Cherry Blossom Dreams (23 page)

In any case, I was certain of one thing. Our dad would be pleased to see Sean getting the father figure he needed at long last. And I’m pretty sure he’d be ecstatic to know I was going to be stuck with some dad-style overprotection just as I entered my teens.

That afternoon Leo took Sean and Zack to visit Monty at the reptile centre. Mum had gone out shopping, which meant that I was alone in the house. Just as I was thinking of calling Priti to see if she wanted to come over, our doorbell rang.

I was really surprised when I looked through the spyhole and saw Ellie standing there.

‘Hi, Sasha, is it OK if I come in and talk to you for a minute?’ she asked in a nervous rush as I opened up.

‘Sure.’ I found myself feeling equally anxious as I let her inside.

‘Listen, I think there’s something you should know,’ she blurted as soon as the front door was closed. ‘It
wasn’t
Lily who told everyone about your mum and Mr Anderson. It was Rafferty!’

I don’t know what I’d expected her to say, but it certainly wasn’t that.

I frowned. ‘No way!’

‘Yes, Sasha! He overheard Lily talking about it to their mum. He told one of his mates and that’s how it ended up being spread round the school. Lily was going to tell you in PE that day, but you didn’t give her a chance. After that she got really stubborn and said that if you thought
that
little of her, then maybe the two of you shouldn’t be friends.’

‘But –’ I broke off abruptly, feeling a little bit sick.

‘You should go and talk to her, Sasha,’ Ellie said. ‘You guys have been friends for ages, right?’

‘Yes, but … but … I haven’t spoken to her for three weeks. I guess she probably doesn’t
want
to be my friend any more after –’

‘She
does
want to be your friend,’ Ellie reassured me, adding swiftly, ‘Well she
thinks
she doesn’t, but she’s kidding herself because she’s been really moody ever since you two fell out. Listen … I’m on my way round to her place just now. Why don’t you come with me?’

I frowned. ‘I don’t know, Ellie … I mean, what would I say?’

‘Just tell her the truth … that you’re sorry you didn’t believe her and that you know now that it was Rafferty who told everyone. Come on, Sasha … I know she’s sorry too. Just come with me and talk to her.’ As I kept hesitating, she added, ‘You know, I had to leave
my
best friend behind when we moved here. You’re lucky you’ve still got Lily.’

I looked at Ellie as she worriedly chewed on her thumbnail while she waited for me to decide what to do. It was sweet of her to want Lily and me to make up, I thought. After all, she could have used our falling-out to her advantage and tried to turn Lily into
her
new best friend.

I took a deep breath. ‘OK then,’ I said.

And I picked up my keys and my jacket before I could change my mind.

I stood away from Ellie, to one side of the front door, as Lily opened it and greeted Ellie enthusiastically.

‘Hi there! I was just going to phone you to see where you were –’ Lily broke off as she spotted me standing there nervously.

‘Sasha wants to talk to you, Lily,’ Ellie put in quickly. ‘I’ll go and wait for you in the garden.’

Lily stared at me after Ellie had disappeared into the house. For one awful moment I thought she was going to keep me standing on the doorstep. But then she stepped back to let me through. ‘I was just getting a drink,’ she mumbled. ‘Do you want one?’

I nodded. ‘Water, please,’ I said hoarsely. My throat and mouth were bone dry.

As Lily led me into the kitchen, I said, ‘I’m sorry I thought it was you who told everyone about Mum and Leo.’

‘You know it was Raffy?’

‘Ellie just told me.’

She handed me a glass of water and said awkwardly, ‘I kept checking my phone all the time thinking you would text me or something.’

‘I’m sorry. Mum took our phones away after the party. We only just got them back.’

‘Oh … that sucks.’

‘Yeah.’

Through the kitchen window I could see Ellie basking on the grass in the spring sunshine.

I took a deep breath. ‘Lily … listen … I’m
really
sorry I blew up at you before when you tried to tell me about Raffy.’

‘Yeah, well, it wasn’t very nice,’ she agreed. ‘It wasn’t so much
what
you said, it was
how
you said it. You said it like you hated me!’

‘Oh, Lily … I’m so sorry … but you know I don’t hate you, right?’

‘I guess you wouldn’t be here if you did.’

‘Well, no …’ I paused, wondering what else I could say. ‘I don’t know how I could ever have thought it was you who …’ I trailed off, not wanting to repeat myself.

‘Well, you weren’t exactly thinking straight at the time,’ Lily replied, ‘what with everything that was going on, I mean.’

‘I guess … but I still shouldn’t have taken it out on you.’

She nodded as if that was also true.

I briefly wondered if she was going to apologise for anything herself – for inadvertently letting Raffy overhear my secret in the first place, for instance. It seemed not. Still … Lily was Lily and you couldn’t have everything.

‘Sasha, I’ve really missed you!’ she suddenly burst out, throwing her arms round me in a big hug. ‘I don’t want us to fall out ever again! No matter what happens, let’s definitely stay B.F.F.L.s, OK?’

‘Definitely,’ I agreed, hugging her back. Because even I know that B.F.F.L. means Best Friends for Life.

‘Hey!’ She suddenly pulled back from me. ‘Are you actually wearing a
bra
?’

Before I could reply, Rafferty sauntered into the kitchen heading for the fridge. ‘Is
who
wearing a bra?’ he demanded.

And this time when I went bright red, it definitely wasn’t because I fancied him.

‘Sasha, just for the record,
I
think it’s really cool that Mr Anderson is dating your mum,’ Ellie said, as Lily and I joined her in the garden.

‘That’s what I keep telling her!’ Lily said enthusiastically. ‘I mean, he’s only
the
cutest teacher in the whole school!’

‘I know. And have you noticed how he always has such fresh breath when he leans over you to check your work?’

I made a mental note to tell Leo that one since I knew he’d be pleased. He always says there’s nothing worse than a teacher with halitosis.

I listened as Lily described her grand plan to put a positive spin on the whole Mum and Leo fiasco at school. ‘Trust me, Sasha, if handled correctly, this situation has the potential to rocket you to the very top of Helensfield High’s social hierarchy! And believe me, we are talking the dizzy heights here!’ She frowned as she saw the looks on my face and Ellie’s. ‘What’s so funny?’

‘
You!
Honestly, Lily, you are such a T.D.Q.!’ I said.

She looked perplexed. ‘T.D.Q.?’

Ellie gave me a grin to show she was with me on this. ‘Total Drama Queen!’ we burst out together.

‘Hey, I am
not
a drama queen!’ Lily protested, but she started to grin too. ‘Well … maybe just a bit.’

Later that afternoon I was in the kitchen trying to rub an ice-lolly stain off the front of my T-shirt when Rafferty suddenly walked in and stood in front of me awkwardly. I couldn’t help noticing how muscly his arms were but I felt a lot more detached about that fact than I usually did when the two of us were in such close proximity.

Before I could muster up my best glare and tell him to get lost, he began nervously, ‘Hey, Sasha …’ He was chewing his bottom lip, something he used to do a lot when he was younger, and his hair was sticking up on top so he didn’t look as cool as he usually did. ‘Listen, Sasha …’ he began again. ‘I’m really sorry …’

I just about fell over on the spot! Raffy was
apologising
to me? I mean, was I hallucinating this or what?

‘I know I shouldn’t have told Jake about your mum and Mr Anderson,’ he continued rapidly. ‘I didn’t know he was going to tell everyone, but still … it was dumb.’

‘Yeah, it
was
dumb,’ I agreed coolly.

He sighed. ‘Look, if it makes you feel any better, Mum and Dad nearly killed me when they found out. I was grounded and had to give up my phone for two weeks.’

‘Yes – though I don’t think that was enough of a punishment for him really,’ Lily chipped in as she came in from outside.

‘Hey!’ Raffy protested, dodging out of her way as she picked up a hefty wooden spoon and threatened to give him a hearty whack on the bum.

‘Actually, Sasha,
you
should be the one getting to do this!’ Lily teased.

‘Get lost, Lily,’ Raffy growled. He was clearly embarrassed, judging by how he was blushing.

Weirdly enough it was right then that the funny little knot I’d had inside me ever since Ellie had told me what he’d done seemed to vanish as quickly as it had come. And, much to my frustration, there was something about seeing Raffy just a little bit vulnerable that made me like him all over again.

What was wrong with me?

Of course I knew what Mum would say if I told her, but frankly I didn’t always find her whole ‘hormones’ explanation for everything all that comforting. Because if
this
was what hormones did to you when you were just coming up to thirteen, I doubted I was going to make it to adulthood without going completely bonkers!

The next day Mum went round to Miranda’s house (Miranda no longer blamed her for the party, thank goodness) and while she was there, Miranda introduced her to her half-brother on Skype for the first time.

‘What’s he like, Mum?’ Sean and I asked in unison the second she got back.

‘Well, actually he reminds me quite a lot of my father,’ Mum said. ‘He told me he remembers me coming to Blossom House a few times when I was three or four, though they didn’t tell him who I was. His mother knew all along about my mother and me and told him later when he was a teenager. It sounds like his parents had rather an unusual relationship to say the least! Anyway, he says he wanted to get in touch with me years ago, but his mother always insisted he respect
my
mother’s wish for no further contact. He definitely wants to meet up now though. He’s coming over from Canada in a month’s time. You won’t believe this, but
he’s
a magician too.’

‘No way!’ Sean blurted. ‘Maybe he’ll be able to teach
me
!’ He grinned as he added, ‘Hey, you probably don’t need to bother with maths and English and all that conventional stuff if you want to be a magician, right, Leo?’

Leo just rolled his eyes and didn’t reply.

‘Greg’s only a magician in his spare time, Sean,’ Mum said. ‘He’s also got a degree in architecture and now he owns his own building firm.’

‘So does he have a family?’ Leo asked.

‘He’s just got divorced. No children. What’s interesting is that he’s asked Miranda to take Blossom House completely off the market. Apparently he’s thinking of leaving Canada and moving back here and, if he does, he’ll probably want to live in Blossom House while he renovates it himself. Miranda thinks he’s also very keen to get to know us.’

‘Hey, you should totally invite him to the wedding, Mum … seeing as how he’s your brother,’ Sean suggested.

‘Half-brother,’ Mum reminded him sharply. ‘And of course I’m not inviting him. Think how Granny would feel.’

‘Are you sure Granny’s definitely going to
come
to the wedding?’ I asked her with a frown.

‘Oh, I’m fairly certain she won’t miss it.’

‘Hey, Mum, why don’t
we
offer to buy Blossom House from your half-brother after he’s done it all up?’ Sean suddenly said. ‘We could sell this house, and Leo could sell his flat, and we could all move into Blossom House together.’

Sean’s tone was light, as if he wasn’t all that serious, but just the same I found myself holding in my breath. If Blossom House really did become ours it would be … well … it would be the happiest ending in the whole history of happy endings as far as I was concerned!

I looked hopefully at Mum and Leo …

‘I doubt selling both our places would raise enough to buy Blossom House, Sean,’ Leo said.

‘In any case, Granny would never forgive us,’ Mum added dismissively. ‘And not only that – do you honestly think
I’d
ever want to live there now?’