Secret Meeting (5 page)

“Well, we weren’t!”

“You promise?”

“Promise!” I said. “We weren’t
doing
anything.”

“All right,” said Mum. “I believe you.”

Mum always does believe me, which is why I feel that I have to tell her the truth. It is quite hard at times!

We walked on, through Snicket Link, to our part of the Estate. It’s only, like, fifteen minutes from Annie’s, but Mum doesn’t like me going through the Link by myself, which is why she always comes to collect me. The Link is this very long, narrow path between blocks of flats. It has high walls on each side, so that even in daytime it’s quite dark and scary.

Annie’s mum doesn’t seem to mind Annie going through it when she comes to visit me, but Mum says it’s too dangerous. She says anyone could be lurking there. If I go to Annie’s by myself I always take the long way round, by the road.

Annie lives in a house, but Mum and me live in a maisonette, which I know from French lessons means a
little
house. What it is, it’s two little houses, one on top of the other. We have the one on top. It is quite tiny, but it is a real
little house;
not a flat!

Mum asked me what I was going to do after tea, and I said I was going to write my book review for school.

“Harriet Chance, I suppose?” said Mum. Mum knows all about Harriet Chance! She can hardly help it, considering my room is full to bursting with Harriet Chance books. “Which one are you doing?”

I said I was going to do
Candyfloss
, because a) I’d just watched the video – for about the ninety-eighth time! – and b) it was one of my favourites. This is what I wrote:

Candyfloss is eleven years old and lives with her mum. She has no brothers or sisters, but often wishes that she had. She has no dad, either. Her dad left home when Candy was only little, so that she can remember hardly anything about him. This makes her sad at times but mostly she is quite happy just to be with her mum.

I have just had a sudden thought: maybe this is why
Candyfloss
is one of my big favourites? Because Candy is like me! Lots of Harriet Chance characters are a bit like me, one way or another. For instance, there is Victoria Plum, who loves reading; and April Rose, who gets into trouble when her best friend leads her astray. But Candyfloss is the one who is
most
like me!

To continue.

Candy is quite a shy sort of person, who doesn’t think very highly of herself. If anything happens, she always assumes she is in the wrong. Like if someone bumps into her in the street she will immediately say sorry, even if it was not her fault.

Like at school, just the other day, this big pushy girl called Madeleine Heffelump (that is what we call her, her real name is Heffer) well, she came charging across the playground, straight towards me. I tried to get out of her way but I wasn’t quick enough and she went crashing wham, bam, right into me, nearly knocking me over. And I was the one who said sorry. Just like Candy! Even though it was Madeleine Heffelump who was in the wrong, not me.

Crazy! Anyway. This is the rest of my review:

Candy is pretty, with bright blue eyes like periwinkles and bubbly blonde hair (as I already said, I don’t look like her. Alas!) but she never thinks of herself as pretty, having this quite low opinion of herself most of the time. Then there is this girl at school, Tabitha Bigg, who bullies her and tells her she is useless and stupid, and Candy believes her, until one day a TV director comes to the school looking for someone to play a part in a TV show he is doing. Tabitha Bigg is sure he will choose her, because she is convinced she is the cat’s whiskers and Utterly Irresistible. Candy is too shy to even show herself! She tries to hide in the lavatory, but she comes out too soon
and the director catches sight of her and immediately forgets all about Tabitha Bigg.

“
THAT is the one I want!” he cries.

So Candy gets the part and it is yah boo and sucks to Tabitha Bigg, who is as sour as gooseberries and totally gutted. But everyone else is really glad that she didn’t get chosen as they are all fed up with her.

When the show goes out on television, Candy’s dad sees it (on the Net: he is in Australia) and he writes to Candy, and comes flying over to see her. It turns out that Candy’s dad is a big name in Australian TV. He offers to take Candy back with him and make her a Big Star, but she chooses to stay with her mum.

Which is what I would do if ever my dad turned up! I wouldn’t want to be a Big Star, and Candy doesn’t, either. Another way that we are alike!

After I had written my review I read it out loud to Mum, who said that Candy sounded “a very sensible sort of girl”.

I wondered if I was a sensible sort of girl, and whether sensible was an exciting thing to be. I decided that it wasn’t, and that was why I needed Annie. I don’t think anyone would call Annie sensible. But sometimes she is exciting. Like when she gets one of her mad ideas!

“When I go round there tomorrow,” I said, “to Annie’s, I mean, is it OK if I use her computer? Just to type out on?”

“What’s wrong with your handwriting?” said Mum.

“It’s horrible! No one can read it.”

“Of course they can, if you just take care. Why don’t you write it out again, nice and neatly? You can write beautifully when you try!”

I didn’t want to try. I wanted to do it on Annie’s computer! I wanted it to look like proper printing.

“Everyone else’ll do it on the computer,” I said.

“
Everyone
?” said Mum.

“Well … practically everyone.”

“I don’t believe you’re the only person in your class who doesn’t have their own PC.”

“I said,
practically
everyone.”

I think I must have looked a bit mutinous, a bit
rebellious
, ’cos Mum sighed and said, “Well, all right, if you really must. But I think it’s a great shame if people are going to lose the ability to write by hand!”

“I don’t mind for ordinary homework,” I said, “but this is going to be made into a book. It’s going to go on display. Miss Morton’s going to put it in the library! So it needs to look
nice
, Mum. It—”

“Yes, yes, yes!” Mum held up her hands. “Enough! You’ve made your point.”

“I wouldn’t go into a chatroom,” I said. “Honest! All I’m going to do is just type out the review. I wouldn’t
ever
go into a chatroom,” I said. “’cos we’ve talked about it. And I’ve given you my word. And I wouldn’t ever break my word, Mum, I promise!”

“Oh, Megan.” Mum reached out and patted my hand. “I know you think I’m a terrible old fusspot—”

“I don’t, Mum,” I said. “Truly!” I mean, I did, a bit; but I wanted her to know that I understood and that it didn’t bother me.

“It’s just that Annie is such a strong character—”

Did Mum mean that I was a weak one???

“— and you do tend to follow wherever she leads.”

“Not always!” I said.

“Most of the time,” said Mum.

“Only when it’s something funny! I wouldn’t do anything
bad.
”

“I’m sure you wouldn’t mean to. But it does worry me that Annie’s parents are so lax.”

I crinkled my forehead. “What does it mean?
Lax
?”