Strawberry Sisters Read online

  ‘He’s not her boyfriend!’ Ella said. ‘She called him her friend. He’s not her boyfriend, is he?’

  ‘Do you mind if he is? Don’t you want her to have a boyfriend?’

  Ella squirmed with misery. ‘It’s not that I don’t want her to have a nice time.’

  ‘I know. You’re always telling her she should go out more.’

  Ella scrubbed at her eyes with her fists. ‘When I said that, I thought she’d go shopping with Susan or visit the museum with one of the other teachers.’

  ‘Why do you mind if she goes with a man instead? You don’t mind about Dad having a girlfriend. You like Suvi.’

  ‘I do like Suvi.’ She hesitated. ‘But,’ she lowered her voice, ‘I wasn’t sure at first. I’ve had time to get used to her.’

  ‘Well, you’ll get used to whoever Mum picks as a boyfriend. It might not even be this one; she might try lots of different ones.’

  Ella looked like she might be sick. ‘Do you really think she’s going to have loads of different boyfriends? Will they all come round and have coffee? In our house?’

  ‘Why do you care if they visit our house?’

  She looked at me and I stared back at her. I was lost again. I could understand that Ella might not like Mum having a boyfriend, I still wasn’t super keen myself, but I didn’t see what all this business was about our house. It’s not as if Ella liked to lie around in her underwear, eating tuna straight from the can like Chloe did.

  ‘I don’t know what to say,’ I said eventually. ‘I’m trying to cheer you up, but I’m not doing a very good job, am I?’

  Ella took a deep breath. ‘It’s hard to explain. If Mum really has to have a boyfriend, I’d rather she did it at a restaurant. Our house is for us.’

  ‘He’s not going to move in or anything.’

  Ella’s eyes widened in horror.

  ‘I just mean that if any of Mum’s friends come round they won’t be here for long and you’re right, it is our home, so we can just carry on doing whatever we want to.’

  Ella pressed her lips together.

  Then I got it. Ella can’t be herself when there are strangers around. ‘Do you feel uncomfortable when there are other people in the house?’ I asked.

  ‘Sort of. I mean, I don’t mind Susan or Lauren, I don’t even mind Thunder so much now because he’s not as scary as he looks, but . . . when Greg was here, I just sort of froze.’

  ‘It must be difficult for you,’ I said.

  ‘I just can’t help it. I don’t want him to think I’m mean. I’m sure he’s very nice.’

  ‘Yes!’ I said. ‘I bet he is and do you know how I know?’

  ‘How?’

  ‘Because Mum likes him and I think she’s a pretty good judge; she wouldn’t bring anyone horrible into our house. And you know the way that you got used to Suvi and Thunder? That will happen with Greg too if he keeps coming round.’

  ‘Do you think so?’

  ‘I’m sure of it. You’re nice; he’s nice. I think eventually you’ll get along.’

  ‘But what about now?’

  ‘If you feel shy now, that’s OK. We know you’re shy. I think even Greg must have realised that. If you just try to say hello and goodbye to him, I promise you that your big-mouthed sisters can fill in all the gaps for you.’

  Ella smiled. ‘Thank you. I think that would be a big help.’

  And the crease between her eyes finally disappeared.

  ‘How’s the concert coming on?’ Lauren asked.

  I’d popped round to her house after an extra rehearsal on Monday afternoon.

  ‘Oh, you know, Mr Garcia has reached that point where he looks haunted and sweaty all the time. He kicked off with the usual, “In three days’ time, you’ll all be onstage.”’

  Lauren nodded. ‘Oh, I know that speech; it’s like he’s telling you all you’ve only got a few days left before you’re going to be publicly shamed by the worst singing he’s ever heard.’

  ‘Yep. Then he moved on to, “Is there any possibility that you might be persuaded to exert the least bit of effort, Ms Strawberry? Mr Tarasewicz?”’

  ‘What did you say? What did Bartek say?’

  ‘He waited till Mr Garcia was finished with us and, when we were walking back to the hall, he jabbed me in the ribs and said, “Miss Strawberry, when are you going to stop flicking your hair and do some nice singing?”’

  ‘He didn’t!’

  ‘He did.’

  ‘What did you say?’

  ‘I said, “Stop jabbing me or I won’t ask you to Olivia’s party.”’

  Lauren gasped. ‘And?’

  ‘He stopped and I asked him to Olivia’s party and he said yes.’

  ‘Woooo-hoooo!’ Lauren bounced on her bed and I couldn’t help laughing.

  ‘So then Mr Garcia came to listen to the group songs and spent the rest of the rehearsal bellowing and stomping and we all had a great time. At least Bartek and I had a great time making silly jokes. I think Mr Garcia might have actually ruptured an internal organ.’

  ‘He’ll be all right. He loves it when he’s conducting; his little face lights up like . . .’

  ‘Like his acrylic jumper has caught fire.’

  Lauren snorted with laughter. ‘I wish I was at rehearsals,’ she said.

  ‘Me too.’

  ‘I can’t wait to watch you though. I might make one of those banners like people have at pop concerts.’

  ‘Brilliant. Please can it say, Amelia Strawberry, you’ve got the voice of an angel and you have never (regardless of what Mr Garcia might have said) sounded like an enraged walrus?’

  ‘That’s quite a lot to fit on a bit of old sheet. I might just put your face in a heart.’

  ‘Make sure it’s a good likeness.’

  ‘Don’t worry, monkey faces like yours are my speciality.’

  When it was time for me to go, I left Lauren in her bedroom and went downstairs. Mrs Anderson stuck her head out of the sitting room.

  ‘Amelia,’ she said in a low voice. ‘May I speak to you?’ She motioned me into the sitting room. I sat down and crossed my legs neatly. It felt like when the teacher keeps you behind at the end of a lesson. I hoped she wasn’t cross with me again. She didn’t look it. In fact, she started off with something that was very close to a smile.

  ‘As you know, the last few months have been very difficult for Lauren.’

  I nodded hard. ‘It’s been really tough for her.’

  ‘I’d like to get her something really special for Christmas, but I’m afraid we’re rather stumped for ideas. Obviously, she’s got her new laptop and she’s not had her phone long so I was hoping that perhaps you’d have some idea of what she might like?’

  I thought hard. ‘I can’t think of anything she’s mentioned.’ Lauren isn’t like some people who always have a long list of things that they want. ‘Clothes maybe?’

  ‘Perhaps.’

  I realised that since Lauren doesn’t get to go out so much, clothes might not be the best choice. I wanted to think of something good, but my mind had gone completely blank.

  ‘Well,’ she said, ‘I mustn’t keep you. Perhaps you could think it over and let me know if you come up with anything? Or if Lauren happens to mention something she’d like.’

  ‘Yes, definitely. I can do that.’

  And she showed me out. I thought hard about it all the way home. Any kind of jewellery or make-up had the same drawback as clothes: I was sure that Lauren would quite like those things, but they could also be a reminder that she might not get much use out of them. Like her mum said, she didn’t need another computer and she was happy with her phone. There must be something that she’d really like. I was going to have to rack my brains.

  When I got home, Mum was on the phone and I could hear Lucy singing ‘Away in a Manger’ in the bathroom. I went into the sitting room where Chloe was playing on Mum’s laptop.

  ‘What’s the best present you’ve ever had?’ I asked her.

/>   ‘That time Dad got tickets for him and me to watch Man U play Liverpool,’ she said without taking her eyes off the screen.

  ‘Hmm.’ I didn’t think tickets to go anywhere or see anything were a great idea for Lauren because she never knew in advance if she’d be too tired to go.

  A wet and completely naked Lucy ran into the middle of the room, dripping bathwater on to the rug. Ella chased after her and managed to throw a bath towel over her. ‘Please get dry or you’ll freeze,’ she begged Lucy.

  ‘What about you, Ella?’ I asked. ‘What’s the best present you’ve ever had?’

  She thought about it. ‘When Mum fixed Wellington’s fur.’

  Ella isn’t the type to spoil toys, but unfortunately Lucy is and she managed to spill blackcurrant juice on Ella’s teddy a few years ago. I don’t know how Mum did it, because Wellington used to belong to my nana so he was very old and fragile, but after she gave Wellington a makeover he looked as good as new.

  Lucy didn’t wait to be asked, she just announced, ‘My best present was Kirsti.’

  ‘Kirsti wasn’t a present for you, dummy,’ Chloe said.

  Lucy shoved Chloe. ‘Yes she was. She’s my little sister, isn’t she? So she’s mine.’

  ‘If that’s true then she’s mine as well, and Ella’s and Amelia’s.’

  Lucy looked at us pityingly. ‘I suppose so. But she’s only got one favourite and that’s me.’

  ‘How do you know?’ I asked.

  ‘Because she told me.’

  You can’t really argue with a seven-year-old who thinks that she can speak to babies so I left it there. Chloe isn’t as mature as me so she grabbed Lucy and tried to wrestle her into a full nelson, but Lucy was still slippery and the pair of them ended up rolling around on the rug. Which was quite entertaining, but it wasn’t really helping me think of a present for Lauren.

  ‘Stop it!’ Ella said and she pulled Lucy away from Chloe and started putting her pyjama top on her. ‘You know what’s interesting about all those presents?’ she asked me while she did up Lucy’s buttons.

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘They’re not really things, are they? I mean, when you talk about buying a present, you think about something you can find in a shop like a book, or a toy, or a necklace, but the stuff that people really love is something you can’t tie a ribbon round.’

  I stared at Ella. ‘You say some really clever stuff sometimes.’

  ‘Yup, she’s a genius,’ Chloe said. ‘And I am a world-class athlete.’ Then she picked up Lucy and dumped her on to the sofa so her feet were on my lap.

  ‘Keep that bare back end away from me!’ I said.

  Lucy tried to get up, but Chloe pinned her down. ‘Get her, Ella!’

  And Ella laid in with a tickle. I couldn’t help joining in. Lucy shrieked like she was being murdered. We just tickled her more.

  Sometimes my sisters are all right.

  The next morning, I woke up way earlier than usual and I thought about Lauren’s present while I was eating breakfast. What Ella had said to me really made sense: some of the best presents are things that happen, not things that you can wrap up.

  But it was so hard to think of something that Lauren would want to happen that it was actually possible to carry out. Obviously, what she most wanted, and I wanted for her too, was to get better. But that was out of my hands.

  There were lots of places I could think of that Lauren would enjoy going, but it seemed like a bad idea to plan something like that when she might end up not being well enough to go to. That would just make her feel worse. So what did she like? What could she still enjoy? Not much. She was mostly stuck in her room. What if she had a nicer room? Maybe I could offer to paint it. The problem was that Lauren’s room wasn’t very big.

  Then an idea hit me like one of Chloe’s punches. What if Lauren moved into her brother’s room? It was larger; she’d have room for a desk in there or maybe a comfy chair so that she didn’t have to be in bed if she was feeling up to it. It seemed like a brilliant idea. The only problem was that it wasn’t my house to rearrange. I didn’t feel confident about telling Lauren’s parents that they should switch their home about. Surely, if they’d thought that was a good idea, they’d have done it before? And Lauren’s brother would be home from uni for the holidays. Would he be cross about losing the big room? I didn’t want to start any family fights.

  But, the more I thought about it, the more I felt that giving Lauren a nicer room was the most thoughtful present she could have, and I decided I was going to have to suggest it to Lauren’s mum, even if she did tell me to mind my own business.

  Rather than dropping round, which might make it difficult to get Lauren’s mum on her own, I decided it would be best to ring. I picked up the phone straight away in the hope that Lauren might still be in bed.

  Mrs Anderson answered after the first ring.

  ‘Hello?’

  ‘Hi . . .’ I still wasn’t quite sure what to call her. ‘It’s me, Amelia.’

  ‘Hello, Amelia. I’m afraid Lauren’s in bed, I usually leave it till a little later to wake her.’

  ‘That’s OK. I wanted to speak to you. I’ve been thinking about Lauren’s present.’

  ‘Oh good! Have you thought of something?’

  ‘I did have one idea.’

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘Well, it might not be something you want to do, so don’t worry if it’s a stupid idea. I just thought that maybe now Matt’s gone to university . . .’

  There was dead silence on the other end of the phone and I nearly lost my nerve.

  ‘. . . I thought maybe you could give Lauren’s room a makeover and perhaps swap her room with Matt’s so that she has more space? Maybe for a desk?’ I said it all in such a rush that I had to take a big breath when I’d finished.

  Lauren’s mum didn’t say anything.

  ‘It was just a thought. You could get her something completely different.’

  ‘No,’ she said slowly. ‘No, I think you’re on to something. Matthew’s room is larger; he needed the space for his rowing machine and his other equipment, but now he’s taken all that with him to Leeds we could switch their rooms, couldn’t we?’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘We could paint it and get new curtains and bedding. A desk is a good idea for when she’s up to schoolwork.’

  She definitely seemed to be warming to the idea. ‘I thought perhaps a comfy chair,’ I said.

  ‘Yes. And the view from the window is nicer too. Oh, there are lots of things we can do – Amelia, it’s a brilliant idea!’

  I felt my face getting warm. That was possibly the nicest thing she’d ever said to me. ‘If you need any help with painting or anything, I could do that.’

  ‘That would be very helpful. I wonder if we might manage to make it a surprise.’

  ‘She’d need to be out of the house for a while if we’re going to paint.’

  ‘Lauren’s father had planned to take her to her grandmother’s for a Christmas visit this weekend. I wonder if we could make that an overnight trip.’

  ‘That would work.’

  ‘Let me think about this. Do you think you could keep this weekend free and I’ll get back to you?’

  ‘Definitely.’

  ‘All right then. Thank you so much, Amelia. I think it’s a marvellous idea.’

  When we got to Dad’s house the next day, Suvi had put up the Christmas tree, but waited for us so we could decorate it. Which I thought was brave of her given that Suvi likes brown and grey things and Lucy’s favourite colour is ‘rainbow’.

  ‘Is this all you’ve got?’ Lucy asked, looking at the box of wicker stars and felt birds.

  Suvi nodded.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Lucy said. ‘I made an angel at school. You can have it for your tree.’ She beamed at Suvi. ‘I used half a tub of glitter on it.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Suvi said, and I have to give her credit for completely sounding like she meant it.


  Suvi handed Chloe candlesticks for the mantelpiece. ‘How’s your rugby?’ she asked.

  ‘It’s brilliant. Coach says I’ve got great power so now I just need to work on my speed.’

  Suvi smiled. ‘This is fantastic. So you’re getting the same treatment as the boys?’

  Chloe’s screwed up her face. ‘Well, it’s not exactly the same as the boys. But I’m sort of trying to forget about that and concentrate on the training.’

  Suvi tilted her head to one side. ‘You should enjoy what you’re doing, yes, but for me, I wouldn’t forget about these other things.’

  That got Chloe’s attention. ‘Really? Because the only difference is that they get to play at the stadium. And they got some free stuff. I mean, I do really like free stuff, but, when you think about it, it’s only some drinks and a shiny shirt.’

  Suvi shook her head. ‘When you give something to the boys that’s not available to the girls, it’s never just a little thing. It’s part of a much bigger thing and you should always fight it, right down to the bottles of drinks.’

  I hadn’t thought about it like that.

  ‘Are you telling Chloe to fight?’ Lucy asked with round eyes. ‘We’re not supposed to fight. Except Chloe does sometimes, and once her and Thunder were fighting and they didn’t see the stairs and they rolled all the way down, but it was all right because Chloe landed on Thunder and he’s quite like a cushion.’

  ‘I don’t mean fighting with fists, I mean fighting with words and actions.’

  Lucy’s face lit up. She was clearly delighted by the idea of new ways to do battle.

  ‘I’ll think about that,’ Chloe said and she went back to decorating the mantelpiece.

  My phone rang during tea and, even though Suvi scowled a bit, when I told her it was Lauren’s home number, she said I should answer it.

  ‘Amelia, it’s Lauren’s mother. I was wondering if you were still free on Saturday to help with her room?’

  ‘Yes, definitely.’

  ‘Marvellous. Could you come over around ten?’

  ‘OK.’

  ‘I’m going to buy some paint tomorrow. I don’t know what your thoughts are, but colour-wise, I was thinking . . .’