‘Yeah.’ I nodded solemnly, having taken great pains to explain the situation in thorough detail. ‘I did everything I could to change Mum’s mind but you know what she can be like.’
‘Sure.’ Ella looked up at Grace, who was leaning on the locker next to her, fiddling with her split ends. ‘Your brother and his friends are definitely coming, right?’
Ella and I had never actually spoken to Grace Dillon properly before this term but since Grace’s brother in the year above suddenly got hot over the summer, Ella wanted her to hang out with us. According to Grace, her brother discovered the gym AND hair product at the same time. It also helped that he could play a guitar – at least, that’s what Ella had swooned at when he played with his band in assembly at the beginning of term. Personally, I don’t see the attraction. I would never date anyone who thinks it’s acceptable to wear a sleeveless vest. Anyway, after his performance, Ella invited Grace to join us for a post-school smoothie and that was that; she became part of our elite group.
At first, I thought Grace was going to be this irritating suck-up as she actually did her homework and was top of the class for almost everything. But then one lunchtime, she made me laugh so hard that lemonade went right up my nose. After that, I quite liked her being around and she had this cute little habit of texting me about random stuff. She was obviously ecstatic to be allowed to hang out with us at school, which meant she was never in a bad mood, unlike Ella and her boring mood swings, which were becoming a lot more common these days.
Ella and I first bonded when our mums were both featured in this big newspaper article about leading businesswomen in the UK. Her mum is a co-founder of this online luxury furniture company, which apparently is a big deal, but obviously nowhere near as cool as being a hotelier. Anyway, Mum hosted a big exclusive party for all the women on the list at the Royale and Ella came with her mum. Ella and I both found the party super boring but the photographer took our picture and we were in the back pages of Tatler magazine. Ella showed everyone the picture and we instantly became the most popular girls in the year. After that it just made sense to keep hanging out together, especially when we both had important parents and such good dress sense.
Although, seriously, I wish she’d shut up about Oliver Dillon and his loser band.
‘Absolutely,’ Grace said enthusiastically. ‘He’ll be at your party. I told him to invite his friends and I know that Liam and Tom were both keen.’
‘Well done.’ Ella smiled smugly. ‘It will be nice to have some mature boys there.’
‘I wouldn’t count on those two to bring up the maturity levels,’ I added. ‘Wasn’t it Liam who drank a whole bottle of Worcester sauce for a dare?’
‘Oh yeah.’ Grace giggled. ‘He threw up everywhere.’
‘Oliver seems mature,’ Ella said consideringly, taking her pocket mirror out and examining her eye make-up.
‘Really is a shame I can’t go,’ I prompted.
‘Has Oliver dated anyone at school?’ Ella asked Grace, ignoring me completely. This was getting ridiculous. Couldn’t she concentrate on anything else? Or me at least? She could show some emotion that I wouldn’t be able to make it to her party.
‘Why? Are you interested in him?’ I said, cutting to the chase.
‘Oh my God, no, I’m not interested. I was just asking.’ Ella fake-laughed before turning seriously to Grace again. ‘Has he?’
Grace shook her head, before adding excitedly, ‘He asked the same about you, though.’
‘Really?’ Ella snapped her mirror shut, her eyes widening.
‘Yes, last night.’
‘And what exactly did you say?’
Grace’s cheeks turned pink under the pressure of Ella’s fixed stare. ‘Um . . . I just said that you had that thing with Aidan . . .’
‘Grace! ’ Ella hissed. Grace cowered.
‘Was that wrong?’ she asked timidly.
‘Why would you say that? Now he’s going to think that I’m unavailable!’
Grace’s face was now a bright red. ‘N-no, I’m sure he doesn’t think that. I can tell him that it’s over with Aidan, I just wasn’t certain.’
I couldn’t help but feel sorry for Grace. She was very petite – the smallest girl in our year – so she looked even more vulnerable as Ella, who was one of the tallest, towered over her. Ella wasn’t going to be forgiving. She never was. I would have to save the day.
‘I think it’s a good thing.’
Ella rounded on me. I could see Grace’s shoulders visibly relax as the heat was diverted on to someone else. ‘What do you mean?’
I sighed at how clueless she was. ‘If he wants to go out with you then he needs to make an effort. He can’t just date you because he makes the decision to.’
Ella hesitated as she considered my point so I continued. ‘You deserve the best, he has to prove that he is the best. Does that make sense?’
‘I guess,’ Ella said, her brow furrowed.
‘Good work, Grace, you’ve probably made your brother keener than ever. Not that you’re interested in him, right, Ella?’
‘Right,’ she said unconvincingly.
‘But hey, he might just win you over at the party.’
Ella nodded. ‘Yes. Yes, he might. Not that I’ll be waiting around for him to make a move.’
‘Duh, obviously not.’ I paused. ‘But just in case, how about you borrow my black leather mini that you love so much?’
‘Really?’
I was satisfied to note that Ella turned to look at me properly for the first time since we’d started talking.
‘Your new one?’ she asked. ‘But you haven’t worn it yet.’
‘That doesn’t matter.’ I forced a smile. ‘It will look great on you.’
I hated lending anything to Ella. And not just because she never told anyone who complimented her on it that it was in fact MY stuff, but also because it meant I could never wear it again. Last year at a summer pool party, I wore a pair of really cute designer pink shorts that I had stupidly lent Ella the weekend before. And then Zoe, one of the girls in our year, asked me if I had borrowed them from Ella. It was MORTIFYING. Ella is my friend and everything, but I don’t copy anyone. They copy me. I obviously had to go home straight away and change, and I threw the shorts in the bin. My brand-new leather skirt was now doomed to the same fate. But I guess it’s like when celebrities go on those reality TV shows, eat bugs and dance and stuff, and come out with a new lingerie line and book deal. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made to get what you want.
‘Great!’ Ella whipped out her lip gloss, added another layer to her already way too shiny lips and snapped the lid back on. ‘It really is such a shame that you can’t come to the party, Flick. It won’t be the same without you.’
Finally. The reaction I had been waiting for. Even if I did have to sacrifice my leather mini in the process. She flounced off towards her classroom and Grace breathed a sigh of relief.
‘Thanks so much, Flick. I thought she was going to yell at me then. You always know what to do. I wish I was more like you.’
I gave her arm a comforting pat.
THE DAILY POST
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