Lyndz looked pretty pleased; I was… surprised; Kenny was trying not to choke. I mean, we’d never really done anything like that before. Kenny had slept at my house once or twice, and I’d stayed once at Lyndz’s when my parents went to a conference, but we’d never had a proper sleepover – not all of us together.
As Kenny said later, “We don’t really know Fliss yet.”
We’d never even been to her house. We weren’t sure we were ready for this. But Lyndz said, “I think we should go. It’ll be… nice.”
“It’ll be pink,” Kenny muttered.
“Come on, it’ll be fun,” Lyndz persisted.
“It’ll be frilly,” Kenny argued.
They both turned and looked at me. “What do you think, Frankie?”
If I’m absolutely honest, which is what my parents always encourage me to be, because they’re lawyers and they think honesty is more important than anything else in life, I’d probably have to admit I was on Kenny’s side. I don’t like change much. I thought we were fine as we were, just the three of us. It wasn’t that I had anything against Fliss joining our gang, I didn’t want anyone to join.
The others were waiting for me to give the casting vote, but before I could the M&Ms came round the corner and saw the invitations in our hands.
“Oooh, someone’s having a party,” Emma Hughes said in her silly, simpery voice.
“It wouldn’t be Flossy Slidebottom, would it?” Emily Berryman asked.
“She must be desperate for friends if she’s got to ask this lot,” Emma sneered.
“At least she’s got some friends,” I snapped back at them.
“Not just partners in crime,” Kenny backed me up.
The M&Ms grinned at each other like they’d won some points for how easily they could wind us up.
“Well, have a wonderful time,” Emma Hughes simpered as they disappeared down the corridor.
“Oh, we will!” I called after them.
“Don’t you worry,” Kenny added. “We’ll have a ball!”
“We’ll have the best time ever,” I shouted even louder.
After they’d gone Lyndz stood there, trying not to smile.
“I take it we’re going then,” she said.
It does seem really funny now to think it was because of the M&Ms that the four of us came to be friends and start the whole Sleepover Club in the first place. It’s what my gran calls poetic justice.
“Sometimes,” she says, “really good things can come – even out of the most unlikely places!”
Fliss was so excited when we accepted her invitations it made us all feel pretty mean. She must have asked fifty times what kind of food we liked to eat and did two of us mind sleeping in sleeping bags on the floor. “Because I’ve only got two beds, but Mum’s bought these cool new duvet covers. They’re the most fantastic colour…”
I could see Kenny rolling her eyes and mouthing, “Pink!”
I thought it would be a bit of a miracle if we actually got Kenny there on the Friday, but in the end we all made it.
As my mum and dad dropped us off they said, “Have a great time.”
“And try to get some sleep,” Mum added.
I told her, “That’s why it’s called a sleepover, Mum, because that’s what you do!”
“If only it worked like that,” Mum sighed, which just goes to show that sometimes mums know more than you think!
From the moment Nicky opened the door and we got our first glimpse of Fliss’s house, we all started to worry.
If Fliss is a pink person, her mum, Nicky, is pale cream. Don’t get me wrong, Nicky’s great, we love her to bits – now we know her. But when she asked us to take off our shoes before we came in and check our bags were clean before we put them down on the carpet we knew we’d have to be on our best behaviour.
She led us straight through to her shiny cream kitchen where she’d set out this tea party. The table was covered with little cakes and jellies and miniature sandwiches and rolls, and there were balloons and streamers and candles, like it was this full-on birthday party or something, just for the four of us! Fliss’s younger brother, Callum, was there, of course, staring at us like we were three aliens who’d come to tea. But Kenny did that cross-eyed thing she does which soon stopped him.
You could see Nicky was feeling pretty nervous and it was making all of us nervous too. We’re not exactly clumsy types but we kept nudging each other as we reached for the same sandwich.
“Ooops, sorry,” Lyndz said.
“No, my fault,” I insisted.
Then Kenny knocked her drink over! It was like it was in slow motion: the juice flew up in the air but Kenny followed it with her cup and did this brilliant save, managing to catch every drop. It was such a great party trick we all felt like cheering. But Nicky clearly didn’t realise how fast Kenny’s reflexes are, because she looked like she might faint with the tension.
Then Lyndz slurped her drink, which she often does. But the room was so quiet the slurp sounded like it was on loudspeaker. We couldn’t wait to finish tea and escape upstairs to Fliss’s bedroom. But when we finally did – can you believe it – Nicky came with us!
She sat on Fliss’s bed, smiling. “Why don’t you show your friends round a bit,” she suggested. So Fliss gave us a guided tour of her wardrobes – yes, she has two! Then her drawers with all her clothes colour coordinated
“These are my second best tops and T-shirts,” she said, “but these…” she added, opening another cupboard, “are my very best. For special occasions only.” They were neatly folded like they have them in the shops. Some were still in plastic covers to keep them perfectly clean.
We all knew Fliss was mad about clothes, but until then we hadn’t realised it was like a religion with her. I could see Kenny looking for the nearest exit and when Nicky suggested to Fliss we might want to play some games next, I thought I might join her.
I had a horrible feeling Nicky might have made us a Pin the Tail on the Donkey and we’d spend the whole night pretending to have a really, spiffing, jolly time. Even Fliss was feeling embarrassed by now.
“Actually, Mum,” she said, “I think we might just sit and… talk for a bit.”
“OK,” Nicky said, brightly, but just went on sitting there!
Fliss screwed her face up and said, “Mu-u um…” until Nicky finally got the hint.
“I’ll just leave you to it then, shall I?” she said, closing the door.
We’d all just let out our breath for the first time since we arrived when she was suddenly back. “But let me know if there’s anything you need. I could bring you a drink in half an hour when you’re ready for bed.”
Half an hour! She had to be joking.
“We’ll let you know, Mum,”