[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.He looked so sorry for himself when we waved goodbye down on the beach but his hang-dog expression didn’t persuade them to give in for a second.I was beginning to see why he didn’t mind me bossing and shoving him about.He had it all a hundred times more from this lot.As we settled in at Barton Hall and got changed into our jim-jams (Lia lent me a pair of pale blue ones with silver stars on them), I learned loads about the Fab Four.Nesta had a brother called Tony, who Lucy was in love with.Nesta had a boyfriend called William, who she was in love with.TJ had a boyfriend called Luke, who she was in love with.Izzie was the only single one.I shook my head in answer to Izzie’s question about brothers and sisters.‘Nope, just me.’‘Lucky you,’ said Lucy.‘What about you, Izzie?’ I asked.‘Are you an only child?’‘Nah, not really.It’s complicated.I have two stepsisters and one stepbrother but none of them live with us.My mum and dad got divorced when I was nine.My dad remarried and they have a baby, Tom – so he’s my half-brother and he’s adorable.My mum married Angus and he had two daughters from his previous marriage, Claudia and Amelia.I used to hate him and them.I called him The Lodger and them the Ugly Stepsisters.I, of course, was Cinderella – misunderstood and never got to go the ball.But I like them all now.I was angry at Mum for ages for breaking up with Dad and blamed her for everything.I reckon that even if she’d married Mr Perfect Hollywood Hunk, I’d still have hated him in the beginning.’‘I think I’d be like that too,’ I said.‘But what about you? Is there a boy that you’re interested in?’Lucy grinned cheekily at her friend.‘She likes the look of Mac.Don’t you, Iz?’ said Nesta.Izzie slapped her friend’s arm lightly.‘Early days.’At that moment, Mrs Axford popped her head round the bedroom door.‘Just checking, girls.Your parents all know you’re here don’t they?’Cat, Izzie, TJ, Nesta and Lucy nodded.I sort of grunted.Actually, I hadn’t told Mum.She wouldn’t be back from Plymouth until after nine, so she wouldn’t know that I wasn’t tucked up in my room.And anyway, I didn’t care what she thought.She hadn’t even noticed that I’d been gone this morning, and last night when I’d wanted to talk, she’d told me to go to my room.Why should I tell her what I was doing?‘What about you, Becca?’ asked Nesta after Mrs Axford had shut the door.‘What’s your situation? Is it lurve with Lal?’‘Er.’‘Leave her,’ said Lucy, coming to my rescue.‘You don’t have to say Becca.Nesta is our token big-mouthed nosy git.’‘Hey,’ said Nesta.‘I was just asking.Taking an interest.’‘I don’t mind, Nesta,’ I said.Now that I’d got to know them, I wanted to talk.And it sounded like Izzie had been through something similar with her parents splitting up.‘So.First question: my situation.?’And I was off.Once I started telling them what was going on, I couldn’t stop.I told them all about Prague.And about the rows.And about not wanting to go home.About worrying where my dad was going to end up and me not seeing him any more.At one point, I felt close to tears and Cat and Lia immediately came to sit next to me and put their arms around me.And then the pizzas arrived (only from downstairs – made by Meena, the Axfords’ housekeeper).They were utterly scrummy – cheese, tomato and chorizo.After those, we had three tubs of chocolate chip fudge ice cream between us.As we tucked in, I thought that I hadn’t felt so happy in ages.The girls made me feel like it was normal to be going through such a major crisis.I felt accepted, and understood.‘It sounds like you’re close to your dad,’ said TJ, ‘so it must be really hard for you.Recently when my dad was ill and I thought he might even die, I was freaked out of my mind.I didn’t know what to do with myself.My mates really helped.They can see you through the hard times.’‘Yeah,’ said Izzie, indicating Nesta, Lucy and TJ, ‘this lot have seen me through loads of bad times.And good.’‘Me too,’ said Nesta as she draped herself Cleopatra-style over the bed and held her arm over her forehead à la tragic heroine.‘Although most of my bad times have been over boys.’‘I wish you’d told us what was happening,’ said Cat, looking at me.‘I feel bad that you tried to handle it all by yourself.’‘Yeah,’ said Lia.‘I hate to think that you’ve been unhappy.’‘I understand why she didn’t let on,’ said Lucy.‘Sometimes when you’re in the middle of a freaky time, it can be hard to say what you’re feeling without it coming out all wrong [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]