Rebecca's Rules by Anna Carey Read Free Book Online Page B

never asked any.’
    ‘They may,’ said Cass, ‘though I can’t understand why. But I bet there isn’t a single girl on earth who actually wants to be her.’
    ‘I dunno,’ said Ellie. ‘Look at Karen Rodgers.’
    We looked over at Karen, who was still with the same fairytale prince who’d whisked her away earlier. She was gazing at Vanessa in awe and sort of shimmying along.
    ‘Poor Jane,’ said Alice. ‘This must be the terrible surprise she couldn’t tell us about.’
    ‘She’s very good,’ I said. ‘Jane, I mean. You’d never know how she was feeling inside.’ She was doing the dance perfectly, smiling perkily all the while, even though we knew she didn’t want to be there. Vanessa wasn’t doing as much dancing as the others − she was mostly striking poses while the rest of the goons danced around her – but she did perform some quite complicated moves and I had to admit that she had a good sense of timing (as a drummer, I notice these things). Which didn’t make up for the fact that the whole thing was completely ridiculous and terrible.
    ‘This is the worst song ever,’ said Cass. ‘I wonder who wrote it?’
    ‘Maybe she wrote it herself?’ said Jessie. ‘The lyrics, I mean.’
    The song was still going on. It just got worse.
    Ah
…
ah
…
Vanessa! Ah
…
ah
…
Vanessa!
    She’s a princess
    She’s a queen
    She’s an empress too
    Everybody clap your hands
    At Vanessa’s birthday do
    ‘How can she be a princess, a queen and an empress?’ asked Ellie. ‘That doesn’t even make sense!’
    ‘I know,’ said Cass. ‘And what is she meant to be the queen and the empress and the princess of? Not our class, I hope.’
    The whole thing was terrible, but it was also sort of mesmerising. In fact, Alice and I climbed onto some chairs and stood on them so we could get a better view of the horrible sight.
    At last the song ended, with all the dancers stretching their arms out to Vanessa while she posed triumphantly in the centre. Even more glitter fell from the ceiling then, which I would like to think is the only reason why everyone shrieked, and they weren’t screaming with joy and admiration. Vanessa leapt gracefully back up on the podium in her sparkly heels (I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again − for someone who generally wears very awkward footwear she is very nimble) and grabbed yet another microphone.
    ‘Thank you, everyone!’ she cried, as if we’d all been whooping and cheering and stamping our feet with joy. ‘In a few minutes, I’m going to show how grateful I am to all of you for coming by singing a very special new song with this amazing band. But now it’s time for a very special part of today’sfabulous celebrations – the birthday cake!’
    The door from the hall opened, some cameras moved in that direction, and something very peculiar came in.
    ‘Oh my God,’ said Cass, gleefully. ‘It’s here!’
    It was the pony. It had clearly once been white (or grey, as white horses are mysteriously called. I don’t know why), but now it was bright pink, apart from its mane, which was still pale silvery grey. It was surprisingly large – I mean, it wasn’t a little cute Shetland pony. To be honest, I’d have thought it was a plain old horse. Anyway, it didn’t look very happy, understandably enough. It was attached to a little pink cart on which was a giant tower of bright pink cupcakes. Everyone gasped.
    ‘You know,’ said Cass, who had got up on the chair next to me. ‘In a way, this is just as insanely brilliant as I hoped it was going to be, but in another The song was still going on. It just got worse. well, I dunno. The pony looks a bit cross. I hope it’s okay.’
    ‘Maybe it’ll bite Vanessa,’ said Ellie hopefully.
    And actually, that’s almost what happened. Some men came over and unhitched the cart from the pony as the cameras pointed at Vanessa, who was skipping over to pet it (the pony, not the cart). They moved the cart to the side and