Following Flora by Natasha Farrant Page B

first kiss ought to.
    FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6
    Today before going to work Mum put all the laundry in the bin instead of the washing machine. When she came home this afternoon, she realized what she had done, and sat down in the middle of the kitchen floor and cried. Then Dad came in to find out what all the noise was and sat right down on the floor beside her.
    â€œI didn’t like those shirts anyway,” he said. Mum started to laugh and threw her arms around his neck, and then they went to bed. We haven’t seen them since, except when Dad came down to make grilled cheese because Mum was hungry. He got a text while he was making it, and it was from Mum in the bedroom telling him she wanted Rice Krispies as well. I haven’t seen him laugh so much
ever
. I didn’t even know Mum liked Rice Krispies.
    Â 
    SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7
    Zach was working today, so Flora couldn’t go and see him, but apparently if she isn’t with him she has to talk about him
all the time
. She hardly stopped all day.
    â€œHe hasn’t seen his mother for
over two years
,” she told us. “You know I used to think she was a witch? Well, it turns out nice Mr. Rudowski threw her out after his wife died and told her to never come back. Zach’s never forgiven him for it.”
    â€œThat sounds very dramatic,” Mum said. She was tired again. Jas and I were sitting on her bed playing cards with her to keep her company, while Flora went on about Zach and Twig practiced hairstyles in the bathroom.
    â€œIt’s true!” Flora insisted. “Zach says she was a brilliant mum. She used to do things like take him out of school to go to the seaside, or camp overnight in Richmond Park. One time she took him for tea at the Ritz and wore a long gold cocktail dress and made him pretend she was the queen of Narnia.”
    â€œShe sounds funny,” Jas said, shuffling cards. “Why don’t you ever do anything like that, Mummy?”
    â€œShe sounds weird,” I said. “And if she’s so brilliant, how come she isn’t here now?”
    â€œShe lives in the South of France now. Zach really, really wanted her to come to his concert, and she wrote and told him she would try, but he thinks she didn’t come because she’s so scared of his grandfather.”
    â€œHis grandfather who’s in hospital?” I said.
    Flora said she didn’t see what difference that made, and why was her family always so unsupportive when she tried to tell them things, and then Dad came in and said, “Personally, I’m a little worried about this young man.”
    â€œWere you
listening
?” Jas looked impressed. “Like
spying
?”
    Dad said he’d seen the video of Zach fighting in his classroom and he didn’t like it. Flora said, “Oh my God, you
are
spying on me,” and Dad said that’s what happens when you let your parents friend you on Facebook.
    â€œI don’t believe this!” Flora cried.
    â€œI don’t like boyfriends,” Dad said. “They disturb things.”
    â€œLike kittens?” Mum said. They looked at each other and once again I got the feeling that they were talking about something else completely.
    â€œIgnore your father,” Mum said. “He’s just trying to provoke you.”
    â€œNo I’m not,” Dad said. “I am trying to
protect
her.”
    â€œThat fight was completely out of character,” Flora insisted. “He was upset.”
    Mum said she was absolutely certain Zach was a very nice boy, and she hoped he would come to the house one day so she could meet him. Flora said that would probably scare him off for good.
    â€œHe’s not used to this sort of thing.” She waved at Mum and Jas and me, all piled on the bed, with Dad lounging in a chair with his feet up on the bedside table.
    â€œI don’t think your mother was planning on receiving him in her
bedroom
,” Dad said, and Flora