by Beth Garrod
Erin still didn’t look up.
I knew she’d be wanting to tell them the truth too, but we’d made a pact that under no circumstances could they find out.
‘It was my fault.’ The words popped out before I could stop them. ‘I thought Lily could write an amazing piece about it.’ Was I saying it for me, for if I ever got back in my body, or to get my sister off the hook? ‘I didn’t mean to involve anyone else, but I knew how much it meant to Lily, and what with being grounded with all the chores I thought you’d say no if I asked.’
Mum and Dad looked aghast. I guessed normal me doing stupid stuff was expected, but their eldest daughter doing it was a whole different thing.
Dad shook his head. ‘Honestly, Erin, I don’t know what’s got into you lately.’ Answer: her youngest sister. ‘Your grades are going downhill, you’ve lost the captain spot on Les Quizerables.’ Ouch, I didn’t even know that one. ‘Ben hasn’t been round for weeks and now this.’
More silence.
Should I just tell them everything?
‘To be honest…’ I started.
But Erin kicked me under the table as she interrupted.
‘To be honest, it was my fault too. I’m sorry we didn’t tell you but we didn’t even know if it would work.’ She looked at me. ‘Erin was helping me out, she really was. More than I can explain… it just… well, it all got out of hand.’
Wow, she was sharing the blame.
Mum pressed her fingers across her forehead. ‘I don’t need to tell you two how dangerous what you did was.’
Dad sniffed. ‘Anything could have happened to you.’
I mean, anything did happen to us. My sister made global headlines, we’d potentially caused Frankie to want to commit double murder, and I’d discovered a portal to a magical room. But these finer details probably wouldn’t help, so instead we both just apologized again. I knew going to the concert was risky – but it had been our only hope. I hadn’t really thought about the what next.
‘This is so out of character for you both.’ Mum sighed again. ‘Erin, I thought we could rely on you to be sensible. And, Lily, for all your… accidents, we’ve never known you to go this far.’
Dad rubbed Mum’s arm, worried about her. ‘It’s as if we don’t even know who you are any more.’
Well, the feeling was mutual. I was beginning to lose a grip on who I was too. And unless we figured out Agatha’s cryptic clues and what she wanted from us, I was worried I might never get it back.
I’d hated what life had become, and all the lies.
Mum shook her head. ‘The way things are going I’m half expecting a call from school saying, I don’t know…’ She racked her brain for something utterly ridiculous. ‘Erin’s out of the play or… Lily and Micha aren’t friends any more.’
Wow.
Was there any way I could convince school Mum and Dad had changed their numbers just to be on the safe side?
Dad cleared his throat. ‘I think it goes without saying you’re both grounded. Very grounded. So this week, after school and rehearsals, we’ve got a punishment we hope might help you both take some time out and try to remember who the real Lily and Erin are.’
I think they were expecting a protest. But we both nodded.
Trying to figure this all out was exactly what we both needed.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
My phone buzzed. Finally. It had been twenty minutes since we’d messaged the family group to let them know the rehearsal had been cut short. Erin and I had fled the hall at super speed to avoid Frankie, and had been doing stealth laps around the school playing field ever since. Normally we’d have probably just headed into town to kill time, but with Mum and Dad watching our every move, we figured honesty was the best policy, even if it meant going home to face extra chores.
Dad: We’redoingtheTuesdaybigshop.Wait outside the caféforus.And nogettingintrouble.
That was his new way of saying goodbye.
Dad: Ithinksomethingisstuckonmyspacebutton
‘Guess we’re off to ASDA café then.’ I started to head to the corner of the field where there was an alleyway to the estate where the supermarket was. ‘A dazzling end to a dazzling day.’
Erin nose-laughed. Today had been a disaster for us both. Mrs Saddler was so furious with how my first scene with Harley had been going, she’d stormed on stage and yelled at the whole cast to leave and work on our lines in private. She’d ended it by saying any final casting decisions would happen in tomorrow’s dress rehearsal. All while staring Right. At. Me.
‘Dazzling indeed. I swear if Mrs Saddler gives my part to Lou and ruins the only chance I have of getting into Chinyere Okafor’s Drama Academy, I will never forgive her.’ Erin paused. ‘Or you.’
‘Thanks for the vote of confidence.’ I kicked at an old rounders ball on the path. Stupid ball. Stupid Agatha. Stupid everything. ‘I am trying, you know. Although –’ maybe I could flip this back on my sister – ‘maybe I’d be better if you did a bit more to help things on your side.’
Erin sighed. ‘Yeah, I know. I need to speak to Frankie. Find out what she actually knows.’
Rumour was she’d spent Sunday at the arena trying to track down any evidence of who took her tickets.
‘And?’
‘Explain it was all a big mix-up.’ I wasn’t sure how, but I had to rely on Erin to think of something.
‘And?’
Erin rolled her eyes.
‘Be a “creative genius” –’ I didn’t think the whiny impression of me was needed – ‘with Nic tomorrow.’
‘One hundred per cent.’ Erin’s dreams might be in the balance on Saturday, but mine depended on Erin majorly impressing everyone in tomorrow’s editorial meeting. And so far my killer idea total was at… zero. Plus I hadn’t heard a word from Nic since my birthday. ‘But they’re not actually what I meant…’
I’d meant the one thing that mattered even more.
It was day three of no messages from Micha and it was killing me. I didn’t even get a reply when I asked how her parents had taken the news about chemistry.
‘Have you noticed something’s up with Micha?’
Erin shrugged. ‘Sort of. I mean, I haven’t really seen her.’
I tried not to roll my eyes at how this was exactly it. ‘Well, yes, Erin. But do you not think that’s… weird?’
She shrugged. ‘I assumed she was busy revising for her test this weekend. And that big extra assignment she mentioned.’ Sometimes there was no getting through to my sister.
I shook my head.
‘What?’ Erin raised her eyebrows. ‘I apologized for what happened on Saturday. Twice! And for missing her tournament.’ But when she had all Micha had said was that my sister had to ‘do what she had to do’.
‘And… since then, Erin?’
Erin’s mouth twisted as if she were tackling one of her extra-hard quiz questions. ‘Hmm… nothing.’
‘We need to face it. She’s not talking to you. Me. Us. Whatever.’ I kicked the rounders ball so hard it flew into someone’s back garden. ‘And right when she needs our help more than ever.’
My sister stopped walking and turned to me, confused. ‘You mean like… periodic table stuff?’ She made it seem so black and white, as if that was what friendship was.
‘Well, yeah.’ I couldn’t help but sigh. ‘That, but it’s more, y’know… just being there for her. Because she’s got all this stuff going on and her best mate has basically disappeared. And is being all…’
Erin raised her eyebrow. ‘Don’t say weird.’
‘Weird.’
Erin hoisted her bag back up on her shoulder.
‘If you want to know what I think.’ I didn’t. ‘I think you’re over-worrying.’
She started to walk off. I jogged after her.
‘Well, I think you’re under-noticing.’
My sister really didn’t get it. How much Micha and I hung out. How we shared every detail of our lives. How bad things had got
now.
I always assumed Erin knew everything, but maybe there were some things she needed to figure out too. I waited for the mood to thaw before I attempted conversation again.
‘Look, if we’ve got to wait for the parents, shall we have another go at figuring out Agatha’s message?’
Last night, while cleaning the car inside and out as our first punishment, Erin and I had agreed our next steps.
We had to try to find Agatha one more time. And this time whatever happened we had to speak to her.
We were going on a major suck-up mission to Mum and Dad until we achieved point one.
Maybe it was time I changed Erin’s sheets after all.
‘Good idea.’ Erin nodded. ‘Let’s pick up hot drinks and go to the benches round the back. Maybe being somewhere different will help us, you know,’ she waved her hands Agatha-style, ‘see things differently.’
But when we got there, instead of space to clear our heads, we ran straight into Ben. Erin had strategically forgotten to remind me he worked in the café. No wonder she’d suggested getting drinks.
‘Well, hello!’ He hugged me. Still gross. I tried to think of my happy place. The Ben & Jerry’s counter in the cinema with Micha. ‘I’ve missed you, babe.’
‘Greetings…’ I still couldn’t say ‘babe’. ‘You. How’s the foot?’
‘Getting there…’ He raised one of his crutches. ‘Still more sympathy breaks from my boss means more time to catch up on the important stuff.’ I noticed what was on his table. Rocking Out: The Hottest Palaeontology News! magazine.
‘Cool.’ I lied.
‘Well it’s heading your way as soon as I finish it.’ He grinned. ‘Although shouldn’t you guys be at rehearsal? Four days till opening night!’ He actually jiggled my arm. ‘You’re going to be awesome.’
I couldn’t help but snort. ‘Hardly!’
Ben’s smile dropped. ‘C’mon! I know you wouldn’t have cancelled our Castles! Chaos! Cows! sessions for anything less.’ He was smiling again, but I could tell he was gutted his girlfriend hadn’t spent proper time with him in weeks. For the first time it occurred to me maybe Erin missed being able to fully geek-out with someone too.
She tapped me on the arm. ‘Hey, I’ll go and grab the hot chocolates.’
I knew what she was doing – it was the same thing I did with Micha. Being around the people you missed most made this whole thing harder. But I was happy to have any excuse not to stay and talk to Ben about rocks (or anything really) so went to give her a hand. Cockapoo Karen was ahead of us in the queue but sadly her dog wasn’t with her for joyous comparison. Although she did give me an idea. If it was my ‘Top Fifteen Dog Walkers Who Look Like Their Pets’ piece Nic had liked, maybe I could do a follow-up. That could be my first idea for editorial!
And amazing timing – when we headed outside, there Nic was, sitting on a bench, typing double-speed into her laptop.
I marched us over.
‘Oh hey, Nic. Didn’t expect to see you here.’ She took off her headphones, unimpressed at being disturbed. ‘You, er, come here often?’
‘What, the bench outside ASDA?’ How did she manage to make our school uniform look cool? ‘I mean, it’s not my number one destination.’
Why did I say such stupid stuff to her? I had to try harder.
‘It’s a great bench though.’ Not exactly the gold I was after. ‘St-unning. Very smooth… Smooth wood.’
For once Erin had my back. ‘Don’t mind her. She’s overdone it on the hot chocolate.’
But Nic didn’t smile. ‘I can tell by the foam moustache.’ Okay, maybe Erin didn’t have my back, or moustache, after all. I rubbed at it. Hard. ‘Anyway, if you don’t mind, can I get back to my piece?’ Nic pushed her headphones over her ears again. ‘Oh, and I’m sure you’ve guessed, but, Lily, we don’t need you at editorial tomorrow.’
I choked on my drink. ‘H… How come?’
‘Oh, I dunno.’ Nic snapped her laptop shut. ‘Maybe it’s because I need to focus on people I actually want on my team. People I can trust.’ She gave my sister a big, wide, entirely fake smile that looked alarmingly like her sister. ‘Y’know –’ she paused – ‘not people who would swipe my sister’s backstage passes.’
Nic let the words hang.
So Frankie did definitely know it was us.
And of course Nic would find out too. They were her passes. We’d betrayed Nic and upset her sister in the process.
How could I have been so stupid? I’d been so focused on getting into the concert and getting my life back, I’d not thought about who I might hurt in the process.
‘Oh, Nic. I’m SO sorry.’ I meant it. ‘We’re so sorry. I mean, I know how it looks.’
Nic raised an eyebrow.
‘Like you stole her passes so your sister could worm her way on stage?’ Worm? She was comparing me to a worm? ‘The press guy gave us a description of who picked up Frankie’s tickets. A girl. Red hair in a messy bob. Got her friend on the backstage list to do a feature. The friend in a slogan T-shirt.’ Nic paused. ‘The clip of Lily onstage confirmed it.’ She looked at my sister and shook her head. ‘I thought I could trust you.’
Ground, please open up. All I’d ever wanted to do was stay off Frankie’s radar and impress her big sister. And I’d failed spectacularly at both.
They must have thought I was a two-faced fake. And worse still, I couldn’t blame them.
I looked at my sister, willing her to think of something, anything, to make this less awful. She knew how much I respected Nic. I couldn’t have it all end like this.
But my sister was looking straight at Nic.
‘You can…’ Erin was standing tall, speaking slowly. ‘Trust me, that is. Really you can.’
Nic rolled her eyes. ‘I don’t have time for this.’
‘Please, Nic. Hear me out.’ Yes, Erin! I didn’t know where she was going, but I was willing her on. ‘I’d actually gone down to the concert just to hang outside. On my own. See if I could get some content for my blog on…’
Erin shot me a look. She needed my help.
‘Fandoms?’ It was the best I had.
‘Fandoms. Yes.’ My sister looked pleased. ‘But then Erin turned up. Out of the blue. She knew I’d had this idea for something with Chance Cheney.’
I coughed loudly. ‘Chase Cheney.’
Nic was staring at us both blankly.
‘Chase, yes. I wanted to take a look at what really goes into making his show. Give a glimpse of his world we don’t ever see.’ Erin was parroting the idea I’d given her as a cover-up on the day. She had listened after all! ‘I thought it could be an interesting angle.’ Did Cockapoo Karen just wave at me?! No, Lily, focus. ‘So as a surprise my big sister decided to come down and try to do something about it. When she saw Frankie’s tickets hadn’t been collected, but the concert had already started, she thought they were going to waste so said they were hers. I was so surprised when she turned up with them.’ Erin laughed softly. ‘She told me they were a late birthday present.’
Wow. Wow. Wow. I’d never wanted to hug my sister/myself so much in my life. She’d shifted all the blame on to the real Erin to help me out with Nic.
Nic looked at me as if needing to check it was true.
‘Lil didn’t have a clue how I really got the tickets until it all kicked off at school.’ I shrugged. I knew I looked guilty, as I genuinely felt terrible. ‘I only told her the truth last night. I guess I just knew how much she wanted something that would really stand out for her blog. To get on your team. And when I saw those tickets, I thought it might be her best chance.’
I hardly dared look at Nic. Had we done enough to change her mind about giving me and my writing another chance?
‘Not going to lie, that’s not quite what I heard from my sister.’ Nic paused. ‘But… I guess it all adds up.’ It did?! ‘And, Lily, I do like commitment. It was a nice angle you were going for.’ She liked it?! Could this mean she wasn’t totally mad at me any m
ore? I stuffed my hands in my pockets and crossed my fingers. ‘So while I don’t exactly like that my sister was upset –’ Nic tilted her head from side to side as if weighing it up – ‘it wasn’t exactly like Frankie had said thank you at any point. Or turned up on time to get them.’ She paused. ‘And I did get the impression she only wanted to go backstage to impress her new cheerleading mates.’ Wow, I’d never thought of Frankie ever trying to impress anyone. ‘Hmmm…’ Nic drummed her fingers on her laptop. ‘Lily, your space at the editorial has already been filled.’ They’d found someone else already? My heart sank. ‘But someone has dropped out of covering LOLCon.’ LOLCon?! As in the super-exclusive invite-only event this Saturday with hundreds of influencers doing panels and events? There was even a huge secret guest yet to be announced. It was kind of like Erin’s Shakespeare convention – but good. ‘We could do with a spare pair of hands in the morning. So if you’re up for doing some interviews for TheNicReport and do an amazing job, like seriously knock it out the park, then maybe, maybe I could have another think about you joining the team.’
What?! There was a glimpse of hope after all! I willed every bone in my body – both bodies, which was about 416 bones – for Erin to say yes.
And she did.
I could have kissed her, but kissing myself was a step too far.
‘Great.’ Nic stood up. ‘I’ll send you the list of influencer interviews we’re pitching for.’ I was going to have to brief Erin so hard. Even better, swap before then. ‘You’ll need to be fully prepped as it’s all being streamed. Live. You’re cool with that, right?’
Luckily Nic didn’t wait for an answer. Which was good as Erin did not take the news well. In fact, she didn’t manage anything more than a terrified squeak until we were back home and halfway through that evening’s punishment. Cleaning the bathroom.
But I knew how my sister felt – my head was still whirring dealing with it all when I went to bed. As I climbed under Erin’s duvet I realized it was the first night since the swap I hadn’t thought about the Hairy Godmother.