The Moonlight Dreamers

by Siobhan Curham

  Sky reread the email, feeling a mixture of curiosity and relief. Amber had to be the girl from the vintage store – that must be why she said it wasn’t a clothes promotion. Sky switched off her phone and snuggled down into her bunk. She wasn’t sure what to make of the email, but it did sound exciting. And anyway, Tuesday was the day she and her dad would be moving into Savannah’s place, so a reason to go out that evening had to be a good thing.

  Maali glanced at the figurine of Lakshmi before rereading the final sentence of the email:

  PS: This is not an elaborate clothes sale promotion. I’m just a teenage girl who wants to find the confidence to live her dreams. I hope you are too…

  Could her prayer have been answered? Only a couple of hours earlier she’d begged Lakshmi to help her find the confidence to talk to Ash, and now she’d received this email from the girl with the super-cool hair. It couldn’t be a coincidence, surely? Maali smiled at the little statuette. “Thank you,” she whispered. Lakshmi smiled back.

  “What do you mean, they’re moving in early?” Rose glared at Savannah across the breakfast bar.

  “Exactly that. I’ve asked them to move in this Tuesday.” Savannah stared back at her.

  “And I don’t get any say in it?” Rose slammed her slice of pizza down on her plate.

  “Are you kidding?” her mom asked. “After the way you’ve been behaving lately? As I was saying to Liam and Sky at lunch, you’ve had things your own way for too long. It’ll do you good to have to share things as part of a family.”

  “You said that? To them?” Rose felt sick. She pushed her plate away.

  “And why are you eating that crap?” Savannah glared at the pizza. “How are you ever going to get down to model weight if you live off junk food?”

  “I don’t want to get down to model weight,” Rose snapped. “I don’t want to be a model!”

  Savannah’s eyes widened, her long and perfectly mascaraed eyelashes emphasizing her shock. Rose could see something else in her eyes too. Savannah looked genuinely hurt. “But – but – what are you going to do instead?”

  Rose took a deep breath. “I want to be a patissier.”

  “A what?”

  “A patissier. I want to make cakes.”

  Savannah laughed. “You want to make cakes? But that’s…”

  “What?” Rose stared at her defiantly.

  “That’s crazy.”

  “Why?”

  Savannah looked around the kitchen. “Because … you’re my daughter,” she answered lamely.

  Rose frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean? It’s my life. Just because you’re my mom doesn’t mean you can control what I do.”

  “Oh, really?” Savannah’s face flushed.

  Self-doubt began to bubble up inside Rose. She shoved it down and got to her feet. “Really!” she said and walked out.

  When she got to her bedroom she saw the notification light flashing on her cellphone. She had three new messages from Matt. She felt a stab of dread as she thought of the photo she’d sent him earlier – a selfie in her underwear, though with the lighting so low he’d barely be able to see anything. She clicked on his messages:

  Sick! :-)

  Can u send me another? Lose the bra next time ;) xxx

  Where r u?!

  Rose heard footsteps on the stairs.

  “Things are going to change once Liam’s here,” Savannah said, barging through the door.

  “Mom, get out of my room!”

  “I’m serious. I will not have you back-chatting me like that when he and Sky move in.”

  Rose’s phone pinged. Another text from Matt.

  You’re so hot it’s driving me crazy xxx pls send another pic!

  “I mean it, Rose. I don’t want you embarrassing me again, do you understand?” Savannah was pouting as if she was doing a cosmetics shoot.

  Rose’s eyes smarted with hot, angry tears. What about all the times you’ve embarrassed me? she wanted to yell. Her whole life she’d had people telling her how lucky she was to have the party-animal model Savannah Ferndale as a mom – “she must be so much fun” they’d say. But they didn’t know the downside of having one of the world’s most famous, “fun-loving” models for a mom. They didn’t know how painful it was to have to compete against an army of hangers-on to get your mom’s attention. They weren’t there all those nights Rose had lain in bed, listening to a party raging downstairs and longing for her mom to send everyone home so she could read her a story. They didn’t know how excruciating it was when her mom turned up to a parents’ evening at school, drunk on champagne from yet another launch, or seen the other side of Savannah – the insecure, selfish side who believed in her own hype and needed everything her own way. Rose turned away and hugged her pillow. Her phone beeped.

  I want to see you nkd!

  “Do you understand?” Savannah said again. Her phone rang and her face instantly lit up. “Antonio!” she cried, taking the call. “Yes, I’d love to. You wouldn’t believe the day I’ve had… Oh, you know, teenage dramas!”

  Rose listened as Savannah’s voice and footsteps faded along the hall. Antonio was Savannah’s manager. He was also her butt-kisser-in-chief. Rose was certain there had to be a clause in his contract telling him to agree with everything Savannah said and call her “darling” at the end of every sentence. Rose grimaced and rolled over. She looked back at Matt’s texts. Downstairs, she heard her mum laughing loudly – about her, probably. Well, she’d show her. Savannah might be able to boss Antonio and her other clingers-on around, but there was no way she was telling her what to do any more. Rose pulled off her sweatshirt and unclipped her bra.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Tuesdays were usually the low point of Amber’s week. Any day that had double science followed by PE was bound to be grim, but the fact that it was still three days away from the weekend turned it into a living hell. But this Tuesday Amber didn’t care that in science they were studying the periodic table – another complete waste of the alphabet, as far as she was concerned. And she didn’t care that in PE her sadistic teacher made them play hockey in the freezing rain. She didn’t even care that when she got back to her locker she found FREAK written on the door in scarlet lipstick, because tonight was the night of the first Moonlight Dreamers meeting so, hopefully, she would finally stop feeling so alone.

  Sky looked around her new bedroom in disbelief. It was practically bigger than their entire boat. Of course, she hated everything about it, but if she had to pick one thing that she didn’t hate quite so much, it would be the huge bay window. Sky perched on the edge of her double bed and looked outside. A young mum was pushing a pram up the hill. She was dressed in a tracksuit and trainers, but you could tell from the gleam of her skin and the sharp cut of her hair that she was wealthy. She didn’t look happy, though. Rose leaned forward. There was no denying it: the window was a perfect spot for people-watching.

  Outside was a huge sycamore tree, its branches almost bare now, apart from the few yellowing leaves that were stubbornly clinging on. The tree was so close that if Sky leaned out she’d be able to touch the top branches. She hadn’t been this close to the top of a tree since she and her dad used to climb them when she was younger. She lay down on her side and looked at the branches bobbing in the breeze. It was as if the tree was waving at her. This made her feel less sad – until she heard the sound of her dad and Savannah laughing downstairs. It was lunchtime and, following a morning’s yoga together, they were both drinking green juice and eating a vile-looking beetroot salad that Savannah’s nutritionist had prepared for them. Sky had passed on lunch – she didn’t have an appetite, not even for normal food. Ever since she’d woken up that morning she’d felt sick with dread.

  Rose was at school and wouldn’t be home till five. Liam had home-schooled Sky since she was twelve, but she guessed there wouldn’t be any lessons today. She looked at her belongings by the door: all of her worldly goods crammed into two suitcases, next to a vintage
trunk full of her mum’s stuff. Sky wondered what kind of mood Rose would be in when she got home. Somehow she didn’t think she’d be throwing them a welcome party. She sighed. At least she had the Moonlight Dreamers meeting to escape to. She looked back at the tree and tried to pretend she was in a tree-house in the middle of a forest – miles and miles away from Savannah and her stupid, fake laugh.

  As Maali walked home from school along Brick Lane she felt little bursts of nervousness and excitement going off inside her like fireworks. There were only three hours until the Moonlight Dreamers meeting. For about the hundredth time that day, she wondered what it would be like. And for about the hundredth time, she contemplated not going. As she walked past the Truman Brewery and the spot where the unicorn had stood, her face flushed as she thought of Ash. It always happened – it was like some weird kind of biological reaction, like the way you sneeze when you sniff pepper. She still couldn’t believe she’d acted like such an idiot that day at the farm. She realized that she had to go to the Moonlight Dreamers meeting. No matter how awkward it might be, if it gave her the confidence to talk to Ash it would all be worth it.

  Rose paused before putting her key in the door. The second she stepped inside the house nothing would be the same. She’d be stepping into a life where she had even less of a say over what happened. But what was the alternative? A cold, sharp breeze whistled up the hill and under her coat. She took a deep breath and walked in. The first thing she saw was a tatty old rucksack and a pair of men’s walking boots next to the door mat. Rose listened for any sounds of life, but the house was silent. Then she heard Liam’s voice coming from the living room.

  “We think it’s for the best,” he said quietly.

  “For who?” she heard Sky say, in a much louder voice.

  “For you. It’ll do you good to be back in a school. It’ll do you good to mix with more youngsters.”

  So, Sky was home-schooled. Rose gave a wry smile; that explained a lot.

  “I don’t need to mix with more youngsters,” Sky said, her voice getting higher.

  “Yes, you do. Sure, Rose goes to school, and it hasn’t done her any harm.”

  Sky gave a dry little laugh. Rose bristled.

  “Hi, honey!”

  Rose jumped as Savannah came running down the stairs, barefoot, in a super-short leopard-print dress.

  “They’ve arrived!” Savannah exclaimed, gesturing towards the living room and grinning like crazy. “Come say hi.” She shot Rose a glance that said and don’t mess up.

  Rose dumped her school bag on the floor and trudged into the living room. Liam was standing in the bay window and Sky was perched on the arm of the sofa, scowling at the floor. She was wearing a skater dress, woolly tights and DM boots. If it wasn’t for the fake sunflower in her hair she wouldn’t look too bad.

  “Hey, Rose,” Liam said with a grin. “How was school?”

  How was school? What did he think she was, five? “Great,” Rose muttered.

  “Sky might be joining you there soon,” Liam said, smiling at Savannah. Savannah went over and took his hand.

  “Oh, really?” Rose frowned. “How are you going to afford the fees?”

  “Rose!” Savannah snapped.

  “He won’t need to because I won’t be going,” Sky said, staring right at Rose.

  “OK, how about we talk about this later – after dinner?” Liam said, looking at Savannah. She smiled at him and nodded.

  “I won’t be here for dinner,” Sky said.

  “What?” Liam stared at her.

  Rose watched them curiously. This was proving to be a lot more entertaining than she’d imagined.

  “I’m going out,” Sky said, getting to her feet.

  “But where?” Liam looked at her helplessly.

  “We thought it might be nice if you girls hung out together tonight,” Savannah said to at Sky. “Give you a chance to get to know each other.”

  Sky gave a bitter laugh. “Yeah, well, I’m sorry, it’ll have to be another night.”

  “Now, hang on a minute.” Rose had never heard super-hippy Liam sound stressed.

  “I have to go out.” Sky looked desperate. Rose wondered what she had planned. Maybe she was meeting a guy. She pictured some hippy dude waiting for Sky somewhere, dressed in a floral shirt and playing a mandolin. Then she thought of Matt and her own friends and the gig they were supposed to be going to in Camden tonight.

  “How about if I go with her?” Rose suggested, looking from Liam to Savannah. Then she gave Sky a pointed look, trying to convey the fact that she had no interest in going out with her, just in finding a way of getting them both off the hook.

  “Oh, well, I don’t know,” Savannah said doubtfully, looking at Liam.

  “I think it’s a grand idea,” Liam said hopefully.

  Sky looked questioningly at Rose, then shrugged her shoulders. “OK.”

  “Great!” Liam said. “Where are you going?”

  “To an event at the Poetry Library,” Sky muttered.

  Rose shuddered. She seriously hoped Sky wasn’t actually expecting her to go with her.

  “The Poetry Library?” Savannah asked, looking blank.

  “Yes, on the Southbank,” Sky replied curtly, without looking at her. She glanced at Rose. “I’ll just get my bag.”

  “Yeah, and I’ve got to get changed,” Rose said.

  They both left the living room and made their way upstairs. Rose wondered when she ought to tell Sky that she wasn’t really going with her. Probably best to wait until they’d left the house. “I’ll see you back in the hall,” she said, going into her room before Sky could reply.

  As soon as she sat down on her bed, her phone beeped.

  Been looking at ur pic all day :-) Seb says we can stay at his tonight after the gig. He’ll be staying at Natasha’s so we’ll have the place to ourselves ;)

  Rose stared at the text. The winky-faced emoticon seemed to be leering at her. A ball of panic welled up inside her. Why had she sent Matt that photo? Now it was going to be even harder to fend him off. She scrolled back to the picture and cringed. She’d been so angry at the time, she hadn’t been thinking straight. She’d seen enough photos of her mom to know exactly what to do – lean forwards slightly, pout – not that her mom had ever done topless shots, but her campaign for Victoria’s Secret had left so little to the imagination that she might as well have. Rose looked at the picture of herself, pouting and half-naked, and her skin began to crawl. She had to get Matt to delete it. What’s the big deal? her inner voice said, the mean inner voice that always piped up whenever Rose felt cornered. But for once it didn’t do anything to soothe her growing unease. She jumped as her phone went off again.

  Don’t worry – I’ve got protection ;) xx

  Eew! Rose dropped the phone like it was a hot coal. What was she going to do? How was she going to get out of this one? It had been a horrendous day. There was no way she wanted to spend the night fighting Matt off and there was no way she was going to stay at Sebastian’s house. But that meant… Rose groaned. That meant spending the evening with Sky at the freakin’ Poetry Library.

  Sky sat down on her bed and stared at the tree. The wind was blowing its branches so close they were practically tapping on the window. “Damn!” she said out loud. “Damn! Damn! Damn!”

  Why did Rose want to tag along on her night out? And how was she going to explain where she was actually going? She didn’t really know herself! Now she would look like even more of an idiot. But at least she was able to go out; that was something. She waited for a while before going back downstairs. When she got into the hallway there was no sign of Rose, and for a moment Sky contemplated making a run for it. But then she heard Rose’s footsteps. She’d got changed into tight black jeans, a man’s plaid shirt and biker boots. She’d also let her hair down, and the honey-coloured ends were tumbling in loose curls over her shoulders. The only make-up she was wearing was a slick of bright red lipstick. If she didn’t look so sullen she
would have looked breathtakingly beautiful.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Rose muttered as she marched past Sky.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Despite the fact that she lived only round the corner, Amber got to Café 1001 a whole hour early. She had to be sure that she’d get the table at the back and, anyway, being at home was no good for her already jangling nerves. Gerald was having a total hissy fit because she wouldn’t help him with his Skype interview, stomping around the house like a red-faced rhinoceros, muttering and sighing loudly. Amber didn’t know what his problem was; Daniel had already said that he’d help him. She settled back into her leather armchair and attempted to relax. It was all going to be fine, wasn’t it? She decided to play a quick game of What Would Oscar Say? and flicked through the pages of her book until her eyes settled on a quote:

  “Success is a science; if you have the conditions, you get the result.”

  Amber smiled and looked around the café; it was half filled with skinny hipsters hunched over their laptops and flat whites. The usual soundtrack of Brazilian dance music was playing, and the faint chinking of cutlery was coming from the counter downstairs. The conditions were definitely right for the first ever Moonlight Dreamers meeting, so Oscar seemed to think that it would be a success – and who was Amber to argue?

  Rose frowned as she followed Sky down the station steps. “I thought we were going to the Southbank.”

  Sky shook her head. A train was just pulling into the platform – a train bound for East London.

  “But you said…” Rose followed Sky onto the train. It was crowded with weary-looking commuters and both girls had to stand right by the door – way too close to each other for Rose’s liking. Sky obviously felt the same; she started gazing around the carriage in every direction apart from Rose’s.

  “I thought the Poetry Library was on the Southbank,” Rose muttered.