Mumnesia (14 page)

‘Oh no!’ I gasp. ‘But I need
you here! Now! To help me revise! You promised!’

‘Ms Banks won’t let me leave!’
Lucy moans.

‘Can’t you sneak out!’ I ask,
looking desperately for a cloth to clean up the oil.

‘I can’t – the loos are
opposite her classroom!’

‘Well, let me talk to her,’ I say,
giving up and dabbing at the mess with my foot, hoping my sock
will mop it up.

‘We’re not allowed mobile phones at
school!’ Lucy sighs. ‘Shazza, you need to come and
rescue me!’

‘On my way!’ I cry. I hang up, grab
my bag – then slip over, landing hard on my bum.
‘OUCH!’

I really hope the rest of the evening goes better
than this!

It’s only when I hang up that I hear
someone sniff in the next cubicle and realize I’m not
alone.

‘Who’s there?’ I call.

No answer.

I tap on the door. ‘Come on, I know someone’s in
there. The door’s locked.’

‘Go away,’ a familiar voice mumbles.

‘Megan?’ I say, surprised. ‘Are you OK? What
are you doing here?’

‘Nothing. Leave me alone.’ She sniffs again.

‘Are you . . . crying?’

‘No!’ she snaps. ‘I have hay fever,
that’s all.’

‘In October?’

‘Whatever. Tell anyone, you’re dead.
And
I’ll tell the teachers you brought a mobile phone to
school.’

#Wow. Suddenly I don’t feel so bad about the whole
dress-wetting thing.

‘Pardon me for caring!’ I mutter, heading for the
sinks.

‘Lucy, wait – I’m sorry,’ Megan says
quickly. ‘I won’t tell, I promise. Is Shazza going to
get you out of detention?’

‘I hope so.’

‘She’s so cool. You’re so lucky, Lucy. I
wish my mum was like that.’

‘What do you
mean
?’ I spin around, stunned.
‘
Your
mum’s
really
cool – she
lets you wear what you want, buys you heaps of stuff and
doesn’t care if you stay out late!’

‘Exactly,’ she whispers. ‘She doesn’t
care
.’

‘What?’ I move closer, struggling to hear, to
understand.

‘I hardly ever even see her!’ Megan moans.
‘She’s always off with her boyfriend.’

‘Your mum has a
boyfriend
?’ This is news to
me!

‘Who she’s never bothered to introduce me to, by
the way. It’s like she’s embarrassed about me or
something.’

‘Yeah, right!’ I scoff, leaning against her
cubicle door. ‘Megan, you’re beautiful and smart. Why
on earth would she be embarrassed?’

‘Because I make her look
old
,’ she
mumbles.

‘
What?
That’s crazy!’

‘Come on, Lucy. She can’t pretend to be young and
cool if he discovers she has a teenage daughter, can she? Baggage
much? Plus now she thinks I wet myself at your party. Even the
Megababes are embarrassed to be around me, and I thought they
were my friends.’

I cringe. ‘Is that why you’re hiding in the
toilets?’

‘It beats getting laughed at all the way
home.’

My heart tumbles into my shoes.

‘I didn’t wet myself, you know.’

I know!
I catch sight of my reflection in the grotty
mirror above the sinks and I’m really glad Megan
can’t see me – guilt’s written all over my
flaming face. I feel horrible, like the scum around the
plugholes. Worse.

‘But it shouldn’t matter if I had. Real friends
would stand by me no matter what. Right?’

‘Right,’ I sigh, slumping against the door,
feeling even more ashamed as I think of Kimmy dancing goofily at
my party, and how I should’ve stood by her then.

‘But real friends don’t set you up.’
Megan’s voice hardens.

‘What do you mean?’ I ask, dread prickling down my
spine.

‘The Megababes were the only ones left alone with my
school dress. One of them must’ve
wanted
me to be
humiliated.’

‘But . . . why?’

‘I dunno.’ Megan falters. ‘Maybe they wanted
me out of the Megababes? They’ll have to change the name
though!’ She laughs bitterly. ‘On Monday I was the
most popular girl in our year; today I’m Megan-no-mates.
Ironic, huh?’

I close my eyes – I can’t even look at myself.

‘Lucy! Are you OK?’ Ms Banks calls, opening the
door.

‘Um, yes!’ I scurry over to the sinks and turn on
the taps. ‘Just washing my hands.’

‘Hurry up then.’ She gives me a strange look as
she leaves.

‘You’d better go.’ Megan sniffs.

‘What about you?’

‘I’ll give it five more minutes. Just to make sure
everyone’s gone.’ She takes a deep, trembling breath.
‘And, Lucy? I’m really sorry about nicking your
dress. You’re a good friend. You’re the only one I
have left.’

I can’t even bring myself to answer her. I scrub and
scrub at my hands till they’re pink and shiny – but
no amount of soap can change how dirty I feel inside.

By the time I get to the school I’m
huffing and puffing – Sharon is so unfit! - and
there’s only one other parent waiting outside.

‘Have you seen Megan? Megan
Matthews?’ the woman calls anxiously as I approach.
‘She hasn’t come out yet – unless I missed her
somehow?’

‘No, sorry,’ I wheeze. ‘Not
since the pizza party!’

‘Wait – you’re
Lucy’s
mum?’

‘Right.’ I nod, hurrying past.

‘Oh, I’m so glad I bumped into
you!’ she cries, catching my arm. ‘I was just about
to drop this round!’ She hands me a bag containing
Lucy’s dress. ‘I can’t tell you how mortified I
am about what happened.’ She lowers her voice. ‘I
can’t believe Megan
wet herself
!’

‘Oh . . .’ I shift uneasily.
‘It’s fine, really.’ I move to leave, but she
doesn’t let go.

‘It’s never happened before!’
Her voice cracks as she rakes her fingers through her messy
blonde hair. ‘To be honest I just . . . I don’t know
what to do with her any more!’

OMGA! She’s crying! I can’t leave
when she’s
crying
, can I?
What do I do?

‘Megan just hasn’t been the same
since her dad died,’ she sobs. ‘She misbehaves, and
pushes the boundaries all the time. I-I’ve tried to cut her
some slack, I really have – I’ve done everything I
can to try to make up for not having her dad around – but
she’s clearly still really upset! Why else would she be
wetting herself at her age?’

‘Um . . .’ My face grows hot, and for
the first time I realize that my rad prank on Megan might
actually have been pretty bogus.

‘Unless she’s found out about Kevin .
. .’ Megan’s mum trails off.

‘Kevin?’ I echo.

‘My boyfriend.’ She sniffs. ‘I
haven’t told Megan about him – I don’t want to
upset her when she’s so fragile – but am I doing the
right thing?’ She wrings her hands fretfully. ‘Should
I tell her? Or should I break up with him? What do you
think?’

‘Umm . . .’ I am so out of my
depth!

‘What would
you
do?’ She gazes
at me, her eyes tear-filled and desperate, and I panic. What
would
I
do? I have no idea! I have no experience of
parenting – that I remember, anyway!

But then I think of Lucy – of how
she’s always saying she wishes she could talk to Sharon
like she talks to me, how she wishes Sharon had just confided in
her, instead of bottling up her feelings and getting stressed out
– and suddenly I know exactly what to say.

‘Talk to Megan,’ I advise.
‘Tell her about Kevin, explain how you feel and talk
everything through with her. Honesty’s the best
policy.’

After all, if Sharon had just been honest with
Lucy, maybe she wouldn’t have lost her memory. Maybe I
wouldn’t be here at all.

Where’s Shazza?

My eyes keep flicking to the clock and I cannot concentrate on
the stupid play I’ve been given to read because my mind is
torn between worrying about tonight and fretting about Megan
– and it doesn’t help that Nicole is sitting next to
me, fidgeting and yawning every five seconds.

Suddenly the door bursts open.

‘Sha— Mum!’ I cry.

‘
Mrs Andrews?
’ Ms Banks’s eyes widen.
‘I almost didn’t recognize you! What are you doing
here?’

‘I need Lucy!’ Shazza cries. ‘It’s an
emergency!’

‘Told you!’ I say, hurriedly gathering my
things.

‘Oh my goodness, what’s happened?’ Ms Banks
jumps up. ‘Is there anything I can do?’

‘Oh no, it’s . . . a parental thing,’ Shazza
says quickly. ‘Nothing for you to worry about.’

A strange expression flickers across Ms Banks’s
face.

‘Lucy’s going to a spa,’ Nicole pipes
up.

I scowl at her. #Traitor!

‘A
spa
?’ Ms Banks frowns.
‘
That’s
the emergency?’

‘Um, well, yes . . .’ Shazza falters.
‘But—’

‘I’m sorry, but I can’t let Lucy out of
detention for a
spa
.’

‘It’s not like that!’ I protest.
‘It’s important!’

‘Lucy, your education is far
more
important,’ Ms Banks chides. ‘You’re supposed
to be being punished, not rewarded.’ She shakes her head
and stares at Shazza. ‘I must say, I’m very surprised
that you would support this.’

‘Obviously I wouldn’t
normally
,’
Shazza says hastily, ‘but Lucy’s right –
it’s really, really important. Trust me.’

Ms Banks’s frown deepens. She looks really conflicted.
‘All right. Lucy, you may go.’

Nicole’s jaw drops.

‘Thank you!’ I beam. I knew she was my favourite
teacher for a reason!

‘But we’ll reschedule the detention,’ Ms
Banks tells Shazza, lowering her voice. ‘Rules are rules
– I can’t give Lucy special treatment.’

#AsIf!

‘Of course!’ Shazza beams. ‘I owe you
one!’

‘Then maybe you could help chaperone at the ball on
Saturday,’ Ms Banks suggests quickly. ‘Far more
students are coming than we anticipated, so I’ve been roped
into helping out, and we could really do with more parent
chaperones.’

‘Uh, yeah, OK.’ Shazza shrugs. ‘Count me
in!’

‘Great!’ Ms Banks calls as we race out the door.
‘See you on Saturday!’

‘Rad!’ I grin at Lucy as we
hurry home. ‘I’ve never been to a ball before! How
exciting!’

Lucy laughs. ‘How ironic! The last
conversation I had with Mum was her forbidding me to buy a ticket
. . . Oh crumpets!’ She smacks her forehead with her
palm.

‘What?’

‘I still haven’t got one! Can you
remind me to take thirty quid to school tomorrow?’

‘Sure – but we might need more cash
after I bought all the ingredients for dinner.’

Lucy looks at me quizzically.
‘
Dinner?
’

‘I’m cooking chicken
cacciatore!’ I declare, hooking my arm through Lucy’s
as we cross the road. ‘I was so majorly nervous buying the
red wine at the super-duper-market I almost dropped the bottle
– I was so sure I was going to, like, get arrested or
something – but they didn’t even ask for ID! And I
actually
had
some!’

‘Do you know
how
to cook?’
Lucy asks anxiously. ‘Duh. You just follow the recipe,
right? How hard can it be?’

Turns out, harder than I thought . . . For one
thing, when we get back I discover I forgot to actually turn the
oven on. Oops!

‘Shazza!’ Lucy cries in horror.
‘Dad’s going to be here soon!’

‘It’ll be fine!’ I insist,
twisting the dial. ‘I’ll just cook it for half the
time at twice the temperature – sorted!’

‘OK . . .’ Lucy says, uncertainly.
‘Now come on, we need to tidy this place, and you need to
get changed – quickly!’

‘Seriously?’ Shazza pulls on the
dark blue dress sprinkled with white flowers I’ve chosen,
and cringes at her reflection. ‘It’s not very
me
.’

‘You’re not meant to look like
you
,
you’re meant to look like
Mum
,’ I remind her.
‘Besides, I remember her wearing it on their – your
– tenth wedding anniversary, so hopefully it will bring
back memories of a happier time. For Dad, I mean.’
#Obvs

‘Tenth wedding anniversary . . .’ she frowns.
‘Was that the one with the clumsy Italian waiter, or the
one that Danny forgot?’

‘Neither!’ I cry, exasperated. ‘It’s
the one where he threw you a surprise party!’

‘Of course!’ Shazza snaps her fingers. ‘I
totally knew that!’

OMG, Is this a mahoosive mistake? Perhaps I should call Dad
and cancel . . .

The doorbell rings and Shazza and I stare at each other,
horrified. #TooLate!

‘They’re here!’ Shazza squeaks. ‘Lucy,
I can’t do this!’

‘You’ll be fine.’ I cross my fingers as I
hug her. ‘You’ve revised all the cards, you’ve
cooked Dad’s favourite dinner, now you just need to
convince him not to move to Australia!’

‘But what if I can’t!’ she panics.
‘What if—’

‘It doesn’t matter,’ I interrupt calmly.
‘After what we’ve planned for Ingrid tonight,
there’s no
way
she’ll want me as a
stepdaughter!’

I feel her relax slightly. ‘You really think it’ll
work?’

‘Course!’ I cross my fingers even tighter. The
alternative is unthinkable!

The doorbell rings again.

This is it.

‘Hello, sweetheart,’ Danny says
as Lucy opens the front door. ‘You ready to go?’

‘I can’t wait!’ Lucy beams,
winking at me as she climbs into the car with Ingrid.

I watch them drive away and suddenly I’m
alone with Danny. Fear trickles down my spine – which is
totally crazy. He’s
Danny.
Like, one of my best
friends – just . . . older. But I have never been so
nervous in my entire life.

‘Well . . . ?’ He turns to me
expectantly.