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      It’s odd, isn’t it? I mean, Thursday the 7th, or Monday the 24th – I bet you never even notice those days! Well, not unless it’s your birthday or something like that. I mean, have you ever forgotten your own birthday? No! Of course not – and I’d never forget mine – it’s June 9th, the best ever time of year to have a birthday because it’s exactly half way between Christmas.

      And I’d never forget the birthdays of the rest of the Sleepover Club either. Not that they’d let me! Just imagine if I forgot Frankie’s birthday! She’s my best mate, but she’d still kill me if I forgot. Actually, I suppose I’d kill her if she forgot my birthday – but I bet we’d make up soon after. Frankie and I are like that – we’re always arguing, but it doesn’t mean anything. Frankie says we argue because I’m a Gemini and I can’t ever make up my mind (which isn’t true). I say it’s because she’s an Aries and she’s a pig-headed ram. Well, maybe she isn’t exactly pig-headed – but she does like to boss us about…

      Lyndz has four brothers so it always seems to be someone’s birthday in her house. Her mum makes just the coolest birthday cakes! She used to be a domestic science teacher, and she’s a whizz at cooking. When Lyndz’s little brother, Ben, was four her mum made him a chocolate cake in the shape of a gorilla, and it was the scrummiest thing you’ve ever eaten. Lyndz’s birthday is in October. Frankie says she’s a typical Libran – easy going and always trying to keep the peace. She even seems to like her brothers.

      I don’t know how I’d feel about four brothers. Lyndz says it’s OK, so maybe it is. I’ve got two older sisters, Emma and Molly. And believe you me, two sisters is the worst thing that could ever happen to anybody, especially when one of them is like my sister Molly.

      Nobody has got a sister as awful as she is – I call her Molly the Monster, and I think that’s being really nice. The worst thing is we have to share a bedroom, and she fusses and moans non-stop. I can’t leave one sock on her side without her going mad. And what’s really unfair is she won’t even let me keep my rat in the room! I tell her it’s cruelty to animals, but she doesn’t listen. She just puts on this stupid face and says, “Oh Laura, I do wish you’d grow up!” She knows I hate it when anyone calls me that. The rest of the Sleepover Club call me Kenny, because of my surname – McKenzie.

      Fliss has her birthday soon after the summer holidays and she starts planning her cake the second term starts… not to mention all her presents! One year she had a cake covered with little pink roses and purple ribbons. Frankie said she just knew Fliss would be wearing purple ribbons in her hair – and she was! All the presents from Fliss’s mum were tied up with pink and purple string – and you can guess what colour the balloons were! Fliss’s mum must have spent ages and ages getting everything to match… but she’s like that. I think Fliss is, too. Maybe it’s because she’s a Virgo. Frankie says Virgos like everything to be perfect.

      Rosie’s the fifth member of the Sleepover Club. Her birthday’s July 15th. The last one after mine. Rosie’s mum makes a huge thing about her birthday. I think it’s because she worries that Rosie doesn’t get as much attention as her brother and sister, so she makes it up to her then. Frankie and I were talking about it the other day, and we both think Rosie deserves a special birthday.

      But hang on, I’m sidetracking. Why was I talking about birthdays? Oh yes! I was saying that mostly people don’t notice what day and date it is… but Friday 13th. Eeeeeek! You always notice that date. And that’s the day we had this totally scary sleepover at my house. I’ll tell you all about it in just a minute… it was brilliant.

      I don’t know if you’re superstitious. I’m not, not really – but Friday 13th does make you feel a bit creepy, doesn’t it? And if you drop a cup, or fall over, or break something, you can’t help thinking it all happened because it’s an unlucky day, even if you fall over twice as much on other days.

      It’s also a great day for telling horror stories and, as you know, I love horror stories. I know some true ones, too, because my dad’s a doctor, and sometimes he tells us stories about what happened in the old days. Did you know that doctors used to saw off people’s legs while they were still wide awake? It’s true. They’d give them a bit of leather to chew on, but that’s all. And when they were finished they just threw the old leg into a bucket – and by the end of the day the bucket was full of legs!

      Does that give you chills up and down your spine? It did when Dad told me – but I’m going to be a doctor when I grow up, so I’ve got to get used to all that kind of stuff. I practise by watching TV programmes like Casualty – and even when there’s blood everywhere, I love it!

      I told the Sleepover Club about the bucket full of legs and Frankie said it was the best story she’d heard in ages. Fliss said it was disgusting – she’s a bit squeamish about things like that – but she still went and told her younger brother. And then her mum told me off because he woke up in the night screaming.

      I think it might have been the leg story that started Frankie and me thinking about Friday 13th. Frankie had the idea to have a sleepover on that night, but it was my idea to make it a really really special one… well, I’m sure you’ll agree, it was

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