Strawberry Sisters (22 page)

‘It’s quick-drying paint,’ Lauren’s mum said, ‘but I think I’ll wait till tomorrow morning to move everything into place.’ She sighed happily.
‘Thank you so much, Amelia, and you are coming round tomorrow to see Lauren’s face, aren’t you? I could ask Lauren and her dad to pick you up on their way back from Lauren’s
grandmother’s.’

‘That would be great,’ I said. ‘Thanks . . . ‘ I hesitated for a second, ‘Mrs Anderson.’

‘Oh, do call me Kate,’ she said.

And, for the first time since I’d met her, I thought I might actually be able to do that.

When I climbed into the back seat of Mr Anderson’s car the next day, it was obvious that Lauren didn’t have a clue that there was something going on. She started
telling me all about her shopping trip with her grandma and about the scarf that she’d bought for her mum.

When we got to the house, Mrs Anderson, I mean
Kate
, opened the door before we’d even got out of the car. Matt was hovering behind her. They were both grinning.

‘What’s happening?’ Lauren asked.

‘We’ve got something to show you,’ Lauren’s dad said.

Lauren looked at me with raised eyebrows. I couldn’t help giggling.

‘You’re in on this too!’ Lauren said. She was clearly confused by the idea of me and her family having a joint secret.

‘What is it?’ she asked.

‘Come upstairs!’ Lauren’s mum led the way. Her face was glowing like a little kid’s does when they’ve got something exciting to tell you.

We stopped outside Lauren’s new room.

Lauren nudged me. ‘What’s going on?’

‘Close your eyes,’ I said.

‘What are you lot up to?’ she asked, but she closed her eyes anyway.

Her mum opened the door and said, ‘Surprise!’

Lauren opened her eyes.

For a moment, she just stared. So did I; the room looked completely different now everything was in place.

‘No way!’ Lauren squealed. ‘Is this for me?’

‘Of course!’ her dad said. ‘Come in and take a proper look!’

I followed Lauren into the room. The pale lilac walls we’d chosen looked calm and light. There was the desk under the window with Lauren’s laptop and school books and the purple lamp
on top of it. Lauren’s old bookshelf was still crammed with her favourite books, but there were three new photo frames sitting on it. The top of her chest of drawers was arranged like a
dressing table with a standing mirror, and her bottles of perfume and make-up grouped around it. It all looked amazing, but the biggest surprise was that on the opposite wall to Lauren’s bed,
instead of a comfy chair like I’d suggested, there was a sort of sofa thing. Kate hadn’t shown me that the day before.

She followed my line of sight. ‘This . . .’ she said, laying a hand on one of the cushions of the sofa thing, ‘is a daybed; you two can sit on it during the daytime and, when
Lauren is up to it, Amelia can stay the night.’

Lauren looked at me and yelped. ‘I can’t believe it!’ She threw her arms round her mum and dad and Matt. ‘Thank you! Thank you so much. This is the best room
ever!’

Her dad put his hands up. ‘My contribution was mostly getting you out of the way.’

Kate’s cheeks were flushed. ‘And I had some help with the decorating. Your brother did a lot of painting and as for Amelia . . .’ She turned to look at me. ‘Without her,
this wouldn’t have happened. It was all her idea.’

Lauren hugged me too. ‘Thank you as well! You’re all brilliant.’

Later on, after we’d checked out all the cool new things in the room, Lauren’s family went downstairs and the two of us lay side by side on the daybed, trying it
out for size.

‘Do you think you’ll be able to stay over one night next week?’ Lauren asked.

‘Of course. I’ll bring the chocolate.’

Lauren gave a contented sigh. ‘You know what? For a while, I was so panicked about this whole CFS thing. I kept looking up stuff online and freaking out whenever I read that some people
take years to recover, but now I feel more positive. I might be lucky, it might go away, or I might not even have it at all; the doctor says it’s hard to be definite and this could all still
be the after-effects of glandular fever. I figure I might as well be optimistic.’

She certainly sounded a lot brighter about it.

‘That’s a good attitude to take,’ I said.

‘And if it is going to be a problem for a long time . . .’ Her voice wobbled just a tiny bit. ‘If it is then I’ll just have to get through it. Even when things are bad,
there’s always this.’ She squeezed my hand and I knew that she meant us two just hanging out together.

‘Yep,’ I said.

When I was little, I thought that being friends was only about having fun. Then I realised that there’s a bit more to it, and that your friends need your love and support. In the last few
weeks, I’ve had to work out that sometimes it can be difficult to give that love and support, but it’s worth it. Because all that caring and putting the other person’s needs first
is like a gift that you can give to your friend and it’s better than chocolates or jewellery, it’s even better than a new bedroom, because it really shows how much you love them. I
squeezed Lauren’s hand back.

‘Do you know something?’ I said. ‘Even though you’re always telling me I smell and pulling that horrible face you do, there is actually nothing you can do to get rid of
me. I will absolutely always be here.’

‘Good,’ she said. ‘Because I need my friends. And I need you especially, Amelia.’

Then she forgot she was already on the edge of the bed and tried to roll over. Instead, she landed in a heap on the floor.

We cracked up.

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AMELIA

Age: 13