Polly Plays Her Part (12 page)

“Crashing is the new waltzing if you must know,” said Monty B. “It's called the cross-body, reverse-turn spin-fall.” He hauled me to my feet. “It goes one, two, three, turn. One, two, three, spin. One, two, three, turn. One, two, three, fall.” He whisked me round and round and then tripped me up on purpose, pulling me down on top of him.

“I bet no one else can do it as well as us,” he called out from somewhere beneath my tangled legs.

“I bet
we
can,” said Sam, who couldn't bear to be beaten at anything, and she did a strange sort of spinning leap, dragging poor Sandeep round after her. They banged straight into Phoebe and Ellie who spun round and round before falling down as well.

“I think that's what you call a drop
and
a drag,” said Monty B.

“Goodness me,” said Arthur, who'd come in to watch. “I hope there'll be a marked improvement by the time the television cameras are here.”

“And
I
hope we get to rehearse my show at some point in the near future,” said Mandy, smiling through gritted teeth. “You know – the show that I'm supposed to be rehearsing
right now
?”

I got up and pulled Monty B to his feet. “That's the last time I'm going anywhere near a dance floor with you,” I hissed. “
One, two, three, turn – one, two, three, fall.
” But even though I was trying to sound cross I couldn't help grinning.

“Told you,” he taunted.

“Told me what?”

He put on a ridiculous Russian accent.

“Zat I could make you smile ov course, Princess Polly.”

When I got home Diane said Jake had developed a slight sniffle or something and that Dad had rushed him off to the doctor's. I logged on and told Skye all about CRASH! and how well I was doing, and by the time Dad got back with Jake he'd forgotten all about the friend2friend scare story in the paper, and how he was going to check my laptop for dangerous sites.

The next couple of weeks flew by. I spent more and more time chatting to Skye. We easily reached our 200-point target and we had brilliant fun in the Pearl Palace designing our avatars. The more time I spent chatting to Skye and the others the harder it was to concentrate on my lines, or my homework, or anything else I was supposed to be doing.

Mum kept calling and she e-mailed me every couple of days, but I deleted the messages as soon as they arrived. I didn't take her calls either. I didn't want to know about her new job and her new friends and what a fantastic time she was having. If I didn't speak to her I could pretend she was still down the road at number 25 instead of miles and miles away living it up in another country.

I know she was upset, because she called Dad and tried to get him to put me on the phone, but I kept making excuses. She wanted to know why I was ignoring her, but it wasn't my fault. She was the one who'd decided to go off without me. It was so much better chatting to Skye – telling her all about Phoebe and the brilliant times we had together. Pretending I had a twin sister was like having the closest friend ever right there with me all the time. My made-up Phoebe
always
wanted to do the same things as me. She never had a go at me about anything and she certainly never wanted anyone else to tag along.

Not like my
real
friend Phoebe, who was
always
nagging me to learn my lines or to call Mum or to tell Mandy why I was having such a hard time. And if I ever suggested spending time on our own, she nearly
always
asked Monty B to come along, or Ellie and Sam – so it was more or less impossible to spend any time with her by myself.

At drama, the ballroom dance contest was looming and everyone was busy selling tickets to their friends and family. I didn't even mention it to Dad and Diane. I mean there was no way I wanted them there watching me make an idiot of myself with Monty B. I was still struggling with my lines. I kind of knew Act One just about well enough to keep Mandy happy, but I hadn't even looked at Act Two.

“Why don't you just tell her you don't want to do it?” Phoebe asked me at school one lunchtime. We were actually by ourselves for five minutes because Ellie and Sam had detention for giggling all the way through science.

“I do want to do it – you don't understand. I just wish my mum was here.”

“But she's not here, so why don't you tell Mandy before it's too late? It's selfish in a way, you know, Polly, because there are other people who really wanted that part.”

“What, like Sam you mean? Why are you so worried about Sam, anyway?”

Phoebe took a deep breath. I could see how fed up she was getting. “I'm not worried about Sam,” she said slowly. “Why should I be? I just don't get what you think is going to happen.”

“What are you on about?
You don't get what I think's going to happen?
” I was getting fed up as well.

“Look, Polly, Marcia's part is huge. And if
you
don't know it properly, and no one else is learning it
just in case,
then the whole show's going to be ruined.”

“So basically you're saying that I'm going to ruin the whole show.”

“Stop twisting everything!” she shouted. “I'm just trying to be your friend and help!”

She stormed off, shaking her head. She was always walking off these days. I bet my
twin
Phoebe would never walk off and leave me by myself in the playground. She'd understand exactly how I was feeling about Mum and everything.

As soon as I got home I dumped my bag and ran down the road to find Cosmo. He still preferred to hang about outside number 25 and it still upset me to see him sitting there every day, waiting for me. I collapsed down on the doorstep and was just getting ready for a big cuddle when the door swung open behind me. I leaped straight back up and Cosmo went shooting under a car parked in front of the house.

“Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to scare him. You're Polly, aren't you? We met that time I came to look round the house.”

It was Mrs. Bay, the woman who'd rented the house from Mum.

“He can't get used to his new house,” I said. I knelt down by the curb and tried to coax Cosmo back out. “Cats are like that.”

“Some people are like that too,” she said kindly. “I still miss my old house. Why don't you sit there for a minute and I'll bring you a drink and a biccy and then I'll make myself scarce. He'll soon come out once I've disappeared.”

She came back with some chocolate digestives and a tall glass of juice. After a bit, Cosmo crawled out and I told him all about Phoebe and my lines and how she just didn't understand. Cosmo curled up on my lap and I buried my face in his neck. I loved sitting with him on the doorstep. It was the only time we got to have a proper cuddle these days.

I was chatting to Skye later on, telling her all about Cosmo and how special he was, when a message popped up in my mailbox.

“Well done,” it said. “You only need 400 more points to reach your 1000-point target. Once you reach your target you'll be able to enter the Diamond Den – but from now on you must earn the points alone and not as part of a team.”

“What's the Diamond Den?” I asked Skye.

“Not sure exactly,” she said. “But it's supposed to be really cool!”

We carried on chatting for ages and when she said she was going to bed I begged her to carry on. I still needed another 360 points and I really wanted to find out what was in that room.

I stayed up chatting until really late and then, in the morning, I dragged myself out of bed and logged straight back on. I went into the Ruby room but Skye wasn't there, so I chatted to some other people in the Emerald room, keeping an eye on my points to see how close I was getting to my target.

I'd made quite a few friends on the site apart from Skye. There was Moose27 and Tim and a really nice girl called Pixie. Ever since I'd designed my avatar everyone called me Cat-Girl and they just seemed to assume that I was totally cool and full of confidence. Of course I wasn't like that at all in real life but it was fun pretending.

At some point Diane called me for breakfast. I trailed downstairs and told her I wasn't feeling well. I was too tired to go to drama – and anyway, I still didn't know my lines.

“What's the matter?” she asked, touching my forehead.

I shrugged her off. “I've got a tummy ache. I've had it for days but it's really bad this morning.”

“Oh, you poor thing,” she said, clucking round me. “I'll make you a hot water bottle to take back to bed. And do you want me to call Mandy?”

“Don't worry I'll text her and tell her I'm ill.”

Back in my room I chatted on and off for most of the day. Skye arrived at about ten and I gabbled on about any old rubbish as I watched my points creep up. Whenever I heard Diane coming I hopped into bed and snuggled down under the covers, pretending to be asleep. By late that afternoon I'd totted up another fifty points. My eyes felt peculiar and my head was pounding from staring at the screen for so long, but it was worth it. Or it would be when I reached my target. I had a short break and was just about to carry on when Dad came in.

“I've just had Mandy on the phone,” he said. “Mandy from Star Makers.”

I stared at him.

“She wanted to know why you weren't at drama today.”

“Oh, sorry, Dad, I forgot to text her. I was feeling so sick this morning I just went straight to bed and…”

Dad waved his hand to stop me. He looked really angry. The angriest I'd seen him in ages.

“She also wanted to know if we were coming to the charity dance next Saturday. And most important of all – she wanted to know how you were getting on with your lines. She's a little worried that you don't seem to know them yet.”

He paused for a minute but I knew exactly what was coming.

“Especially since you've got the main part!”

“For goodness' sake, Polly, why didn't you tell me?” Dad waved his arms about. “I kept asking you how the show was going and you never said a word. And what's all this about a dance?”

I pulled the covers over my head and tried to pretend he wasn't there.

“Stop being so silly. There's no point ignoring me.” He crouched down by the bed and pulled the covers back. “And why haven't you been learning your lines? Mandy said you don't seem to know them at all, but you told
me
you knew them weeks ago.”

I shrugged and turned away. “What do you care?” I mumbled. “I kept trying to tell you I had a really big part, but you were too busy with Jake.”

He grabbed my shoulders and turned me back round, so that our faces were practically touching. “Look, I know you're upset about your mum leaving, and about moving in here with me and Diane and the baby, and perhaps I have been a bit distracted, but I'm not going to put up with lying. And what
have
you been doing if you haven't been learning your lines? Playing on that blessed computer, I expect! I'll take it away, Polly. If you don't start making an effort I'll—”

“No!” I leaped up. “I'm sorry, Dad, I'll learn my lines, I swear. I'll learn them all by next week and I wasn't really lying. I
was
feeling sick this morning and
so
tired, and I have tried to learn my lines but it's such a big part and there are so many and…” I trailed off. If Dad was this angry now I couldn't imagine how furious he'd be if he knew I'd been going on the friend2friend website behind his back.

He shrugged his shoulders, sighing. “We're all tired, Polly, it's not just you, and I did offer to help, remember, but you said you were fine.”

“I know but I've had loads of homework, Dad, much more than last term. Look, I'll start learning them right now.” I picked my script up from the floor.

“Make sure you do,” he said, backing out of the room. “And turn that computer off for a bit.”