“And … open!” she yelled.
Nan and I removed our hands slowly and let out a gasp.
The garden looked like a wonderland. She’d decorated the whole thing to match my red starry dress, which explained the star-shaped invites. There were fairy lights and rows of bunting hanging delicately from the fence and the trees, with music playing across the garden. She’d made lots of different-flavoured sandwiches, and had even managed to find red cups, plates and napkins with silver stars on. She’d found a star-shaped piñata and hung it from a branch, and scattered blankets across the grass for us all to sit on.
There were mini sausages, Scotch eggs, crisps and star-shaped sweets in red bowls, and bottles of cherryade, Coke and lemonade at the end of the table.
“Angela!” gasped Nan, bringing her hands to her face. “This looks incredible!”
The food table wasn’t the best bit. She’d hired a giant tent and filled it with pillows, blankets and more fairy lights. She’d somehow managed to fit a TV and DVD player in there, with a stack of films nearby for us to watch. It reminded me of Aladdin’s cave, conjured up by the work of a magical genie.
“Your grandad helped me sort that,” she told me, pointing at the TV. I looked at Grandad, who gave me a nod and smiled. It meant a lot to me that he’d helped her with it.
Mum beamed, clearly pleased with her efforts. Nan said she was so touched she could cry.
It was nice to see them all getting along. Most of all, it was nice to pretend we were a normal family for once.
“Thank you, Mum,” I said, and gave her the biggest hug I possibly could.
“All right, calm down, you’ll ruin my dress,” she said, though she didn’t seem to mind too much at all.
Neada and Jess arrived together first. I’d begged them to come early, just so I had some support in case nobody else showed up. Neada’s mum had given Jess a lift, as Jess’s mum was taking her brothers to football practice. I don’t know Neada’s mum very well, but she has black glossy hair like Neada does, and always wears beautiful saris that shimmer when she walks.
“Come and have a look at the garden!” I said, grabbing Neada and Jess by the wrists and leading them down the side of the house to the garden. Neada’s mum followed not far behind.
“Wowwww!” Neada’s mum said. “Who arranged all this?”
“My mum,” I said proudly, and pointed to her across the garden. I watched Mum pouring herself a cup of cherryade at the food table and tapping away at her phone.
“This looks so cool,” Neada said in amazement. “And your mum looks so pretty.”
“Yeah!” said Jess. “My mum would never let me have a party like this.”
“I must say, this looks amazing,” Neada’s mum said, clearly impressed. She glanced over at Mum, who had begun arranging the table again, even though it already looked perfect. “Your mum looks a bit busy right now, Molly, but I’d love to meet her some other time. Say hi to your nan for me.”
As she left, Neada and Jess ran over to the food table and began piling up their plates as high as they could.
“You look so pretty, Molly,” Neada said in between mouthfuls of crisps, glancing at my dress. I didn’t want to seem boastful, but I knew I looked pretty too.
“I bet Chloe’s going to be so jealous of you,” Jess giggled. “She’d never organise a party as great as this.”
Boys and girls from my class began arriving. Some of them had made a real effort – the boys wearing smart shirts and gel in their hair, and some of the girls wearing party dresses. They “oohed” in amazement at the sparkling lights in the trees and “aahed” in awe at the Aladdin tent.
“This looks great, Mol,” a boy called Sam said. Even his friends nodded in agreement. He’s head of the school’s football team and a lot of the girls in our year fancy him. Neada’s never said anything but it’s obvious she’s started to like him too. I honestly felt like the most popular girl in the world.
Mum went round with food, handing out sausage rolls and sandwiches and making sure everyone was having a good time. Nan was in the kitchen, chatting to some of the parents who had dropped kids off. I didn’t understand what I’d been so nervous about. Everything was going fine.
Then Ed arrived, wearing an oversized T-shirt and ripped jeans. I ran over to him and gave him the biggest hug I could – bigger than the one I gave Mum. He was the one person I wanted there the most.
“I’m so glad you could come!” I said, bursting with excitement. He looked a bit taken aback as I grabbed him, but pleased nonetheless.
“Oh, before I forget! I know it’s your unbirthday, but I got you a little something,” he said nervously. He began rooting around in the pockets of his jeans. “Well, my mum helped me a bit as I’m useless at buying presents, but I did most of the choosing.”
He handed me a small, scruffily-wrapped present and placed it in the palm of my hand. He brushed the hair out of his eyes and looked at me.
“Open it later, not now,” he instructed. I put it in my pocket and made a “cross” motion on my heart.
He looked down at my dress. “You look … really lovely, Molly.”
I blushed again, trying desperately hard to change the subject somehow.
“Come and get some food!” I said quickly. “There’s so much of it.”
As I walked over to the table with Ed, Neada had an awkward look on her face.
“Neada ate all the crisps,” Jess said, rolling her eyes. Neada was clutching her tummy, an uneasy look on her face.
“I think I ate too many,” she said.
“Don’t worry,” I said, giggling. “I’ll go and get some more. We’ve got plenty left. Wait here, guys.”
As I walked across the grass and into the kitchen, I watched Mum go upstairs. I tried to follow her but Nan got in my way before I could leave the room.
“Having a nice time?” she asked. “Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves! We could put a film on in the tent in an hour or so. What do you reckon?”
“Sounds great,” I said, filling the bowl up with a mountain of crisps. “Where’s Mum got to?”
Suddenly there was a ring at the door. Nan shuffled out of the kitchen to answer it. I’d been having such a fun time that I’d almost forgotten someone was missing.
15
“Hi, Chloe! Hi, Karen!” I heard Nan say as she opened the front door. “Haven’t seen you both in a while! How have you been?”
My tummy suddenly felt funny, like I wanted to be sick. I felt so nervous that Chloe would try spoiling my party in some way. I walked towards Nan and stood behind her like she was some sort of human shield.
Chloe’s mum was standing behind her in the doorway, so I had to pretend I was happy to see her, when deep down I wished she would just vanish. She was dressed in a baby-pink mini dress that had sparkles on it, making her look even more sickly sweet than usual, and her hair fell either side of her face in perfectly plaited pigtails.
“Got a minute, Carol?” Chloe’s mum asked. “Could do with a chat.”
“Absolutely!” Nan answered. “Fancy a cup of tea? I could do without seeing children for a few moments.”
“Go on, Chloe, you run off with Molly,” Chloe’s mum said, and they wandered into the kitchen together, leaving Chloe and me alone by the doorway.
We glared at each other and folded our arms at the same time.
“Right, let’s see what kind of party you’ve organised,” she said slyly, and I felt even more nervous than before, worried whether it would be up to her standards or not.
Without me leading her, Chloe walked round the side of the house and into the middle of the garden. She stood on the grass, hands on her hips, with a mean expression on her face. I could just feel her judging everyone.
I glanced around. Everyone still seemed to be having a fun time, laughing and chatting on the rugs with platefuls of food and hitting the piñata as hard as they could.
She practically death-stared Ed, Neada and Jess, who wer
e all stood laughing and joking together, then turned to look at me.
“This is literally the lamest party I’ve ever seen,” she said. “It’s the type of birthday a toddler would have.” She marched over to the food table. “I mean, look at this. A garden party is the kind of thing I had when I was five.”
I went as scarlet as my dress. Was it really as uncool as Chloe said it was? Were the people who said they were enjoying my party just being polite? If anyone knew how to put someone down, it was Chloe.
“All junk food,” she tutted. “Then again, I suppose that’s all you eat, isn’t it? Try not to eat it all at once, eh?”
Don’t let her get to you, I said to myself.
Neada and Jess spotted Chloe and waved to her from across the garden. She didn’t wave back.
“God,” Chloe said, hissing to me. “What does Neada look like?”
I thought Neada looked beautiful. She was wearing a beaded turquoise top and jeans, her black glossy hair tied up with a butterfly clip.
“She’s got to stop wearing stuff like that if she wants to hang out with us at St Margaret’s,” she added, rolling her eyes. Then she turned her attention to me. “I see you’ve started wearing short dresses again. No offence, Mol, but don’t your legs look a bit … well … chunky to be wearing stuff like that?”
I stared at her, gobsmacked. I couldn’t believe she was being so nasty and trying to spoil my day.
“I’m going to speak to Neada and Jess,” I said, and marched over to them across the grass. I might as well have been wearing my tight-fitting swimming costume, because Chloe made me feel like an enormous whale on show in an aquarium.
I was trying my absolute best not to cry, but tears began filling my eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Jess asked, putting her hand on my shoulder.
“Was it something Chloe said?” Neada asked.
I nodded. They all turned to look at her from across the garden.
“Just ignore her,” Ed said. “She’s just jealous because she’s not the centre of attention.”
“Don’t you worry,” Jess said. “She isn’t going to ruin your unbirthday. We’ll make sure of it.”
We had a group hug and Neada wiped the tears from my eyes. I felt a lot brighter again. Jess was right – I didn’t need to let Chloe ruin my special day, no matter how mean she was being. Mum had gone to so much effort that I wasn’t going to let one spoiled brat ruin it.
“Molly!” I heard a voice say, and we turned to look. Gabby Morris had arrived. She looked beautiful in a pale-blue dress and with a bow in her hair.
“Come and join us, Gabby!” Neada yelled. Gabby looked as though she had won the lottery and hurried over to us, grinning from ear to ear.
Then, all of a sudden, Chloe stuck her leg out. Gabby went flying, landing on the ground in a heap, her beautiful blue dress covered in grass stains.
“Chloe!” Jess yelled angrily. “What did you do that for?!”
We ran over to Gabby, who also now had tears in her eyes. I’d never seen Chloe do anything as mean as that. Everyone in the garden turned to stare at Gabby. Her knee was bleeding.
“That was a really nasty thing to do, Chloe,” Neada said, putting her arm round Gabby’s shoulders. “Are you all right, Gabby?”
Gabby sniffed and nodded. I thought she was being very brave.
“Oh, stop being such a baby, Gabby,” Chloe said, though I could tell she knew she’d gone too far this time. “It was an accident.”
“It definitely wasn’t an accident,” Ed snapped back. “You really are a nasty piece of work, Chloe.”
“Oh, shut up, Ed,” she answered. “Why have you bothered turning up anyway? Still begging to take Molly out on a date, are we?”
In an instant, I saw red. Chloe had no right speaking to Ed like that, and especially not at my party. I felt heat rise from my toes to the top of my head, like a kettle steaming, and I suddenly exploded.
“Shut up, Chloe!” I yelled angrily. The voice came from the very bottom of my body and echoed around the garden.
“Excuse me?” she answered, sounding surprised and taken aback.
“You heard. Shut up. I’m sick to death of you being so horrible.” I could feel my face get hotter as I got angrier. “You think you’re so cool but everyone hates you. You think you’re so popular but no one wants to be your friend.”
“W-w-what?” Chloe stuttered quietly.
“I have spent months trying to impress you,” I said. “I’ve tried buying clothes so you’ll like me. I’ve been horrible to other people so you’ll like me. I’ve even given up my favourite sport just to make you like me.” I paused, and then smiled. “Well. So you think.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ve been swimming in secret,” I said. “I’ve been practising and practising almost every morning to be the best swimmer I can. And guess what – I’m going to enter county regionals and win a medal, whether you like it or not. No one will make me give up on my dreams, especially not you. And as for Ed and Gabby… You can be as horrible to me as you want, but don’t you dare be horrible to them. Gabby and Ed have done nothing to you. And yeah, Ed’s right – you’re a nasty, horrible bully.”
The whole party seemed to have gone quiet, except for the sound of music playing in the background. No one knew what to say. But I wasn’t done talking.
“And yes, I know I’m bigger than you,” I continued. “But I’m not fat. I look great in this dress. And my legs aren’t chunky – they’re strong and powerful, just like all the best swimmers.
“So get lost, Chloe. I know you’re just jealous of me. I couldn’t care less if you don’t want to be my friend. Because I don’t ever, ever, ever want to be your friend again.”
All of a sudden I heard a cheer. Everyone at the party began clapping. Some of the boys started laughing. Chloe looked completely dumbfounded, her eyes as wide as a deer’s caught in headlights.
“Go away, Chloe,” someone yelled.
“Yeah, Chloe,” another voice called. “No one wants you here.”
Chloe’s eyes began welling up and her cheeks burned bright red. She ran across the garden and through the back door, straight into the kitchen where her mum was still sitting.
Neada, Jess, Gabby and Ed looked at me in shock.
“I can’t believe you just did that!” Neada said.
“Me neither!” Jess added. “But doesn’t it feel good, Chloe getting a taste of her own medicine?”
16
To be perfectly honest, I didn’t know how I felt. I thought getting back at Chloe would make me feel better about myself. Saying what I thought of her made me feel good for a moment, but when I thought back to the words I’d said, it had actually made me feel … well … worse. Part of me wished I’d just walked away and let her get on with it. Seeing my best friend cry made me feel awful, even if she had done it to me countless times before.
“Thank you for sticking up for me,” Gabby sniffed, wiping her eyes and nose with the back of her hand.
“Come on, Gabs,” Ed said. “Let’s get you something to eat.” He pulled her up by the hand and across the grass to the food table.
“Molly!” Nan yelled suddenly from the back door. “Can you come here for a minute, please?”
Neada and Jess looked at me nervously. Great. I wandered over towards the house, knowing full well I was about to be in big trouble. Perhaps I’d spoken too soon about my party going ahead without any glitches.
“Come and sit down,” Nan said calmly, over the sound of Chloe sobbing. I sat down in a spare chair, pretending to be interested in the tablecloth and running my fingers across the gingham design.
When I eventually had the courage to glance up, I noticed Chloe wasn’t the only one crying.
Chloe’s mum had mascara dripping down her face, making her look a bit like a panda. Her nose was all red and her cheeks looked puffy. She didn’t look as pretty as usual. In fact, she actually looked a bit scary.
“Chloe’s been having a bit of a tough time recently,” Nan said softly, putting her hand on my shoulder.
I wanted to yell, “NO, SHE HASN’T!” across the table, but thought it best I didn’t.
“Chloe’s mum and dad are getting divorced,” Nan said, and Chloe’s mum burst into tears, putting her head into her hands. I wasn’t entirely sure where to look. I wasn’t used to seeing grown-ups cry.
“He l-l-left me!” Chloe’s mum stuttered, her cheeks bright red. “For a woman barely older than you girls! She’s twenty-two, for God’s sake! Twenty-two!”
“It’s disgusting, Karen,” Nan said, as Chloe’s mum blew her nose. “You’re better off without him.”
“I just don’t know what I’m going to do,” she sobbed. “I gave my life up for him, you know? I don’t have any skills or qualifications. I married him so young. I don’t know how I’ll get a job. And now I’m worried I’ll be left with nothing.”
I looked over at Chloe. Her eyes were bloodshot. I genuinely felt a bit sorry for her. It kind of made sense now, knowing why she had been so mean. I wouldn’t know how to cope if Nan and Grandad broke up.
“I … I had no idea that was happening, Chloe,” I said quietly.
She looked very small and fragile in her chair. She was no longer the bolshie character everyone knew her as.
“It’s OK,” she replied, sniffing quietly. “I didn’t want to tell anyone.”
I know it didn’t excuse Chloe’s behaviour, but it did explain why she’d been so horrible recently. It’s a bit confusing, but Nan once told me that people deal with sadness differently. Some people cry; some don’t cry at all. Others lash out and scream at people, and others hide away and become quiet, refusing to talk to anyone.
Then the doorbell rang. Again.
“Who’s that now?” Nan said, irritated. “I thought all your friends had arrived? Go and answer it, will you, Mol?”
There was a man standing in the entrance, leaning against the door frame. He was the tallest man I’d ever seen, wearing a leather jacket and ripped jeans, with a big itchy beard and grey-blue eyes.
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