Mumnesia by Katie Dale Read Free Book Online Page A

Megababes’ faces as we walk away.
Now
who’s
lame?
    ‘Wait!’ the ticket guy calls after us.
‘Don’t forget your glasses!’
    ‘Glasses?’ Shazza spins round. ‘You
cheeky—’
    ‘Thank you!’ I say, hurriedly collecting the 3D
glasses he’s holding before Shazza can ruin everything.
    ‘Oh . . . I thought he was calling me old,’ she
whispers as I steer her away from the Megababes. ‘Why do we
need these? Are they a free gift?’
    ‘No,’ I hiss. ‘You wear them to watch the
movie.’
    ‘
Really?
Why? Are future cinema screens, like,
really tiny? Or are we miles from the screen? And these look more
like sunglasses – why on earth do we need sunglasses
inside
? In the
dark
? This makes absolutely no
sense!’
    ‘Wait and see.’ I grin. This is going to be
classic.

18 SHAZZA
    ‘AAAARGH!’ I scream as the
zombie literally crawls OUT OF THE SCREEN!
    ‘Shush!’ Lucy hisses.
    ‘But he’s coming to get me!’ I
whimper. The zombie’s slimy rotting hand reaches straight
for my throat and I grab a shopping bag to shield myself. Is this
what happens in future cinemas? The characters actually ATTACK
you? ‘We have to get out of here!’
    ‘Shhhh, it’s OK!’ Lucy
whispers. ‘It’s just the glasses!’
    The glasses? I take them off and the zombie
instantly becomes blurry, the screen flat again.
    ‘B-but how? And
why
? Are they
magic
?’ I gaze at them in awe.
    ‘Be quiet!’ someone behind us
scolds.
    Suddenly Lucy squeals.
    ‘What happened?’ I squint at the
screen, but it’s hard to make out what’s going on
without the weird glasses.
    ‘The girl’s gone into the haunted
house!’ Lucy whispers nervously.
    ‘What a doofus!’ I hiss. ‘Now
what’s happening?’
    ‘Please BE QUIET!’ the man behind us
chides. I turn and stick my tongue out at him and his jaw drops
in surprise. Oh yeah, I’m meant to be, like,
forty-something. Oops.
    When I turn back I’ve no idea what’s
happening, so finally, hesitantly, I put the glasses back on
again . . . BIG MISTAKE!
    ‘AAAAARGH!’ I shriek as a
chainsaw-wielding vampire lunges towards me, laughing manically.
That’s it – I can’t take any more! I grab my
bags, jump out of my seat and flee, Lucy hot on my heels.
    ‘I’m going to have nightmares for
weeks!’ I cry, bursting out of the cinema on to the dark
street outside. ‘Why would anyone want to watch
that
?’ I shudder. ‘It’s
horrible
!’
    Lucy laughs, pulls my weird glasses off my face,
tosses them in a bin, and hooks her arm through mine.
‘Let’s go home.’

19 LUCY
    On the way back we pick up essentials
(sweets, crisps, doughnuts) from the supermarket – or, as
Shazza called it, the ‘super-duper-market’!
(‘Holy guacamole! Since when did shops become the size of
airports
? How much food do people
need
? And is that
a television? And clothes? OMGA, do they sell
EVERYTHING?’)
    Shopping has never been so much fun!
    Back home I tuck into the sweets while Shazza parades around
her bedroom in her new outfits, like a model on a catwalk.
    ‘Mum is so going to flip when she sees all her new
clothes!’ I giggle as Shazza strikes a pose.
    ‘You think she – I – won’t remember
buying them?’ Shazza frowns.
    I shrug. ‘I don’t know what she – you
– will remember. I hope you don’t forget everything
though.’
    ‘I’m sure I’ll love them,’ Shazza
says, pouting at herself in the mirror. ‘After all,
I’m still me, right?’
    ‘Right . . .’
    But really the only resemblance between Shazza and my mother
is purely physical, and since her makeover even that’s
faded a lot. If her voice didn’t sound just the same and if
she didn’t have the same eyes and wrinkles, I
wouldn’t believe she was actually the same person at
all.
    My phone bleeps from where it’s charging on the bedside
table. It’s Kimmy, accepting my TeenSpace friend request. I
can’t believe I can finally go on social media!
    How