some spaghetti round her fork and stuffing it in her mouth. Her father smiles before shovelling some into his own mouth too.
‘Was it nice to be back at school today?’ asks her father.
‘Hmm,’ says Linda, with her mouth full.
‘I expect everyone was glad to see you.’
Linda swallows her food and rolls her eyes. She reaches for her glass, and takes a massive gulp of water, allowing it to slosh about in her mouth before swallowing.
‘Linda, manners!’ her mother reminds her.
‘I’m having a party on Friday,’ says Linda, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms.
‘Oh?’ says her mother, flashing a glance over at Dad, who in turn looks back at Linda.
‘You haven’t forgotten it’s my birthday on Saturday, have you? I’m going to be thirteen!’
‘Of course we haven’t. But we thought we’d just have family – and Maria too, of course,’ says her mother, looking over at her father again.
‘Yes. And we could rent a good film and make something special to eat. And have a nice cosy time.’
‘I don’t want a cosy time, I want a real party,’ says Linda. Her parents’ suffocating care is even worse now. Especially when they’re trying to act so normal. They’re so bad at it, they make it ten times weirder than it needs to be.
‘Right. How many people were you thinking of inviting?’
‘I’ve already invited my whole class. Plus the other class in my year.’
‘But that’s nearly forty people. How are we going to fit them all in?’ protests her mother.
‘We can go down into Granny’s old flat. It’s empty. If we push the furniture to the sides in the library, we can have a dance floor in there, and I want karaoke and not that horrid home-made pizza, but the kind you order from the takeaway and lots of cakes and sweets . . .’
‘Yes, but Linda, is this such a good idea?’ says Dad. ‘The doctor said you had to take it easy. Avoid stress.’
‘A party isn’t stressful, it’s fun.’
‘But forty people! I’m really not sure,’ says her mother.
‘Oh, please. I’ll only be thirteen once in my life!’
‘Well, it might be nice for all of us,’ says her father, glancing hesitantly towards her mother, ‘. . . to have a party?’
‘Mmm, maybe. And the flat has been empty for a long time. And it’s not important, now, exactly when we redecorate it.’
‘Is it going to be redecorated? Why? Don’t say we’re getting more of those stupid students in.’
‘No,’ says her father, putting his hand on her mother’s shoulder. ‘We’ve other plans for it.’
‘Oh? Like what?’ says Linda.
Why can’t they just hurry up and say it? But no, she’s not getting a straight answer out of them.
‘We’ll talk about it another time, Linda. Right now, we have a party to plan. It’s not long till Friday.’
Her mother doesn’t even look at Linda as she says it. Instead she and her father sit there gazing at each other, so that Linda suddenly feels as if she isn’t in the room at all. It’s as though the wall between them has returned. The wall that Zak says only exists in Linda’s head. So she decides to break through it.
‘I need a thousand kroner,’ she says.
‘What? A thousand kroner?’ says her father.
The invisible wall collapses instantly.
‘What do you need so much money for?’ asks her mother, taken aback.
‘I’ll need to buy loads of stuff for the party; balloons, confetti, snacks, a nice dress.’
‘But a thousand kroner?’ her father protests.
‘Nice dresses don’t come cheap.’
‘Alright! But I’ll come with you,’ says her mother, getting up from the table. ‘Dad can tidy up, and then take his girls out on a shopping trip.’
Linda pushes her chair back from the table too. She picks up her plate, scrapes the leftovers into the bin under the sink, and rinses it.
‘I’ll go to the shopping mall with Maria.’
‘But it would be fun for the three of us . . .’
‘Mum, I’m not a kid any more.’
Chapter
‘Was it nice to be back at school today?’ asks her father.
‘Hmm,’ says Linda, with her mouth full.
‘I expect everyone was glad to see you.’
Linda swallows her food and rolls her eyes. She reaches for her glass, and takes a massive gulp of water, allowing it to slosh about in her mouth before swallowing.
‘Linda, manners!’ her mother reminds her.
‘I’m having a party on Friday,’ says Linda, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms.
‘Oh?’ says her mother, flashing a glance over at Dad, who in turn looks back at Linda.
‘You haven’t forgotten it’s my birthday on Saturday, have you? I’m going to be thirteen!’
‘Of course we haven’t. But we thought we’d just have family – and Maria too, of course,’ says her mother, looking over at her father again.
‘Yes. And we could rent a good film and make something special to eat. And have a nice cosy time.’
‘I don’t want a cosy time, I want a real party,’ says Linda. Her parents’ suffocating care is even worse now. Especially when they’re trying to act so normal. They’re so bad at it, they make it ten times weirder than it needs to be.
‘Right. How many people were you thinking of inviting?’
‘I’ve already invited my whole class. Plus the other class in my year.’
‘But that’s nearly forty people. How are we going to fit them all in?’ protests her mother.
‘We can go down into Granny’s old flat. It’s empty. If we push the furniture to the sides in the library, we can have a dance floor in there, and I want karaoke and not that horrid home-made pizza, but the kind you order from the takeaway and lots of cakes and sweets . . .’
‘Yes, but Linda, is this such a good idea?’ says Dad. ‘The doctor said you had to take it easy. Avoid stress.’
‘A party isn’t stressful, it’s fun.’
‘But forty people! I’m really not sure,’ says her mother.
‘Oh, please. I’ll only be thirteen once in my life!’
‘Well, it might be nice for all of us,’ says her father, glancing hesitantly towards her mother, ‘. . . to have a party?’
‘Mmm, maybe. And the flat has been empty for a long time. And it’s not important, now, exactly when we redecorate it.’
‘Is it going to be redecorated? Why? Don’t say we’re getting more of those stupid students in.’
‘No,’ says her father, putting his hand on her mother’s shoulder. ‘We’ve other plans for it.’
‘Oh? Like what?’ says Linda.
Why can’t they just hurry up and say it? But no, she’s not getting a straight answer out of them.
‘We’ll talk about it another time, Linda. Right now, we have a party to plan. It’s not long till Friday.’
Her mother doesn’t even look at Linda as she says it. Instead she and her father sit there gazing at each other, so that Linda suddenly feels as if she isn’t in the room at all. It’s as though the wall between them has returned. The wall that Zak says only exists in Linda’s head. So she decides to break through it.
‘I need a thousand kroner,’ she says.
‘What? A thousand kroner?’ says her father.
The invisible wall collapses instantly.
‘What do you need so much money for?’ asks her mother, taken aback.
‘I’ll need to buy loads of stuff for the party; balloons, confetti, snacks, a nice dress.’
‘But a thousand kroner?’ her father protests.
‘Nice dresses don’t come cheap.’
‘Alright! But I’ll come with you,’ says her mother, getting up from the table. ‘Dad can tidy up, and then take his girls out on a shopping trip.’
Linda pushes her chair back from the table too. She picks up her plate, scrapes the leftovers into the bin under the sink, and rinses it.
‘I’ll go to the shopping mall with Maria.’
‘But it would be fun for the three of us . . .’
‘Mum, I’m not a kid any more.’
Chapter
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