The Secrets Club (7 page)

They're in Lissa's room in
various stages of undress.

‘Look at you!' giggles Ali
when she sees me wrapped in a towel. She's the most fully clothed of us all in
her cotton leggings and print top. Tash is wandering around in her bra and pants (I
didn't know she wore a bra!), still torn between the fur combo and the white
lacy dress. Lissa is standing in jeans and bra (I knew she wore one), daubing some
stuff on her face.

‘What you wearing, Dani?'
she asks.

In reply I unzip my bag and pull out my
jeans and favourite T-shirt. Uh-oh! I shouldn't have stuffed my muddy school
uniform on top of them.

‘You can't wear
those!' says Tash. I stare at them glumly. They're crumpled, damp and
mucky. I give them a good shake and
try to rub the mud off but it only makes them worse.

‘You'll look like a
grub,' says Liss. ‘Borrow something of mine.' She flings open her
wardrobe door to display the entire contents of Topshop. ‘Help
yourself!' she says. So I do.

But here's the problem.
Lissa's about a foot taller than me, so all the jeans and trousers I try on
are way too long for me. And it doesn't help if I roll them up because even
though Lissa is quite skinny, the waist is too big for me and they fall down over my
hips and I look like Charlie Chaplin.

‘You'll have to wear a
dress,' she says and I say, ‘No way!' and luckily for me
they're all too big as well.

‘What are we going to do?'
says Tash and then Ali says, ‘Come on! We've improvised before. Remember
the fashion show?' She opens Lissa's drawers and rifles through the
contents. ‘Here we are,' she says triumphantly, waving a top in the air.
‘Perfect!'

And you know something? It really is.
It's a sleeveless sky-blue button-up shirt made of soft silky material, but
not too girly, so I don't object to trying it on. It feels lovely against my
skin.
Ali stares at me critically then
whisks a thin brown belt off a pair of Lissa's jeans and buckles it round my
waist. She's got an eye for clothes, even though she hates the fashion
industry; she gets it from her sister.

‘What d'you think?'
she asks me. I study myself in the mirror. The shirt looks like a dress now but I
like it, even though I can't remember when I last wore one. It makes my legs
look longer.

‘She needs shoes,' says
Lissa, ‘but mine are all too big.'

‘If I wear my fur combo and boots
instead of my little white dress she can have these,' says Tash, flashing her
open-toed high heels at me.

Ali opens her mouth to object to the
fur, sees the others glaring at her, and gives up. ‘OK then, I'll paint
her toenails.'

‘I'm not having my toenails
painted!' I object, but she's not listening. She paints my toenails
bright red and then she paints red, white and blue stripes on my fingernails which I
have to admit makes them look very eye-catching and patriotic. Then Lissa wants to
try her foundation and blusher on me and after that Tash
does my eyes with her kohl pencil and triple-effect super-lash
mascara.

‘Try my new organic lip
gloss,' says Ali, offering it to me. ‘It's
Nikki's.'

‘Me! Me! Me! Me!' squeals
Tash, who is besotted with Ali's sister, and grabs it first. I watch how she
puts it on, then copy her. I never thought I'd be doing this. We grin at each
other.

‘You look pretty,' I
say.

‘So do you,' says Tash to my
surprise. No one's ever said I looked pretty before. ‘Now then,
let's see what I can do with your hair.'

She picks up her hair bag and advances
on me. I sit there for ages while she blasts my roots with a warm dryer, then teases
and flicks my hair into shape with a multitude of brushes and combs. I always
thought it would be a real pain to have your hair fussed with, but actually it feels
nice and relaxing and I almost fall asleep. Finally, she spikes it with the gel
she's just given Lissa for her birthday and stands back and looks at me with a
critical eye. ‘Right then,' she says, ‘you're done. What
d'you think?'

I stand up to examine myself in
Lissa's full-length mirror and am so surprised I take a step backwards.

I can't believe it's me.

‘You look lovely!' squeals
Ali.

‘You look fabulous!' says
Lissa.

I don't say a word. I just study
the stranger in the mirror.

I look way older than me and much, much
cooler with my new funky hairstyle. My trademark freckles have disappeared beneath a
smooth layer of foundation and pinky-peach blusher. Instead, it's my eyes that
stand out; they look enormous, rimmed with kohl and fringed with long black lashes.
(How does mascara do that, make your eyelashes grow?) My glossed lips look fuller
than usual and the blue shirt/dress, clinched in at the waist by Lissa's belt,
accentuates my figure. (I didn't even know I had one!) And, best of all, I
look soooooo tall in my heels – as tall as Lissa.

And the nails! Don't forget the
nails: they're the finishing touch. It's like they're saying, OK,
everyone, so I know I'm stunning but, hey, I don't take myself too
seriously!

‘Wow! I like it!' I say to
my surprise and then I put my hand on my hip and do a twirl. My friends cheer.

‘You look so different, no one
will know who
you are!' says Tash,
so I do my cross-eyed tongue-hanging-out look to remind them who I really am and
they all fall apart laughing.

But you know something? She's
right. When people start turning up for the party they either take a second look at
me and shriek, or walk straight past without even recognizing me. It is so
funny!

You know what? I'm loving this
party, I really am. It's very flattering when people keep coming up to you and
telling you how gorgeous you look. (Though it does occur to me that means I must
look pretty rubbish normally.)

Plus there's the food. Mrs
Hamilton has gone to town and I have NEVER seen so much food in my life, all of it
labelled so we know exactly what we're eating.

Where do I begin? There are:

• little one-pot entrées of curried prawns
  (
  Entrées
  is French for starters. I'm getting soooo good at
  French!)
  
• salsa and avocado, hummus, and cream-cheese
  dips with carrot sticks, broccoli and tortilla chips
  
• spicy chicken wings
  
• mini
  pizzas
  
• taco shells with guacamole, sour cream, cheese,
  tomatoes and lettuce
  
• bagels with salmon and cream cheese
  
• miniature burgers with onions, pickles,
  mustard, ketchup or barbecue sauce
  
• potato skins
  
• ham, chicken or veggie wraps with
  mayonnaise
  
• bowls of crispy things
  
• stacks of cupcakes
  
• jugs of iced watermelon and pineapple
  juice
  
• sparkling fruit cocktails
  

I think I'm in heaven. I make a bit
of a pig of myself actually, trying things I've never eaten before, but then
so does everyone else.

I thought Tash's mum's party
was good when we had a pizza night and played football but this is something else. I
feel really grown-up.

If this is what being a teenager is
going to be like, bring it on!

The party fills up rapidly.
Lissa's dad comes home, puts his head round the door of the kitchen where
we're all standing around eating, grabs a plate of food and disappears. At
least, I'm assuming he was Lissa's dad. He could've been any
random guy in a suit who had heard there was posh nosh going free!

Then Austen arrives. Austen Penberthy is
Ali's best mate from primary school and we all know him from the fashion show
which he helped Ali to organize. Austen (shaved head, glasses, nice face) is an
eco-warrior and he's wearing a T-shirt which says ‘Save the Earth'
that he's tie-dyed himself. Immediately he corners Tash to engage her in a
heated debate about the implications of wearing fur, but having made his point he
moves on to chat to others. Unlike Lissa's dad
he's completely unfazed at being the only boy in a room full
of glammed-up eleven- and twelve-year-old girls.

He's not the only boy for long
though. After a while I notice a couple more helping themselves to drinks.

‘Who are they?' asks Tash,
then her jaw drops open as one of them drapes his arm round Lissa's shoulders.
‘OMG!'

Lissa is looking completely relaxed,
like she's used to having tall, good-looking,
mature
guys giving her
a cuddle. I'm not kidding, this particular guy must be fifteen or sixteen at
least!

‘Lissa's got a
boyfriend!' Tash splutters. ‘I don't believe it! She never
said!'

I believe it. I've always thought
Lissa was a dark horse. I don't get it though. I thought she was mad about
Ajay, Tash's friend. Lissa's life is even more complicated than
mine.

And there was me worrying myself silly
about my little secret! It pales into insignificance compared to hers. I
wouldn't want Ajay if I could have him!

I give myself a little shake. What am I
on about? I don't even like boys! Not in that way.

But if I did like boys, I'd like
him.

I can't stop staring at him. He's got thick dark hair and broad
shoulders and a gorgeous smile. He's smiling at Lissa like he thinks
she's the best thing since sliced bread. Then he glances up and sees me
staring at him and he smiles at me too, before bending his head to whisper in
Lissa's ear.

Oh no! I can feel myself blushing!

I never blush.

‘They're coming over!'
yelps Tash and the two of us immediately look the other way.

‘Hi!' says Lissa as cool as
a cucumber, with the two boys in tow.

‘Oh, hi!' I trill, turning
round and acting really surprised to see her here at her own party. She gives me a
funny look and says, ‘Let me introduce you. This is Duncan.' She
indicates the other boy: fair hair, T-shirt, baggy trousers.

Nice. But nothing special.

What is wrong with me? I never judge
boys on their appearance normally. It's like I've not just had a
makeover, I've had a personality transplant as well.

To my surprise Duncan extends his hand,
first to Tash, then to me. ‘Pleased to meet you,' he says.

‘Pleased to meet you,' we mumble, and then Lissa continues,
‘And this is Rupert.'

‘Rupert,' I repeat as
Gorgeous-Smile-Boy takes my hand. ‘Your …'

‘Brother.' She completes my
sentence. He's looking at me like he finds me really amusing.

Horrified, I drop his hand and say,
‘I thought you weren't coming!' which is just about the daftest
thing I could say, seeing as I've never met him before in my life. His smile
widens.

‘I didn't know you were
expecting me.'

‘I wasn't! I
mean … Lissa said you weren't coming … I
mean … oh flip, I used your shower to get ready, you see …'

He leans towards me and sniffs hard. I
jump back but not quickly enough. ‘Thought so,' he says. ‘You used
my shower gel too.'

My face grows so hot I think I'm
about to implode. I'm really tempted to make a joke of it, which is the way I
normally get myself out awkward situations. The words are there, ready, in my head.
OK, I come clean. Get it? I used your shampoo, your conditioner and your
body scrub as well. And your moisturizer.
But instead I stand there
speechless, glowing like a beacon.

‘You've gone bright
red,' observes Lissa
annoyingly
which makes me go redder still. She should know better being as she's the
biggest blusher of the four of us. ‘What's wrong with you,
Dani?'

Can't she understand how
embarrassing this is? Obviously not. To be fair to her, she's probably never
seen me react like this before. Dani Jarvis, tomboy of Year Seven, doesn't do
embarrassment. As if to confirm my thoughts she adds, ‘Dani's mad about
football. You two should have a lot in common.'

‘Really? Who d'you
follow?'

‘West Park Wanderers.'

‘Me too.' I'm treated
to the full Gorgeous Smile and, encouraged by his approval, I say, ‘I play a
bit too.'

‘Who for?'

‘Um …' I am so tempted
to tell him I play for Blackett because I want him to smile at me more, but I
hesitate. Careful, Dani. If you say too much you'll let the cat out of the bag
and you'll never get to play for them again. ‘Oh, you know, I just kick
a ball around with some of my mates.'

‘Boy mates,' says Lissa
reprovingly, but then she adds, ‘She's really good.'

‘You should join a ladies' team,' he says and then we launch
into a debate on the merits of ladies' and mixed football over men's and
after a while the others drift away, bored out of their skulls.

It turns out that Rupert is very
knowledgeable about sport. He plays football for a Saturday league team as well as
being captain of his school rugby team, plus he surfs and plays tennis in the summer
and skis when he gets the chance. Action man! But he's really easy to talk to
now I've got over my initial embarrassment.

I can't help noticing he's
got nice eyes as well as a gorgeous smile.

‘Can I get you a drink?' he
asks and I say yes, feeling incredibly grown-up. I am really enjoying this party. I
almost wish the Barbies were here to see me chatting away to this guy; that would be
one in the eye for them with their patronizing remarks.

I sigh happily and glance around the
room. Everyone looks as if they're enjoying themselves. I've been so
engrossed in conversation with Rupert that I didn't notice Ajay arriving.
He's chatting to Lissa and he's brought a friend with him.

Even from the back, there is something familiar about that friend.

I freeze. Oh no! I don't believe
it!

It's Marvyn.