Polly Plays Her Part (19 page)

We ran right through to the end with no problems at all and then we stopped to sort out the bows and the finale.

“Brilliant, Polly!” Mandy called out when I ran onstage with Monty B. “You were just brilliant!”

It was weird, but I'd hardly thought about the Diamond Den all morning and standing on the stage with everyone – singing the last song and having so much fun – it seemed totally crazy that I was even
thinking
of stealing from my own dad. It was as if the friend2friend website had taken over my brain in some way and I knew exactly what I was going to do the second I got home.

“You were great, Polly,” said Sam when we'd finished the bows.

“So were you,” I said. “I bet Mandy will give you the biggest part next time. And if she doesn't I'll have a word with her.”

“We
all
will,” said Phoebe.

Just then Arthur came in.

“Oh, hello, Mandy, my dear,” he said. “Rehearsal going well?”

“Yes, thanks, Arthur,” she said, smiling. “What can I do for you?”

He waved a bit of paper at her. “The piano was delivered yesterday,” he announced. “And Mr. Duke, the manager at the old people's home, has kindly sent through this picture on the computer. It's just marvellous, isn't it, the way we communicate these days? Anyway, we're all very grateful, so like I said the other week, if there's anything at all I can do to help…”

Mandy looked at the picture of the piano. “Well there is something,” she said slowly. “I see you have a colour printer.”

“Yes, it's a marvel, isn't it? Don't know how to work it myself but the lovely Mrs. Beagle is a whiz.”

“Only I'm having a bit of trouble with
my
computer at the moment,” said Mandy, “and I was right in the middle of printing out the programmes for our show. The thing is I've got so much to do and…”

“Say no more!” boomed Arthur, holding up his hand to stop Mandy. “Just give me the details and the job will be done.”

“Are you sure that was a good idea?” said Catharine, after Arthur had skipped off back to his office, clutching a copy of the programme.

“I know what you mean,” said Mandy. “But it's so straightforward, what could possibly go wrong?”

I couldn't wait to get home to tell Dad and Diane how well the rehearsal had gone – and that Mandy had agreed to let me be Marcia again. I hadn't actually told them I'd lost the part in the first place but I was suddenly bursting to tell them the whole story. I raced all the way back from the bus stop, thinking about the show and how great it was going to be, and how Mandy had said I was brilliant. I didn't even feel that upset about Mum not being there to watch me. I pulled the door key out of my pocket, but before I could get it into the lock, the door flew open from the inside.

It was Dad.

And he was holding his credit card.

I suppose I could've lied. I could've said I was using the credit card to buy Diane a thank-you present for saving Cosmo's life. Or I could've got angry and demanded to know what Dad was doing in my room in the first place. I mean he is always going on about how it's
my private space
and stuff like that. But in the end I didn't lie or get angry. I just froze, with my eyes fixed on the card.

Dad grabbed my arm and yanked me into the lounge. “Right then,” he said. “Perhaps you'd like to explain why my credit card was in your room?
And
why the computer says you only have a few hours left to enter your personal details?”

He was so angry he looked as if he was about to explode.

“It was just this w-website,” I stammered. “And I needed your credit card to get into the…the…Diamond Den.” It sounded so pathetic when I said it out loud.

Diane walked in from the kitchen. “What's going on?” she said.

“Polly has been using my credit card.”

“No I haven't actually
used
it!” I cried. “I took it this morning but I didn't use it. I was going to give it back as soon as I got home, I swear.”

“
But why should I believe you?
” Dad shouted. “
You've lied to me before so why should I believe you now? And how could you be so stupid? Don't you know how dangerous it is to give out your personal details on the computer? I thought you had a bit more sense than that!
”

Diane put her hand on his arm. “Calm down, Simon. Polly's trying to explain. Why don't you sit down together and talk it through? I'll go and make a cup of tea.”

He shook off her hand. “A cup of tea's not going to make things right this time,” he snapped. “You know, I'm sick to death of tiptoeing around her. Trying to understand. Giving her time to settle in. It's about time she started to grow up a bit and take some responsibility for her actions.”

I'd never seen Dad this angry. Diane scooted out of the room and I shrank back in my seat.

“I'm sorry,” I whispered. “I know it was wrong. I was just so caught up with this website and this friend I made and the more we chatted the harder it was to stop and it helped me feel better; you know, about Mum leaving and Cosmo and stuff like that, but I wasn't going to go on it any more and I'm not lying.”

Dad started to pace around the room. He went round and round, his huge, muscly arms folded across his chest and it was obvious he wasn't calming down at all.

“Even if I decide to believe you about not going on the site again,” he said, still pacing, “you need to understand just how serious it was to take my credit card and to enter your personal details onto the computer.”

“But Dad, I
do
understand!”

“I want you to show me this website,” he went on, ignoring me. “Don't you understand how dangerous it is? You have absolutely no idea who you've been talking to. You didn't arrange to
meet
anyone, did you?”

“Of course not!”

“It's my fault as well. I should've kept a closer eye on you. I knew it was stupid to let you have a computer in your bedroom. No more hiding away upstairs talking to a bunch of strangers. Are you listening, Polly?”

I nodded and started to get up from the sofa.

“Hang on a minute. I haven't finished.” He started pacing again. I could see he was thinking up some awful punishment. He went round and round the living room. “I'm sorry, Polly,” he said finally. “But as soon as I've sorted out the computer, I'm going to phone Mandy and tell her you won't be able to take part in the production.”

My heart started to thud. “
What?
What do you mean? You can't do that. She's only just given me my part back!”

He swung round to face me. “I
can,
Polly. And that's exactly what I'm going to do. This is very serious. You were going to
steal
from me.”

“
But that's so unfair. I'll be letting everyone down. I don't care what else you do to me – but not that! Why do you always have to ruin everything?
”

“She's right, Simon,” said Diane, coming back into the room. “She can't let everyone else down just because she's done something she shouldn't. I know she took your credit card but she says she didn't use it and I believe her.”

“
This is none of your business! She's not even your daughter!”
Dad roared at Diane, and then he stormed out of the room.

I started to cry. It was horrible. I'd never seen him shout at Diane.

“Don't worry, Polly,” she said. “I'll talk to him. Pop up to your room for a bit.”

I ran upstairs and threw myself on the bed. I could hear Dad and Diane arguing. Their voices grew louder and louder – Dad's especially. After a bit I went over to the computer and unplugged it. I didn't even close it down properly, I just ripped the plug out of the wall. I didn't care about Skye or the Diamond Den or anything to do with the friend2friend website. I just wanted Dad to stop shouting.

At some point Jake woke up from his afternoon nap and started to cry. I went into his room and picked him up out of his cot. He was clutching hold of Boo and his face was all crumpled and tear-stained. “It's all right,” I said. “Polly's here now.” He clung on to me, burying his face in my neck. I managed to keep him happy for a bit, dancing Boo around the edges of the cot and making silly noises, but he was starving and in the end I carried him downstairs to Diane.

She was sitting on her own in the lounge. Her face was all crumpled up like Jake's and I could see she'd been crying.

“What's happened, Diane? Where's Dad?”

“It's okay, Polly, he's just popped out to get some fresh air. I've persuaded him to wait until tomorrow before he calls Mandy. I think he's more frightened about what could have happened than anything. And cross with himself.”

Dad came up to my room a bit later. He sat on the end of my bed and I told him everything. About pretending to be Marcia and making friends with Skye and how chatting to her helped me to forget about Mum and how much I was missing her. He didn't interrupt or stop listening halfway through, like he usually does, and when I'd finished he took me in his arms.

“I'm so sorry, princess,” he said. “I just didn't realize what a difficult time you were having. You kept on saying you were fine but I should've paid more attention. And you know, this friend of yours, Skye. Well, she's not a real friend, sweetheart. She was probably just chatting to you to draw you into the site and get you to spend lots of money.”

“I know,” I whispered, “and I'm sorry as well. I'm sorry I took your credit card. I didn't know what I was doing. I just kept thinking that if I could get inside that room and talk to Skye again all my problems would be solved. And then I realized that I didn't even care about the Diamond Den any more, that I was happy at drama and that my real friends were so much more important than some stranger I'd never even met. I was on my way home to put back your credit card, but it was too late because you'd already found it in my room.”

“It's not too late,” Dad said. “I'm not going to stop you doing your show. But you do need to trust me more and I definitely need to listen to you more. Right now though, I think I'd better go down and beg Diane to forgive me for flying off the handle like that.”

“Will you say thank you from me?” I said.

He shook his head. “No, you come down and tell her yourself. She'd appreciate that.”

But I still didn't want to. There were all sorts of things I knew I
should
say to Diane like,
Thank you for saving Cosmo,
and,
Thank you for getting Dad to listen,
but I just couldn't.

So Dad didn't call Mandy and I spent the rest of the week going over my lines just to make absolutely sure I knew them inside out. On Wednesday we took Cosmo to the vet to have his stitches removed –
and
the plastic hood. I thought he'd be straight back down to number 25 once he could fit through the cat flap again, but he seemed perfectly happy to stay where he was and, when I got home from school on Thursday, he was sitting on the wall outside number
11
waiting for a cuddle.

On Saturday morning Diane made pancakes for breakfast.

“It's just my way of saying good luck,” she said.

“It's weird but I'd totally forgotten how much I love them,” I said, helping myself to seconds. Diane looked chuffed to bits.

I knew it was the perfect moment to thank her for everything she'd done but, just as I was working out what to say, the phone rang. It was Mum calling to wish me luck. I didn't tell her about the credit card or anything. I just said I was feeling much happier and much more settled. She was thrilled and said that even though she couldn't watch me perform she'd be thinking about me every second of the day.

Phoebe arrived straight after breakfast and Dad drove us up to drama in the van.

“Hello, you two,” said Mandy, as we walked through the doors. “You haven't seen Arthur, have you? He was supposed to be delivering the programmes first thing.”

Mandy looked amazing. She'd dyed her hair again, for the first time in ages. It was jet black with fluorescent green tips, to match the virus costumes.

“Wow!” breathed Phoebe. “I
love
your hair. But no we didn't see Arthur, did we, Polly?”

I shook my head.

“I really hope he's remembered,” she sighed. “I've tried calling him but he's not answering his phone.”

We went backstage to get ready. Nearly everyone was there sorting out their costumes and make-up. It was incredibly hot and noisy.

“You haven't seen my mask, have you?” asked Ellie. “I swear I left it right by all my stuff but I can't find it anywhere.”

“Have you been to the toilet or anything?” Phoebe asked.