Читать книгу Mega Sleepover 2 - Narinder Dhami - Страница 6

“The dreaded M&Ms,” said Kenny. We all made being-sick noises.

It was lunchtime and we were sitting on the steps in the studio at school with just the spotlights on. We were supposed to be working on a dance routine for assembly but we were having a rest.

“Why would they win?” said Rosie. She’s new to our school, so she doesn’t know all about the M&Ms yet.

“Because they win everything,” said Fliss.

Have I told you about the M&Ms? They’re in our class at school and, as if that isn’t bad enough, they go to Brownies as well. Their real names are Emma Hughes and Emily Berryman, but we call them the M&Ms. Or sometimes The Queen and The Goblin. I’ll tell you why:

Emma Hughes is tall and soppy and really annoying, but she’s everybody’s favourite: our teacher’s, the headteacher’s, the dinner ladies’, Brown Owl’s, Snowy Owl’s…And all the boys like her. She always gets the best marks and gold stars and wins competitions like the Brownie Cook’s Challenge and gets picked to be milk monitor and take the register. She is so stuck up. That’s why we call her The Queen.

Emily Berryman’s nearly as bad. She’s dead small, with big eyes and a deep, gruff voice, so we call her The Goblin. She always gets good marks and wins things too. We don’t know how they do it. We think it’s because they cheat, but we haven’t been able to prove it. Not yet, anyway.

The worst thing about them is the way they whisper and giggle. They are seriously gruesome. The moment Brown Owl told us about the Pet Show they started giggling and behaving as if they’d already won.

And the annoying thing is they probably will win. Emma Hughes has this dog that she’s always bragging about and Emily Berryman has a cat. We’ve never seen them, but we’ve heard plenty about them.

The M&Ms are our worst enemies and the thing we hate most in the whole world, the whole universe in fact, is being beaten by them.

“We’ve got to think of a way to stop them,” I said.

“How?” said Lyndz. “I don’t think Pepsi and Buster stand much of a chance against Duchess of Drumshaw The Third and Sabrina Sprightly Dancing.”

Can you believe those names? I didn’t make them up. I don’t suppose that’s what they call them everyday, when they take them out for walks or call them for their food. That would be too stupid, even for them. But those are their pedigree names and when they’re showing off that’s what they call them.

“Pepsi’s a pedigree spaniel,” I said, “but she doesn’t have a stupid name like that.” She’s the best dog in the world and I love her to bits. She’s got a black curly coat and long ears that trail on the ground and the saddest eyes in the world. Sometimes she looks at me as if I’ve just eaten the last Rolo.

I tell Pepsi everything and she tells me all her secrets. That’s how I know she wants puppies! But when I tried to tell Mum that, she said, “Francesca, for the last time, I have told you, the answer is NO! Pepsi is getting too old to have puppies.”

“Yeah, even her ears are going grey,” said Kenny.

“So?” I said.

“Well, grey ears might stop her winning the Pet Show,” said Lyndz.

“Hmm,” I said. “I can’t see High-Jumping Dog winning either.” That’s what we sometimes call Lyndz’s dog, Buster.

He’s got these stumpy little legs, but he can jump up and reach a Smacko even when Lyndz holds it high over her head. It’s as if he’s got spring-loaded feet. And when he walks he looks like a little clockwork toy.

“I suppose he is a bit wild,” Lyndz giggled.

“Jenny’s our best hope of winning,” said Kenny. “Even though she’s a mongrel.”

Rosie didn’t like Kenny calling Jenny a mongrel. “She’s mostly sheepdog,” she said. “She can do all sorts of tricks and she’s brilliant with Adam.”

Adam is Rosie’s brother, he’s in a wheelchair.

For ages Rosie wouldn’t let us go to her house and, like idiots, we thought it was because she felt embarrassed about Adam. Then we found out it was nothing to do with Adam, she was embarrassed because her house was such a tip. Actually, it’s not really a tip; it just needs decorating. Now she lets us go round all the time.

Adam can’t walk and he can’t talk because he’s got cerebral palsy, I think that’s how you spell it. It means his brain was damaged when he was born, but he’s such a laugh. He loves jokes and playing tricks on Rosie. For instance, all their doors swing both ways, so that he can push through in his wheelchair. So he goes through in front of her and then lets it go with his feet so it whips back fast and nearly knocks her over.

Jenny, their dog, seems to know exactly what Adam wants even though he can’t talk. She brings him things. And she plays football with him.

Adam’s mad about football. He can’t use his hands because…I don’t know why, they sort of jerk about and he can’t stop them. But he can kick a football and Jenny runs after it and brings it back. She’s so clever.

Some days, after school, Rosie brings Jenny to the park, where I walk Pepsi. They love playing together and it seems really mean to me just having one dog. I’m an only child so I know how that feels! I’ve tried telling my mum and dad, but they seem to go deaf whenever I get onto that subject.

But at least I’ve got a dog. Fliss had no pet to take, as she kept on reminding us.

“It’s just not fair, I’m sick of hearing about pet shows.”

Sometimes Fliss is a real moaner. I call her the Mona Lisa.

“At least we’ve all got one thing to look forward to,” I reminded her. “Tomorrow’s our first sleepover at Rosie’s.”

“Humph,” Fliss grunted. “It’s the night before the Pet Show, so I know what’ll happen: you’ll be talking about it all night and leaving me out.”

“No, we won’t,” Rosie promised.

“If you like, we won’t even mention the word pets,” I said.

“Do you promise?” she said, satisfied at last.

The others nodded and made the Brownie promise, but in fact we needn’t have bothered, because the next day Rosie had her brainwave about Gazza, the class hamster. And in the end he came to the sleepover too.