by Sue Mongredien
Contents
Have You Been Invited to All These Sleepovers?
Hello! It’s Lyndz here. How’s it going? It’s ages and ages since I’ve seen you – sorry! Don’t think I’ve been neglecting you, but I’m just always soooo busy – I’ve been down at the stables helping out every chance I get, you see. Just for you, though, I’m going to make a real effort and tell you all about the time the Sleepover Club made a great big SPLASH!
I can remember the exact moment it all started. It was a Thursday morning and a horrible rainy February day. Ugh! February is just THE worst month, don’t you think? It’s so grey and gloomy – and all the nice things like summer and my birthday and Christmas seem ages and ages away. I was shivering in the playground before school that morning, wishing Spring would hurry up and come soon, so we might actually get a bit of sunshine again.
Also, to make it even worse, Mrs Weaver, our class teacher, had declared it ‘mental arithmetic week’ and was giving us these gruesome maths tests every single morning. Honestly! How mean can you get? I’m not very good at Maths – in fact, I’m rubbish – so I wasn’t looking forward to going into lessons at all.
Anyway, I soon cheered up when Kenny bounded into the playground, with a grin stretching from ear to ear. When she’s in one of her bouncy moods, she reminds me of our dog, Buster. He’s a little Jack Russell, and has more energy than any creature I’ve ever known. You can’t feel miserable with Buster around – it’s impossible!
“Guess what?” Kenny said excitedly, once she’d spotted us and run over.
“They’ve discovered life on Mars?” Frankie said hopefully.
“School has been cancelled today?” I suggested, thinking about the maths test.
“Something about football probably,” Fliss said, not looking terribly interested.
“You’ve cracked the meaning of life?” was Rosie’s guess.
Kenny beamed. “Oh, none of those,” she said airily. “This is MUCH better! I was at swimming club last night and guess what?”
“Do we really have to guess again?” groaned Fliss.
“We don’t know! Tell us, for goodness’ sake!” Rosie said, laughing.
“Well, there’s going to be a sponsored swim at Cuddington Baths in a couple of weeks, and I thought it would be a brilliant thing for the Sleepover Club to do,” Kenny said breathlessly. “And there’s going to be a big party afterwards and everything! So what do you all think?”
There was a pause while we took this in. Then…
Ooh! Hang on! I just thought. Have you met all of us in the Sleepover Club? How rude of me not to even ask, eh? Hopefully you’ll know everyone, but if you don’t – or if you’ve just plain forgotten – I’d better dish the details before I go any further, or you won’t have a clue what I’m on about.
Well! As I said, Kenny’s a bit like my bouncy Buster – she’s full of beans, full of fun, and full of get-up-and-go. She’s a total Sporty Spice, too – when she’s not swimming, she’s playing football in the park with all the boys, or doing back flips at gymnastics club, or netball training, or… She’s amazing! She’s one of those people who are just naturally brilliant at every sport they do.
She’s also an ace mate because she’s dead loyal, and would do anything for you. If anyone ever tries to pick on one of us, Kenny’s straight in there, backing us up with a fierce glint in her eye. And believe me, no-one in our class has the bottle to muck about with Kenny. She could out-fight everyone – even all the boys, I reckon!
Then there’s Frankie. Wherever Kenny is, Frankie’s usually with her, as the two of them are best friends. The only things they don’t do together are all Kenny’s sports stuff. It’s not like Frankie’s no good at sports, because she is, but she’d rather spend her spare time designing her very own rocket launch or painting her bedroom silver! Frankie’s a bit eccentric, if you hadn’t gathered. Sometimes I listen to her telling us about one of her brilliant ideas, and I just wonder what on earth she’s on about this time. She’s the cleverest one of us five by miles.
What else can I tell you about Frankie? Well, if Kenny’s a bit like a bouncy Jack Russell, I’d compare Frankie to a chameleon or maybe even one of those fabulously coloured butterflies! Something funky and exotic, anyway, as Frankie wears the brightest, most outrageous things you’ve ever seen. She especially loves silver, which is her all-time favourite colour, but she’s had a big purple phase lately. She even wanted to dye her hair purple, but her mum went mad at the thought and put her foot down in a big way. So sparkly purple nail varnish is about her limit right now.
I think Frankie always looks cool in a weird kind of style, but Fliss would disagree with that, I’m sure. Fliss – short for Felicity – is fashion queen of the Sleepover Club, although that’s not difficult, to be honest. What with Kenny permanently in footy top and tracky bottoms, me in my scruffy jodhpurs, Frankie in one of her wild and wonderful outfits and Rosie in her sister’s hand-me-downs, Fliss doesn’t exactly have a lot of competition, clothes-wise.
I think Fliss gets her girly side from her mum, who’s also mega into having perfectly groomed hair, manicured hands, and immaculate clothes. Fliss’s idea of heaven is being able to spend thousands of pounds on clothes and beauty stuff. Her bedroom is amazing. As well as blinding you with its pinkness and girlyness, it’s like being in a clothes shop, complete with matching accessories for EVERYTHING!