the party with me so I went to hang it in the cupboard in the front bedroom. I would change into it later after the others got here. I thought briefly
of Raffy and whether or not he would make any comment about my dress. Lily didn’t much like vintage clothes, but that didn’t mean that Raffy felt the same. I knew he loved to watch all the James Bond films, including the really early ones from the 1960s. The women in those films always looked dead glamorous, and I was guessing Raffy thought so too.
I glanced at my phone to check the time. I had half an hour before the others were due to get here with all the provisions for the party. I still couldn’t quite believe what I was about to let happen, but then again our precious second home would soon be gone in any case. And knowing that, maybe it wasn’t such a mad idea to throw this party. Yes, it would put an end to our personal private sanctuary once and for all … but that might make it easier to say goodbye to Blossom House for good when the time came.
Two hours later the massive front room was lit up with fairy lights and Raffy was yelling at Lily to get rid of them, saying they made the place look like ‘some girlie fairy grotto’. Clara was emptying crisps and sweets into two big bowls and arguing with Lily about where to place them because there were no tables in the room and the only useable surfaces were the window ledge and the mantelpiece. Hanna was setting out paper cups and big bottles of fizzy drinks in the kitchen.
Soon everyone was arguing about whose iPod should go in the docking station first and I started panicking when I heard a vehicle with a siren passing by somewhere outside. For a minute I stood there imagining police cars screeching into the driveway and furious neighbours standing on the pavement shaking their fists at us as we were led out in handcuffs.
‘Sasha, what are you doing? You’re not even changed yet!’ Lily scolded. Needless to say, Lily looked stunning in a mini skirt and strappy top combination that made her look about eighteen.
I knew I had to calm down and get myself upstairs pronto if I was going to be ready in my own dress by the time our first guests made an appearance.
Ellie, who was coming separately from the others, arrived while I was still getting changed. She’d promised to help me with my hair and make-up, and she immediately came to find me upstairs.
‘Wow, Ellie!’ I gasped when I saw her. She looked fantastic in a funky red and orange skirt and a gold top, her hair all spiky and sprayed with gold glitter.
‘Wow yourself!’ Ellie exclaimed. ‘That dress is amazing on you, Sasha!’
‘Thanks,’ I said proudly. I really did love the dress. The black velvet bodice made it sophisticated while the fuchsia-pink skirt made it fun.
‘That is definitely not a quiet dress,’ Ellie told me with a grin as she came over to touch the overskirt of bead-studded black netting. ‘And I definitely don’t think you should have a quiet hair style.’ She reached into her bag and pulled out a spray can of bright pink hair colour.
I gulped. ‘Really?’
‘Trust me. It’s going to look great.’
First she helped me with my make-up. Then she put up my hair in a loose bun with lots of wispy bits coming down, sprayed the bun part completely pink and added some sparkly hair decorations.
Just as she was finishing off, Rafferty walked in on us. He stopped in his tracks and actually wolf-whistled when he saw me. ‘You certainly scrub up a whole lot better than my little sister! Way to go, Sasha!’
I blushed furiously, half with pleasure, half with embarrassment. And I couldn’t think of anything to say. I reminded myself that Raffy was fifteen and there was no way he could be interested in me. But maybe he’d wait a year or two. He’d definitely stopped thinking of me as a little kid, hadn’t he?
‘Haven’t you heard of knocking? Girls are trying to get ready in here,’ Ellie snapped at him.
‘Oops! Sorry! Just came to tell you Priti’s downstairs,’ Raffy said with a grin. ‘Says Sasha invited her. She looks … well … nothing like she looks at school either. Though she hasn’t got pink hair.’
‘Seriously wow!’ Ellie murmured as she followed Rafferty out on to the landing.
I thought for a moment that she was commenting on Raffy’s bum as he jogged down the stairs in front of us. Then I spotted Priti standing at the bottom of the staircase.
‘Priti!’ I exclaimed in delight. My friend looked absolutely stunning in the shimmering red 1950s dress. She had an orange silk shawl tied loosely round her shoulders and her black hair fell in glossy waves down her back.
Lily, Hanna and Clara were all standing in the hall gawping at her as if they’d just seen Cinderella.
‘Priti!’ I said as I reached the bottom of the stairs and gave her an excited hug. ‘You look fantastic!’
‘Priti, no way is that you!’ Lily finally blurted.
‘Thanks,’ Priti murmured good-naturedly.
‘Cool vintage dresses, girls!’ Hanna exclaimed, giving us both a thumbs up.
‘Yes,’ agreed Lily. ‘Very retro!’
Only Clara couldn’t bring herself to say anything nice it seemed, though at least for once she refrained from saying anything nasty.
‘In here, people,’ Raffy announced, holding open the door to the front room, where he had already started the music, and I felt a nervous flutter in my tummy as we followed him inside.
He came to stand next to me while the others crowded round the snacks. ‘Look, Sasha, I just wanted to say …’
I turned round to face him and suddenly he was looking straight into my eyes. I was conscious of my bare shoulders and I imagined him putting his arm round me. Stop it, Sasha. It will never happen.
‘… thanks for letting us have this place. Lily told me you’re a bit nervous because it’s your first proper party, but you can relax now. I’ll make sure nothing bad happens. Your mum will never know we were here.’ He smiled and the light green flecks in his brown eyes seemed to shine. And as he walked away his hand touched my arm very briefly. I actually felt like I had stopped breathing for a few moments.
All this and the party had barely even started. I swallowed hard over the knot in my throat. Now all we had to do was wait for everyone else to arrive.
By nine o’clock the music was blaring out pretty loudly, although nobody was dancing. All of the snacks and drinks we’d bought had rapidly been consumed and I was a bit worried because a few of the older kids were drinking bottles of beer they’d brought with them.
To be honest, I wasn’t enjoying myself as much as I’d expected. Weirdly enough, Priti looked like she was having a better time than me, chiefly because she seemed to be getting on really well with Ellie. Before, I’d been a bit concerned about Priti not fitting in with the others, but from the way those two had been completely absorbed in a conversation about henna tattoos for the last twenty minutes, I realised I needn’t have worried.
Twenty minutes before Priti was due to meet her dad outside my place, she went upstairs to change back into her normal clothes.
‘Mum might be home when I get back and she’ll ask loads of questions if she sees this dress,’ she explained as she handed it back to me. ‘Talk about a dress making you feel like a princess,’ she added wistfully as she pulled her hair back into its usual ponytail.
I half wished I could go with her but I knew I couldn’t leave Blossom House until everyone else had gone. I’d already been upstairs with Lily twice to get people down from the empty rooms up there, and there was nothing I could do about the fact that a lot of the older kids were crammed into the back sitting room, which I’d wanted to keep off limits.
But the worst thing of all was that from the moment Raffy’s friends had arrived he had acted like he hardly even knew me. I mean, I got the fact that he couldn’t be seen hanging out with his kid sister’s friend. I really did. But I’d hoped he might have found another moment to catch me on my own to ask me how I was doing.
After I’d seen Priti out I stopped to fill up a paper cup with water from the kitchen tap.
‘Hi, Sasha,’ said a familiar voice behind me.
I whirled round and saw Zack standing at the back door. He was wearing jeans and a blue T-shirt with a
quirky cartoon of Bugs Bunny on the front and ‘What’s Up, Doc?’ written on the back.
‘What are you doing here?’ I asked him in surprise.
‘Mum and Dad have gone out and my big sister’s in charge, so it was much easier to get away than I thought.’ He paused. ‘Wow, you look … different. I really like that dress. It suits you.’
‘Thanks.’
Just then Sean walked in through the door behind Zack. He immediately pointed at my pink hair and fell about laughing.
‘Shut up,’ I snapped, though of course that wasn’t going to stop him.
‘At least there’s not as much noise outside as I thought there’d be,’ Sean said once he’d pulled himself together. ‘You can’t hear much at all from the street.’
‘Told you it would be fine,’ I snapped.
‘Well, I don’t know about fine!’ He paused. ‘You do realise Raffy’s got you taking all the risk for a party that’s full of his friends, don’t you?’
‘So?’
‘Sasha, are you in here?’ Lily came to the door of the kitchen and looked relieved when she found me.
‘What is it, Lily?’
‘Someone just told me that a crowd of Year Tens are mucking about in that old shed in the garden. Should we go and check it out, do you think? I can get Raffy to come with us.’
‘If he’s not one of them,’ Sean muttered.
‘It’s OK, Lily, we’ll go and check it out,’ I told her, going over to the open back door where, when I looked out, I could make out movement at the end of the garden.
It was getting dark outside as Sean, Zack and I made our way across the grass and through the trees until we reached the spot where the trees ended and the wild part of the garden began. I stopped abruptly because I really didn’t want to ruin my dress by carrying on through all the overgrown grass and brambles.
A friend of Raffy’s called Jake and a few other Year Ten boys were gathered in front of the shed, standing round the big metal trunk, which they must have dragged outside. The box was open and they were shining their torches inside it, talking in low excited voices.