LITMIR.BIZ

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same boy’s voice addressed me coolly.

      I turned round – and found my face covered in ice-cream.

      “Oh, I’m sorry,” smirked this blond creep of a boy, holding a more than slightly splodged cone. “It must have slipped!”

      Molly was sitting back on her seat again and was spluttering with laughter. “Ignore my stupid sister, Edward,” she said, flashing a creepy smile at the boy. “She must have a personality disorder!”

      “At least I’ve got a personality!” I snarled back, wiping ice-cream off my cheeks.

      “Who was that boy?” squealed Fliss when we came back again. “Babe or what? Er, Kenny – did you know you had ice-cream on your face?”

      That was the last thing I needed, everybody thinking Molly had got some dreamboat boyfriend.

      “He’s a moron!” I snapped. “Just like my stupid sister.”

      I was seething inside, and my face was still sticky from the ice-cream. I wished I’d never come to this stupid circus in the first place.

      I held that thought for precisely thirty seconds, because once the performers started doing their stuff again, I was totally entranced. There were people spinning plates and people on stilts and people who combined the two. There were unicyclists who went up and down ramps, and one who even rode on the tightrope!

      But the most amazing were the trapeze artists. They were so elegant and graceful, but all the time you knew that one false move and they could be dead. We all cheered like mad when they came down and took their bow, even Fliss, and she hadn’t seen any of their act because she’d had her hands in front of her eyes all the time.

      But I think my favourite act was the clowns. They were just sooo funny. We all still had tears streaming down our faces as we were driving home.

      “That was the best birthday ever!” grinned Lyndz.

      “No kidding!” I agreed. “It’s going to take some beating!”

      “Well don’t forget you’ve the tea party to look forward to tomorrow!” Fliss chimed in.

      The rest of us looked at each other.

      “How much excitement can we handle?”

      Frankie mumbled under her breath.

      I was home before Molly, because apparently Edward precious Marsh’s parents had taken Molly and the other girls out for a pizza.

      I was asleep before Molly came in, and I got up before she did in the morning so I didn’t have to go over the whole Edward Marsh at the circus thing. Although I was sure that she would have told Mum and Dad all about it anyway.

      It seemed ages to wait until going to Fliss’s for tea, so I decided to practise a few circus skills. I mean, juggling a few balls couldn’t be that difficult, surely? Well, let me tell you, it’s a lot more difficult than it looks. I started messing about with two tennis balls, just throwing them from hand to hand. Easy-peasy. Then I tried to add a third. It was impossible. I dropped them, I threw them all at the same time, I just couldn’t get the hang of it at all. I was getting really frustrated by the time Mum called me in for lunch.

      “You’d better not eat too much if Nikky’s put on a spread for tea,” Mum told me.

      “Are you kidding?” I scoffed. “Fliss’s mum will have made a few sandwiches cut into pretty little shapes and some fairy cakes. I wouldn’t even feel full if I ate everything she put out on the table!”

      “Let’s hope there’s ice-cream, though,” said Dad dryly. “You like ice-cream, don’t you Laura?”

      Mum, Dad, Molly and my older sister Emma all started to laugh. I don’t know what I was madder about – the others making fun of me or Dad using my horrible name. At least they weren’t going to give me a lecture about my behaviour though, which was a result.

      “Just try to behave this afternoon, Kenny,” Mum said firmly as she dropped me at Fliss’s. “Nikky’s a bit delicate now that she’s pregnant, and you know what happens when she gets upset.”

      Yeah, she goes into a five-star tizz, that’s what – and we didn’t want that at all. Especially as she’s expecting twins. She might go into a ten-star tizz!

      So there I was on my best behaviour, and everything seemed to be going well. We all managed to smile and be polite, even when Fliss’s mum made us take off our shoes the minute we walked through the door. We even grinned and entered into the party spirit when she made us play silly children’s games like we were three or something. I mean, it was dead embarrassing sitting there playing Pass the Parcel and Musical Statues. And you couldn’t really tell whether Fliss’s mum was having a laugh or whether she was practising for future birthday parties with the little baby twins. I wasn’t wrong about the tea either.

      “Another little sandwich, Kenny?” Fliss’s mum asked, fluttering in front of me with a plate. “Or how about a fairy cake?”

      What I really fancied was a jam doughnut, and I’d seen a plate of them on the side. Fliss’s mum must have read my mind because she went to pick up the plate. But then she put it down again.

      “No, I think these might be too much after all that other food. We don’t want you being sick, do we?” She gave a little giggle. “Now, are you going to go and play quietly to let your tea settle? No running about, please.”

      We all trooped out of the kitchen and into the lounge.

      “Will the fun never start?” I whispered in Frankie’s ear.

      “Right, what should we do?” said Fliss.

      We all sat on the floor in a circle.

      “I bet those kids in the circus aren’t just sitting around now,” I said wistfully. “I bet they’re walking the tightrope or something.”

      “Yeah, wasn’t that cool!” Frankie agreed. “Wouldn’t it be ace to be able to do something like that? You could impress people wherever you went!”

      We were in full discussion about the circus when Fliss’s mum popped her head round the door. She beamed when she saw us sitting down. She probably thought we were playing ‘ring-a-ring-a-rosies’ or something.

      “I’m just going upstairs to change the beds. Andy and Callum should be back from the park soon. You will be all right, won’t you?”

      “Yes Mum!” Fliss sighed. “I think we’ll manage.”

      Her mum pulled a face, then closed the door behind her.

      “We could always practise a few circus skills,” I suggested.

      Fliss looked horrified.

      “I don’t mean tightrope-walking or plate-spinning with your mum’s best china, you idiot!” I said hastily. “What about juggling, or acrobatics? They’re nice and quiet, aren’t they?”

      Fliss still didn’t look too sure.

      “We’ll be dead quiet, honestly,” I reassured her. “Your mum will never know.”

      “Has she got any wool or anything?” suggested Frankie. “We could practise juggling with that and it’ll be silent if we drop it.”

      Fliss went upstairs to look for some wool, and the rest of us crept about downstairs. I went into the kitchen, and what should I see first? Yep, the jam doughnuts. My first thought was that I could sneak one to eat – but then I had a brainwave! They were ball-shaped, weren’t they? Perfect for juggling! And they didn’t have that much sugar on them, so they wouldn’t make too much mess if we dropped them. And we could scoff them down before Fliss’s mum reappeared. I mean, she’d obviously bought them for us to eat anyway. Sorted!

      I took them back into the lounge, and Rosie appeared with a couple of those plastic plates you take on picnics,

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