Polly Plays Her Part (2 page)

“
You'd
never get trapped inside a computer, would you?” I said to Cosmo, smiling for the first time in days. “You wouldn't fit for a start.” I couldn't wait to get back to Star Makers. Something to look forward to at last!

Cosmo leaped off my lap suddenly as my phone began to vibrate in my jeans pocket. It was my new friend, Phoebe. I say
new
friend because Phoebe and I didn't get on at all when we first joined Star Makers. I was really jealous of her for some reason and it made me act like a total idiot. We kind of sorted things out at the end of last term and since then we've chatted on the phone a few times.

“Hi, Polly. Have you had your Star Makers' letter yet?”

“It's literally arrived this minute. I can't wait to get started.”

“Me neither. It sounds brilliant, doesn't it? Hey, I wonder what colour Mandy's hair will be?”

“Well last time we saw her it was bright purple, wasn't it?”

“With yellow tips, don't forget,” said Phoebe. “Listen, do you want to meet up later? My little sister's trying to compose a song on her recorder and if I don't get out soon I'll end up strangling her or something!”

“I'm sure it's not as bad as all that,” I said, giggling. I couldn't believe she was being so friendly and that she actually wanted to see me.

We arranged to meet up after lunch and I carried on clearing up the kitchen, thinking about the new show and how great it was that Phoebe had rung and how I couldn't wait for next Saturday.

I'd just about finished when I heard Mum come in.

“We're starting a new show at drama,” I called out, rushing from the kitchen to meet her at the door. “Look! I've had a letter from Mandy and it sounds brilliant; it's all about computers and…”

The second I saw Mum's face I stopped. She was flushed and she looked weird, like she was excited about something but it was too secret to tell. She was holding the letter I'd signed for; clutching it to her chest like it was incredibly precious.

“What's the matter, Mum? Where have you been?”

She stared at me for the longest time. “Come and sit down, Polly,” she said, finally. “I've got something to tell you.”

“I'm just doing the dishes,” I muttered, scooting back into the kitchen. I had no idea what Mum was going to say, but I could tell it was serious. “I've tidied up for you, look,” I called out behind me.

Mum followed me in and pulled me away from the sink. “Never mind about that now, silly,” she said. “I've got something really important to tell you. Come on, sit down here.” She practically pushed me into a chair and sat down opposite. “I'm sorry about this morning, rushing off like that. I know I left the kitchen in a state but—”

“No, it's fine,” I said, quickly. “It's great to see you all dressed up and busy and I've tidied everything away so don't worry. I was just going to tell you about drama and—”

“Polly, stop interrupting and just listen for a minute, will you?” Mum took my hands across the table and held them tight. “Now I know this is totally out of the blue, but the thing is, Pol…” She took a deep breath. “I've been offered a job.”

“Well that's good, isn't it?” I said, even though I could tell it wasn't just by the way she was looking at me.

“Well, yes it
is
good, sweetheart. But you see it's not exactly a
local
job.” She sort of laughed and then stopped suddenly.

“What do you mean? Where is it then?”

“Look, I don't want you getting yourself all upset, but the problem is it's not actually in
England.
It's…erm…quite far away you see…in Spain.” Then she carried on, speaking really fast. “But it's only for a year, and it'll go in a flash. A year really isn't even that long when you think about it. I mean it's only twelve months. I actually found out yesterday when you were at your dad's – that's why the kitchen was in such a state, because Tracy and some of the girls came round to celebrate and…”

She went on and on about how she was going to be selling holiday homes to British tourists, and how she'd been on a course run by the company, and about how it was such a fantastic opportunity, but I stopped listening. I just sat there and watched her mouth move.
Spain!
My mum was taking me to
Spain;
taking me away from all my friends and from school and from drama.
Drama!
What about the new show? I was supposed to be meeting up with Phoebe. I was…

I pulled my hands away from her. “I'm not going!” I shouted. “I don't care what you say, you can't make me. It's not fair, I don't want to go to Spain. You can't just come home and say,
We're going to Spain.
” The last thing I wanted was to start over somewhere new where I didn't know anyone and I didn't even speak the stupid language.

“Calm down, Polly! You're not going to Spain, silly. You're not going anywhere, not really. Look, I haven't discussed it with your dad yet, but you know how I feel. I can't stay here right now, not with Diane parading the baby about every five minutes. You do understand, don't you, love?”

She pulled a tissue out of her pocket and started to dab at her eyes. I knew it had been awful for Mum since Dad left to live with Diane. How embarrassed she was about it all happening on the street, played out like some dreadful soap opera for all the neighbours to gawp at. But I still didn't get what she meant about
me
not going to Spain, about
me
not going anywhere really…and then I caught on.

“You think I'm going to live with Dad and Diane, don't you?” I leaped up. “You think you're going to swan off to Spain for a year and dump me with Dad and Diane and the baby. You don't care about me at all!”

I tore out the room and up the stairs.

“
No one cares about me!
” I screamed down to her, and then I burst out crying.

Mum came running after me and we sat on my bed talking for ages. She tried to explain how the break would be good for all of us, but I just didn't get it. If the choice was between going to Spain with Mum or moving in with Dad and Diane I know what I'd choose every time.

“But, Polly, you're always saying you want to see your dad more,” Mum said, stroking my hair and trying not to cry. “I know you didn't mean you wanted to move in there exactly, but it will be great for you to spend some proper time with him –
and
with your new baby brother. And what about drama and all your friends? You love going to Star Makers. You look forward to it all week.”

I tried to take in what she was saying. Okay, maybe it would be good for her to get away – but not from
me
. And maybe it would be good to spend more time with Dad – but definitely
not
with Diane and Jake.

We were still going round in circles when Phoebe called back to say she couldn't come over after all. Her mum had popped out somewhere and she had to stay in with her little sister, Sara. She couldn't believe it when I told her what was going on.

“That's awful, Polly. I can see why you're upset. But at least your mum's not forcing you to go with her.”

“Yeah I know, but I've got to find some way to make her stay. There must be
something
I can do.”

“I'll help you think of something,” she said, shyly. “Maybe we can find a way to make her change her mind together.”

Sometimes I couldn't believe I'd been so mean to Phoebe last term
or
that she'd forgiven me. If someone had told me a few months back that we'd end up being friends I would've thought they were bonkers.

The rest of the week was a total nightmare. Mum called Dad first thing the next morning and basically told him I was moving in with them more or less straight away. Mum wasn't even leaving for another couple of weeks, but she said it would be best to get me settled at Dad's before term started. Couldn't wait to get rid of me more like. She didn't ask or anything, she just told him. After that there were endless phone calls, and Dad was on the doorstep shouting and carrying on. It was so obvious he didn't want me to live with them.

And in the meantime, Mum was packing up and saying goodbye to people and getting her nails done and coming home every day with bags of new clothes, as if she was going off on some two-week holiday, not disappearing out of my life for a whole year. She tried her best to hide how excited she was so I wouldn't get upset, but it was so obvious.

It turned out that the important letter – the one that had arrived that morning – was the actual contract she had to sign to accept the job. I tried everything to get her to change her mind. I promised I'd wash the dishes every day and make my bed and stop being so stroppy – but she just kept saying it was something she
had
to do and that one day when I was older I'd understand.

I spent most of the time lying on my bed cuddling Cosmo. I wasn't going anywhere without him – not even to Dad's. I'd had Cosmo since he was six weeks old and I couldn't bear to be separated from him.

“I'll never leave you,” I whispered into his fur, and I wondered if maybe we should run away together. I tried to work out where we could go, but it was hopeless. Cats aren't like dogs. You can't just bundle them up and take them somewhere new.

Dad called me on my mobile a couple of times. Diane even called once and left some stupid message about how much Jakey was
looking forward to his big sister moving in,
as if it had all been their idea in the first place. I knew what Diane
really
thought of me – that I was moody and difficult and always in a sulk – so why on earth would she want someone like that to move in with her and her precious baby?

On Friday morning, Dad turned up to help me move. It was only seven houses away of course, but there was no way I could manage all the bags by myself. It's funny because Dad's actual job is helping people move house. He's got this massive white van and he's really strong and muscly from shifting so much heavy furniture. He calls himself
The Big Man with the Big Van
but this was probably the smallest job he'd ever done – shifting his own daughter seven houses up the road.

“All set?” he said, ruffling my hair. “We've got your room looking really nice. I know it's tiny but Diane's cleared out all the drawers and you've got your computer in there already. I reckon you'll be settled in no time.”

“What about Cosmo?” I said. “I'm not going anywhere without Cosmo.”

Cosmo had crawled under my bed and was refusing to come out. I was very tempted to crawl under there with him.

Dad put his head on one side and I could guess what was coming. “Well, you know Diane's never been too keen on cats, and she's a wee bit worried about Jakey. Let's get you moved in and sorted and then we can come back and get Cosmo tomorrow, or the day after, or next week some time. How does that sound?”

It didn't sound great, but I knew my opinion wasn't going to count for much so I just kept quiet. We trudged up and down the road, carrying my stuff bit by bit until my room at home was so empty it looked as if I'd never lived in it. Twelve whole years stuffed into a bunch of black bin liners. The only thing left when we'd finished was poor Cosmo, cowering and confused under my bed.

I only unpacked a few things at Dad's. Just enough to make it look like
my
room. I didn't want to get too settled because I wasn't planning on staying that long. I put my covers on the bed along with Boo, my tatty old beanie-bear that I'd had since I was tiny, and stuck a few photos up on the mirror.

I had planned to stay in my room all evening, but when Dad called me down for tea I suddenly realized how starving I was. The kitchen at Diane's is teeny and Dad looked so silly trying to lay the table and spoon food into Jake's mouth and sort out chopping the salad all at the same time.

“Here she is!” he announced as I walked in, as if I was some incredibly important visitor they'd all been dying to see.

The tea was awful and I'm not exaggerating. Diane had made this soggy spaghetti in a slimy, green sauce that looked like vomit – and then Jake actually puked up some of
his
tea, splattering bright orange carroty goo right down my new top.

“He couldn't help it, Polly,” snapped Dad, as I screamed and sprang away from the table. “You were a baby once, you know. Now eat up and stop making such a fuss.”

I pushed the spaghetti round my plate. It looked like a load of slithering, green worms and I wondered for a second if Diane was trying to poison me.

“I don't actually like green sauce,” I muttered. I was very tempted to throw the whole lot straight into the bin, but I knew Dad would go off on one.