Blueberry Wishes by Kelly McKain Read Free Book Online

Ealing.
    Well, almost.
    I supposed that nothing would ever be exactly the same again, not with Dad gone. But perhaps we’d make some new traditions of our own, like Saff nicking a bit of Grace’s cheesecake when she wasn’t looking and then Grace chasing her round the table.
    As we cleared up afterwards, Saff mentioned possibly going into town later to meet Emily, but Mum went all parenty on her. “No one’s going out this evening,” she shrilled. “It’s the first day of school tomorrow, or college in your case, Saff, and I want you to have an early night. And, by the way, we’re all going for an afternoon walk now, together, as a family, in the fresh air.”
    â€œYou’re joking!” Saff cried.
    But Mum wasn’t, and amazingly, Saff somehow ended up walking down a country road and then the track along the back fields with us. And even more amazingly, she managed to do the whole thing without moaning and I can officially report that she can now walk past a sheep without having a fit of terror and saying it’s looking at her strangely and is about to charge! (Do sheep even do that?!)
    Saff stayed in with us that night too, and we all squashed up on the revolting brown sofa with steaming mugs of tea cupped in our hands and watched our fave programme, Embarrassing Bodies , on the tiny telly.
    A few minutes in, Mum sighed and said, “Oh, you’re all leaving me tomorrow and doing your own thing – Rainbow Beauty won’t be the same.”
    â€œMum, we’re going to school, not Timbuktu!” Grace cried. “We’ll be back in the afternoons to help out. And all day Saturday.”
    â€œAnd I’ll be with you on Tuesdays, for my work-placement day,” Saff reminded her.
    Mum smiled. “I know. It just feels strange, that’s all. It’s been me and my girls for the whole summer.” She put her arms round Saff and me, and I pulled Grace in too, and we had a sort of sitting-sideways hug. Amazingly, no one got scalded by hot tea.
    â€œOMG, is that what I think it is?!” Saff gasped a few seconds later. “That poor, poor man!”
    We all peered at the weeny, rubbish screen for a moment, then made out what the embarrassing bit actually was and all screeched and turned away, covering our eyes. And then I found myself thinking that if we’d had a huge telly, and a big armchair each, it wouldn’t have been half so much fun.

I spent ages getting ready for school on Monday morning, even by Saff’s standards. I used our Rainbow Beauty Luscious Lavender Shower Gel for relaxation, but not even a truckload of lavender would have calmed me down right then because I was SO EXCITED that I’d be seeing Marco, my BOYFRIEND, every day – yippee! And I felt much better about the new spa opening now that we’d come up with a plan to tackle it head-on.
    My uniform was Summer’s old one that she’d passed on to me, so of course it was already pretty cool, but I jazzed it up even more by rolling up the skirt, knotting my tie loosely with pearl necklaces draped around it, and putting on loads of bracelets and hairslides. And my usual ton of black and grey eye make-up, of course.
    Mum nearly had a heart attack when I walked out of the bathroom. “You look more done up than you did on Saturday night!” she cried. “Abbie, you’re not going on a date, you know! I hope you’re not going to be distracted by Marco at school. It’s about getting a good education.”
    I grinned. “I promise I’ll be the perfect student,” I said. As I caught Saff’s eye, she winked at me.
    â€œI saw that!” Mum cried. (Of course she did – she never misses anything.) “I mean it, Abbie. School’s not a lurve palace.”
    â€œA lurve palace ?” I repeated, shuddering with horror. “Mum, where on earth did you get that from?”
    â€œNo, school is not a lurve