Sam in the Spotlight (9 page)

Aunty Mags was
so
excited about picking up Riley. She went on and on about it all the way to the pet shop and then all the way to Adam's house. I didn't pay much attention, to be honest. I was far too busy trying to work out how to keep my cool round at Adam's without sticking a great big ice pack on my face.

I knew we were only going to pick up Riley and that it was no big deal, but I couldn't stop thinking about how Adam had more or less invited me over, and not just because of Riley, but to
practise our scenes together.
While Aunty Mags went on about dog food and baskets and how to get rid of fleas, I went over everything that had happened this term at Star Makers, and in the end I was more or less convinced that the person Eddie was talking about when he said Adam liked someone at drama might actually be ME!

“Earth to Sam!” said Aunty Mags, pulling up outside Adam's house. “You're not listening to a single word. What's so interesting?”

“Oh nothing,” I said. “It's just that…do you think when someone says that someone likes someone, but you don't actually know who that someone is, that that someone could be someone who's quite a bit younger than the someone who likes them?”

Aunty Mags turned to face me. “Are you feeling okay?” she said, touching my forehead. “I didn't understand a word of that!”

“Oh, it doesn't matter,” I mumbled. “Come on, let's go in.”

We could hear the puppies yapping before we even rang the bell, and when Mrs. Dale opened the door they literally threw themselves at us.

“Oh, they've grown loads!” cried Aunty Mags, kneeling down. The puppies clambered and climbed all over her, licking and nipping. “Look, Sam, here's Riley,” she said, picking up the smallest pup – but I wasn't there to see Riley.

“Where's Adam?” I asked, peering over Mrs. Dale's shoulder. “We're supposed to be practising our scenes together.” So much for being cool!

“Oh, he was straight in and straight out after drama,” said Mrs. Dale. “Off to see a film with Catharine from Star Makers – some last-minute arrangement. He said he's sorry and he'll see you at drama next week. She's a lovely girl, but I never see him these days!”

I kneeled down to stroke Riley, just to give myself something to do. I didn't get it. Why would he ask me over to practise our scenes together but then go out with Catharine instead? It didn't make any sense – unless the girl Eddie was talking about when he said Adam fancied someone at drama was Catharine. I carried on stroking Riley, blinking back tears, hoping Mrs. Dale and Aunty Mags wouldn't notice how upset I was.

Mrs. Dale offered us tea, but Aunty Mags was bursting to get back home with Riley – and I certainly didn't want to hang about.

Riley sat in the back of the car in the little dog-carrier we'd bought at the pet shop. He whimpered the whole way, confused about leaving his mum and the other pups.

“Poor little thing,” soothed Aunty Mags. “Wait until you see where you're going to live. You'll soon feel at home. Are you going to come over, Sam? Help settle him in?”

“Not today, Aunty Mags. Can you take me straight home? I've got heaps of homework.”

“You're ever so quiet. You're not worried about anything, are you?”

“No, nothing important. It's just that I don't understand why people say things they don't mean.”

“You're talking in riddles again, sweetheart. Who's said something?”

I shrugged. “Oh, forget it. It's stupid anyway.”

Dad was watching TV when I got in – some ancient black-and-white movie on BBC2.

“This is such a classic, Sam,” he said, moving up to make room for me on the sofa.

“I'm not in the mood,” I muttered. The way I was feeling, the last thing I wanted to do was sit through one of those old romantic films. “Anyway, I've got tons of work to do and I can't let my marks slip!” I added sarcastically.

Dad turned the volume down. “Don't be like that.” He patted the couch. “Come and sit with your old dad for a sec. How did Mags get on with the puppy?”

“He's called Riley and he's gorgeous. But seriously, Dad, I've got to go and start my homework.”

Dad jumped up suddenly and grabbed the remote, singing into it like it was a microphone. “
How much is that doggy in the window? The one with the waggly tail…
”

“
Dad!
” I knew he was trying to cheer me up, but it wasn't going to work. Not today. I edged past him and escaped upstairs to text Ellie.

Need 2 talk right now! Call me!

I lay on my bed waiting, but she didn't call back. She sent me this stupid picture of her and Eddie instead – their faces all squashed together, grinning at the camera. She'd only known him for about a month but he was already more important to her than her best friend. I wanted to tell her about Adam, to ask what Eddie meant when he said Adam fancied someone at drama. It had to be Catharine. Or else it was one big wind-up. Eddie's idea of a joke. A minute later another picture popped up on my phone, but this one was from Aunty Mags. It was the most gorgeous photo of Riley cuddled up in his basket, with the message:
True Love. . .

I wondered if Ellie was in love with Eddie, or if it was just her hormones. I didn't actually trust Eddie one little bit. I couldn't shake the feeling that he was trying to turn Ellie against me, and it was really starting to get on my nerves. Before Ellie went on holiday, whenever we talked about what it would be like to have a boyfriend she was always the one to say friends come first. She'd obviously forgotten all about that quickly enough. It was more like
hello Eddie…goodbye Sam!

At lunch on Monday, she was doing her usual routine of recounting every last juicy detail of her Saturday afternoon with Eddie – where they'd been and what he'd said and how cute he was. Polly and Phoebe just sat there like lemons listening to every word as if it was the most fascinating thing they'd ever heard in their lives.

“Stop going on about him all the time, can't you?” I said when she finally paused for breath. “I don't know what you think is so great about him anyway. He's such a creep.”

She whipped round to face me. “Shut up, Sam. No he isn't. You're just jealous.”

“No I'm not. He just wants you to think that so you hang around with
him
instead of me. It's so obvious, you'd have to be stupid not to realize!”

“So you're calling me stupid now, are you?” she shouted. “Some friend you've turned out to be.” Her eyes filled with tears.

I shook my head, frustrated that she didn't get it. “I'm not calling you stupid. I'm just trying to warn you.”

“
Warn
me? I don't
need
warning, thanks very much. You're the one I need to stay away from, not Eddie!” She wiped her eyes on her sleeve and stormed out of the canteen.

Phoebe and Polly sat there with their mouths wide open.

“Go after her,” said Phoebe. “She's really upset. Go and say sorry, quickly!”

“Why should I?” I said stubbornly. “She'll soon realize I'm right when she thinks about it. She won't stay angry for long.”

But she did stay angry – all that day and the next and the day after. She didn't speak to me all week and it was awful. She didn't sit with me at lunch or wait for me after classes or anything. It was like being stuck in a nightmare where everything's going wrong but you can't make yourself wake up. I kept trying to catch her eye – and a couple of times I waited for her outside class – but she just swept straight past me as if I was invisible. It began to feel as if we'd never been friends in the first place.

Phoebe tried to talk to her but she wouldn't listen. She said I was jealous and spiteful and she didn't want anything to do with me.

“Just tell her you're really, really sorry,” said Phoebe.

“It shouldn't be me saying sorry, she's the one who's dropped me the second Eddie came along.”

“Well, she didn't
drop
you exactly,” said Polly. “I mean she did keep asking you to go with them on Saturdays after drama.”

“I know, but you don't understand.”

Neither of them understood. They didn't realize how much I missed my Saturday afternoons with Ellie. Or how much I wanted to talk to her about Adam, and Crystal, and the two weddings, and everything else that was going on.

By Friday it felt as if we hadn't been talking for years. I tried one last time to catch her as she was going into lunch, but it was useless.

“Come on, Ellie,” I said, grabbing her arm. “This is stupid. How long are you going to keep this up? I was only trying to help.”

She shook my hand off and pushed past me. “I know you think I'm stupid,” she said. “You've told me enough times. But I don't care any more!”

“Fine!” I shouted after her. “Have a nice time with
Eddie,
because I don't care any more either!”

I trailed out of school at the end of the day feeling totally fed up. It's usually the happiest time of the week. We all spill out together, excited about the weekend, and especially excited about Star Makers, but I didn't even know where Ellie was. I hung about outside the gates waiting to see if she would turn up. I knew it wouldn't do any good, but I just wanted to see her.

A minute later I noticed a tall blonde girl walking straight towards me from down the road. Her hair was backcombed and wild like a massive haystack, and she was wearing the skinniest black jeans with heavy, black Dr. Martens boots.

I couldn't believe it.
Finally.
I took a step towards her, grinning.

“Hello, gorgeous,” she said, holding her arms out.

It was Crystal.

And I was
so
relieved to see her I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

“Crystal!!!” I flew into her arms, half-laughing, half-crying.

“What a welcome!” Crystal hugged me close and then pushed me away to look at me. “Hey! You're not getting snot all over my T-shirt, are you? Why so sad, Sam? What's going on?”

“
What's going on?
” I squealed, beating her chest. “Where have you been? Why haven't you been returning my calls? I got the invitation and then nothing. I've been going mad.”

She pulled me back into her arms. “I'm sorry,” she said into my hair. “It's just been crazy; the wedding and the business and Tyler's music. I haven't had a second to think about anything else. I should've called, I know, but hey! I'm here now.”

She hugged me one more time, then grabbed my arm and started pulling me down the street.

“Come on, you old slowcoach. You don't want to hang about school on a Friday afternoon. Let's go down to the park. I've got so much to tell you.” She was half-running, shouting at the top of her voice, her eyes wild with excitement. I ran along with her, caught up in the moment – caught up in her crazy mood – just like always.

There's a small playground a few streets away from school and we flew in through the entrance, out of breath and laughing.

“Hey, I've got something to ask you,” she said, as we collapsed down on the big-kid swings to get our breath back. “Why were you standing outside school by yourself? Who were you waiting for? I haven't ruined some hot date, have I?”

“Don't be stupid!” I said. “I've had a massive row with Ellie. That's why I was by myself. I was standing there like an idiot hoping she might show up so we could sort things out, but it's hopeless.”

“Oh Sam, not you and Ellie.” She reached across and linked her arm through mine. “What did you fight about? It wasn't a boy, was it?”

“How did you guess?” I said, half-smiling. “It
was
about a boy, but it wasn't really my fault. You see Ellie met this awful guy Eddie on holiday. She says he's not her boyfriend but they keep hanging out together all the time. She sees him more or less
every
Saturday, and honestly, Crystal, he's such a creep.”