Mumnesia (22 page)

And neither do I.

Yes, it is hot gossip. And yes, English lessons are gonna be
kinda weird from now on. But as I watch them laughing and gazing
at each other like they’re the only two people in the
entire world, none of that matters. They look so happy. And so am
I.

Then a familiar tune starts playing.

‘
Luceee!
’ Megan squeals, grabbing my arm.
‘Come on! It’s “Holiday”!’

Zak raises an eyebrow as she drags me past him on to the dance
floor. Oh crumpets, there goes my cool image!

‘Ready?’ Megan beams at us as the Megababes
– and pretty much everyone who came to my party – get
into their starting positions.

‘Wait,’ I cry. ‘Where’s
Kimmy?’

‘Behind you,’ Kimmy says, and I spin round,
delighted.

‘You’re joining in?’

‘Maybe Madonna’s not that lame –’ she
shrugs – ‘and perhaps the Megababes aren’t so
bad either. Go ahead – say, “I told you
so!”’

But instead I throw my arms around my best friend.
‘You’re awesome!’

Kimmy laughs. ‘You haven’t seen my dance moves
yet!’

As the song begins we all move in sync and a crowd gathers
around us, watching and clapping along to the rhythm. Normally
I’d be mortified to be the centre of attention like this
– especially with my Mum and Ms Banks dancing along with
all my friends – but tonight it’s the best feeling in
the world.

Then I notice Kimmy falling behind with the moves. Finally she
gives up, shrugs and smiles at me as she turns to walk away.

‘Oh no, you don’t!’ I grab her arm. She is
not
sitting this one out.

‘But I don’t know the steps!’ she
protests.

‘You don’t have to!’ I grin, waving my arms
around madly. ‘Just be as goofy as possible!’ She
stares at me, then bursts out laughing and joins in as we try to
outdo each other with our silly dancing. Before I know it, the
Megababes are busting some crazy moves too – and even Zak
joins in! I laugh as he attempts the robot – badly! Who
knew he was such a doofus? It makes me like him even more.

Mum smiles at me and mouths, ‘OK?’

I beam and give her a thumbs-up. Everything’s OK. Very
OK. How could it not be? Dad’s not moving to Australia but
still gets to be with Ingrid, Kimmy’s friends with me
and
the Megababes, Zak’s asked me out, and
Shazza’s finally back to being Mum – for now
anyway!

Enormous thanks . . .

To my wonderful editor, Rachel Kellehar, who is such a joy to
work with.

To the lovely Venetia Gosling, for believing in me from the
very beginning.

To my brilliant agent, Jenny Savill, and all at the amazing
Andrew Nurnberg Associates.

To Naomi Jacobs, whose incredible real-life account of her
amnesia,
Forgotten Girl
, provided a valuable resource when
researching this condition.

To all my Facebook friends, for their companionship, humour
and rapid answers to an array of random questions.

To all my awesome author friends, especially in SCBWI and The
Edge, for their encouragement, comradery, advice and
insights.

To the fabulous Jo Nadin, Jo Cotterill and Tamsyn Murray, for
writing such wonderful books and for their generous feedback on
Mumnesia
!

To Push-In Boots, for always keeping me company on the
sofa.

To Chris, for his constant love and support, for making me
giggle and keeping me sane, and for putting up with me always
getting up later than him and becoming a complete hermit when
deadlines are looming.

And finally to my incredible family, who are an endless
– and much treasured – source of love, laughter, hugs
and inspiration. I don’t know what I’d do without
you.

Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart. x

Katie Dale had her first poem, ‘The
Fate of The School Hamster’, published in the
Cadbury’s Book of Children’s Poetry
aged just
eight and hasn’t stopped writing since! Inspired by her
mother, Elizabeth Dale, who is also an author, Katie loves
creating characters, both on the page and onstage. After training
as an actress and touring the country as Shakespeare’s
Juliet, she was a winner of the SCBWI Undiscovered Voices
competition, which launched her writing career. She has published
books for toddlers up to teens, and her novels have won several
awards and are published all over the world.
Mumnesia
is
her first novel for Macmillan Children’s Books.

Find out more at katiedaleuk.blogspot.com

First published 2016 by Macmillan
Children’s Books

This electronic edition published 2016 by
Macmillan Children’s Books
an imprint of Pan Macmillan
20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR
Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com

ISBN 978-1-5098-1071-0

Copyright © Katie Dale 2016

Cover illustration by Lilly Lazuli

The right of Katie Dale to be identified as
the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance
with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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