Shining On by Lois Lowry

grabbed it.
Please, God,
she thought,
make it Granny phoning to cancel because she's ill too.
Instantly she felt guilty at the thought of her beloved Granny being ill.
No, wait, God, let's rethink this.
Jess whizzed off another prayer.
Let Granny cancel because she's feeling well. So well she's off on a fabulous date with a groovy old guy called Max.
    “Hello?” said Jess, picking up.
    “Hi, Jess! This is Jodie. I'm having a spur-of-the-moment party tonight. In my uncle's huge garage out at Meadway. Whizzer's DJing. Can you come?”
    “No,” Jess said, sighing. “This sucks, but I have to do something else.”
    “What could be more fun than my party?” complained Jodie in her usual bulldozing style.
    “I'll tell you what could be more fun,” said Jess, letting rip some pent-up aggravation. “Going to stay with my granny all weekend in her grim old house that smells weird, in order to help her sort through my dead grandpa's clothes and stuff. We're going to take it all to the charity shop whilst weeping copiously in stereo. Beat that, you sad disco addict.”
    Jodie was silent for a moment.
    “OK, right,” she said eventually. “I'm really, like, sorry and stuff. Hope it goes OK. See you on Monday.” She rang off.
    Jess slammed down the phone and heaved such a huge sigh that the windows almost rattled. OK, she loved Granny. But it wasn't her job to help sad, old people through all this grieving stuff. She ought to be over at Jodie's party tonight, blinded and deafened by Whizzer's lights and sounds. She was a teenager, for God's sake, not some kind of care worker.
    On the train, she closed her eyes, and had a daydream about a poet who had recently come to school to give a talk about his work. His name was Eddie Sadat and he had dark, smoldering eyes, thick, black shiny hair and a cute little mustache. Jess imagined a life with Eddie. They lived in New York, dressed in black and even had matching black Labradors called Darkness and Night.
    Eventually, as the train began to slow towards Granny'sstation, Jess opened her eyes and stared at her reflection in the train window. She had to accept that her glamorous life with Eddie was never going to happen. The nearest she was going to get to Eddie was growing a similar mustache. In fact, judging by her reflection, that little project was already under way.
    However, the daydream did give Jess an idea for getting through this weekend. In every little spare bit of time, she'd design a whole new look for herself. Her normal jeans and trainers outfit was so utterly boring. The idea of slouching stylishly around New York dressed entirely in black had taken her fancy. She had to invent a new look that was cool and wild.
    The train stopped. Jess got off and met Granny by the ticket barrier. She seemed smaller than ever and smelled faintly of lavender.
    “The taxi driver looks a bit like a mass murderer,” whis-pered Granny excitedly. This was reassuring. They climbed in. The taxi driver seemed a perfectly pleasant fellow with a big smile and crinkly laugh lines round his eyes. But maybe Granny was right; she'd had a lifelong interest in homicide.
    The taxi deposited them at Granny's house. Granny seemed a bit disappointed not to have been murdered, but gave the guy a massive tip anyway.
    “He knows where we live now,” whispered Granny as she unlocked the door and the cab sped away. “I expect he'll be back tonight with his hammer.” Not many grannieswere so hooked on thrillers. Most other grans tended to be reassuring; Jess's granny was downright irresponsible at times.
    “A hammer? Hmm, so crude,” said Jess. “I'd rather be shot. Much more stylish.”
    “Oh, I do agree, dear,” said Granny, as they took their coats off. “Now, how about a hot chocolate? I've got one of those pizzas you like—the one with garlic mushrooms and marzipanone.”
    “Mascarpone,” corrected Jess.
    “Oh, I love that word!” said Granny. “It sounds like a gangster, doesn't it? Al