by Anna Wilson
Finn and I were not exactly over the moon about the fact our parents had been lying to us. Plus, it was weird, however they explained it. But Harris was thrilled at the news. ‘This means you kind of ARE like my big brother!’ he cried, much to my annoyance.
I got over that feeling pretty quickly, though, when Finn helped Harris stand up to the bullies. Turns out all you need to scare a load of eight-year-olds into being nice to you is to get your almost six-foot-tall fourteen-year-old friend to come and pick you up from school one day.
‘I didn’t even have to say that Finn would sort them out if they were mean to me again,’ Harris said, bursting with pride. ‘They just took one look at him and they knew they couldn’t mess with me.’
I had to smile at that. It was a pretty cool thing for Finn to do.
He also helped me and Aubrey out with the VTs. The main reason she had fallen out with them was that they had found photos of her and her family at the last HobbitCon and had sent them whizzing around the school. They were livid with her when The Hogs wouldn’t let them be backing singers and blamed her for ‘keeping Finn to herself’. Finn stepped in and told them to back off: otherwise there would be photos of them in matching pink dresses with bows in their hair going round the school. Apparently their mum had entered them for a ‘Twins’ Beauty Contest’ when they were three, and Finn had found the photos on the web by just googling them. It was their turn to be mortified, so they agreed to keep their mouths shut and leave me and Aubrey alone.
In return, I made Aubrey go and explain to The Hogs that Finn wasn’t ready to be their drummer. Even that worked out well, because they were so desperate they said they would have him anyway and let him play whatever he could manage. He was made up about that. (Not sure I am – he is practising more and more now, and the noise is horrendous. I have taken to wearing earplugs while I read and write.)
So things have kind of worked out OK in the end. Aubrey and I are best friends again; Harris is happy; Finn is happy; the VTs know their place.
The only mortifying thing in my life at the moment is that my mum has a boyfriend.
But the way she is smiling right now, I think I can live with that.
Anna Wilson used to edit children’s books until she discovered it was much more fun to write them. She took a flying leap from being an editor to being a fully-fledged author in 2008 and has never looked back (except when she has tripped over something). Inspired by her family, friends and pets, she writes funny yet heart-warming novels which are absolutely NOT based on any MORTIFYINGLY EMBARRASSING incidents which have happened to her in the past.1
Anna lives in Bradford on Avon with her husband, two children and an array of pets including a dog, cats, a tortoise and a pair of extremely noisy ducks.
Endnote
1 This may not be entirely true.
‘I adore Anna’s books because her stories are really entertaining, with funny characters’ Jessica B, age 11
‘I love Anna’s books because she writes about funny things, which makes me giggle!’ Evie B, age 9
‘I like your books because they are funny and you can’t put them down, you just want to read them again!’ Hattie D, age 10
‘I think you are an amazing author and I am going to recommend you to all my friends’ Lydia M, age 9
‘I love your books. They make me laugh a lot when I read them’ Jessica H, age 11 and a bit
Books by Anna Wilson
The Great Kitten Cake Off
The Pooch Parlour series
The Poodle Problem
The Dotty Dalmatian
The Smug Pug
The Top of the Pups series
The Puppy Plan
Pup Idol
Puppy Power
Puppy Party
The Kitten Chaos series
The Kitten Hunt
Kitten Wars
Kitten Catastrophe
For younger readers
I’m a Chicken, Get Me Out of Here!
Monkey Business
Monkey Madness: The Only Way Is Africa!
And for older readers
Summer’s Shadow
www.annawilson.co.uk
First published 2016 by Macmillan Children’s Books
This electronic edition published 2016 by Macmillan Children’s Books
an imprint of Pan Macmillan
20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR
Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com
ISBN 978-1-5098-0132-9
Text copyright © Anna Wilson 2016
Illustrations copyright © Nicola Kinnear 2016
Cover illustration by Nicola Kinnear
The right of Anna Wilson and Nicola Kinnear to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Pan Macmillan does not have any control over, or any responsibility for, any author or third-party websites referred to in or on this book.
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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