The Secrets Club

by Chris Higgins

  Convince him you’re someone else, Dani. You can do it. Don’t look him in the eye. Play with your hair. Show him your red-white-and-blue-striped fingernails. And smile. That’s it.

  ‘You remind me of someone,’ he says thoughtfully. ‘But I can’t think who.’

  Oh flip. Flutter your eyelashes! That’s what Georgia does.

  I open and close my eyes rapidly and he looks a bit alarmed, but stands his ground.

  ‘Have you got something in your eye?’

  ‘Some mascara. And eyeliner. You know, just girly stuff.’ I giggle nervously.

  ‘What’s your name?’ he asks.

  ‘Danielle,’ I mumble.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Dani-elle,’ I repeat, emphasizing the Elle. It works.

  ‘Hi, Elle, I’m Marvyn,’ he says. ‘Are you at school with Tash?’

  I nod, groaning inwardly. He’s going to find out, I know he is, and then I’m done for. I am going to be so humiliated when everyone finds out I’ve been pretending to be a boy. Plus my football career will be over before it’s even started.

  It’s not fair. I am never going to live this down, especially when the Barbies get to hear about it!

  And then I spot him. My superhero!

  Rupert is coming to the rescue bearing two tall glasses containing some sort of sparkling drink decorated with umbrellas and pieces of fruit. I hear myself saying, ‘Actually, I’m with someone. Have you met Rupert?’ and I surprise myself because I sound so sophisticated.

  Marvyn looks up and sees him too. ‘Sorry, mate!’ he mumbles and moves away.

  It worked! I can handle this. I feel so grown-up.

  ‘Who’s your friend?’ asks Rupert as he hands me the drink.

  I smile at him mysteriously and take a large gulp while I think of a cool answer. I’m learning so fast!

  ‘Easy,’ says Rupert warningly. ‘It’s very fizzy.’ But it’s too late. The bubbles go straight up my nose and explode. He looks at me in alarm as I start snorting uncontrollably.

  ‘Are you OK?’

  I gasp for air as my nose makes loud pig noises. People turn round to look and start to giggle. Lissa comes over and bangs me unhelpfully on the back.

  ‘Don’t do that!’ I splutter as snot emerges from my nose and drips unbecomingly on to my blue silk dress.

  Correction, Lissa’s blue silk shirt. Now she is looking at me with disgust and Rupert is staring at me in horror and I can’t breathe.

  The whole room is staring at me. Including Marvyn.

  This party is turning into a disaster. There is no way I’m going to keep my cover if I’m the centre of attention like this. I need to get out of here quickly before Marvyn recognizes me and Incredible-Snorting-Pig-Girl is finally unmasked as Imposter-Boy-Footballer in front of everyone.

  Including the first ever crush of her life, the gorgeous Rupert.

  ‘Need the loo!’

  I make a dash through my open-mouthed audience to the downstairs cloakroom, snorting all the way.

  Chapter 17

  ‘What happened to you Friday night?’ says Lissa accusingly on Monday morning as she hands me my school bag in the yard.

  I take a peek inside. My school uniform, my jeans and favourite T-shirt and my hockey kit have been washed and ironed to within an inch of their lives. They look brand new. I’m wearing my spare set of uniform today which looks nowhere near as smart.

  I hand Lissa a plastic bag. She stares glumly down at its crumpled, snot-stained blue-silk contents. Oops! I should’ve asked my mum to wash her shirt/dress thing. I’m not like Lissa, I don’t think of these things.

  ‘It was the bubbles. They went up my nose. I couldn’t help it.’

  Tash giggles at the memory but Lissa gives her a stern look and she stops immediately. She and Ali are standing slightly behind Lissa to the left and right like a deputation. Oh dear, I thought this might happen. I’d texted Lissa to let her know that I’d got home safely but after that I’d ignored their calls all weekend. I knew I’d have to face them this morning though.

  Lissa: ‘I don’t mean that. I mean why did you run off …?’

  Ali: ‘Without saying goodbye to anyone …?’

  Tash: ‘Like Cinderella?’

  I look with interest at Tash. I hadn’t thought of it like that. I suppose it was a bit like a fairy tale with me (Cinderella) fleeing into the night away from Rupert (my handsome prince) with a secret I had to keep hidden at all costs. Only I’d left my muddy clothes behind instead of a jewelled slipper.

  So what did that make them then? The Ugly Sisters!

  I resist the urge to laugh but I can’t have been very successful because Lissa snaps, ‘It’s not funny, Dani! You never even thanked my mum for the party!’

  ‘I’m sorry!’ I say genuinely.

  ‘She thought we’d had an argument and you’d run off upset,’ she continues.

  ‘But we didn’t –’

  ‘I know that, but she didn’t! I had to stop her from ringing your mum.’

  ‘Oh flip!’ My mum would be furious if she found out.

  She scowls at me. ‘And Rupert gave me grief too.’

  ‘Did he?’

  ‘Yeah. He said it must’ve been my fault you went home because when you were talking to him, you were getting on fine.’

  ‘Did he? Did he really say that?’

  ‘Yeah. I just said he did, didn’t I? What’s wrong with you?’

  Even though I’d been dreading coming in this morning, I suddenly feel light and happy.

  ‘I’m sorry!’ I repeat and fling my arms round her neck. ‘It was so embarrassing what with me snorting like a pig and snot pouring out of my nose and everyone in the party looking at me. I just wanted to go home. So when I came out of the loo and no one was looking, I grabbed my coat and made a dash for it.’

  Lissa goes from prickly cross to soft and melty in two seconds flat. ‘That’s OK,’ she says and pats me on the back. ‘I get embarrassed sometimes too.’

  ‘Yeah,’ says Ali thoughtfully. ‘But Dani embarrassed! That’s got to be a first.’

  ‘It’s probably your hormones,’ says Lissa kindly. ‘That’s what Mum says when I go moody.’

  I want to tell her that’s not hormones, that’s her, because Lissa is renowned for being moody. But things are going so well I refrain and just nod in agreement.

  ‘It was a great party though,’ I say. ‘Thanks for inviting me, Liss.’ She beams at me. Then I can’t resist adding, even though I know how risky it is, a bit like prodding a troublesome tooth to see if it’s still aching, ‘It was good to see Ajay and his friend there too.’

  ‘Marvyn?’ Lissa goes a bit dewy-eyed. ‘He was nice, wasn’t he?’

  Tash squeals. ‘I knew it! Lissa for Marvyn! Lissa for Marvyn! I saw you dancing with him at the end!’ and Lissa goes red. Then Tash adds, ‘I was chatting to him yesterday and he said he had a good time,’ and Lissa goes redder still.

  ‘Who was Elle by the way?’ adds Tash and my heart does a somersault.

  ‘Elle?’ asks Lissa.

  ‘Yeah. Only he said he’d been talking to someone called Elle at the party.’

  ‘There wasn’t anyone called Elle at the party,’ repeats Lissa, puzzled, and then her face falls. ‘Oh no! He must’ve meant Ella. I bet he fancies her! Didn’t he mention me at all?’

  ‘Yeah. Non-stop. He said you were the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen in his whole life and he was madly in love with y
ou,’ says Tash with a straight face.

  Just for a split second you can see that Lissa believes her. Then, as Tash bursts out laughing, Lissa shrieks and swings the plastic bag with the blue shirt at her head and she ducks and runs off, with Lissa chasing her.

  And then, thank goodness, the bell goes for school and Ali links her arm through mine and we go inside chuckling at them both and a new school week begins.

  Chapter 18

  If anything, Mrs Waters steps up the pace of hockey training this week. To tell the truth I’m loving it but not everyone feels the same. The weather continues to be cold and wet and some people cry off, pleading coughs and colds, such as Georgia, though it’s pretty obvious there’s nothing wrong with her. Even stalwarts like Lissa start to object when she slips and falls flat on her back in the mud.

  ‘I’m soaked right through to my knickers!’ she wails as we’re getting changed afterwards. I make the mistake of laughing and she glares at me. ‘It’s not fair,’ she grumbles. ‘It’s all right for you. We’re going through all this for nothing. We don’t even get the chance to try out for the development squad.’

  ‘Shut up, Lissa. Dani’s miles better than us,’ says Tash, which only makes Lissa scowl more.

  ‘We are the Gang of Four, the No Secrets Club, remember?’ reminds Ali sternly. ‘We have to support each other. Like you supported me for the fashion show.’

  Ali is so loyal. She’s not even in the hockey team but she’s been turning out to play to plug the gaps.

  Lissa looks a bit shamefaced. ‘I know. Sorry, Dani.’

  ‘It’s OK. Don’t worry.’ I give her a hug. ‘It’ll be your turn next. Anyway, I might not even get in.’

  ‘Course you will,’ she says, hugging me back. Lissa might be moody but she never bears grudges. ‘You better had,’ she adds fiercely, ‘after all this effort.’

  ‘I’ll do my best,’ I say flatly. But the truth is I’m not even sure I want to. Well, I do, obviously; it would be brilliant to learn to play hockey at a higher level and Mum and Gran would be so proud of me. But I don’t know how often this Development Centre thingy meets, and I’m guessing it’s going to be on Saturdays. So how on earth am I going to manage that if I’m already playing football?

  I give a big sigh and Ali looks at me strangely. ‘Cheer up,’ she says. ‘I thought you loved hockey?’

  ‘I do,’ I say truthfully but I don’t add the obvious. I love football more. It looks like I’m going to have some choices to make. I’ve got my first match for Blackett this weekend. I just can’t see how I’m going to fit everything in.

  Then, as if Lissa can read my mind and has decided to make my already complicated life even more stressful, she says, ‘Hey, you lot! Don’t forget we’re meeting up this Saturday at Donatella’s.’

  ‘Are we?’ I say blankly.

  ‘Yeah. It’s my birthday, remember?’

  ‘It was your birthday last week,’ I point out.

  ‘Duh! That was my party, stupid. Anyway, you don’t have to worry, it’s my treat. My Auntie Florence sent me some money and I can’t think of a better way of spending it than on coffee and cake with my three best friends.’

  ‘Aahh! Thanks, Liss. That’s really generous of you,’ says Ali, smiling. ‘I’ll be there.’

  Tash beams. ‘Me too. So long as it’s OK with my mum. Shouldn’t be a problem,’ she adds cheerfully.

  ‘What about you, Dani?’ asks Lissa pointedly. ‘You are coming, aren’t you?’

  I hesitate and a hurt expression flashes across her face. She thinks I don’t want to.

  ‘You’re playing football with your mates,’ she says bitterly. ‘Of course. Silly me.’

  ‘Dann-nii,’ whispers Ali disapprovingly.

  ‘It’s Lissa’s birthday,’ Tash points out, her usual smiley face serious for once.

  ‘I can’t,’ I say weakly. ‘I’ve got to go and see my gran.’ Even to my ears it sounds like an excuse.

  ‘Yeah, right,’ says Lissa, her voice hollow. She doesn’t believe me. None of them do. Three faces glare at me.

  I swallow hard and do some rapid calculations in my head. ‘I could come before though, if you want,’ I say. ‘For an hour.’

  ‘YAY!’ Lissa flings her arm round my neck. ‘About eleven o’clock?’

  ‘Ten,’ I say. ‘Ten would be better.’

  But she doesn’t respond. She’s too busy gabbling away about the different coffees and cakes at Donatella’s.

  Chapter 19

  The night before my first ever proper league football match I’m so excited I hardly sleep a wink. I’d gone to town after school that day and bought myself a new pair of football boots because my old ones from primary school were too small for me. They cost a bomb. Mum would have a fit if she knew I’d blown all my savings on them. But they’re worth it.

  The next morning I give Jade firm instructions. (‘Meet me at the station in time to catch the five past eleven train and DON’T be late!’) Then I leave the house with my sports bag packed and ready for the game, to go and meet the others first for our cake-date.

  Donatella’s is closed and there is no sign of anyone. I end up waiting outside, hopping impatiently from foot to foot, sending ‘Where are you?’ texts to my absent friends. At last Lissa responds.

  On my way. Thought we were meeting at 11.

  I groan aloud. Why does life always have to be so complicated? There’s no way I can get in touch with Jade to tell her of the change of plan because she hasn’t got a mobile and she’ll have left the house by now. And, anyway, I don’t want to miss the match!

  Just as I’m debating whether I dare give up and make a bolt for it the shutters go up at last and everyone arrives more or less simultaneously. Lissa is excited, insisting we all choose a different cake so we can share, even though Ali and Tash both want the triple chocolate and I don’t want any because I’m so nervous for my first match. Only I can’t tell them that.

  The waitress is really chatty, making lots of suggestions (Aagh! How can there be that many cakes in one little cafe?) and everyone keeps changing their minds and it takes FOREVER to order, though no one else seems to mind except me.

  Then Lissa starts pulling out things from her bag to show us what she got for her birthday and Ali and Tash go ‘Aahh!’ and ‘Oohh!’ so I have to join in too otherwise it looks like I’m not interested. (I’m not actually, I hate smellies and jewellery and stuff.) And all the time that I’m ‘Oohing’ and ‘Aahhing’, I’m worrying about making it to the match in time. The cakes arrive at last and we all have to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Lissa and then Tash sings a rude version as well that her brother Devon taught her, which, I have to admit, is hilarious. But amid all this frivolity I keep checking my watch when no one’s looking and wondering how quickly I can scoff my cake and make my exit.

  The trouble is we still have to try each other’s cakes because Lissa says so. And then, because she has to make everything a competition, we have to give marks for them out of ten and choose an overall winner. Naturally, this turns into a heated and prolonged argument because everyone has a different opinion, even though, actually, I don’t give a stuff, it’s just a bit of cake and I NEED TO GET GOING!

  You see, I’m worried sick that the match will start without me. I mean, if I can’t turn up on time for the very first match, Terry will never ever pick me again. After all this effort, I’ll have blown it before I even started!

  In the end Lissa’s cake is chosen as the best which I could’ve told you w
as going to happen in the first place and saved us all a lot of time and energy. At last I can spring to my feet.

  ‘Got to go now, Liss,’ I say in a rush. ‘Sorry. Jade’s waiting for me at the station. Thanks for the cake. It was brilliant.’

  And even though I can see her face clouding over with disappointment I leg it as fast as I can before she has time to object.

  She texts me. I knew she would. I can hear messages pinging on my phone as I’m running through the streets but I ignore them. All ten of them.

  I arrive at the station, hot and sweaty and out of breath, and cast my eyes around for Jade. I spot her, sitting alone on a bench, her head in a book as usual. She looks up, first at me, then pointedly at the big station clock above us.

  ‘You’re late,’ she says accusingly.

  ‘Sorry!’

  ‘You told me not to be, but you are. Nearly an hour late.’

  ‘I know.’ I swallow hard, grateful for my stoical younger sister. Mum would go mad if she knew I’d abandoned her at a train station on a busy Saturday morning. Most kids would’ve attracted attention by now, made a fuss, burst into tears and be surrounded by a crowd of concerned people wanting to take them into care.

  Not Jade though. She’d just sat quietly, lost in her book, and no one even noticed.

  ‘We’ve missed the train,’ she points out.

  ‘Come on. We’ll get the next one,’ I say, hoping we haven’t missed that too. I glance up at the departures screen and see there’s one waiting on the opposite platform. ‘Quick! It’s ready to go!’

  We run across the bridge and jump on the train. As we sink into our seats I breathe a sigh of relief. Phew! I’m going to make it. Just.

  ‘You’re playing football this afternoon, aren’t you?’ says Jade the mind-reader.

  ‘Might be.’ I’m trying to sound non-committal but it doesn’t quite come off. I take my phone out of my pocket and loads of messages flash up. Not just from Lissa, but from Ali and Tash too. What do they want?