CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
COPYRIGHT PAGE
Penelope Kingston was excellent at figuring most things out. But crushes were a Great Mystery. In fact (and this was truly odd) it seemed that just about everyone understood them better than she did. Penelope had tried to use her logic to sort out how things worked, but the whole idea was like a slippery fish – she just couldn’t grab it.
Penelope sat on the armchair in her lounge room watching Sunday afternoon TV and admiring the lovely plastic case of assorted beads her mum had bought from Penelope’s favourite craft shop the day before. Penelope’s brother, Harry, and their neighbour from five doors down, Ava, were sitting on the couch. It was a perfectly good, three-seater couch with loads of space, yet Ava was squished up right next to Harry in the far corner.
Penelope knew how Harry felt about Ava. His nickname for her, Annoying Ava, was a Very Good Clue. Just a few months back, Harry had sprayed Ava with the hose as she walked past. Ava had got him back by deflating his soccer ball. It had not been good. In fact, Ava’s dad and Harry’s mum had made them promise to stop hassling each other.
So it was very strange that Ava was even in their lounge room, let alone squishing right next to Harry like that. In fact, now that Penelope thought about it, Ava had been hanging around their house (and Harry) quite a bit lately.
Harry probably needed Penelope’s help.
Penelope coughed to get Ava’s attention (politely – she didn’t have anything against Ava, except for a very small grudge from four years ago, when Ava had pushed Penelope’s favourite teddy out of her bedroom window).
‘You know,’ she said, ‘there’s a LOT of spare room on that couch, Ava. And we’re not expecting any other visitors.’ Penelope smiled graciously. ‘Please feel free to spread out.’
As far as she knew, Penelope had not made a joke. So it was Very Strange when Ava started giggling and covering her mouth with her hands. It was even stranger when Harry laughed too. Still, Ava did move down to the other end of the couch near Penelope.
While the ads were on, Penelope put the plastic case of beads on the armrest and invited Ava to have a look. There were twelve little compartments inside, each containing a different type of bead. Penelope began telling Ava how she planned to use the flat silver beads in the seventh compartment. Her class was doing an art show at the aged-care centre on Friday, and she was going to stick the beads on her painting. Penelope was just telling Ava about the best craft glues when she noticed that Ava had wriggled back towards the other end of the couch. Even more surprisingly, Harry had started making his way towards the centre.
And, before Penelope knew it, Harry and Ava were squished together again, as though they were magnets.
Penelope spent the next forty minutes at the dressing table in her bedroom. She was threading a Very Lovely necklace, repeating the twelve-bead pattern carefully. Normally, Penelope would close her bedroom door and let an activity like this take her full attention. But this time, she left it open.
She was just finishing the last repetition of the pattern when she heard the front door close. Then she heard Harry race up the stairs (three at a time, twelve stairs, so that meant four leaps altogether), pass her room and go into his bedroom.
Penelope tied a knot at the end of the string then checked the time on her iPhone. She decided that she would wait six minutes before she went in to see Harry. It was Very Important that her visit seemed casual. If Harry was (all of a sudden, for absolutely no reason Penelope could think of) having a crush on Ava, she needed to know how it had happened. But it would be embarrassing to just come right out and ask. It was usually Harry who was the slow learner.
After six minutes and thirty seconds, Penelope wandered (casually) into Harry’s room. Just like most other Sunday evenings, Harry was sitting at his desk, immersed in World of Warcraft. Penelope casually stepped over a pile of soccer boots, smelly socks and an empty Cheezels box. Harry turned around to glance at her, then continued attacking the keyboard.
‘Annoying Ava, hey?’ Penelope said over the keyboard noises. ‘I wonder why she came over?’
Harry shrugged.
‘Ava’s not too bad,’ he said as his avatar threw a firestick at a dragon. Penelope frowned. Coming from Harry, that was quite a big compliment.
‘You used to think she was annoying,’ Penelope reminded her brother. ‘So what’s changed?’
Harry’s avatar sunk to its knees. Harry said a rude word, then made his avatar swap the firestick for a sword and started clicking away again.
‘I dunno, Penelope,’ he said. ‘It’s just different.’
‘You mean, she’s different?’ Penelope asked. Ava had grown a little taller and she wasn’t as skinny as she used to be. Her hair was longer and she had started wearing it in a high ponytail. And she was quite definitely (Penelope could see the outline of it under her T-shirt) wearing a bra. Other than that, though, Penelope couldn’t detect any dramatic changes.
Harry shrugged again. Unfortunately, he wasn’t very good at finding words to explain things. Penelope often had to help him out.
‘Harry, do you think you might have a crush on Ava? And do you think Ava might have a crush on you? You were sitting very close to each other downstairs.’
‘Shut up, Penelope,’ Harry replied unhelpfully, banging at the keyboard like crazy. Penelope wasn’t sure exactly how World of Warcraft worked, but Harry’s avatar was in the middle of what looked to be an epic battle with a minotaur.
Penelope was figuring out how she could ask her questions another way when Harry’s phone rang. Penelope could see that the call was from Ava! She knew you couldn’t pause World of Warcraft, so she was absolutely sure that Harry would decline the call.
Instead, he pressed accept.
Then Harry walked away from an epic battle with a minotaur – to take a phone call from a girl!
Honestly, Penelope thought as she carefully packed the bead case into her school bag for the next day, Harry has gone crazy. There wasn’t a single thing he’d told her that explained how or why his feelings towards Ava had changed. It did not make sense. At all.
It would be a relief to get to school and (hopefully) get a break from all this crushing nonsense.
Penelope knew this was not how most kids felt, but she quite liked Monday mornings. Especially when there was a special project – like the art show at the aged-care centre – to work towards. As she walked into the school grounds, she was very aware of the case of beads inside her school bag. Art class wasn’t until after recess, but she was already looking forward to showing their art teacher, Mr Cattapan, how she planned to decorate her picture. Mr Cattapan was always encouraging students to bring things from home to use in their work.
In fact, as she walked into the school grounds, Penelope was thinking that she might even give her friends a sneak peek into her fabulous bead case. But as soon as she reached the courtyard and saw a crowd gathered around Rita Azul, Penelope knew that wasn’t going to happen.
Rita was waving a flag high in the air. It had a boy’s head on it. Next to the head, in a red heart, was what Penelope presumed was the boy’s name, RINGO LOVETT. Gathered around Rita were Sarah, Eliza, Joanna, Alison and Tilly. There was no sign of Bob (Penelope’s best friend), but that was not unusual. Bob usually made it to school just as the bell rang. Skidd
ing into class right on the last ring was one of Bob’s specialties.
Penelope’s own heart (which was inside her chest, not on a flag) sank a little as she walked towards the group. Over her school dress, Rita Azul was wearing a white T-shirt with five boys’ heads on it. Penelope knew, from (horrible) experience that the five boys were from a band. Penelope had once (only one single time) called the lead singer Hugo instead of Harry, and Rita had made fun of her in front of everyone.
Penelope slipped into the space between Eliza and Joanna.
‘OMG,’ Rita squealed. Tilly ducked as Rita spun around, waving her flag and almost clocking Sarah in the face. ‘There were thousands of people at the concert. Everyone was screaming. It was the best vibe EVER!’
Penelope did not think that thousands of people screaming would make for a very good vibe at all, but she did not comment. Rita Azul was the meanest kid at Chelsea Primary. If being mean was an Olympic sport, Penelope suspected that Rita would get a gold medal. (There had been a couple of times over their years together at Chelsea Primary when Rita had forgotten to be mean – but they were Very Rare). So it was often best not to react. Even if Rita was being ridiculous.
‘I’ll tell you what was really special,’ Rita said in a much softer voice. Everyone leaned in to listen. ‘Ringo Lovett’s eyes twinkled like stars!’
‘How could you see Ringo Lovett’s eyes from way back in the crowd?’ asked Joanna.
Rita Azul rolled her (mean) eyes. ‘It’s obvious you’ve never been to a concert, Joanna. There was a big screen onstage, dummy,’ she said.
‘And then,’ Rita continued, ‘right in the middle –’
‘I’ve never seen eyes that look like stars,’ Joanna interrupted. ‘It was probably just a trick they did with the camera.’ Sometimes Penelope quite liked Joanna (even if she was the naughtiest kid in the class).
But Rita just ignored Joanna.
‘Anyway,’ she continued, ‘right in the middle of The Summer of You, Ringo Lovett blew ME a kiss! OMG I had goosebumps THIS BIG.’ Rita held her hands out in the shape of a football. As far as Penelope knew, no goosebump would ever grow to that size or shape.
‘That’s sooo romantic,’ Eliza said.
‘You’re sooo lucky,’ Alison joined in.
Penelope and Joanna looked at each other and shook their heads (just slightly, so Rita wouldn’t notice). Really, they could be very gullible, especially considering that Eliza was Class Captain, and Alison had won the second most awards of anyone at their entire school (Penelope was still coming first with 54 awards, though Alison was catching up, on 45).
Penelope could not help but comment. ‘So, if there were thousands of people in the crowd, how can you be sure that the kiss was for you, Rita?’ she asked (in a very pleasant voice).
‘Because I could feel it, Penelope,’ Rita answered abruptly. ‘I don’t expect you to understand. You’re totally clueless about love.’
Rita’s words felt like a poison-tipped spear that embedded itself in Penelope’s chest.
Penelope Kingston was not an angry girl. Well, most of the time, she wasn’t. Most of the time she was calm and good and sensible. But (unfortunately) sometimes she struggled with another Penelope. Instead of being calm and sensible, that Penelope was angry and frustrated. Occasionally (really very rarely) the angry, frustrated Penelope would boil to the surface and then bubble out in a (rare) outburst.
Penelope closed her eyes. She breathed in. Then she breathed out. This was a Very Good calming technique. Penelope was proud of herself for remembering to do it.
Feeling calmer, Penelope opened her eyes, only to find that Rita had turned her back on them!
Even though Penelope had breathed in, and breathed out, Rita TURNING HER BACK seemed to make the poison spread all over again. And this time, it started travelling from her chest up to her throat.
Suddenly, Penelope was quite convinced that the only way to get rid of the poison was to tell Rita what she thought. She had two Very Good Points to make, and she was quite ready to make them loud and clear.
Point 1: It was totally crazy of Rita to carry on like that about someone she’d NEVER EVEN MET.
Point 2: The last time Rita had carried on about the boy band, her favourite had been the lead singer (Harry, not Hugo!). Now it was the drummer, Ringo. Which meant that Rita was Not Very Loyal!
Penelope was just about to tap Rita on the shoulder, explain just how rude she was to turn her back, and say her two Very Good Points when Oscar Finley raced up to her.
‘Hey Penny,’ he said, pulling her away from the group to the other side of the courtyard.
‘I went birdwatching on the weekend,’ Oscar said. He staggered backwards a bit and put down his schoolbag. Then he pulled out a book and showed Penelope a picture of a very cute little bird with a yellow chest and green wings. ‘The Noisy Pitta!’ Oscar told her proudly. ‘Personally spotted on the floor of a rainforest, where it was foraging for insects. And you’ll never guess its call. Wait, I’ll do it for you.’
Penelope felt all the poisonous feelings drain out of her. Oscar’s enthusiasm for nature was infectious.
Penelope waited while Oscar cleared his throat. ‘Walk-to-work, walk-to-work, walk-to-work.’ At least, that’s what it sounded like, but with a bit of a whistle in there that made it more birdlike.
‘That’s really good Oscar,’ Penelope encouraged.
Penelope liked birds. Perhaps not as much as Oscar did, but she was REALLY glad that Oscar had saved her from an outburst that she would (most likely) already be regretting. And it was a BIG relief to be away from Rita and all her stupid talk about Ringo whats-his-name.
Maybe Oscar was a bit obsessed, but at least his obsession had nothing to do with stupid crushes.
And that, Penelope was quite sure, would NEVER change.
By art class, Penelope had just about forgotten about Rita and her silly crush and her poisonous words. Penelope liked most subjects at school, but art was extra special.
Mr Cattapan was teaching the students about famous artists from all over the world. Penelope had very much enjoyed learning about the Spanish artist, Pablo Picasso. Now, they were focusing on a French man called Claude Monet. Penelope’s painting for the exhibition at the aged-care centre was inspired by one of Monet’s, called Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies. She’d chosen this picture partly because Bob, her very own best friend, had it hanging up in her bedroom (a print, not the original, Penelope was pretty sure). Another reason Penelope had chosen this picture was that Monet’s version was a bit blurry. Penelope was excited about making the edges of the water lilies a bit clearer, and even more excited to add some sparkles to the water using the beads in compartment seven. It was unfortunate that Monet himself would never get to see her improvements (he died in 1926), but she was very much looking forward to displaying her painting at the aged-care centre.
Penelope’s class visited the aged-care centre on the last Friday of each month. Sometimes, the students recited poetry for the elderly folk. (So far Joanna’s recital of The Man from Snowy River had been the biggest hit.) Other times, the class would sing a lovely song for them (though some of the boys were quite naughty and just moved their mouths without actually singing). Penelope knew their visits brightened up (most) of the elderly folk’s lives. She was sure that the art display would be Very Popular.
As soon as she thought that, Penelope had a Pleasant Image. She pictured all the elderly folk gathered around her painting, pointing and shaking their heads in astonishment at Penelope’s excellent work. In the middle of the Pleasant Image was Penelope’s favourite person from the aged-care centre, Doris. Unfortunately, Penelope’s least favourite person, Roy, also barged into her vision. Roy was always grumpy, but Penelope was quite surprised that he couldn’t even behave himself in a Pleasant Image. He wheeled his chair right in front of Penelope’s picture and grunted rudely.
In their regular classroom with Ms Pike, girls sat with girls and boys sat with boys
. But art was different. Penelope was happy to sit next to Oscar Finley at the central bench, along with everyone else who had brought found objects to add to their work. Oscar was working on his version of a Monet painting called Arrival of the Normandy Train. Oscar’s train was a little bit wonky. It looked more like a bus, although Penelope didn’t say that aloud. His found objects were a huge pile of wood and bark (which was obviously why his bag was so heavy this morning), and he was gluing them on his picture to make a workbench in front of his bus-looking-train.
Penelope was enjoying sticking the little silver beads from compartment seven on her picture. There was something very relaxing about the activity. Every bead made the water look more shimmery.
‘Okay Penny, I’ve got a good Would you rather?,’ Oscar Finley said. Mr Cattapan let everyone talk in art class as long as they weren’t too noisy and kept working. Penelope smiled, wondering what Oscar would come up with. She was quite hooked on this game.
‘Would you rather be able to fly or teleport?’ Oscar asked.
Penelope shifted a sparkly bead to a better spot on her picture and thought about it.
‘I think I’d rather be able to fly,’ she said. ‘I used to have lots of dreams about it when I was little. They were extremely nice dreams. What about you, Oscar?’
‘Well, I had flying dreams too and they were awesome,’ he said, ‘but for me, I reckon it’s teleport. I’m pretty sure you could get wherever you wanted to go quicker than flying.’ He nodded, as though he was convincing himself. ‘Plus, if you were in a battle with warriors, flying wouldn’t be as good. They could still get you with their arrows while you were in the air.’
Oscar put down the piece of wood he was gluing. ‘If you were teleporting, though, you could disappear and then – zap! – you’d be behind them and they wouldn’t even know!’ As he spoke, Oscar moved as though he was zapping behind warriors. He knocked a piece of bark out of place on his picture, so Penelope fixed it for him. She could actually imagine lots of warriors looking around them in total confusion.
Quiz Questions & Complicated Crushes Page 1
