Strawberry Sisters Read online

  I thought about Lauren all that evening. I decided that there were only two possible explanations for her dropping out of the concert. Either she’d decided that she didn’t like singing any more or she was feeling so ill that she didn’t really know what she was saying. Since she’d looked so upset about the whole thing, I thought it was more likely that her headache had been messing with her. The most sensible and mature thing I could do would be not to push her on it until she was feeling better and then, just before next week’s rehearsal, I could check that she was really sure about her decision. So the next morning I was super careful to keep the conversation completely away from singing.

  We had a great day. Cute Josh sat in front of us in chemistry and we sketched the back of his head. (He’s got a very nice neck.) Then we had French and Madame told us that it’s possible to say a great deal with your eyes so Lauren and I spent the rest of the lesson trying to communicate by blinking and staring and rolling our eyes.

  ‘Guess what this means,’ I whispered, and I used my eyes to mime my powerful attraction to Cute Josh.

  ‘Do you need something to be sick in?’ Lauren asked.

  We cracked up.

  Our last lesson was biology and Lauren made a countdown of the minutes until we were free for the weekend. We took it in turns to strike the minutes off.

  Lauren doodled an ice-cream sundae. Let’s go to the milkshake bar tomorrow she wrote underneath.

  I nodded. Then I added to Lauren’s doodle so that it looked like she was paying for me to eat a truckload of sundaes.

  When I woke up on Saturday morning, it was a relief to know that for the first time in weeks I was going out with Lauren and I didn’t have to spend the day with my annoying sisters.

  Usually, when we go into town, I call for Lauren and we catch the bus together, but she sent me a text to say that her mum was giving her a lift. I thought it was a bit mean of her mum not to offer to take me too – I only live five minutes away from them – but I’m used to Lauren’s mum; she’s not the super-friendly type. In fact, sometimes I think she doesn’t like me very much.

  So I got the bus by myself. The milkshake bar was pretty busy, but I managed to grab a table by the window. As I sat down, Lauren’s mum’s car pulled up outside. Lauren opened the door, but her mum carried on talking to her for ages. She didn’t look too happy. Finally, Lauren climbed out of the car and came inside.

  ‘Hi,’ I said.

  ‘Hi.’ Her shoulders were tensed and she had dark circles under her eyes. I wondered if she’d been rowing with her mum.

  ‘I really need chocolate,’ she said, heading for the counter.

  When we were sitting down with our shakes, I studied her face again.

  ‘Are you all right?’ I asked. ‘You’ve got a scowl as if our darling headteacher has put you on litter duty.’

  ‘Old Iron Hair Hamilton is nowhere near as bossy as my mother. She’s driving me insane.’

  ‘What’s she doing?’

  ‘She just keeps . . . fussing. Matt’s gone off to university and now my dad’s away for work till next week, so it’s just the two of us in the house and she’s always worrying about me. It’s revolting.’

  ‘Have you told her to stop?’

  Lauren stirred her shake with her straw. ‘Hmm, trying to tell my mum not to do something is like trying to tell the tide not to come in. She doesn’t want me to do anything or go anywhere.’

  ‘At least you’re here now.’

  Lauren made a snorty noise and I got the impression that her mum hadn’t even wanted her to meet me, which seemed odd because even though Lauren’s mum has always been a bit of a fusser she’s never had a problem with the milkshake bar before. What did she think was going to happen? That the cows would launch a protest about us glugging their milk and storm the building? I wondered if Lauren’s mum was just lonely. Lauren’s dad goes away for his work a lot and now Matt had gone to university, so perhaps she wanted Lauren around to talk to. But it didn’t seem fair to stop Lauren doing anything for that reason.

  We sipped our shakes and talked about parents and how ridiculous they are. I was telling Lauren about the time my dad made me put on his huge, ugly coat after we’d been swimming and anyone could’ve seen me, when someone tapped on the window. I looked up and saw Jasveen and Milly waving like toddlers who’ve had too much sugar. I gestured for them to come in.

  ‘Hey!’ Jasveen beamed, striding towards us.

  ‘Hi.’ I smiled.

  Lauren muttered a hello, but she didn’t look too happy. I wondered if Milly had done something new to annoy her.

  ‘So what are you two up to?’ Milly asked.

  ‘We’re fighting off a zombie invasion,’ I said in my best deadpan voice.

  Lauren nodded. ‘Yeah, only both our weapons and the zombies are so small that they’re invisible to the naked eye.’

  Jasveen snorted. ‘Is that mint chocolate?’ she asked Lauren. ‘Can I have a slurp?’

  Lauren held out her shake.

  ‘I meant, what are you doing after you’ve finished here?’ Milly asked. ‘Because we’re going bowling and Faye Wright said that she heard that Bradley’s going bowling for his birthday this afternoon. So . . .’

  ‘He’ll be there with his friends,’ Jasveen finished. She rolled her eyes. ‘Personally, I’m going for the bowling, not for the boys. You two should come and then I’ll have someone to talk to while Milly’s gawping.’

  My interest was definitely piqued. Not by the bowling but because Bradley was friends with Josh. Not best friends but definitely friendly enough to have invited him to his party. I looked at Lauren; I was hoping to communicate all this to her through a look, but she was just staring into her milkshake.

  ‘Shall we go, Loz?’ I asked.

  Lauren looked up. ‘I don’t know,’ she said.

  ‘Go on,’ Milly said. ‘It’ll be brilliant.’ She grabbed Lauren by the shoulders and shook her a little bit, ‘Come on, sleepyhead, say yes. It’ll wake you up a bit.’

  ‘Don’t!’ Lauren snapped, jerking away from her.

  ‘All right, keep your hair on! I was just saying you could do with some fun; you’ve been walking around looking miserable all week.’

  ‘She’s been ill,’ I said.

  ‘I thought she was supposed to be better.’

  ‘I’m right here!’ Lauren interrupted. ‘Just because I don’t want to go bowling to stare at some boys like a dribbling idiot doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with me.’

  I had no idea how this had suddenly turned into an argument.

  ‘Are you calling me an idiot?’ Milly asked.

  ‘No,’ Lauren said. ‘I didn’t mean that. I just don’t feel—’

  ‘Because you’re the idiot. I know you think you’re too cool and sarcastic to ever get excited about stuff, but that doesn’t mean you have to take the mickey out of me.’

  ‘I don’t think she meant it like that,’ I said.

  ‘Don’t tell me what I mean!’ Lauren said, and she snatched up her coat and walked out of the bar.

  Milly gave Jasveen a significant look.

  I tried desperately to think of some way to explain Lauren’s behaviour.

  ‘She’s having a really hard time with her mum at the moment,’ I said. ‘And you did lay it on a bit thick, Milly.’

  Milly pursed her lips. ‘Whatever. We all know she’s being weird at the moment.’

  ‘She’s fine,’ I said. Even though really I agreed with Milly. ‘I’ve got to go after her.’

  Jasveen gave me a half-smile. ‘See you at school,’ she said.

  ‘Yeah, see you.’

  Milly didn’t say anything.

  Lauren was sitting at the bus stop halfway down the road. She must have run there because she was out of breath when I got to her.

  ‘You OK?’ I asked.

  ‘Yes. I’m just sick of Milly being so bossy.’

  I didn’t want to side with Milly but I didn’t entirely understan
d what had happened. ‘She just thought we might like to go bowling,’ I said.

  ‘Yeah and then she started shaking me and calling me dopey.’

  ‘I don’t think she meant to be horrible.’ I hesitated. ‘And you did sort of call her an idiot.’

  ‘A dribbling idiot,’ Lauren said, starting to laugh. When she’d got her breath back, she shook her head. ‘I shouldn’t have said that.’

  ‘You know what Milly’s like: she’ll have forgotten about it in a minute. We could still catch up with them. If you want?’

  Lauren’s shoulders sagged. ‘I don’t really feel like going bowling.’

  ‘We don’t have to actually bowl; we could just go and hang out. I reckon Josh will be there, don’t you?’

  ‘I suppose so.’

  ‘Go on, it’ll be fun.’

  I thought for a moment that she was going to say yes, but then Lauren shook her head. ‘I’ve got some stuff to do at home. You go if you like.’

  But I couldn’t really. She seemed upset about something and it didn’t feel right to leave her. ‘Do you want to go and look in the shops instead?’ I asked.

  She shook her head again. ‘I think I need something to eat. How about lunch at my house?’

  So we ended up going back on the bus, even though it was still early. When I tried to get to the bottom of why she’d kicked off at Milly, she just shrugged and mumbled. We got off the bus and walked to Lauren’s house; when her mum opened the door, she took one look at Lauren and said, ‘Why didn’t you call me to pick you up?’

  I turned to Lauren. I supposed those circles under her eyes did make her look a bit rough. But she hadn’t said she didn’t feel well.

  Lauren’s mum didn’t wait for an answer. She pulled Lauren into the house. ‘I told you this wasn’t a good idea.’

  ‘Mum!’ Lauren snapped. ‘Amelia, do you mind if you don’t come in? I’m a bit tired.’

  I barely had a chance to nod before her mum shut the door in my face. Rude.

  I thought about going back to the bowling alley, but I didn’t want Lauren to think I was siding with Milly; besides, I couldn’t really afford another bus fare. So I ended up trailing home again.

  When I got in, Mum was marking some homework for her class so I thought I’d keep up my attempts at being less selfish and tackle the mountain of washing in the laundry basket, since I had nothing else to do.

  I was hanging socks on the radiator to dry, and wondering if Lauren’s mum was just making a fuss or if Lauren was going to be ill again, when Ella got home from spending the day at her new friend Crystal’s house. Chloe was supposed to be helping me, but she was more interested in seeing if she could make Lucy’s tights big enough to fit her by tying them to the doorknob and stretching them across the room.

  ‘How was the fabulous Crystal’s house?’ I asked Ella. ‘Does she have one of those glass cabinets for all the trophies she’s won for shiniest teeth and largest tiara collection?’

  ‘No,’ Ella said and picked up a handful of socks from the basket and took them to the other radiator to hang up.

  ‘Did you have fun though?’ Chloe asked.

  ‘Mmm,’ Ella said.

  Ella doesn’t get her acting skills from me. It was obvious she hadn’t enjoyed herself. When I have a miserable time, I always tell people about it; in fact, I like telling people; sometimes I even make it sound worse than it actually was just so I can give them a really good story. I’d already told Mum and Chloe all about Lauren making us miss out on bowling. But Ella isn’t like me; she tries to be happy all the time and she tries to always say yes to the questions she’s asked.

  Chloe gave Lucy’s tights another yank. ‘What did you do?’

  ‘We went on her trampoline and then we watched a film. She’s got this room that’s like a mini cinema; there are four sofas in there and a screen that takes up half the wall.’

  I was pretty determined not to be impressed by Crystal so I didn’t say anything but I definitely wouldn’t mind having a mini cinema in our house.

  ‘Wow,’ Chloe said. ‘That sounds awesome.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Ella said. ‘It was pretty cool.’

  But it still seemed like there was something that wasn’t cool.

  Chloe was studying her face. ‘Was the film too scary for you?’

  Ella shook her head.

  ‘Did you have to eat something you didn’t like?’

  ‘No, we had pizza.’

  Chloe held Ella’s arm. ‘Was Crystal mean to you? Because if she was I’m going to have a lot to say to her.’

  ‘She really wasn’t; she gave me her new pencil.’

  Chloe looked at me, but I couldn’t think of any reasons why someone who had just watched a film in a mini cinema while eating pizza with their friend would be unhappy either. So I said, ‘What’s the matter?’

  ‘Nothing. I’m fine.’

  ‘You don’t look fine. You look like you’re trying not to cry because something has upset you. Did it?’

  She shrugged.

  ‘Did Crystal do something?’

  ‘Well . . .’ Ella knitted her fingers together. ‘She was a bit rude to her mum.’

  Crazy. All this fuss was about manners. ‘Don’t worry about that. Chloe’s rude to our mum all the time,’ I pointed out.

  ‘I’m not!’ Chloe insisted. ‘You’re the rude one. You’re the one that’s always telling people they look awful and that wearing yellow makes them look like a blob of mustard.’

  ‘I’ve been thinking about that and actually your jumper doesn’t make you look like mustard.’

  ‘Good.’

  ‘It makes you look like one of Kirsti’s poos.’

  ‘See? You are rude!’ And she pulled so hard on Lucy’s tights that they pinged off the doorknob and she crashed into a chair.

  I snorted.

  ‘And rude again,’ Chloe said, rubbing her hip.

  ‘Well, obviously I’m rude to you. You’re my sister and you behave like an ape so I’d have to be made of stone not to make jokes about that, but you’re the one that’s rude to Mum: you eat her best biscuits and you moon her.’

  Ella helped Chloe pick the chair up. ‘I don’t mean the bare-bum kind of rude; it was more like Crystal telling her mum to shut up.’

  Chloe’s jaw dropped. ‘Did she actually say that?’

  Ella nodded.

  ‘What did her mum say?’ I asked.

  Ella sat down on the sofa. ‘Nothing really. That was part of what was horrible; it was as if her mum was just used to it because Crystal talks to her like that all the time.’

  Chloe was attempting to wriggle into Lucy’s tights. ‘Maybe it’s a joke; maybe that’s how they talk in her family.’

  ‘It just . . . made me feel uncomfortable.’

  It seemed a little bit silly for Ella to be getting upset about someone else’s bad behaviour. I gave her arm a squeeze. ‘It’s not worth worrying about it. If Crystal’s mum wasn’t upset then you shouldn’t be either.’

  But Ella was still frowning.

  Then Chloe tried to do the splits and her bottom finally fought its way out of Lucy’s tights with a loud rrrrrrrrrip and even Ella had to laugh.

  ‘Is Lauren not in today?’ Milly asked on Monday morning.

  ‘I haven’t seen her yet,’ I said. Lauren hadn’t texted me to say she was ill and I was still hoping she might turn up. But after we’d finished registration and got half an hour into the first lesson I had to admit to myself that it didn’t seem likely she’d be coming in today.

  I couldn’t concentrate on the book in front of me. I was fed up. Angry. If Lauren was off sick again, why hadn’t she told me?

  School seemed to drag on even longer than it usually does, but as soon as I got outside after the final bell I fished my mobile out of the bottom of my bag and called Lauren.

  It took a while for her to answer. ‘Hi,’ she said as if everything was fine.

  ‘Why didn’t you tell me you weren’t coming to sc
hool?’ I asked.

  ‘Sorry, I just felt really rough this morning. I would’ve texted you, but I’ve been asleep most of the day.’

  ‘What’s the matter with you? Have you been sick?’

  ‘No, I’m just really tired.’

  ‘Have you been to the doctor?’

  She sighed. ‘I’m not that bad, honestly.’

  There was a pause. ‘So you’ll be in tomorrow?’ I asked.

  ‘I . . . I don’t think so.’

  ‘Lauren! I thought you said you didn’t feel that bad. We’ve got drama tomorrow. I’ll never hear the end of it from Milly if you’re not there.’

  ‘Milly can go stuff herself.’

  I didn’t think it was fair to be turning on Milly again. ‘Well, actually, I can sort of see where she’s coming from. You promised you’d be there. It’s not surprising that Mil—’

  ‘Can you stop going on about Milly?’

  ‘All right, all right, but I don’t really understand what your problem with her is.’

  ‘I don’t care about Milly!’

  I didn’t know why she was getting so worked up. ‘If you’re not mad with Milly, why didn’t we go bowling on Saturday?’

  ‘I told you; I didn’t feel like it.’

  Her voice was hard. I couldn’t believe she was getting snippy with me.

  ‘But maybe I did,’ I said. ‘And maybe it would’ve been nice if you’d asked me what I thought.’

  ‘Oh, I am sorry! I do apologise for being ill.’

  ‘What do you mean? You never said you were ill on Saturday.’

  ‘Maybe I couldn’t get a word in edgeways because you were going on and on about drama scenes and stupid pigging singing!’

  That was so unfair and she knew it. I’d asked her several times on the bus if she was all right and every time she’d brushed me off.

  ‘You used to like “stupid pigging” singing. I’m sorry if I’m getting too childish for you. Forget about coming to the concert if it’s too much bother.’

  She sucked in her breath. ‘Amelia! Don’t be like that. Of course I’m coming to the concert. I do care about it. I even care about this daft drama scene.’

  ‘So you’ll come in tomorrow?’