Girl, 16: Five-Star Fiasco by Sue Limb Read Free Book Online

advance,’ said Flora gently, ‘coming to Dorset could be a wonderful break for you both after all the hassle – you can chill out and relax before the main event. Apparently sometimes they have barbecues on the beach – that must be so cool.’
    ‘A barbecue? In midwinter?’ queried Fred.
    ‘Fred!’ Jess was seriously annoyed with his attitude. It seemed as if he was dissing Flora’s house party. ‘This weekend is going to be the most awesome trip ever! Winter just makes it even better! We’re gonna have log fires and charades and it might even snow!’ Even as she produced this advert for the Dorset weekend, however, Jess’s mind was whirling. How were they going to finalise all the details for Chaos by then? How could they just drop all the organisation and take off for the beach?
    Fred pulled a series of embarrassed-but-thinking faces, tossing and turning his head from side to side. ‘I’m sure we can sort it all out in time,’ he said. ‘But you’re going to have to take control. After all, as you once famously told me, I can’t organise my way out of a paper bag! See you in English!’ And he ran off along the crowded corridor.
    ‘Fred is so irresponsible,’ grumbled Jess as they set off towards English. ‘I have to sort all the problems out. It’s always the same. This Chaos thing is going to push me right over the edge and into total insanity. We’ve been so stupid, letting things slide. I’m such an idiot about times and dates and stuff! I’d no idea it would clash with your lovely weekend!’
    ‘I hate all this!’ hissed Flora. ‘I wish I’d never – oh, forget it.’
    ‘What?’ Jess asked suspiciously. ‘You wish what? You wish you’d never invited me and Fred?’
    ‘No, no, no, not that! Don’t be stupid! I wish it wasn’t the weekend before the dinner dance, that’s all.’ Flora sounded rattled.
    They arrived at the English lesson, where Mr Fothergill was preparing some kind of ordeal by Shakespeare. Fred was sitting with some boys at the back. Jess didn’t look at him.
    ‘Right,’ said Mr Fothergill. ‘You’re going to enjoy this. This is the scene where an old man gets stabbed to death behind a tapestry.’
    After a large portion of Shakespearian gore, Jess found herself walking home alone again because Fred was at a chess match against Sir John Baxter’s School, a famous toffee-nosed academy in the next town. Flora, as usual, had gone off with Jack. Jess felt tragic and self-pitying, trudging the pavements on her own. Why had Fred gone off to do stupid old chess when there was such a lot of important stuff to organise? And why hadn’t they organised it properly weeks ago? Why did the Dorset weekend have to be just before the dinner dance? Why had God got it in for her? She’d tried her hardest to avoid chocolate.
    ‘Good news,’ said Granny, as Jess entered the kitchen. ‘I’ve just made a chocolate cake, and it’s a belter.’
    ‘I was supposed to not eat so much chocolate, Granny,’ Jess reminded her. ‘I made a new year’s resolution not to eat chocolate more than twice a month because of my spots and my massive flabby hips.’
    ‘Oh, don’t worry about that, love,’ Granny assured her. ‘You’re the prettiest girl in the street.’
    ‘The street?’ complained Jess. ‘That’s a bit small-scale. How about the country, the world, the universe? That’s more the kind of reassurance I’m looking for.’
    ‘Oh, the universe, then,’ said Granny. ‘I hear those girls from Outer Space are all warts and tentacles, though, so it’s hardly much competition.’
    Jess threw her school bag in the corner and got a smoothie out of the fridge. ‘Any good murders today?’ she enquired politely, though her mind was still miserably obsessed with the Chaos chaos.
    ‘Not really,’ said Granny. ‘Although I did watch a Miss Marple this afternoon. The Body in the Library . One of my favourites. Set by the sea down in Devon.’
    ‘Oh, Granny.’ Jess felt