Sugar Secrets…& Conflict

by Mel Sparke

  The plan in her head had never deviated far from that – there was never anything else to consider, like flunking school or deciding to go off travelling, the sort of stuff that a lot of other people her age did.

  Now, everything was different. The only certainty was that her plans were falling apart right before her eyes. She felt helpless to do anything to stop it. And doubly angry because of that.

  “Hey, Son, why the long face?”

  Matt interrupted Sonja’s brooding with a friendly kiss on the cheek and his most winning smile.

  “Uh, nothing to worry about, Matt, I’m just a bit tired, that’s all.” Sonja found herself fiddling nervously with her magazine as she spoke, flicking through the pages without actually taking in what was on them.

  “Great news about the band, isn’t it?” he grinned, sliding into the seat beside her and putting an arm round her shoulder.

  Sonja had a vague idea what he was talking about, though she hadn’t listened to much of the conversation that had gone on earlier. “Er, yeah, fabulous,” she said as lightly as possible. “Nice one.”

  “And I bet you’re glad your exams are over now, aren’t you?” continued Matt cheerfully. “It must be quite a relief not to have to wake up every morning worrying about what exam you’ve got today or how well you did in the last one. Not that you ever let them get on top of you – you’re far too cool for that…”

  If only you knew, Sonja thought bitterly.

  “Hey, I’ve just had an idea,” said Matt suddenly. “Why don’t we all pile down to the festival and make a weekend of it? We could take a tent – my old man’s got one in the garage somewhere – load up with sleeping bags… It’d be a right laugh. What d’you think?”

  “Matt, that’s about the best idea you’ve ever had,” said Ollie in mock astonishment.

  “It’s the only idea he’s ever had,” quipped Cat.

  “It is though, I love it, it’s brilliant.” Ollie was really animated now. He leapt up and down, his arms waving around like windmills. “We’ve got a massive tent somewhere at home too. I’m sure that between the two of them we could all squeeze in. It’ll be great – a fantastic weekend away!”

  “Well, I hope you guys have a great time. Send me a postcard, won’t you?” Maya suddenly announced from the corner where she’d been sitting quietly.

  “Oh, yes, of course,” said Kerry, looking sympathetically at Maya. “Your parents are going to love this one, aren’t they?”

  “Uh-huh.” The tone was rueful. “They’ll never let me go. Not in a million years…”

  SOME SECRETS ARE JUST TOO GOOD TO KEEP TO YOURSELF!

  Sugar Secrets…

  … & Revenge

  … & Rivals

  … & Lies

  … & Freedom

  … & Lust

  … & Mistakes

  … & Choices

  … & Ambition

  … & Dramas

  … & Resolutions

  … & Scanda

  … & Guilt

  … & Luck

  … & Love

  … & Conflict

  … & Confessions

  … & Sunburn

  … & Shocks

  … & Jealousy

  … & Flirting

  Copyright

  Published in Great Britain by Collins in 2000

  Collins is an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

  77-85 Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith, London W6 8JB

  The HarperCollins website address is

  www.fireandwater.com

  9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  Creative consultant: Karen McCombie

  Copyright © Sugar 2000. Licensed with TLC.

  ISBN 0 00 675437 6

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  EPub Edition © OCTOBER 2010 ISBN: 978-0-007-40082-9

  About the Publisher

  Australia

  HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.

  25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321)

  Pymble, NSW 2073, Australia

  http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com.au

  Canada

  HarperCollins Canada

  2 Bloor Street East - 20th Floor

  Toronto, ON, M4W 1A8, Canada

  http://www.harpercollinsebooks.ca

  New Zealand

  HarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand) Limited

  P.O. Box 1

  Auckland, New Zealand

  http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.nz

  United Kingdom

  HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

  77-85 Fulham Palace Road

  London, W6 8JB, UK

  http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.uk

  United States

  HarperCollins Publishers Inc.

  10 East 53rd Street

  New York, NY 10022

  http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com