The compulsion to scream finally got the better of me. When I’d finished I carefully put the present back on the mantelpiece and turned to Lauren.
‘Well,’ I said, a lot more calmly than I was feeling,’ Dad lost his job which he loved, Spencer had trouble getting used to his new school, Chelsea . . . well, let’s just say Chelsea ran away and I had to chase halfway across the country looking for her,’ this was an exaggeration, obviously, but I was getting into my stride now,’ and I had to move away from my best friend!’ I hoped I didn’t sound too much like a ‘poor little rich girl’ so I carried on quickly.
‘The worst thing is - I could have coped with all that - if my so-called best friend hadn’t deserted me and started being horrible for no better reason than my mum just happened to win the lottery.’
‘That wasn’t the reason!’ said Lauren.
‘Well, what was the reason then? I’m dying to know. And don’t tell me it was because I changed because I didn’t.’
Lauren didn’t say anything for a full minute.
‘Okay,’ she said finally,’ I admit I was jealous of you, moving here to this big house - and I know it was silly of me - but I was cross with you for moving, even though it wasn’t your fault, and then Stacy came along . . .’
‘And you decided you didn’t need me any more?’
‘It was all those things she said about you. I thought they were true.’
‘A true friend would have asked me. A true friend wouldn’t have believed them in the first place . . .’I didn’t want to go on, I was tired of all this. I wanted to go and find Annabel and give her the present.
‘Look,’ I said. ‘It doesn’t matter. I know what Stacy’s like but I can’t believe you were taken in by her. I’m glad she’s going back to London. Good riddance to her. If you want to hang out with me and Annabel when we go back to school then that’s fine, but if you can’t accept her then you’ll have to do without me.’
Lauren opened her mouth to say something but I didn’t want to hear any more.
‘I’m going downstairs now, there’s a party on,’ I said, then I walked out and left her standing there.
I know our friendship will never be the same again but I don’t want us to be enemies. All the same, there is a tiny part of me that’s hoping that she won’t want to hang out with me and Annabel.
Sunday 26th December
Christmas Day was totally mental. I think Mum and Dad were trying to make up for all the years they hadn’t been able to afford to give us much.
I got a computer, all to myself, and a huge heap of other stuff, including a new MP3 player and a smartphone.
Spencer got a new bike and a heap of War Hammer stuff and Chelsea got money so she could get the things she wanted for herself.
Mum told Chelsea she couldn’t use any of it to pay her back. She had to earn the money she owed. Chelsea didn’t mind. She loves her new job at the Health Spa.
They also bought us all a Nintendo Wii and a load of games we could play on it together.
Missy got a new collar with diamonds on it. Not real ones, obviously. Mum hasn’t lost her mind.
Grumps got a new pair of slippers, because that’s what he always gets and Dad said he’d be unhappy with anything else.
Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better Mum handed us all an envelope. Chelsea ripped hers open and started screaming. I tore mine open to see what all the fuss was about and inside was a piece of paper with One Holiday to Florida written on it. Mum brought out a load of brochures about all the things we could do when we got there. Chelsea made a grab for them then chucked one to me. It was for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
All the stuff - the computer and the holiday and the phone and the MP3 player - is great but, if anyone asks me, the best thing about winning the lottery is that you really know who your friends are. And to think that if it wasn’t for the lottery I would never even have spoken to Annabel.
Chelsea just came into my bedroom. She’s never been in here before.
She’s been teasing me mercilessly about the wishes thing ever since our chat in the caravan. I think it’s pretty mean of her, considering it was me who went and rescued her.
She looked around at my new bed and the huge bookcase with all the books and the beanbags and the fireplace and blue flowery wallpaper.
‘Hmm,’ she said eventually,’ it’s very. . . you.’ She paused. ‘It’s nice, I like it.’Which is as much of a compliment as I’m ever going to get off her.
‘I’ve been thinking,’ she said,’ in case you’re still worried about the wishes and everything being your fault . . . ‘
I wondered how she knew that I still worried about how I had to be careful about what I thought in case I accidentally made a wish I didn’t mean.
‘. . . Well, if you think about it, everything happened because Mum won the lottery; us moving - which meant you got your own room and Spencer went to a new school and all that stuff with me - and don’t start thinking that Mum won the lottery just so all those wishes could come true, because technically Mum won the lottery before we went on holiday and before you went anywhere near that gypsy machine. I just thought you should know because I bet you’re still worrying, so stop it.’ And then she left.
So I’ve decided to put all that magic nonsense behind me from now on. At least that’s what the front part of my brain is thinking. I’m trying to ignore the bit at the back.
Spencer bought me a new diary for Christmas. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I’m not going to write one any more. I don’t really need to. One of the reasons I kept this one was because I needed to put down all my crazy thoughts, the sort that Lauren said were my imagination getting carried away. Well, now I can share them with Annabel because she has them too and she doesn’t think I’m deranged.
I gave Annabel the bracelet and she loves it. I’m going to get one for myself and every time the little bell charm rings it will remind me how important it is to be loyal to your friends.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Phil for doing all the boring things so I don’t have to, and George, who keeps me sane by making me laugh insanely.
Thanks to my editor Anne for all her hard work and to my friend Dawn for her continuing support. Also, thanks go to my three sisters who encourage me when it’s most needed.
Alice in time
PENELOPE BUSH
If you could revisit your past, what would you see?
Things are at crisis point for fourteen-year-old Alice. Her mum is ruining her life, her dad’s getting remarried, and Sasha, the most popular girl in school, hates her guts . . .
Then a bizarre accident happens, and Alice finds herself re-living her life as a seven-year-old through teenage eyes - and discovering some awkward truths. But can she use her new knowledge to change her own future?
An amazing book.
Cleverly written, exciting and fast-paced.’
Chicklish
An ambitious and successful novel.’
Books for Keeps
Diary of a Lottery Winner's Daughter Page 15