Attack of the Cupids by John Dickinson Page A

Sally.
    â€˜. . . But Lauren won’t come if Freda isn’t there!’
    â€˜Then invite
both
of them, sweetheart,’ said Mum. ‘Sally won’t mind, will you?’
    â€˜Not a bit,’ said the Outer Sally.
    â€˜Can I say “Well Done” again?’ said Windleberry.
    â€˜She’s got one more than me, now,’ said Sally. ‘I knew she would.’
    â€˜You don’t mind about that. You said so yourself.’
    â€˜I mind that she’s got it by shouting and screaming.’
    â€˜Greg’s not doing the barbecue, is he?’ Billie said dangerously.
    â€˜He’d like to,’ said Mum.
    â€˜Seconds out, round two,’ said Sally. ‘She’ll get at Mum about Greg now. She knows they’re going through a bad patch.’
    â€˜. . . Well,
I
can’t do it, sweetheart! I’m not going to have the time. It’ll give him something to do . . .’ Mum continued.
    â€˜But he’s so
embarrassing
! He tries to be
cool
. And his hairy
paunch!
’
    â€˜Darling – he’ll wear a nice plain T-shirt, I promise . . .’
    â€˜He should wear a nice plain sign round his neck that says
I Am Embarrassing
.’
    â€˜Actually I agree with her there,’ said Sally.
    . . . He mustn’t talk to anybody. He mustn’t even
look
at them . . .’
    â€˜He’s just trying to be friendly . . .’
    â€˜Friendly? He makes me
sick
! I just don’t understand why you . . .’
    â€˜Time to step in,’ said the Inner Sally.
    â€˜So,’ came her own voice from outside. ‘Does this mean you’re uninviting Holly and inviting Freda and Lauren instead?’
    Through the windows onto the world they saw Billie’s face swing round upon them like the gun turret of a tank.
    â€˜No,’ she said. ‘I’m going to invite Cassie and Viola.’
    â€˜
What?
’ cried the Inner Sally.
    And the Outer Sally said, ‘You’re crazy.’
    â€˜I’ll invite who
I
want to,’ said Billie, reddening again. ‘
You
have.’
    â€˜But Cassie and Viola. Won’t. Come.’
    â€˜It’ll just look like we’re trying to get in with their group,’ groaned the Inner Sally. ‘And that’ll never happen, unless we invite the twenty coolest sixth-form boys in the county too. Which would be nice, but they wouldn’t come either.’
    â€˜
YES THEY WILL!!!!
’
    â€˜Social suicide,’ said the Outer Sally.
    â€˜Sally . . .’ said Mum. But it was too late.
    â€˜You
always
think I’m wrong! You’re
always
being snide and mean! And you’re
always
talking me down at school . . .’
    â€˜Why should I? You do it every time you open your mouth.’
    â€˜Sally!’ said Mum.
    â€˜Sally!’ said Windleberry.
    â€˜What’s going on?’ said Muddlespot.
    He was peeping round the archway into the chamber where the two of them stood. He had wisely swapped his red pillbox hat for a workman’s helmet, in case the roof fell or something came flying in through one of the windows. A mind in the middle of a family row is a hard hat area.
    â€˜Just another day in the Jones house,’ said the Inner Sally bitterly. ‘Where’ve you been? I’ve really needed you.’
    â€˜No, you really haven’t,’ said Windleberry.
    â€˜Tidying up, I think,’ said Muddlespot innocently. ‘Did anybody drop this?’
    Windleberry looked at it.
    It was a small, folded piece of card. Inside the fold, crudely-drawn and coloured, was the shape of a pink heart.
    Something inside Windleberry went very quiet and cold.
    â€˜That?’ he said carefully. ‘No, I didn’t drop that.’
    â€˜What is it, then?’
    Angels are not allowed to lie.
    â€˜It is a heart, crudely drawn and coloured in pink,’ Windleberry