Worry Magic (5 page)

But of course Bex
didn't
go away.

She stuck to us like bubblegum, all along the street towards my house.

I'd wanted to ask Lois round for lunch, seeing as Mum and Dad were out for a bit. But Bex wasn't coming to mine – that was for sure.

How was I going to get rid of her?

But when we passed the park gate Bex started up –

‘Oh, come in the park with me, Lo,' she begged. ‘I'm bored out of my mind at home. I'll text my mum and say I'll bring the shopping laters. Yeah?'

‘Er  …  OK,' said Lois, looking at me like she wanted me to come too. ‘But I gotta go in a while cos my mum's making me go to my little cousin's birthday party.'

I wasn't letting Bex push me out, so I had to go with them.

The sun had brought tonnes of people to the park. Toddlers and prams. People sat outside the cafe. Some older boys were playing football using jumpers as goals, and a group of Year Ten girls I recognised were sitting on a bench, shouting stuff to the football boys. It felt almost like summer, not October.

We lazed about on the swings for a while, swinging as high as we could and hanging upside down so our hair swept the floor. Bex kept standing on her swing to peep over the wall into a garden, because apparently some boy called Dominic Butler she liked in Year Eight lived there.

One time she thought she saw him come into his garden. She screamed, ducked down and pretend-fell off her swing.

Lois laughed, but I didn't actually think it was that funny at all.

After that, we flopped about on the bench, sort of sunbathing, and wolfing down a pot of Flumps Lois had in her bag.

Bex had managed to squeeze her bum in between me and Lois, and just chattered on non-stop, showing off about how she was going to get a nose piercing, and maybe even a tattoo. Obviously it was all rubbish – she SO wasn't allowed.

I tried to catch Lois's eye, but she always seemed to be looking at Bex.

Why?

‘Hey, Lo,' said Bex, ‘so when d'you want to come to mine again and watch more
VampireWAGS
?'

I felt my eyebrows fly up. They'd watched that without me  …  and Lois hadn't said.

‘Yeah, we got through nearly the whole first series yesterday,' said Bex, actually speaking to me for once, and looking well pleased with herself. ‘It was amazies, wasn't it, Lo?'

‘Um, yes  … ' began Lois, glancing at me quickly. ‘But, Courts – of course, we missed you  …  Remember you had to go and meet your mum, so you couldn't stay out?'

I gave her a tiny smile, digging my heels into the dirt. ‘Yeah, yeah – it's fine,' I muttered.

But the whole thing was totally bugging me. Lois must have spent nearly ALL evening with Bex, then. So maybe I'd been right to worry – perhaps Lois really
was
starting to like Bex more than me  … 

I felt tears begin to pool in my eyes, and I quickly blinked them away.

Then suddenly Bex threw her arms up, proper drama-queen style.

‘Hey, HEY, guys!' she said, cracking her gum. ‘I just had this mega idea. Let's play Truth or Dare!'

‘Um  …  OK!' said Lois, grinning.

But I shook my head hard.

‘Oh, why not, Courtney?' said Bex, tutting. ‘Me and Lois both want to  …  it'll be super LOLZ.'

I shook my head harder. I just knew playing a game like that with Bex would be horrible.

‘Looks like it's me and you playing, then, Lo,' said Bex. She turned her back so she was blocking me out.

She was so trying to get rid of me. Well, it wasn't going to work  … 

‘OK, I'll play,' I sighed.

‘I'm FIRST!' cried Bex. Obviously  … 

‘Truth or Dare?' said Lois, clapping her hands.

‘Truth!' said Bex. ‘And my truth is  …  I think Dominic Butler is lush!'

Lois giggled. ‘Well, we kinda knew that already  … '

‘No, but Dom is my one true
love
,' she said, clutching her heart. ‘Bex Butler  …  does it sound nice?'

Lois laughed again, but I didn't.

Since when was Lois interested in talking about
boys
? She was just copying Bex.

Huh, next time I hoped Bex would choose dare. Then I'd dare her to stick her head down a toilet and leave it there for a week.

‘My turn!' said Lois, bouncing on her bum. ‘Give me a dare!'

‘Oh yeah, Lo-Lo!' said Bex. ‘OK, hang on  … ' She sat thinking.

‘I've got one!' I said. ‘Lois – I dare you to walk right into the middle of those boys playing footie, and do the splits!'

Lois roared with laughter. ‘Oh please, no!'

‘Or you have to put your shoes on the wrong feet, and ask one of them for a Gangnam Style dance-off,' I said, giggling too.

Lois roared again. ‘I'm not doing that either  …  but you're so funny, Courts!'

Bex curled her top lip. She didn't like Lois thinking I was funny. Not one little bit.

‘No, I've got a
better
idea,' Bex said. ‘I double-dare you to pretend to be sick. Make a sicking-up noise and pour water out of your bottle from behind your head. Then everyone will think it's true!'

‘No way, gross!' shrieked Lois. ‘Do I have to?'

‘YES! said Bex. And of course, Lois did what Her Majesty Bex said.

She stood up, bent over, and held her water bottle behind her face. She made a small, gagging noise and poured a tiny splash of water onto the grass. But then she just started laughing, and fell back down next to us.

‘How
embarrassing
,' she squealed, her face bright red. ‘Was everyone staring at me?'

‘No, you're all right – no one even saw,' I said.

‘Phewee!' she said.

I smiled at her. But to be honest, she hadn't done her dare properly at all.

‘Right,' said Bex, turning to me. ‘We've both done ours. Now YOU!' I didn't like the way she said ‘YOU'. ‘Truth or dare,
Courtney
?'

‘Nothing or nothing,' I said, swivelling away.

‘You have to choose – it's the game,' Bex said.

‘Oh, go on, Courts,' said Lois. ‘Choose dare – it's wicked. And I'll think of a fun one for you.'

‘OK,' I sighed. ‘Dare.'

Bex looked at me and sucked in her cheeks. I knew she was thinking up some mean things. I turned to Lois for her dare, but she hadn't thought of one yet.

Then Bex grinned. ‘Got it!'

She dug into her shopping bags, and pulled out a box of Frubes – those yoghurt-in-a-tube things.

‘These are for my little brother, but he won't miss one. So  … ' She looked at me and sniggered. ‘I dare you to go over to those girls at the bench, drop this and jump on it hard  …  so it squirts out all over them!'

WHAT? Frube some Year Ten girls? That'd be like shaking a killer-wasps' nest, and Bex knew it.

Lois smiled nervously, and made an uh-oh face at me.

‘I'm not doing it!' I said.

But Lois didn't say anything. Why wasn't she sticking up for me?

‘You have to,' said Bex. ‘We did our dares.' Then she did another over-the-top sigh, and just threw the Frube back into her bag. ‘Oh, whatever – you're just SO
boring
, Courtney.'

That was it.

I'd had enough of Bossy Bex.

‘All right,' I said. I took the Frube back out of the bag and stood up. I made out like I was walking off towards the group of girls. Then I stopped, threw the Frube down next to Bex, and stamped on it. Whoa, so much yoghurt in one wincy tube!

But instead of Frubing Bex's annoying, cowbag face, it squirted the wrong way.

Completely the wrong way  … 

All over Lois  …  her top, her jeans and her long plait. She was covered.

‘What d'you do THAT for, you idiot?' squawked Bex.

Lois just stared down at herself in horror, before turning and gawping up at me.

‘Oh, sorry, Lo! I didn't mean to  … ' I cried.

‘But why did you  …  ?' squeaked Lois. She tried to wipe her jeans with her hand, but the yoghurt was so thick and slimy, she just smeared it and made it worse. ‘Oh no, I'm going to stink!'

‘Yuck – and that looks
bad
. You look like you actually did vom over yourself!' said Bex. ‘And you gotta walk home past all those boys like that.'

‘Yes  …  oh NO, I look SO disgusting, don't I?' said Lois, getting teary. She got really embarrassed about stuff like that.

Bex put her arm round Lois, and gave me a smug look. ‘I can't believe you, Courtney – that was harsh!'

‘I'm sorry! Soooo sorry,' I stammered, trying to get Lois to look at me. But she was too busy scraping her top with some grass.

She was SO peed off with me.

‘Come on, Lois – let's go to the loo and TRY and clean it off,' said Bex, shooting me a you-loser look. ‘But I don't think it's going to come off easily.'

Huh, she was loving this. LOVING it  … 

Lois nodded and got up.

I stayed where I was. Lois didn't seem bothered whether I came or not.

‘Sorry again,' I muttered, miserably. I felt a big lump rise in my throat.

Lois smiled weakly and half waved, but Bex whispered to her and pulled her away by her arm.

I sat back down on the bench by myself, and watched them go into the loo block.

Oh no, oh no. My heart was thumping really fast and my tears came properly then.

I pulled my hood up and bent over, so no one could see my face. But my teardrops were making dark marks on my jeans.

How stupid could I be  … 

I'd just Frubed my best friend. And now she probably hated me  …  and would go off with Bex.

And right then that funny feeling started creeping through me.

The feeling I was starting to know well.

Spinny.

Floppy.

Heavy  … 

Oh, the worry magic!

My face lolled forward on my chest  … 

Asleep again.

The dream was a wild tumble.

Flashes of faces. Lois smiling at me, holding my hand. A Slush Puppie. Bex pouting with bright blue lips. And then the lovely calmness as the dream faded away.

‘Courts?' Lois was suddenly back, bending over me, panting from running.

My eyes popped open.

Er  …  what was going on? I shook myself  … 

Then I remembered.

Oh no, the Frube  …  !

I eyed Lois up and down. She still looked pretty smeary.

‘Er  …  so sorry again about  …  you know,' I muttered, rubbing my eyes.

‘Oh  …  never mind,' said Lois, sitting down next to me on the bench, taking my hand and smiling a big smile. ‘Don't worry. I don't really care – let's forget it.'

And right then my dream whooshed back to me. Oh wow – the magic had worked on Lois too?

‘Where's Bex?' I said, looking all around.

‘Oh, she's just getting a Slush Puppie from the cafe.'

I nodded.

Of course.

And I knew what colour it would be  … 

I turned and watched Bex jogging over to us, holding a cup of blue slushy ice with a straw in.

‘I'd better keep this away from you, Courtney, in case you, like, THROW it at someone,' she sneered, sitting down again. She wasn't pretending to be even a little bit nice to me any more.

But Lois nudged her. ‘Let's leave it now, eh,' Lois muttered, blushing.

Bex's mouth dropped open in surprise around her straw. Her lips and tongue had gone blue like a sea monster's.

I knew it wasn't easy for Lois to stand up to Bex, but the magic was making her do it.

‘Yeah, well  … ' began Bex, pouting all blue.

Lois shook her head at her.

‘No, really, can we just drop it?' she said, her face nearly the colour of her red hoodie.

Wow. Lois hated arguments, but she was really sticking up for me!

Bex looked gobsmacked.

‘Whatevs,' she said, flicking her hair and glaring at the floor. ‘I'm off now anyhow. Gotta take the shopping back to my mum.'

She got up and grabbed the shopping bags, tossing her head and acting up all hurt.

‘I'll text you later, Bex,' called Lois.

But Bex didn't reply. She kicked the gate open with her foot and never looked back.

‘Uh-oh, whoops!' winced Lois. ‘I expect she'll come round.'

I wanted to say that I really hoped NOT. But I just nodded.

Bad luck, Bex. Three really is a crowd. And I've got lovely,
lovely
worry magic on my side.

And the best thing was that the magic seemed to work on
everybody
, not just Mum and Dad!

Which meant it would definitely work on Gran, wouldn't it  … 

I was sure now.

Lois had to rush off to her cousin's party, so I went home.

Mum and Dad weren't there when I got in.

I was just taking off my shoes when  … 

Ting-a-ling-a-ling  …  Ting-a-ling-a-ling  … 

Uh? An ice-cream van in our street? Oh wow, we NEVER got them down our way normally! Especially not this time of year.

Kyle swung down the banister like a chimp. He was still wearing his sweaty sports clothes from his morning run. Yuck.

‘Double choc Magnum, you're mine!' he said, as he raced past me and flew out of the door.

‘Quick, stop it!' I shouted, scooting down the path after him. ‘Don't let it go by.'

Ting-a-ling-a-ling-a-ling!

The ice-cream van pulled up right outside our house, blocking the whole road. It coughed out some black smoke, and then the engine conked out. But the ice-cream music just kept on
ting-a-ling
ing at top volume.

The van was the small, old-fashioned kind. Seriously old. Like its windows could fall out any minute and squash you. Or its ice creams would make you die of mould.

‘Ewww!' I said.

‘Mum!' gasped Kyle, pointing.

‘Mum?' And then I saw what he meant. Mum was driving the van.

Mum was an ice-cream lady? But since when?

She got out, beaming at us.

‘Do you like it, then?' She had to shout over the ice-cream music.

‘What d'you mean?' I yelled back.

‘It's ours!' cried Mum. ‘Our own ice-cream van!'

Me and Kyle looked at each other. Kyle shook his head, walked over, opened the driver's door and got in. There was a loud whacking noise and the
ting-a-ling
ing stopped.

A lady and her toddler had come down the street to buy an ice cream. But she took one look at the grimy old van, and hurried away again while her kid screamed in her arms.

Kyle came back over to us, his face all straight and hard. I knew my face looked like that too.

‘The exhaust's definitely gone. And the piston rings too, by the look of all that smoke,' he said in his flat, fact-man voice. As usual, I didn't know how he knew about stuff like that, but I totally believed him.

It was like Mum hadn't even heard him.

‘Isn't it retro and FAB?' she gabbled. ‘You just have to use your imagination! It's going to be my mobile dog-wash, see. A poodle parlour on wheels, so I can take my salon to my clients' doors! I really don't know why I haven't thought of this as a career before. I mean, I'm good with animals AND I'm a hairdresser, so it'll be dead easy.'

Me and Kyle gave each other a tired look.

OMG, Mum was SO NOT a hairdresser. She'd started a course years ago when she was seventeen, but somehow she never remembered that she'd dropped out after one term because she was RUBBISH. She'd always cut our hair when we were little – me and Kyle kept the photos hidden at the back of the cupboard.

It was so silly that I half wanted to laugh. Except I knew Dad would NOT see the funny side. And he hated any dogs coming to the house cos they always sniffed Henners' cage and scared him.

‘But, Mum! Dad won't like dogs coming round  … '

‘But that's the whole point!' Mum cried. ‘They WON'T come to the house once the van is done up and ready – they'll be in there! And I think I could make some serious cash – I've already got three customers lined up. Janet Carter wants me to do her new rescue dog, Derek, ASAP.'

‘But  …  but  …  what about the money to buy this?' I stammered. My head was full of too many things to worry about all at once. ‘Dad said  … '

‘A hundred and fifty quid – that's all,' said Mum. ‘A total bargain, I reckon. And I haven't even paid up front. I gave the car-mender man £50 – and he said I can pay him the rest when I can.'

‘Yeah, well, he saw you coming. I wouldn't pay fifteen pence for THAT rust bucket,' muttered Kyle.

Mum ignored him again.

‘Just come in and look!' she said, practically skipping to the van's back door.

We followed her. The back door was so rusted up we had to wrench it open. Inside it was still kitted out like a proper ice-cream van, with a freezer and a Mr Whippy machine and stuff.

Mum waved us up the steps, and we all three squeezed inside.

It stank like old cheese and sick.

Kyle opened the freezer and we peered in. At the bottom were some defrosted ice poles, lying curled up in a pool of water. They looked like strange, colourful, dinosaur worms.

‘No one's even cleaned it out!' I said, holding my nose.

‘Nothing a bit of scrubbing won't sort,' said Mum. ‘I imagine a dog-clipping table here.' She waved her arms about, pointing. ‘A dog bath there  …  and maybe it could even double up as a weekend camper van. Dad could build pull-down bunk-beds here  … '

‘And full-sized swimming pool over here?' I said, pointing to the tiny sink.

‘Mum – there's not room for even one bed,' said Kyle, flatly. ‘It's stupid.'

‘Beds for elves perhaps,' I said, and Kyle sniggered.

I don't know why I was joking. It wasn't funny.

‘No, there'll be lots of space with the freezer gone,' insisted Mum, looking hurt.

I just wanted to shout at her, but I knew it was pointless. Instead I just chewed my cuff and worried. This was bad. This was VERY bad. Almost as bad as the pig.

‘Oh, get over the long faces – this is a cool plan!!' said Mum. ‘And I don't have to tell Dad about it straight away. I can wait until until I've done a few practice dogs. Then I'll wave some money under his nose, and he'll be happy too!'

‘Yeah, like he won't notice a ginormous ice-cream van parked out the front,' said Kyle, shoving his hands into his pockets.

But Mum's face was set firm. I knew she wasn't going to be talked out of this.

I sighed. ‘Maybe you can hide it, Mum? Like, in the sanctuary car park?' I knew that was probably just storing up trouble for later, but it was all I could think of.

Mum nodded, beaming at me and still yacking on, as we hopped out of the smelly van.

‘I can't wait to get started, actually. In fact I'll ring Janet and get her new dog booked in right away. He can be my trial run! My guinea pig-dog!'

‘What – today?' I said. ‘Here?

‘Don't look so worried, Courts. I'll do it on the garden table. And  … ' Mum nudged me. ‘I'll wait till tomorrow morning when Dad's out doing his old lady's garden. He'll never even know.'

We all stood looking at the van. The horrid thing had
Mr Whippy
painted across the side, except the
W
had rubbed off, so it just said
Mr hippy
. Dad was going to love that too.

Dad the Hippy. Not.

All I could think of was Dad's face when he saw it. And then his face going even darker as Mum explained how he would be building beds for elves inside.

Then I wanted to cry.

Cars were tooting in the road. The van was blocking both ways.

Mum ran and jumped into the van. It puffed out loads of fumes, and sounded like it was in terrible pain, but it just about started up. The music started too, but instead of going
ting-a-ling
, it got stuck on one high, sharp
tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing
.

I could see Mum hitting the dashboard, and finally the noise stopped. Then she pulled into the neighbour's driveway, and the cars all drove past in an angry, fast way.

‘I'll take it straight to the sanctuary car park now,' she called to us over the engine. She tapped her finger on the side of her nose, like it was all a fun secret, and drove off in a cloud of choking black smoke.