There’sanautumnchillintheair,butnothingcandampenAbbie’sspirits.Herfamily’sbusiness–theRainbowBeautyparlour–isasparklingsuccess,andspendingtimewithher

friends,Ben,SummerandgorgeousMarco,isadream.

Butwhenaswankynewspastartstostealtheircustomers,thebusiness’sfortunescomecrashingdownandAbbiefacesherbiggeststormyet.CanAbbiesaveRainbow

Beautybeforeit’stoolate…oristhisonewishtoofar?

www.usborne.com/rainbowbeauty

ChapterOne

ChapterTwo

ChapterThree

ChapterFour

ChapterFive

ChapterSix

ChapterSeven

ChapterEight

ChapterNine

ChapterTen

ChapterEleven

ChapterTwelve

BlueberryWishesSmoothieRecipe

MoreontheRainbowBeautyseries!

Interviewwithauthor,KellyMcKain

Websiteinfo

Copyright

“That looks great, Abbie,”said my sister Saff as shehurried past me, clutchingseveralbottlesofnailpolish.Ismiled.“Thanks.”I’d just redone the display

table with spicy, warmingthings now that it wasofficiallyautumn. I lovehowthe air changes and summersuddenly stops, andyou startto think about the leavesfalling and getting all cosyandsnugglyindoors.Iwantedto bring some of that intoRainbow Beauty, so I’d putour Spicy Delight BubbleBathandWarmingCinnamonandSandalwoodMassageOilon a rich red, gold-

embroidered Indian throwborrowed from my friendSummer’s house. A pile ofbath bombs sat in a bronzebowl, like delicious sweets.Some were rose andgeranium with little rosepetals in, and some werespeckled with tiny lavenderflowers. I couldn’t helpsmiling as three womengathered around the table,smelling the products andchattingaboutthem.

It was three o’clock onSaturday afternoon andRainbowBeautywasbuzzingwith clients coming andgoing for their beautytreatments – waiting on thegorgeous purple velvet sofasin the reception area,browsing all the scrummyproducts on theglass displayshelves, or just dropping infor one of our home-madejuices or smoothies. I sawtwo girls from my sister

Grace’s class chatting to heras they chose from thecolourful display of freshfruit and veg in the chillercounter – yes, veg! We putcarrots, beetroot and spinachinto some of our juices –totallyyummy,honestly!Tomeitwaspureparadise,

standing there amongst thehappy,glowingclients–Mrs.Arthurwasflickingthroughamag,waitingforhermassagewith Mum, and Kate was

showingoffhernewperfectlypolished nails after amanicurewithSaff.Saffwasgettingreallygoodatnailartnow, too. She’d done littlerainbows on mine andeveryonewascommentingonthem, saying how nice theywere.Rainbows.We’d named Rainbow

Beauty after “Somewhereover the Rainbow”, Mum’sfavourite song. Looking

around me, I felt like ourdreamsreallyhadcometrue–it was hard to believe we’dbuilt this place from nothing–well, fromawish, an idea,and from selling Mum’sengagement ring which, atthatpoint,wastheonlythingin the world we had worthselling.Justthen,atreatment-room

dooropenedandTrish,oneofour regular customers,emerged. “Hello, girls!” she

said, beaming. “Oh, I’mwalking on air, I am! Yourmother’samarvel!”“Hi, Trish,” we all

chorused, as Mum appearedbehindher.“Abbie,youalwayslookso

happy!”Trishcried. “Andsotalented,making up all theselovely products. You’rebeautiful,too!”By this point I was

obviously blushing about azillion degrees.And that last

bit made me splutter. “Oh,I’m not!” I cried. “My skinand hair are so pale that if Idon’t wear loads of eyemake-up—”“…it looks like I haven’t

got a head,” finishedloudmouth Saff, doing animpressionofme.Trish just smiled at that.

“Have you got a boyfriend,love?” she asked then,making me splutter evenmore.“Myson—”

“Yes, she has,” Saffinformedher.Shedid a littlewiggly dance and sang, “Hisname is Mar-co. And shelurveshim!”Gracewaswalkingbywith

a stack of freshly washedtowels, and she and Safflookedateachotherandburstintogiggles. Idid thegogglyeyes thingat them to try andmake them stop, which justmade themworse,obviously.So instead I went bright red

andwished I couldmelt intoapuddleofembarrassmentonthe floor. Perhaps thensomeonecouldputme into aRainbow Beauty product –EaudeCringe,orsomething.Trishwentovertotheold-

gold-painted reception deskto pay Mum. “Kim, love,”she said, “I’moff on a girls’night out tonight.Why don’tyou come along? Alison andDenise have been in fortreatments before so you’ll

recognize them, and you’dlove Lucilla, she’s such alaugh!”Mumlookedabitsurprised

for a moment, and then shesaid, “That’s really kind,Trish, but I’m just soexhausted. I’ve been on myfeet since seven thismorning.”“Oh, go on, Mum,” said

Saff. “A night out would doyou good. You haven’t beenanywhere since we moved

here – well, apart from overtheroadtothepubwithLiamfor a glass of wine, whichhardly counts as letting yourhair down.” She turned toTrish. “Liam’s ourneighbour,” she explained.“He and Mum are like BFFnow. There’s nothing goingon between them, though,whatwithhimbeinggay.”“Saff!” Mum shrieked.

“TMI!”“I didn’t know you knew

what TMImeant,” said Saff,lookingimpressed.“Oh, come on, Mum, go

out,”Graceurged.“Uslotareall out tonight anyway, soyou’ll be stuck in the flat onyour own if you don’t,” sheadded.Saff gave me a cheeky

look. “Yeah, Abbie’s goingout with…” She went intogiggling-and-singing modeagain. “Mar-co. Who sheluuuurves.”

Iswattedather,thenaskedGracewhereshewasgoing.“Cinema,” she said, “with

Saff. We would have askedyou,butweknewyou–”shegrinnedcheekily–“hadada-ate, with your boy-friend.”Argh, even serious, sensibleGrace was joining in thewiggling-and-singing thingnow.I forgot to swat her,

though. Iwas toobusybeingsurprised. It’snoteasy toget

Grace to leave her Mathsbooksbehindandactuallygoanywhere, and I can’tremember the last time sheand Saff did somethingtogether on their own –they’reateachother’sthroatsmostofthetime.Saff sighed loudly and

rolled her eyes at Mum.“Mum, do you want to besad, staying in on your ownon a Saturday night?” sheasked.

“I’m going to have a nicebath,aglassofwine,andI’mhalfway through a goodbook,” said Mum. “So, yes,please.Iwanttobesad.”“Oh, but you can be sad

tomorrow night,” Trishteased. “Comeout,Kim, it’lldoyougood.”Mumgrimaced.“Oh,Iwas

so looking forward to thatbath and book…” We alleyeballedherabitmore,andeventually she sighed and

said, “Fine, okay, I’ll comeout.ButifIfallasleepinthecornerathalfeight,don’tsayIdidn’twarnyou.”When we’d all said our

goodbyesandTrishhadgone,I gave Grace the swattingshe’dmissedouton, and shesquealedandranatmewhileholding a stack of towels, sowekind of bounced off eachother.ThenjustasMumwasabout to tell us off formucking about, a new client

walked in the door and shedidn’t have to say anythingbecause suddenly we wereAllProfessionalism.As Mum welcomed the

new ladyandGrace tookhercoat, Saff swished off andcamebackwiththejuiceandsmoothie menu and offeredher a complimentary drink.She was booked in for anaromatherapy massage andfacial with one of our All-NaturalFreshFaceMasks,so

I went to reset the treatmentroom. As I restarted the CDofrelaxingmusicand toppedup the oil burner,whichwasfilling the room with thedelicious scents of jasmineandbergamot,IthoughtaboutMarco. I didn’t know if Ilurvedhim,asSaffputit,butIdidknowthateversincethefirstmomentwemet,I’dhada bone-shaking, knee-collapsingcrushonhim.And now he was my

BOYFRIEND (sorry, I justhad to say that in capitals).MyBOYFRIEND(sorry,justhadtosayitagain!).Anyway,now he was myBOYFRIEND (right, stopthat now!) I was walkinground with a smile on myface like a lighthouse beam.His band was playing at alive-lounge thing inacafe intown that evening, and meandmyfriendsfrommynewschoolwere going along. I’d

onlyknownSummerandBenforacoupleofmonths,butitfelt like far longer than that.AndasforMarco…Well, us two got back

together last Saturday. Whydid you split up? you’rethinking. That’s a long storyinvolving both of us beingreally busy and stressed, butthe main thing is that we’retogether now and this timethis is IT, with addedforeverness.

WhenmyfamilyandIfirstgot here, I used to wake upevery day with this cloud ofdread hanging overme, afterall the awfulness had onlyjust happened.Butnow Igetthis happy glow, and for amoment Iwonderwhy I feelso good inside, and then Iremember that RainbowBeauty is real, not just adream, and that me andMarco are back together.He’sbeengoingalloutonthe

boyfriendfront,makingmeaplaylist of songs he thoughtI’d like, and giving me hisjacketwhen it suddenlywentall autumnly chilly onTuesday, even though thatlefthimshiveringinjustaT-shirt and the black skinnyjeans he always wears, eventoschool.Iwonderifyoucalltheguys’ones that, actually?I mean, “skinny” doesn’tsoundverymanly,doesit?“Abbie, why are you still

inhere?”Mumasked,makingmejump.Shewasstandingatthe doorway with her client.“Come on, love, lessdaydreaming, moreworking!” she said, usheringmeoutofthetreatmentroom.Icameback toearthagain

withabumpasIhurriedintothereceptionarea.Gracewaslooking flustered, trying todeal with three customers,and Saff’s next client wasstandinginthedoorway,with

no one to welcome her.“Abbie, this lady and herfriendswereaskingabouttheantioxidants in yourBlueberryFaceMask,”Gracegabbled, “but I’m not sureabout—”“Sure, no problem. How

can I help you?” I asked,beaming at Grace’scustomers.Mysistergavemea grateful smile and hurriedover to welcome the personwho’djustarrived.

IgotatuboftheBlueberryBurstFreshFaceMaskoutofthechiller counter (they lookfantastic dotted amongst allthe fruit andveg) and let theladiessmellit, thenputsomeof the silky-smooth purplemask onto their hands. “Theblueberries have anti-inflammatory properties,camomile soothes, calaminecleanses and the almond oilleavestheskinlookingreallypolished,”Iexplained.

“Oh,yes.Lovely,”saidtheblondeone.Her friend asked me what

I’d recommend for dry skin,so I showed her theOat andBanana Mask, which reallycalms and moisturizes. “Oh,andyoumightlikeourCarrotand Calendula Hand Balmtoo,”Isuggested.“Icreateditfor gardeners, so it’s perfectfor dry and chapped skin.” Igave them wipes to removethe face-mask samples, then

handed them the balm testerfrom our glass displayshelves. They loved that too,and by the time we’d allfinished chatting, they had alittlestackofproductsonthereception desk. Two of themtook the Blueberry BurstFresh Face Mask and someRose and Geranium BathBombsandtheotherwentforthe Oat and Banana FreshFaceMaskandthehandbalmI’d recommended, aswell as

a tub of our Sunset GlowBody Butter and some ZestyZing Shower Gel for herdaughter.Grace’s eyes gleamed as

sheputitallthroughthetill.Iwrapped everything up intissue-paper parcels finishedoffwithribbonsandrosebudsbeforepoppingthemintoourspecial recycled bags withlittlerainbow-printstampsonthem, which we madeourselves one evening while

wewerewatchingTV.Once the customers had

gone, Grace turned to me.“Great upselling, Abs,” shesaid. “Alan would be veryimpressed.”ByAlan,Gracemeant her

ultimate hero Lord AlanSugar – although they’dnevermet,she’ddecidedthatthey were on first-nameterms.“I don’t know about

upselling,”Isaid.“Ijustwant

everyone to know aboutRainbow Beauty and take alittle bit of our magic homewiththem.”“That’s great,” saidGrace.

“And if you could get a bitextra-enthusiastic about theSeaweed and Honey FreshFace Masks next time, thatwould be even greater –they’re nearing their sell-bydate and stock wastage isgoing to mess up my profitprojections for the product

line.”“Okay, sis. I’ll do my

best,” I promised. AlthoughweallteasedGraceaboutherobsessionwiththefigures,weknew how important it was.Wewereanewbusiness,andwith around 40% of newbusinessesfailingintheirfirstyear,wehadtodoeverythingwe possibly could to makeours one of the successstories.Our biggest challenge was

getting together the nextinstalment of our rent – Mr.Vulmer the landlord wantedanother threemonths’moneyin advance for the shop andthe flat, which came to verynearly £2000 altogether(GULP!). It wasn’t due untilthe eighth of October, morethanamonthaway,andwe’dalreadymanaged toputaside£800 from our first fewweeks of being open, so wewere feeling pretty confident

we’dhaveit intime.Wehadto keep focused and stay ontarget though – goodnessknows what he’d do if wecouldn’tmakethepayment.Grace and I got on with

tidying up, while Mum andSaff finished treating theirlast clients of the day. Thenwe closed andMummade around of smoothies withsome mangoes that didn’tlook like they’d surviveuntilMonday, while I got all the

used towels and robes in towash.SaffsweptthroughandcleanedthelittlecustomerlooandGrace cashed up. A fewminutes later, we all floppedoutononeofthepurplesofaswithourdrinks.“It’s been another good

Saturday,” Grace reported.“Especially with Abbie onproduct sales. Asking clientson the phone if they’d likeany extra bits and pieceswhen they book has really

worked, too. All those legwaxes and eyelash tints addup, and four ladies added afacial to their massagepackage for today, justbecause we talked it up tothemonthephone.”“That’s fantastic,” said

Mum. “Let’s make sure wedothesamenextweek.”“AndIdidrosenailartfor

two girls today,” Saff saidproudly. “It’s only an extrafiver, but it all helps, and it

looked fantastic. Hopefullywhen their friends see it atschoolonMonday,they’llallwantthem.”“Well done, love,” said

Mum. Grace and I shared asecretsmile.Saffhadn’tbeensure about doing a beautycourse at college at first(she’d been set on becomingafamoussingereventhough,sorrytosaythis,butsheisn’texactlyAdele).Itwasgreattosee how she was madly into

being a beautician now, andshe was really brilliant at it,too.“We’ve got some

rebookings for next Saturdayalready,” said Grace, “andI’m sure we can fill up theother spaces by the end ofFriday.”“Oh, it’s a bit daunting,

though,” Mum said then,“thinking of you all goingback to school and college,andmerunning thisplaceon

myown…”“You won’t be on your

own,” Saff assured her. “Idon’t have college onTuesdays, so I’ll be here tohelp, and we’ll all be backjustafterfourmostdays.”Mumsmiled, stretchedout

her arms and caught us allinto a hug round our waists.“Iknow.I’msoproudofyougirls.You’reamazing.This–everything we’ve done – isamazing. Now we’re up and

running, we’re just going togofromstrengthtostrength.”“Too right!” cried Saff.

“Look out, world, here wecome!Well,lookout,Devon,anyway!”“Right, I think we’re all

sorted here. Let’s headupstairs,” said Mum, linkingarmswithme. “Ineed togetready to go out before I runoutofenergyandchangemymind.”“Oh,Saff,thatremindsme,

canIborrowyourbluetoptowear to the gig?” I asked, asweheadedforthedoor.“Pur-lease…” I added, battingmyeyelashesather.Shegavemeacheekygrin.

“Okay, seeing as you’remeeting up with your boy-friend, who you lu-rve.”Argh,notagain!We locked up, then all

bustled upstairs to the flat. Itlooked so much better nowthat we’d had a couple of

months to get settled in.Mum’s colourful designerscarf covered upmost of therevolting brown sofa in thecorner of the kitchen (that,andthetellyontheendofthepeeling worktop, wasbasically our living room).Saff and Grace had coveredtheir room in posters(completely different ones,obviously –Grace’swere allTwilight and quotes fromEinstein and Saff had

romcomonesscroungedfromthe local cinema). Still, theyhid the grubby, eighties’wallpaper–thatwasthemainthing.IsharedaroomwithMum

(Yikes! you’re thinking, andyes,atfirstI’dbeenhorrified,but we’d got used to it). Itlooked better since I’d hungsomeofmyclothesuponthewalls as outfits withaccessories to make it looklike some kind of fashion

mag’s store cupboard. Andwe’dput the lovelybigwoolpicnic blanket on the bed,sincethatwasmorecosyanddressedupthanjust theplainduvet.And now I had my chill-

out room, of course. It hadstarted off as the mankyHoover cupboard but thenMum, Grace and Saff hadsecretly decorated it for me,in a warm burnt orange, andadded big sequinned floor

cushions, fairy lights and aCDplayer.Itwasmyspecialplace to draw, write,daydream, read – and comeup with new ideas for ourhome-madepamperproducts,ofcourse.Forsupper,Mumhadmade

a big dish of cannelloni thenight before, so that was allreadytogointheoven.“Yum!” exclaimed Grace

as we tucked into it half anhour later. “Proper food is

back on the menu! You’reright, Saff. We’re definitelyontheup!”We all giggled at that.

Whenwe’dfirstmoveddowntoTotnes,ourfavedinnerhadbeen reduced to a tin oftomatoes and an economybagof twisty pasta.But nowMum’s signature cannelloniwasbacktobeingcreamyanddelicious, full of spinach andmozzarellaandcrèmefraiche.After we’d eaten, Saff put

some music on and we alltook turns in front of thebathroommirror (well, okay,nudged and jostled and triedto borrow stuff andcomplained about each othertakingallthespace).Eventually Saff got really

annoyed and marched us allbackintothekitchen,emptiedhermake-upbag(well,bags)onto the rickety Formica-toppedtableandsaid,“Look,I’lldoyou lotup,okay? It’ll

begoodpracticeforwhenmycoursestarts.Formanorderlyqueue and behaveyourselves.”“Yes, ma’am!” saidMum,

saluting. We all giggled atthat,evenGrace.Saff did a really classic

look on Mum, with blusherand plum lipstick, and whenMumwentofftogetdressed,Saff then did this amazingtransformation on me. Sheused my usual lashings of

black eyeliner and mascara(I’m sure I’vementioned theheadlessthing)butwithloadsof grey-black creameyeshadowtoo,andpaled-outlips, so I looked really rockchick-y.“Oh,Saff,Iloveit!”I shrieked,when she showedme in the bathroom mirror.“And you know what wouldreally finish the look? Yourblackskinnyjeans…”IthoughtIwaspushingmy

luck there, but Saff was so

happy playingmake-up artistthatshesaid,“Oh,goonthen,and you can borrow myslouchyboots,too.”“You’re the best sister in

theworld!”Icried,andGracesaid,“Ahem,shemightbethebest sister now, but Mondaymorningwhenyouneedhelpto do yourMaths homeworkin the loos before school, Ithinkyou’llfindIam…”I grinned at Grace. “Yes,

I’vegotthebestsistersinthe

world, that’s what I said,” Irepliedsweetly.“Abbie, you don’t really

leave your homework untilMondaymorning in the loos,doyou?”askedMumthen,soI gave Grace a look andluckily for me she promisedshe’djustmadethatup.Grace even let Saff put a

bit of mascara and lip glosson her and we managed totalk Mum up to half ten onour curfew. She made my

sistersabsolutelyswear tobeback on time so that whenSummer’s dad dropped mehome,Iwouldn’tbethereonmy own. “I’m sure I’ll behome long before thenanyway,” she added. “Butjust in case there’s a queuefortaxisorsomething…”“Mum, go out, have fun,

relax!” I cried. “I’m fourteen– I could go and babysit forlittlekids,andyou’reworriedabout me spending ten

minutes in the flat on myown!”Sheblinkedatme.“Yes, I

suppose you’re right,” shesaid.“Ican’tbelievemygirlsaregrowingupsofast!”Justaswewereallaboutto

headout,Idugaroundinmybag for the little vintagecompact that heldmy home-made solid perfume (mysignature scent – geraniumand rose) and dabbed someon. Then I slicked a bit of

shine onto my lips with myPeppermint Kiss Lip Balm.I’d been wearing it whenMarcoandIhadourfirstkiss,as we danced in the emptybeauty parlour to“Somewhere over theRainbow”, and the scentalways brought back thatmemory. For a moment, myfingers lingered on my lips,remembering… I stood,daydreaming, smiling…untilSaffstuckherheadroundthe

bathroom door and draggedmeouttohelpherchoosetheright eyeshadow to go withherslinkyredvintagedress.Mum came back into the

kitchenthenandInoticedherdo a double take at me, andthenstartgivingmea“you’renot going out like that” kindof look. I thought she wasabout to grab the wet wipesand un-rock-chick me, so Iquickly announced that wereally ought to go. I started

bustlingeveryonetowardsthedoor, handing thembags andcoatsontheway.Halfway down the hall,

Mum stopped still and Ithought my cool make-upwas doomed, but then shesaid something that surprisedusall.“DoIlookoverdone?”sheaskedanxiously.“Imean,areyousureaboutthistopofyours,Saff?Does it look tooyoung for me?” She wasbreathing fast, like she was

about to have a panic attack.“I’mnotsurewhattheotherswill be wearing,” she wenton. “I don’t know Trish’sfriends apart from having aquickchatwiththeoneswhocame in to Rainbow Beauty.Oh, goodness, I hope we’llget on alright. Look, I thinkI’ll just stay here after all.Yougoon…”Andwiththat,she turned and hurried backto the kitchen, looking veryunsteady.

Weallrushedafterher.“Mum, calm down!” I

cried.Iwasreallyshockedtosee such big cracks in herconfidence – they’d neverbeentherebefore.Saffwasstaringather,and

Iknewshewasalsothinking,Is this really Mum talking?“You’llbefine,”shesaid.“You look great,” Grace

insisted.Mum sighed. “Oh, girls. I

reallydon’tknow if Icando

it,” she muttered. “I haven’tbeen out, properly out,since…since…”“What, since Dad had an

affair, split up with you,moved out and lost hisbusiness,andthebailiffstookour house and most of ourstufffromrightunderus,andwe ended up in this hellholeflat?”askedSaffbreezily.Grace and I held our

breath.Thesilencesearedandburned around us for a

moment,andIfeltthepainofit all again, as scorching andsharp as when it had justhappened. We looked atMum,worried shewasaboutto burst into tears andcollapseinaheap.Butinsteadshebreathedin

sharply and said, “Saff,whatever you do, never everchattoourclientsabouttheirproblems, will you? They’drunamile!”“Sorry…” Saff half-

whispered. “It just cameout…”“It’s fine, love,” Mum

insisted, managing a smile.“And you’ve put things intoperspective for me. We’vecome this far. We can getthrough anything. It’s only anightout,forgoodness’sake.I’m not being asked toperformbrainsurgery.”“You’llhaveagreattime,”

Iinsisted.“Yeah, go for it,” added

Saff.“Andifit’sawful,youcan

always make an excuse andcomebackearly,”saidGrace.“Oh, my girls, my lovely

girls! Come here!” Mumcried,pullingusallintoabighugagain.Thensheletusgo,smoothed down her top andskirt,andpattedherhair.Shealways did that before shewentanywhereoropenedthedoortoanyone.Andthenshesaid,“Lookout,Totnes.Here

cometheGreengirls!”And with that we bustled

down the stairs, chatting andgiggling,andsteppedoutintothe blustery Septemberevening.

We all crossed the bridgebesideVireIsland,oneofmyfavourite places to hang out,andthen,aftermorehugs,weheaded our separate ways. Iwalked up Fore Street,

stealing little glances atmyself in the shop windowsto make sure I hadn’tsuddenly started lookingrubbish or anything. When Igot to the arch thingy at thetop of the hill, Summer wasalreadythere,waitingforme.Webothspottedeachotheratthe same time and startedrunning, ending up in a big,squealy,girlyhug.“OMG, you look

amazing!”Summercried.

“No,you lookamazing!” Ishrieked.“Well, you look totes

amazeballs!” she gasped,goingtotallyOTT.“Well,youlooktotastically

amazeballsacious!” I cried.“Ha,beatthat!”And it was true. Summer

always looked good, but inone of her signature floor-length tattered Cinderellaskirts, a skinny-fit stripy topand loads of jewellery, she

looked like she should havebeen onstage atGlastonbury.We ducked down the littlealleyway that led to the cafe,and even though it was onlyjust past seven and the bandwasn’t on till eight, therewere already little groupsgathering outside. I felt mystomach flip over withexcitement, thinking thateveryonewashere to seemyBOYFRIENDonstage.(Well,and the rest of the band, of

course,Isuppose,abit!)Justaswewereabouttogo

in,Summersaid,“Hangonatick,” and then took out thelittle perfume compact I’dmade for her, with her ownsignature scent of bergamot,jasmineandgeranium inside.She dabbed it on, slicked onsome Rainbow BeautyScrummy Strawberry LipBalm and then produced alittle hand mirror from hersequinned bag and checked

herfaceandhairinit.Huh.Thatwasweird.Summer never bothered

looking in mirrors usually –well, only when we werepretending to check our hairin the loos while actuallyhaving a girly gossip. Shewasn’t bothered about howshe looked, and anyway, shedidn’t need to be. She hadlong dark curly hair that fellin just theperfectplace foratousled, hippy look, dark

eyelashes that went on forabout a mile and peachyperfect skin. So you can seewhy I had to wear loads ofmake-uptolookevenvaguelynon-hideousnexttoher.“You’remakinganeffort,”

I teased. “For anyonespecial?”As soon as I’d said it, I

kind of wished I hadn’t. I’dpromised myself I wouldn’tget involved in Summer’slovelife.Notsincethewhole

awkward, embarrassing, off-the-cringe-scale beach-partysituation. (Basically, she’dhad a crush on Ben for awhile, and, playingmatchmaker,I’dgoneoverattheparty to tellhimhowshefelt. But somehow, just as Iwas about to say she likedhim, he’d got thewrong endof the stick and tried to kissme instead. Which, as youcan imagine, was basicallyAWFUL, for all of us. It’s

sortednow,though–theboysdidn’t kill each other, Benwasn’t really into me andSummer’s not into Ben anymore.)Luckily, she just smiled at

me and said, “Why would itbe for anyone? Girls shouldenjoy looking good to feelgood for themselves, not forboys.”“OMG, you sound like

Grace!”Icried.“Is she coming?” she

asked.“No, she’s gone to the

cinemawithSaff.”Ismiledtomyself, imagining themstanding in the foyer right atthatmoment,bickeringaboutwhichfilmtosee.“Oh, that’s great,” said

Summer. “Her getting outmore,Imean.”“Yeah, we’re all out at

once, for the first time inages, even Mum,” I said.“And you’re right – it does

feelgreat.Likewe’regettingbacktonormal–well,anewkindofnormal,anyway.”Summer gave me a big

smile and linked arms withme.Thenweheaded into thecafe,which lookedgorgeous,with fairy lights glowingagainst the bare brick walls,and little tea-light candles injars everywhere. The tableshad been pushed back to theedges of the room and theband’sgearwassetupinone

corner.Peopleweresittingonsome of the tables, orstandingaroundchatting.Wewentup to thecounter togetsome drinks and Summertalked to the owner, Pete –she seemed to know everysingle person in Totnes.When we came to pay, Ifound my mouth loudlyannouncingtohimthatIwasthe GIRLFRIEND of theguitarist.Yikes!Summer smirked. “You’ve

gotitbad,haven’tyou?”“It’s not me, it’s my

mouth!” I cried. “I have nocontroloverit,likezero.”We crossed the room and

spotted Ben, who waswearing his Scooby-Doo T-shirtasusual,andchattingtohisfootiemates.“Hiya,” I said, as we

reachedhim.“Hey.”We hugged, and I thought

he and Summer would hug

too, but instead they just didthat little “hi” wave thing.Okay, so maybe things werestill a teeny bit awkwardbetweenthemafter thebeachparty.“I thought you weren’t

gettinghere till later,” I said,“whatwithGabe’sbedtime.”“Nah,Dad’sjustbackfrom

Germany, so I skipped offearly,”hetoldus.Benhelpedout with his two-year-oldbrother a lot. Having a

toddler in the family meantthings were pretty hectic,especially when his dad, along-distance lorry driver,wasaway.“Cool,” I said. “Right, I’m

off to say hello to Marcobackstage.” I swanned off inSaff’sslouchyboots,thinkingthat if thingswere still a bitstrainedbetweenSummerandBen, thequicker theyspentabitoftimealonetogether,thequickeritwouldbesorted.

“Backstage” turned out tobe a little stockroom next tothe loos where Marco wasstandingwith Tay, Chaz andDeclan, the rest of the band.He was leaning on a cash-and-carry-sized box ofbiscotti and talking throughtheirsetlist.Twogirls,whoIrecognizedasShaliniandJas,Declan and Chaz’sgirlfriends,werechattingbyastack of egg-free mayo jars,while listening to an iPod

betweenthem.TheysmiledatmeasIwalkedinandIdidamassivegrinback,thentoneditdownabitand triednot tolookcompletelyuncool.When I said “hi” to the

band guys, they did thetraditional boy greetings ofgrunt, slight hand wave andmumble.“Hey,” saidMarco, giving

measmile.My stomach flipped over

and my knees actually

buckledabitundermeand Ithought I was going to haveto hang on to the shelf oforganic orange juice cartonsto avoid falling in a jelly-legged heap on the floor.However often I saw him,Marco still seemed to havethateffectonme.Ittookmeawhile to get used to him, sothatIwasn’tjuststaringathisdark blue eyes and mop ofblack curls with my mouthhanging open.He caughtme

into a hug, and electricitybuzzedbetweenus, the sameway it had when we’d firstmet,whenhe’dpulledmeoutof a storm into a doorway,and put his blazer round myshoulders.Iwasswirledupinhis cinnamon, musk andcedar wood smell all overagain and I had to actuallyforce myself to put himdown. “How’s it going?” Iasked.“Good,yeah.Wewerejust

sorting out a few last-minutethings. You look really nice,bytheway.”“Thanks,” I said, and

clamped my lips shut beforemy uncontrollable mouthstarted going on about mebeingheadlessifIdon’twearloadsofmake-up…“You know Shalini and

Jas,don’tyou?”heasked.The girls gaveme another

smileandchorused“Hi”.“Hi,”Isaid.

“I like your top,” saidShalini.And Ialmostdid themad-

person grin again. I stoppedmyself just in time andmanagedtodoanormalsmileinsteadandsay,“Thanks,it’smysister’s.”“I’ll come out and see

Ben,” Marco said. “We’repretty much done here,anyway.”The boys did that whole

laterz-and-back-slapping

thing, even though theywereseeingeachotherinabouttenseconds’ time, and thenMarco followed me backdown the little corridor,holdingmyhand.HeonlyletgobecausehesawBenandofcourse they did thecomplicated high-five thingthat all boys have to do.(They do it instead of thehugging and cheek-kissingand squealing “OMG, youlook amazing” to each other

thatgirlsdo.)Lots of the people who’d

beenmeeting up outside hadcomeinbythen,andIspottedAmany and Iola from ArtClub.SomeofTay,ChazandDeclan’s mates were theretoo, and Selima, Alex andRaven (I know – SO Totneshippy-style to call your kidthat!)fromMedia.Therewasa buzz of chatter round theroom, and loads of the girl-hugging and boy-high-fiving

thingwasgoingonasfriendsfoundeachother.I recognized a group of

girls who we used to callMarco’s Year 8 Fan Club(about to be his Year 9 FanClub). He used to flirt withthemwhentheycameovertoour table in the canteen atschool and stuff, andmeandSummer always teased himabout it and killed ourselveslaughing.Strangelyenough, it didn’t

seemallthatfunnynowthatIwashisgirlfriend.Istartedtoworry that somehow justseeingthemwouldmakehimgobacktohisoldflirtyways,butwhentheycameuptous,he hardly spoke to them,apart from to be polite.Actually, theyseemed to talktomemore than him, sayingthey’d heard we weretogether and asking how ithappened, and then going“Aww!” and “Wow!” and

“Soooo romantic!” when Itold them (while he stoodthere blushing, then sidledaway–heehee).As Pete went by, he

stopped and said toSummer,“Oh, Imeant to ask, are youdoing the Autumn Fayre atyourplaceagain thisyear? Itwasgreatfunlasttime.”“Yeah, on the

seventeenth,” she told him.“As in, not this Saturday butnext. Mum’s about to ring

you.”“Put Sue and me down to

volunteer.We’ll do amobilecafe again – it raised quite abitlasttime.”Summer grinned at him.

“Thanks, Pete, I’ll let herknow.”“Oh, yeah, the Fayre,” I

said, remembering thatSummer had mentioned it acouple of weeks back. “Youstill haven’t let me knowwhatIcando.”Theyputona

hog roast, raffle and stalls intheirgarden, all in aidof thelocalcancerhospice.“Don’t worry, you’re on

Mum’slistofhappyhelpers,”she told me. “And, by theway, I’m impressed,” shesaid, gesturing after theMarco Fan Club, who wereheadingofftotheloos.“Youknow I’ve had my doubtsabout Marco as boyfriendmaterial, but he hardly evennoticedthem.”

I tried hard not to say, Itoldyouso.Then,“Itoldyouso,” I said, because of myunstoppablemouth.Ben came up just then. “I

was talking toPeteabout theAutumnFayre,”hesaid.“Putmedowntohelpwiththehogroast.”“You’re on Mum’s list as

well,” Summer told him,smiling. “But I’m not sure ifshe’s given out the jobs yet.I’llaskher.Andyou’redown

to help out too,” she calledover toMarco. “Hey,maybewecould sellyourautographforafiveratime!”“Make it ten, and you’re

on!” he called back, andpulledafaceather.Summer swatted the air,

pretending it was his head.Those two had known eachother for so long they actedlike brother and sister –including arguing and takingthemickey out of each other

atalltimes.Marcogavemeasmile,andheadedovertothestagey bit where the rest ofthe band had gathered. Thenthey began to get sorted outandtuneup.Afewminuteslater,ahush

fell over the crowd asHeadrush started to play. Iabsolutely loved watchingMarco onstage – I mean,licence to stare or what?! Ilovedtheconcentrationonhisface,thewayhemovedtothe

music, his hair floppingaround in time to the beat. Ileaned against a table andsettled back to enjoy it all.And just when I thought itcouldn’t get any better,Declan handed the mic toMarco. My BOYFRIENDcleared his throat and gaveme a slightly embarrassedsmile and said, “I wrote thisforyou,Abbie.”Well, everyone turned to

look at me and I was so

shocked that I stood boltupright and slopped applejuicedownmyself.Oh,well.I guess I knew that Saff’sclothes could only make melookcool,notactit.“Ahem,” said Tay, raising

hiseyebrowsatMarco.“Okay, Tay helped a bit

withthelyrics.I’mnotgoingtoforceyoulottolistentomesing it, but I want Abbie toknowit’sfrommetoher.”“Ahhh!” went most of the

girls in the room, and I sawShalini and Jas beaming atme.Benpretendedtobesick,so I slapped him one, andonly a couple of Marco’sNearly Year 9 Fan Clublooked like they wanted tokillme.Mostofthemseemedto think it was the mostromantic thing they’d everheard.So the band played my

song, and I’m not going towritethelyricsdownherebut

to give you a rough idea itwasgoingonabout“thatnewgirl” and “seeing that girl”and “wanting to get to knowthat girl” and stuff. Anyway,itwas reallygood, and if I’dheard it on the radio and ithadn’tbeenaboutmeIwouldstillhavethoughtitwasreallygood.When it had ended and

they’d gone on to somethingrocky,Ithoughtitwassafetomovemyeyesfromthestage

and risk looking around (I’dbeen too embarrassed to dothat when the song wasplaying, in case anyonethoughtIwasbeing, like,Ohyes, I am sooooo that girl,check me out!). All my newfriends were there, mygorgeous boyfriend was onthe stage and had written asong for me, and my familywassafelyouthavingagoodtime. A ripple of purehappiness ran through me.

Amazingly, even after allwe’d been through, I reallyfelt that things couldn’t getmuchbetter.

On Sunday morning we allwoke up late and eventuallygathered in Rainbow Beautyforourweeklymeeting.Overthe holidays we’d beenleaving it until Monday, but

wecouldn’tdothatanymoreasGraceandIstartedbackatschool the next day. Weusually looked at whichproducts we needed to makemoreof in the comingweek,and what had to be orderedin, like legwax or nail files.We also deep-cleaned thetreatment rooms, sorted outthe washing and took anyfruitandvegthatwaslookinga bit past its best upstairs tomakesoupsandfruitsalads.

And this week, we startedoff talking about our nightsout.“Somuch forbeingasleep

in the corner at half eight,”Saff teased, as Mum walkedin. “You didn’t get in untilnearlymidnight!”“I hope you were back on

time—”Mumbegan.“Summer’s dad dropped

mehomeatabouttwentypastten,andSaffandGracewerein a few minutes after me,

bang on half ten aspromised,” I reportedtruthfully.“So how was it?” Grace

askedMum.Mum smiled. “I’m really

glad I went,” she said.“Trish’s friends are lovelyandwehada real laugh.Didyougirlsenjoyyourselves?”Of course, as predicted,

Saff and Grace hadn’t beenable to decide on a film andhadtossedacoinforitinthe

end, before they killed eachother.Andwhen I told themall about Marco writing thesong for me, Mum and Saffdissolved into girly squealsandevenGracecouldn’thelpsmiling, before saying howobjectifying of women thewholethingwas,ofcourse.Just then the bell over the

door jangled and Liamwalked in. He was lookingextramusclyandtannedafterasummerspentswimmingin

thesea(andaweekclubbingin Ibiza). “Ooooh, Kim, youdirty stop-out!” he cried.“Whattimedidyougetinlastnight?!”Mumgrinnedathim.“You

onlyknow Iwasout becauseyou got in right after me!”shesaid.He beamed back. “I’ve

come to look at that leakypipe,” he told her. “I shouldbeable todosomethingwithit – otherwise I’ll get my

mate Gordon to come andlook tomorrow on his wayhome.” Liam was a builder,andhaddone theshopfit forus for just the cost of thematerials.He’dgotGordontoplumb in our washingmachine for free too. It wasfairtosaythat,withoutLiamandhismates in thebuildingtrade,RainbowBeautywouldhavestayedjustadream.“Oh, Liam, you’re a

lifesaver,” said Mum. “Let

me knowwhen you’ve got aspare hour and I’ll book youinforamassageinreturn.”Liamsmiled.“Nowyou’re

thelifesaver!”hetoldher.Thenhe stayed to chat for

awhile.He askedGrace andme how we were feelingabout school starting again(answer: me – excited aboutseeing Marco every day;Grace – excited aboutMathsClub and the unlimitedstudying opportunities in

general). Then he fixed thepipe, and had just left whenthephonerang.Weknew itwouldbeDad

–he’d arranged to callwhilewe were having our meetingsothathecouldchattousonthelandline.I raced to be the one to

pick up. “Hi, Dad,” I cried.“Howareyou?”“Good, thanks,” he said.

“Well, missing you allsomethingrotten,butkeeping

busy.You?”“My life is fairly nice,

thank you,” I announced,ignoring Saff’s sniggers.“Apart frommissing you, ofcourse.”“Well,good,”hesaid.“I’m

justcallingwithanupdateonhow things are going thisend.” Dad, Grace and I hadbeenonacrazy,roller-coastersalesdriveinKensingtonandChelsea over the summer,showing London boutiques

our specially created BeautyandtheBeachrange.Dadhadbeen in charge of deliveringthe products they’d orderedtoo.“Hold on,” I said. “Right,

now you’re onspeakerphone.”“Cool. Hi, girls!” called

Dad.“Hi, Dad,” my sisters

chorused.Mum came back in and I

wasabouttomentionthatshe

wasthere toowhensheputafinger toher lips andcuppedherear,whichItooktomeanthat she justwanted to listenin. I thought that wasprobably a good idea,considering the way she andDad always started arguingwhenevertheytriedtotalktoeach other. Grace had beenreally upset by them fightingbefore, when Dad had comedown to see us, and Mumprobablydidn’twanttoriskit

happeningagain.“Well, I’vegot somegood

news,”Dadwassaying.“I’vebeen back into the shops wesold to, to get feedback, andtheir customers love theBeautyandtheBeachstuff.Itwon’t be long before it’s allsold through, and I’d like togo back soon and offer themsomething else. Of course,theywon’twantmore of thesummer-themedproducts,notwith the seasons changing,

but perhaps you could comeup with somethingautumnal?”“We could,” I began, my

mind whirring as I spoke,“but then we’d just have thesame issue of having tochange the product rangewiththenextseason.”“BeautyandtheBeachwas

great!”criedSaff.“Oh, I know,” I said

quickly.“Anditwastherightthing to go in with at first,

becauseaseasonalrangewasdifferent and irresistible totheshops.Butnowwe’vegotour foot in the door, I thinkwe should offer them a coreRainbowBeautyrange.”“Good idea,” said Dad.

“Thatwaywecanmakesurewe’re in the shops all yearround.”“Iagree,”saidGrace.“And

we can always introducethemed ranges and one-offspecialproductslater.”

“We’ll have a think aboutwhichproductstoincludeandsend you some samples toshowtotheshops.Howdoesthatsound?”Iaskedhim.“Great!”saidDad.“You’re

doing such an amazing job,girls. I can’t tell you howproudIam.”I quickly glanced at Mum

andsawthatshewassmilingalittle.“Grace is going in for

YoungApprenticenextyear,”

Saffteased.“She should,” said Dad.

“She’dwin,Ibet.”Graceabsolutelyglowedat

that, which was nice, seeingas she wasn’t even speakingto Dad only a couple ofweeksago (andhadsaid thatshe never wanted to see himagain and didn’t care abouthim). Then they had to talkabout the new website theywere putting together, and itwas lovely to listen to them.

The site was to showcaseproductsfortheLondonshopmanagers, who’d be able torequest samples and orderonline. All that had beenmade possible because Dadhadbeenloanedalaptopbyacharitythathelpedpeoplegetbackon their feet.AndLiamhad given us his old one, ashewas upgrading anyway. Itwas already set up on hisbroadband,whichhe saidwecould use to save money.

That was great – as Gracesaid, it was another £40 amonth towards our rentmoney for the Octoberdeadline.“Yippee! We’re going

global!” Saff cried, dancingaround.Dad laughed. “Well, I

wouldn’t go that far, but wecouldcertainlygonational!”IglancedatMum,thinking

she’d have something to sayabout him using the word

“we”. She’d made it morethan clear to him thatRainbow Beauty was ours –me, her, Grace and Saff’s –and that he was just thedeliveryman.But if shewasannoyed, she wasn’t givinganythingaway.“Great. Let’s get the ball

rolling then,” said Dad.“When you get this coreproduct range together, wecouldstartwiththat.Assoonasit’sfinalized,I’llgetaweb

page up, and meanwhile I’llfind out about the legalwording we need, and whatour returns policy should be,and things like that. Oh, andI’ve been thinking aboutexpanding the London shopsales. I’m looking at otherareaswithasimilarprofiletoKensington and Chelsea –Marylebone,forexample…”“Ooooh,bagsIcometothe

pitches with you,” said Saff,her eyes lighting up. “I love

the little shops onMaryleboneHighStreet.”“Well,Iguessifyourmum

canspareyou…”Dadbegan.Saffwas about to ask her,

butMumwavedherhandsather and put her finger to herlips. She obviously stillwanted topretendshewasn’tthere.“Yes,I’llhavetocheckwith her, when she’s here,which she isn’t,” said Saff,more woodenly than an oaktree. She really is the worst

actressintheworld.“Okay, well, I was

thinking,once thecore rangegoes into the shops here andwe’ve got some good salesfigures behind us, andperhaps an endorsement ortwo,Iwanttoapproachsomebigger stores,” said Dad.“Liberty has a reputation forshowcasing small, artisansuppliers,andSelfridges—”“What? You mean the

massive one…on Oxford

Street?” I gasped, staring atthe phone with my eyesgogglingout.Dadlaughed.“Yeah,Abs,I

mean the blooming greatgiantone.ThinkBIG,girls!”Us three got really giggly

and over the top then,thinkingthatwecouldendupwith this massively famousbeauty brand. And that’swhen Mum finally spoke.“Well done, Al,” she saidsimply.

“Kim?” stuttered Dad,sounding a bit startled. “Ididn’trealizeyouwerethere.I hope you don’t think I’minterfering. All these thingsare just ideas…” He trailedoff, probably waiting forMum to give him an earfulabouthowitwasourbusinessand he could keep his lying,cheating hands off it. Wewereallwaitingforittoo.But actually, she just said,

“Not at all. You’re doing

goodwork.”Weall stared ather as if she’d been replacedby someone else. Then shepursedherlipsandadded,“Ifonly you’d been thisproactive when your ownbusiness was on the ropes,instead of burying your headinthesandandgoingoffwiththat bimbo, perhaps—”There,thatwasmorelikeit.Igaveherasharplookand

she stoppedherself, probablyrememberinghowshe’dupset

Grace before. She sighed.“Look, Al, just go for it,that’s what I’m saying,” shefinished.“Right. Thanks. Great. I

will, then,” said Dad,sounding bewildered, butpleased.“Dad, I could really do

with coming up to see yousoon,” saidGrace. “We needto go over all this web stuffface-to-face.”“AndI’dliketogothrough

ournewcore rangewithyouwhen we’ve got it sorted,” Iadded, jumping in. “Makesure you’re up to speed forpitches.”“If you two are going to

London, I’m coming,” Safftold us. “I haven’t seen mymates sincewemoved downhere.”“Hang on!” cried Mum.

“Noone is going to London.It’d have to be a weekendbecause of school and

college, and I really need allofyouatRainbowBeautyonSaturdays, especially you,Saff – you’ve got clientsbookedin.”“Oh, come on, Kim, it’s

one day,” Dad grumbled.“I’m desperate to see mygirls.”Icringed,waitingforMum

to go mad. But instead shetook a deep breath and said,“They’d have to go up onSaturday and come back

Sunday, so it’d be a wholeweekend, actually, Al. AndI’ll be really rushed off myfeethereasitis.”We all gave her pleading,

puppy-doglooks.“Oh, please, Mum,” said

Saff. “We haven’t seen Dadforages.”Dad,sensibly,wassilent.Mum sighed. “Look, I’m

not trying to come betweenyou girls and your dad,” shesaid. “And it’s true that you

needtosorttheonlinesideofthings out together, Grace. IsupposeyoucanallgoupontheearlycoachthisSaturday.I’llmanage–it’sonlyforoneday.You’llneedtoaskEmilyto cover for you on themanicure side, Saff. I can’tpay her much, though.” SaffhadmetEmily at the collegeopendayandtheywereaboutto start the beauty coursetogether.Saff leaped onto her,

squealing, “Thanks, Mum!You’re a legend! And Emilywon’t want any money –she’s just desperate formoreexperience.”Grace looked really

pleased too, but I felt torn. Ididn’twant toleaveMumonher own, but Iwas desperatetoseeDad.Ijustmissedhimsomuch. Ialwayshave,eversince he left, even though Iwas angry with him everysingle day at first (and I still

amalotofthetime).Iturnedto Mum, about to say that Iwouldn’t go, but she saw thelook on my face and saidfirmly, “You go, Abbie. I’llbefine.”“Thanks,Kim,”saidDad.Mum didn’t say anything

back,butshenoddedslightly.After we’d all said

goodbyetoDadandhungup,we talked about what tocreate for the London shops.Saff started talking about a

citrus theme, and Gracewondered whether we couldshowcase different essentialoils. I was just staring downat the little rainbows paintedontomynailsandlisteningtothem argue about which wasbetterwhenIrealizedthatwealreadyhadasignaturetheme– I mean, we were calledRainbowBeauty,afterall!“Rainbows, of course!” I

cried. “We can have oneproduct for each colour, and

put them in gift kits inrainbow order as well assellingthemindividually.I’msure we can find somethingfor each, even if we have tofiddle around with thecolourings a bit to get themperfect.”“Fab idea!” said Saff.

“Much better than essentialoils.”“Much better than citrus,”

Gracesnappedback.We all started throwing

ideas around while Gracefrantically scribbled downnotes. In the end, we settledonSpicyDelightBubbleBathfor red. It was alreadypinkish,butwewereplanningtoexperimentwithalkanet, anatural colouring, to make itreallybrightandcheerful.Fororangewewentforour

Carrot and Calendula HandBalm,which always flewoffthe shelves at RainbowBeauty. “It’s for gardeners –

is that a bit specific?” Mumasked,withafrown.“We could change the

description and take thegardeningbitoutandjustsayit’s good for dry, chappedskin,” I suggested. “Andwe’ll have to add turmericandpaprika tomake it reallyorange.”“Great,” said Grace,

scribblingitalldown.“Yellow’seasy,”saidSaff.

“Our Zesty Zing Shower

Gel.” She obviously wasn’tgoing to let go of the citrustheme. But actually I agreedwith her. It was one of ourmost popular productsalready thanks to its hugeburstoflemon,mandarinandgrapefruit – perfect forgetting even the biggestsleepyhead going in themorning.Forgreenwesettledonthe

Olive Grain Foot Scrub, anddecided to experiment with

blue camomile and turmerictomake it evenmorevibrantthanitalreadywas.Andbluecamomilewouldalsoturnourlovely blue Chest-ClearingMassage Oil Blend (madewith eucalyptus, peppermint,lavender, tea tree, rosemaryand thyme oils) the perfectcolour.“Right. Indigo next,” said

Mum.“Whatis indigo,anyway?”

asked Saff, wrinkling up her

nose. “I’ve alwayswonderedthat.”AsGrace tutted and rolled

her eyes, I went over to thechillercounterandcamebackwith a punnet of blueberries.“These,look,”Isaid.Saff peered at them. “Oh,

right.Ithoughttheywerejustblue, you know, being calledblueberries.”“Iguessindigoisakindof

purply-blue,”Isaid.“We don’t have anything

that colour,” said Mum.“Well, nothing that wouldwork, anyway.We can’t sellour Blueberry Burst FreshFace Mask to the Londonshops because it needs to berefrigerated.”I frowned. “You’re right.

Maybe we could makesomething else up, though.Blueberryoil is great fordryskin, and we haven’t got abody butter in the Londonrange at the moment.

Obviouslywe can’t transportfresh blueberries, so we’dhave to use fragrance oil toget the yummy smell. I’msure we could experimentwithournaturalcolouringstoget a good indigo colour,though.”“That sounds gorgeous,”

said Saff, “and we can useshea butter to make it reallyindulgent.”Weall agreedon thebody

butter and thenmoved on to

violet. That was easy –Lavender Bath Bombs withreallavenderflowers.They’dalwaysbeenagoodsellerforusandtheflowersmadethemlookgreat.Andintheendwedecided to call each productsimply Red, Blue orwhichever colour, so that therange had a strong identityand therainbowthemereallystood out.Wewould put thefullproductnameunderneaththat,inmuchsmallerwriting.

I put the kettle on forcoffees then and Mumpopped out to get somecroissants from the cornershop.Iwasjustwalkingbackthrough from the kitchenettewith the tray of mugs whenshe came back in. She waslookingreallyshakyandpale,and instead of a bag ofcroissantsshewasclutchingaleaflet.“Oh no, didn’t they have

anyleft?”Saffsaid.

“Are you okay?” Graceasked.Suddenly a really bad

feeling came overme, like adarknessswoopingdownandsettling right in the centre ofmychest.“Mum?”Icroaked.“Whatisit?”But she didn’t speak.

Instead, she lurched over tothe purple velvet sofas andGracehad to sitherdown. Itlookedlikeshewasinshock.The blackness deepened

aroundme thenandIput thetraydownbeforeIdroppedit.“Mum, what’s happened?Has therebeenanaccident?”Igasped.She came round then. She

shook her head slightly andthen passed me the leaflet.Herhandsweretrembling.I took inwhat it said (and

why Mum was so upset) inone glance. And then Icouldn’tspeakeither.“Oh, for goodness’ sake,”

Grace snapped, snatching theleafletfromme.“Whatcanbesoawfulthat…oh.”“What?” Saff demanded.

“Comeon,Grace.What?”“The Sanderton, that

boutique hotel just down theroad from us…they’veopened a swanky new spa,and they’re promoting it tothe locals,” Grace mumbled.“They’ve got amazing offersonhere.”Saffgrabbedtheleafletand

read out loud, “‘TheSanderton is proud tointroduceitsnewHavenSpa.Indulge yourself with thelatest luxury treatments andstate-of-the-art facilities forthe ultimate pamperingexperience’. Oh my God.Whatanabsolutenightmare,”shegasped.Foronce,Ididn’tthink she was beingoverdramatic.“We can’t compete with

this,”Mummuttered, finding

hervoiceagain.“Imean,lookonthebackoftheleaflet–itoffers everythingwe do, andithasapool,saunaandsteamroom as well. Which meansthey can do day pamperpackageswithlunch.”Ifeltsickandtremblytoo,

but I reached for somethingpositive to say. “It’s not likewe’retheonlybeautyplaceinTotnes,” I pointed out.“There’s a big spa at TheRoyalDevon,butthat’snever

botheredus.”“They’re much further

away,”saidGrace.“Andtheydon’ttargetlocals–it’sreallyjust for hotel guests onpackage deals. These leafletshave been put round in theshopsforlocalpeopletopickup.Ourcustomers.”“I don’t even understand

how they can offer theseservicesforsuchlowprices,”Mum said. “I mean, look atthis – a massage with free

facialfor£25.Andthis–freemanicure when you book apedicure.”Grace peered at the leaflet

over my shoulder and raisedher eyebrows. “Those offersarelossleaders,togetpeoplein the door,” she told us.“Theywon’tmakemoneyonthem, but they hope clientswill spend on products, andbook in for extras and othertreatments at higher prices.It’s like the supermarket

sellingbeansfor10pandthenonceyou’re in thereyoubuyother full-price stuff. TheSanderton’s part of a chain.Head office is probablypayingforthis.”Hearingthat,itfeltlikemy

stomachhaddroppedintomyshoes. “But how are smallbusinesses like us supposedto compete against that?” Istuttered.“We aren’t,” Grace said

flatly.

IreallythoughtIwasgoingto throw up then. We’d justgot the business going, andnow it looked like we had ahugebattleonourhands.Wewere on target to make ournext rent payment, but westill had a long way to go.What if business was badlyaffectedbythenewspa?Howwould we pay Mr. Vulmerthen?Weall sat round the table,

feeling sick and shocked, the

coffee going cold and allthoughts of croissantsforgotten. The Haven Spaopened on Monday morningand it felt like we werewaitingforahurricanetohit,to find out how bad thedamage to our businesswouldbe.We still had to deep-clean

thetreatmentroomsafterthat,andlookatwhatstockneededtobemadeororderedin,butthere was no more laughing

and joking. We draggedaround miserably, and Ihardly felt like I had theenergy todoanything.Gracewastakingherfrustrationoutonthefloor,whichwasluckybecause it needed a goodscrub, but Saff seemed tohavestoppedcompletely,andwas just leaning on thereception desk staring at thestocklists.ItwasMumwhopulledus

together in the end. “Come

on,let’sfinishupandgetoutof here,” she said. “There’sno point hanging aroundmoping.Let’swalkup to thesupermarket and get theingredients to cook a bigroast. We haven’t had onesincewe’ve been here, and Ireally fancy it now autumn’sintheair.”“Mum, we can’t cook our

way out of this crisis,” saidGraceflatly.“I know that,” said Mum,

giving her a nudge, “but Iwant us to do somethingtogether. And a decent mealalways makes things seem abit better. Come on, Gracie,we can have beef. WithYorkshires…”Grace’sfavourite.“Fine,”saidmysister,“but

only if there’s pudding aswell.”So, by half two, after lots

of shopping and choppingand peeling and searing and

bastingandboilingand,erm,whateveritisyoudotocookYorkshire puds, we all satdown around the Formica-toppedtableandhadourfirstroastdinneronit.About halfway through, as

I was reaching for morecarrots, I noticed that thedarkness I’d felt earlier hadliftedalittle.Andperhapstheroastdinnerhadworkedabitof magic, because when theproblem of the Haven Spa

cameintomymind(foraboutthehundredthtime)insteadofjust feeling sick and blankand shuddery, I saw a littleshoot of hope. “You know,wecan’tbeatthemonprice,”I said, “but we could createourownoffer,andputleafletsinalltheshopstoo.”“Good thinking,” said

Mum. “We can’t just rollover and let them take ourbusiness.”“Noway!”Saffagreed.

“We need to think ofsomething that doesn’t costustoomuch,though,orwe’llactually start losing money,”Gracewarned.“How about a free

manicurewitheverymassageor other body treatment?” Isuggested. “The cost ismainlySaff’stime,isn’tit?”“Yes,” said Grace. “The

nail polish and other bitsdon’tcostmuch.”“I’mhappy to do asmany

asyoucanbookin,”saidSaffeagerly.“I’ll sort out the leaflet,” I

said.“Wecando itatschooltomorrow. Summer can helpandI’msureMr.Macwillletus use the Media Lab if weexplainwhatit’sfor.”“Then we’ll hit the streets

and put them everywhere!”criedSaff.“We’llletthatnewspaknowwhothey’redealingwith!NoonemesseswiththeGreengirls!”

“It’s not about us beingagainst them. We’re simplypromoting our business in aprofessional manner, that’sall,” said Mum, but she didgiveSaffaproudsmile.We’d bought a chocolate

cheesecake too, which Mumproducedfromthefridgewithaflourishaswewereclearingthe lunchplatesaway. Itwasdelicious, and we even hadour traditional argumentabout who’d got the biggest

bit, which made it feel likeSundaysusedtoinourlovelyhouseinEaling.Well,almost.I supposed that nothing

would ever be exactly thesame again, not with Dadgone.Butperhapswe’dmakesome new traditions of ourown,likeSaffnickingabitofGrace’scheesecakewhenshewasn’t looking and thenGrace chasing her round thetable.

As we cleared upafterwards, Saff mentionedpossiblygoingintotownlatertomeetEmily,butMumwentallparentyonher.“Noone’sgoing out this evening,” sheshrilled. “It’s the first day ofschool tomorrow, or collegeinyourcase,Saff,andIwantyou to have an early night.And, by the way, we’re allgoing for an afternoon walknow,together,asafamily,inthefreshair.”

“You’re joking!” Saffcried.But Mum wasn’t, and

amazingly, Saff somehowended up walking down acountry road and then thetrack along the back fieldswith us. And even moreamazingly, she managed todo the whole thing withoutmoaning and I can officiallyreport that shecannowwalkpastasheepwithouthavingafit of terror and saying it’s

lookingatherstrangelyandisabout to charge! (Do sheepevendothat?!)Saff stayed inwith us that

night too, and we allsquashed up on the revoltingbrown sofa with steamingmugs of tea cupped in ourhands and watched our faveprogramme, EmbarrassingBodies,onthetinytelly.A few minutes in, Mum

sighed and said, “Oh, you’reall leavingme tomorrow and

doing your own thing –RainbowBeautywon’tbethesame.”“Mum, we’re going to

school,notTimbuktu!”Gracecried. “We’ll be back in theafternoons to help out. AndalldaySaturday.”“And I’ll be with you on

Tuesdays, for my work-placement day,” Saffremindedher.Mum smiled. “I know. It

just feels strange, that’s all.

It’sbeenmeandmygirlsforthe whole summer.” She puther arms round Saff andme,andIpulledGraceintoo,andwe had a sort of sitting-sidewayshug.Amazingly,noonegotscaldedbyhottea.“OMG,isthatwhatIthink

it is?!” Saff gasped a fewseconds later. “That poor,poorman!”We all peered at the

weeny, rubbish screen for amoment, thenmadeoutwhat

the embarrassing bit actuallywas and all screeched andturned away, covering oureyes. And then I foundmyself thinking that if we’dhad a huge telly, and a bigarmchair each, it wouldn’thavebeenhalfsomuchfun.

Ispentagesgettingreadyforschool on Monday morning,even by Saff’s standards. Iused our Rainbow BeautyLuscious Lavender ShowerGel for relaxation, but not

even a truckload of lavenderwouldhavecalmedmedownright then because I was SOEXCITED that I’d be seeingMarco, my BOYFRIEND,everyday–yippee!AndIfeltmuch better about the newspa opening now that we’dcomeupwithaplantotackleithead-on.MyuniformwasSummer’s

old one that she’d passed onto me, so of course it wasalready pretty cool, but I

jazzed it up even more byrolling up the skirt, knottingmy tie loosely with pearlnecklaces draped around it,and putting on loads ofbracelets and hairslides. Andmy usual ton of black andgreyeyemake-up,ofcourse.Mum nearly had a heart

attack when I walked out ofthe bathroom. “You lookmoredoneupthanyoudidonSaturday night!” she cried.“Abbie,you’renotgoingona

date, you know! I hopeyou’re not going to bedistractedbyMarcoatschool.It’s about getting a goodeducation.”Igrinned.“IpromiseI’llbe

the perfect student,” I said.As I caught Saff’s eye, shewinkedatme.“I saw that!” Mum cried.

(Of course she did – shenever misses anything.) “Imean it, Abbie. School’s notalurvepalace.”

“A lurve palace?” Irepeated, shuddering withhorror.“Mum,whereonearthdidyougetthatfrom?”“No, school is not a lurve

palace, Abigail,” said Saff,all primly, and Mum lookedsmug about her swappingsides, until she added,“Schoolisacatwalk.”Mumgroaned.“And so is college,” Saff

added.“HowdoIlook?”“Great. Obviously. As

ever,”Isaid,withasigh.It’snoteasyhavingstunningSaffforasisterandnaturalbeautySummerforabestfriend.It’slucky I’m fairly confident,that’sallIcansay.OtherwiseI’d just want to hide in theloos all the time with a bagovermyhead.Andthenitgotevenworse,

because Grace came outlooking so jaw-dropping, wehardlyrecognizedher.She’d jazzed up her

uniform, and she must haveplaited her hair when it waswet the night before becauseit fell in beautiful glossywavesoverhershoulders.“Wow,Grace!”Igasped.“Lookout,Year11!”cried

Saff.The sweep of black

eyeliner and mascara madeGrace’s eyes look big andbright, and I was sure Mumwould veto the gothy darkplum lipstick she’d paired

with it, but she didn’t sayanything except, “Mygoodness, darling, you looklovely.”Grace allowed herself the

tiniest smile. “Just becauseI’ve put on a bit of lippydoesn’tmean I haven’t got abrain,”sheannounced.“No one’s saying it does,

love,”saidMum.ThenGracepeeredatSaff,

and the smallest frownflickeredoverherface.

“What?”Saffdemanded.“Oh, nothing,” said Grace

innocently, reaching for herbag.“No,comeon,what?”Saff

cried.Grace sighed. “Are you

reallywearing that top?” shesaid,withacheekygrin.“It’sjust…it makes you look sortofmushroomy.”Yes, you read that right.

She said that to Saff. As in,UltimateStyleQueenSaff.

“Mushroomy?” Saffrepeated. “What does thatevenmean?”But Grace just called out,

“Come on, slowcoaches!”,nicked the last bit of toastfrom Saff’s plate andflouncedoffdownthehall.Saff walked as far as her

bus stop to Paignton withGrace and me, and then wecarried on up the road toCavendish High. We linkedarms,walkingintimelikewe

always did. I’d swapped thefoul brown loafersMum hadmade me wear on my firstday for black ballet pumps,fortunately, and Grace hadsomehow managed to sneakSaff’s slouchy boots pastMum,who’dhavehadafitifshe’d noticed her wearingthem.Things couldn’t have been

more different from whenwe’darrivedonourfirstday,a few months back. Now,

insteadofbothbeingterrifiedabout not knowing a singleperson, Grace and I weresaying “hi” to people, andcalling out and waving assoon as we walked throughthe gates. Grace spotted herfriendsMaisy andAran nearthe canteen door and headedofftothem.(InoticedAran’sjaw drop too, when he sawhernewlook!)Then I spotted Marco,

getting off his mum’s

motorbike and stowing hishelmet. Sienna waved to meand I waved back,remembering how I’dpanickedandthoughtshewasMarco’s girlfriend when I’dfirst seen her drop him offlikethat.She’slovely–reallyyoung and sparky. I didn’tknow what his dad was likebecause I’d never met him.From what Marco had said,Lukedidn’thavemuch todowith them, he just turned up

sometimes and thendisappearedoffagain.As Sienna roared off and

Marco slouched through thegates,what I actuallywantedtodowasthatrunning-up-to-him thingwithmy arms out,likewhenpeoplerunthroughameadowtowardseachother(does that ever reallyhappen?!). But I forcedmyself to walk normally,even though my legs feltreally weird, like I’d

forgotten how. When Ireached him, I didn’t knowwhethertokisshim,hughimorwhat.Ididn’twanttolooklike a mental possessiveperson and be all over him,but on the other hand I didwant anyoneNOT yet awarevia the gossip vine that wewere together to get themessage.To be honest, what I

actually wanted to do wasmake a giant placard with

MARCO IS MYBOYFRIEND written on it,and carry it round – but I’ddefinitely have looked a bitweirdthen.Mybrainwasstillwhirring, trying to work outwhat to do next, when hegave me his big, gorgeous,lazy grin, said, “Hey, Abs”,slung his arm round myshoulders and carried onwalking. There. That’s it.Perfect.Whycan’t I thinkofcoolstufflikethat?

The bell went and as wewalked into class, just abouteveryone we saw saidsomething about the cafe gigandhowgooditwas.Areallyshallow bit of me was justLOVING walking down thecorridorwith the coolest guyin the year, who was myBOYFRIEND (oh, sorry,couldn’thelpmentioningthatagain!) butmostly Iwas justso proud of Marco. The gighad been great, and he told

metheyweregettingloadsofhitson their site, and tonsofgood comments and photosposted on Facebook.ObviouslyIhad tocheckoutthe pics on Summer’s phonebefore registration, and theyreally caught the warm, fun,tea-lightedatmosphere.ThenBen turnedup, and I

told them all about the newspa. Summer looked reallygutted for me, and Ben andMarcodidn’tseemsurewhat

to say. “Is there anythingwecando?”Summerasked.“I’mhopingyou’llhelpme

make some leaflets of ourown,” I told them. “We’redoing a free manicure witheverybodytreatment.”“Goodidea,”saidSummer.

“I’ve still got someRainbowBeauty pictures saved on thecomputers in the Media Labfromstuffwe’vedonebefore–we canuse those to jazz itup.”

I smiled at her. “That’sgreat. Are you all around atlunchtime?” I asked. “I’mgoingtoseeifwecanusethelabthen.”Ben and Summer were

free, but Marco said, “I’vegot band practice, but I canput leaflets in the shops intown after school, and stickthem on billboards and treesand stuff.” Oh, I could kissthat boy, I thought. And Inearlydid.Butjustthen,Mrs.

Leavis walked into our formroom.Wewere10Lnow,andaswellasbeingournewformteacher, she took us forGeographyandshewasreallynice. The first thing shetalkedaboutwhenshe’ddonethe register was how it wasall about GCSEs now. Shekept mentioning buildingblocks and stepping stonesandotherwaysofsayingthatthis year is very, veryimportant,eventhoughwe’re

not doingmost of our actualexams until Year 11. Ithought it was just Mrs.Leavis, because she’s ourformteacher,buteverywherewe went all day we got thesametalk.When I went to the

staffroomatbreaktoaskMr.Mac about using the MediaLab,hedidn’thesitatetosignpasses for me, Ben andSummer to be in there atlunchtime. He even said I

could just pay cost price forthe leaflets, so it worked outfarcheaperthanusingaprintshop.So,assoonasthebellwent

afterFrench,usthreegrabbedsandwiches from the canteenand headed over there. Wedesigned the leaflets, thenprinted out batches onmassive A3 sheets of glossypaperonthecolourprinter.As we worked, I noticed

that any awkwardness

between Summer and Benseemed to have completelymeltedaway.Benwashappybecausehegot the total boy-jobofchoppingtheA3sheetsintoindividualleafletsonthegiant razor-sharp guillotine(Mr.Macwas in there doingsomeprepbythattime,sohegot it out of the storecupboardforus)andSummerandIgotmassivelygirlywiththedesignandmadeRainbowBeauty look like heaven on

earth.I felt so much better after

we’dactuallydonesomethingtocounteractthenewspathatI got really giggly and sillyand completely embarrassedmyself in Maths, thanks tomy uncontrollable mouth.When Mrs. Croft announcedthat we’d be starting ourpreparationforourfirstpieceofGCSEcourseworkstraightaway I found myself going“YEEEESSS!” very loudly,

and everyone laughed.CRINGE!–I’donlymeanttowhisper it to Summer to befunny, but I was so excitedand happy about all theHeadrush stuff and the me-and-Marco-ness ingeneral, itcameoutat aboutagazilliondecibels, with an added airpunch.“I’mgladyou’resoexcited

about it, Miss Green,” saidMrs. Croft, and thenobviously I had to pretend I

was so I didn’t get told off,which made me CRINGEeven more. All I can say isthankGodMarco’sinthetopgroup (which I am so NOT,obviously!), so he wasn’tthere to witness my uttercringe-aciousness!Us four were all together

for English, though. It’s oneof my fave subjects and I’mreally into it usually, butseeing Marco again afterprecisely forty-six minutes

apartwassoexciting thatweended up doing this flirty,whispery, note-passing thingand in the end Mr. Kingsighed and said, “Abbie andMarco, letmeput it like thisand maybe you’ll pay moreattention. SoMarco, imagineAbbie is Juliet, and you’reRomeo, and you’remadly inlovewitheachother,butyourfamilies want to keep youapart and you’re gutted…Whatwouldyoudoaboutit?”

“Erm, I, well, we…”Marcomumbled.Everyonecrackedup,even

me,ashewentbrightredandthen got very interested intaking down the notes fromtheboard.While all this was going

on, Summer and Ben, whoweresittingoppositeus,werechatting through stufftogether before writinganything down. Their handsbrushed as Summer opened

hernotebookandshequicklypulledhersaway.OnlyIsawher looking a bit flustered.Ben either pretended not tonotice or, probably, being aboy,heactuallydidn’tnotice.I couldn’t help wondering,though–was shereallyoverhim? Maybe theawkwardness I’d spottedbetween them wasn’t aboutwhat happened at the beachparty after all.Maybe it wasbecause she still liked him. I

thought about asking heroutright,butthenIdecidedtojust wait and see whathappened. After the beach-party disaster, Iwas sure thelast thingsheneededwasmetrying tomatchmake, even ifshedidstilllikeBen.I gavemost of the leaflets

to Marco at last break (plusthe kiss he hadn’t got atregistration time!) andSummer and Ben took a bigbunch toputup roundwhere

theylived.On the walk home, Grace

and I stuck leaflets on everylamp post and tree (luckily,loads of drawing pins wereleft on them from previousposters) and in every letterboxandshopwindowthatwecould find. By the time wearrived back at RainbowBeauty, Iwas on a completehigh. I’d convinced myselfthat we’d made the new spaout to be much more of a

threat than it reallywas, andthat with our clever bit ofmarketing we’d keep ourcustomerscomingtous.When we showed Mum

and Saff the leaflets, theywere really impressed too,andSafftookabunchtogiveout at her college in themorning. Shewas so excitedabout her first day, andbubblingoverwithchatabouther tutors and the other girls(and the couple of boys) on

her course, and what theylearned, it lifted us all evenmore. “I’m glad I’m here tohelpyoutomorrow,”shesaidto Mum. “With such anenticing new offer, andleaflets everywhere, I’m surethephonewill be ringingoffthe hook from first thing inthemorning.”Igrinnedather.Iwassure

itwouldbetoo.

On Tuesday after school,

Marco, Summer and Benwalked back to RainbowBeauty with me. The boyswere on their way into townand Summer was going togiveme,Mumandmysistersa hand putting our Rainbowrange together. And, ofcourse, we were all keen tofindoutiftheresponsetoourleaflets had been as good aswe’dhoped.Mum met us at the door,

beaming. “We’ve had seven

bookings for the offeralready,” she told us. “I justwanted to thank you all forgetting those leaflets done,and for all the legworkputting them up and givingthemout.”“You’re welcome, Mrs.

Green,” said Ben (SUCHperfect son-in-law material,thatboy).Marco shrugged and said,

“Noworries.”“Wecanstayandhelptoo,

if you like,”Ben said tome,when Mum had gone backinside.“Will I have to wear a

hairnet again?”askedMarco,wrinklinguphisnose.I gave him a wicked grin.

“Much as I’d enjoy seeingthat, we’re not making hugeamounts or anything, just acouple of samples of each tosend up to Dad. The mainthingweneedtodoisgetthecolours right and decide on

the final packaging for eachone.”“Youmeanit’sgoingtobe

a lot of girly stuff withribbons and going ‘Oooooh,smell thisone. It’sdivine!’?”askedBen.“Yeah, very girly,” I said.

“And no heavy liftinginvolved.”“Inthatcase,shallwegive

it a miss and go for thatburger?” Marco asked Ben.He gave me his gorgeous

smile. “You don’t mind, doyou?”“Of course not,” I said. “I

wasworriedthatyou’dbeoffwith me because I couldn’tcomeout.”“No way,” he insisted. “I

know how important yourbusinessis.”“Who are you and what

haveyoudonewithmyvain,selfish mate Marco?”Summercried,witha teasinglookonherface.Toprovehe

was still the same, he calledher a cheeky cow. Then Igave him the longest hug Icould get away with withoutlookinglikeatotalnutter,andtheboysheadedoff.SummerandIhelpedMum

finishupatRainbowBeauty,and then we went upstairswithher,wherewefoundmysisters cleaning down thekitchen and gettingeverything ready. Theygreeted Summer with big

hugs and we scrubbed andaproned and hairnettedourselves with muchogiggling.ThenMum,SaffandGrace

started adjusting the colourson our chosen products, andSummer and I got to workcreating our new blueberrybodybutter.BecauseIhadn’tmadeanybefore,andIdidn’thavearecipetofollow,itwasabittrialanderror.Wemadeanicebaseofcocoaandshea

butter and then added theblueberryoil.Whileit’sgreatfordryskin,itdoesn’thaveasmell, so we fiddled aroundwith the blueberry fragranceoilthathadarrivedinthepostthat morning from oursupplier, until we hadsomething that smelled nice,butwasn’toverpowering.Theblue camomile mixed withalkanet gave us quite a goodindigocolourintheend.As we worked, Summer

said, “Hey, I’ve been tryingto think about how else youcan advertise yourselves, tohelpyoucompeteagainstthisnew spa, and I’ve had athought. Instead of justhelping out at the AutumnFayre, you could have yourownRainbowBeautystall.”“That sounds like a great

idea,” said Mum eagerly,overhearing. “You could doloads more of the leaflets,Abbie, and give them out.

And if you take someproducts to sell, we couldgive, say, 20% of the profitsto the charity. Oh, I hopethat’senough?Iwishitcouldbemore,but—”“Mum,withourslimprofit

marginsthat’sreallygenerousasitis,”Gracecutin.Summer smiled. “That

would be amazing,” sheassuredher.“What if we could get the

ingredients to make

something for free…” I said,thinking aloud. “Then wecould create a productespecially for the Fayre andgive all the money tocharity.”“That’s a great idea,

Abbie,” said Mum. “Butwhere are we going to getfreeingredientsfrom?”“I bet I can persuade our

greengrocer to donate somestuff,” said Summer. “Youknow, Tom, who let us do

thatphoto shoot inhis shop?He’salwaysgivenabigfruitandvegboxfortheraffle,soI’msurehewon’tmind.”“Great!” I cried. “How

about having a theme? Likeblueberries? Everyone likesthose!”“Oh, we could do fresh

blueberry smoothies in thatcase,” saidSaff, “ifweget afree box of bananas thrownin.”“And Blueberry Burst

Fresh Face Masks,” Gracesuggested. “Youcouldwhizzthem up right in front ofpeople to create a bit oftheatre,too.”Saff grimaced. “You’d

have to take both blenders!No one wants face mask intheirsmoothie!”“Obviously!”Grace tutted.

“I’mnotanidiot,youknow!”“Alright! Keep your

knickerson!”snappedSaff.“Great idea,” said Mum

quickly, before my sisterscould blow it up into a full-scale row. “We can certainlydonate the other ingredientsfor those, like thealmondoilandsoon.”“That would be fab,” said

Summer. “And hey, I know,we can sell BlueberryWishes!Wecangetaloadofsweet bags and put tenblueberries in each, thenchargeapoundawish!”She seemed surprised to

findus all peeringblankly ather. “Erm, what are you onabout?”askedSaff.Summer was peering back

at us, looking equallyconfused. “Don’t you knowabout Blueberry Wishes?”shecried.“Ithoughteveryonedid.Oh,well,maybeit’s justmy mad family. We’vealwaysdoneit,eversincewewere little. You eat tenblueberriesandmakeawish,butyouhavetowishoutloud

or it won’t come true. Cometothinkofit,itprobablywasjustawayforMumandDadtogetustoeatourfruit,butIswearitworkedatthetime.Igot a bike for my birthdaythatyear,justlikeIwanted.”Grace grinned. “The fact

thatyourmumanddadheardyou wish out loud for onemusthavehelped!”“Well, I think it’s a great

idea,”Isaid.“Whoarewetosay how the mysterious

powers of the universework?”I just said that to wind

Graceup,andindeedshedidmumble something aboutcodswallop and try to swatme with a spatula, but thenMum said, “I might try itnow, actually, though I’dhavetoeatabouttwohundredtowishawaythatnewspa!”“Oh,Mum,it’llbeokay,”I

said.She smiled. “I’m sure it

will,love.Sorry,girls,Idon’tmean to put a downer onthings. I’m just tired, that’sall. It’s been a busy day…thankgoodness!AndI’vegotmy first client at half seventomorrow morning. Sheasked if she could comebeforeworkandIdidn’twantto say no. We need everybooking we can get at themoment, especially nowwe’vegotcompetition.”“Why don’t you go and

have a bath?” Gracesuggested. “We can get onwith this. The BlueberryBody Butter is sorted, andwe’ve justaboutadjusted thecoloursontheotherproducts,too.We’reonlygoingtoplayaround with packaging now.You can have a look ateverything when you comeout and give it your seal ofapproval.”Mum stifled a yawn. “I

wouldn’tusuallyleaveyouto

it,butIthinkI’dbetterorI’llbe hopeless at worktomorrow.”When she’d headed off to

the bathroom, Summer, Saff,GraceandItriedoutdifferentpackaging. It all had to betransparent, of course, toshowthecolours,butwehada big selection of samplebottlesand jars thatwe’dgotfrom our supplier to playaround with when we’d firstset up the business. We put

the body butter in a lovelyglassjarwithanalmostroundbase in the end, and we allagreed that it was the bestchoice.“Wow, it suddenly looks

really classy and expensive,”Summerremarked.“It’ll have to,” I said,

“what with the prices Gracewill want to charge theLondonboutiquesforit!”Grace took that as a

compliment and smiled

proudly.“And we could create

beautiful little vintage-ylabels,” Saff suggested, “tocompletethelook.”“And could we borrow

yourwishthingforthename,Summer?” I asked.“Blueberry Wishes BodyButter?”Summer looked really

pleased. “Yeah, sure,” shesaid.A while later, when we’d

settled on the best fit ofbottles and jars for therainbow products and linedthemallupincolourorderonthe table, Mum came out ofthe bathroom in her dressinggown, looking much better.“Oh, they look wonderful,”sheexclaimed.“Glad you like them,” I

said.“We just need to get the

body butter tested, as it’s anew product, and then that’s

everythingdone,”saidGrace.“Saff’s going to pop it in tothe cosmetic chemist inPaignton tomorrow beforecollege.”“And if everything’s okay

with it, I should be able topick up the certificateafterwards,” Saff added, “sowe’llhave it ready togive toDad with everything elsewhenAbbiebriefshimat theweekend.”“That’s great,” said Mum.

“You girls really have goteverythingcovered.”“Hey, I know, I could

come and do nails at theFayre,” Saff offered. “I betyou’d make stacks of extracashthatway.”“I’msorry,love,butIneed

youhere,”saidMum.“You’llhave loads of manicureappointments, thanks to ouroffer. And, Grace, I’ll needyou out front to welcomepeople,andsellproductsonce

they’ve had their treatments,otherwise they tend to justleavewithoutbrowsing.”“Oh, yeah, course,” said

Grace, and Saff gave a littlenodtoo.Summer’s brother Jim

beepedthehornoftheirLandRoveroutside,sowesaidourgoodbyes and had lots morehugs. (Ben’s right – we aretotallygirly!)Thenwesatroundthetable

and looked at our beautiful

new rainbow of products.“TheLondonshopswill lovethese,” Saff said excitedly.“And we’ll have to think ofways to tell our localcustomers about them too –they are unique to us, afterall. You can’t just walk intoanyoldplaceandbuythem.”We all smiled, knowing

that any old place actuallymeant the brand-spanking-newplacedowntheroad.Mum smiled. “My clever,

wonderfulgirls,”shesighed.Grace grinned. “I know

thatthenewspaopeningisn’tgreatnews,but I really thinkwe’ve got it covered now,”she said. “Between ourpromotionandthestallattheAutumn Fayre, I’m surewe’ve done enough to keepour customers, and hopefullyget some new ones too.Thingsaregoingtobefine,Icanjustfeelit.Andofcourse,the London side of the

business should be growingtoo,sosoonwewon’tjustberelying on income fromRainbowBeautyitself.”We looked at each other

and smiled. IfGrace thoughtthings would be okay –cautious, careful Grace –well, then, surely theywouldbe.

On Wednesday when I gotback from school, I wassupposed to be doing myHistory homework. In fact,I’daccidentallyletslipthatitwas due in on Friday and so

Mumwasinsistingonit(Iamquitefamousinourfamilyforleaving schoolworky thingsuntil the absolute lastminuteand then driving everyonemad by stressing out aboutthem). Instead I slouchedaround Rainbow Beauty,lookingforajobtodo.“You won’t find anything

that needs to be ordered,cleaned or sorted out downhere,” said Mum smugly, asshe dried up the smoothie

glasses, leaning on the doorframe of the kitchenette.She’dhada steadystreamofcustomers who’d seen ouroffer leaflets, and peoplewere booking in for the nextfew days too, so she waslooking very happy. “I’vemadesureeverything’sdone,soyou’venoexcusenottogoand get on with thathomework.”It was just looking like I

would really have to go

upstairs and get on with itwhen I decided to see if herhappy mood was happyenough to letme go and seeMarco,justforalittlewhile.“No way,” she said flatly,

whenIsuggestedit.“But,Muuuum,”Imoaned,

“I can’t stop thinking abouthim.Imean,thereisliterally,probablymedically,noactualroom for History homeworkin my head right now! OnceI’ve seen him, I’ll be able to

stop thinking about seeinghim and concentrate on mywork.”“But you’ve seen him all

day!” Mum said, lookingunconvinced.“No, I haven’t,” I insisted.

“Well, only for a tinywhile,atfirstbreak.ApartfromthatI was far too busy EngagingFullyWith My Education togiveanytimetomypersonalrelationships. I do take myfuture very seriously, you

know.”I leaped out of theway as

Mumswatted atmewithhertea towel. “Go on, then. Butmake sure you’re back bysevenandstraighttowork,orI’ll ban you from seeing thatboy!”“Oh, that would be soooo

romantic, like Romeo andJuliet!” I cried as I swannedovertothedoor.“WhichI’vebeen paying full attention toin English, you’ll be pleased

toknow!”“Cheeky madam! Seven,

andnotasecondlater!”Mumcalled, and I gave her anangelicsmileandhurriedoutbeforeshechangedhermind.I was going to text him

first, but Saff had gone outwith Emily and taken oursharedmobile,soIdecidedtojust turn up at his flat, andthentrytherehearsalstudioifhewasn’tin.

Myheart jumped asMarco’sfront door opened and I sawhimstandingthere.“Hey,Abs,”hesaid,giving

mehislazysmile,whichwasactually going a tiny bittowardsgrinningidiot.I was doing total grinning

idiot, of course, and itwas areliefwhenhepulledmeintoa hug. I was just thinkingabout kissing him (well, ofcourse Iwas)whenhismumleaned out of the kitchen

doorway. “Oh, Abbie!” shecried.“Comein,comein.”Marcowrinkledhisnoseat

me. “Do you mind?” heasked.“Course not,” I insisted. I

really liked Sienna – I guessto Marco she was just hisembarrassingmum,buttomesheseemedmorelikeamoviestarorsomething.As we walked past the

livingroom,Iglancedinandspotted Marco’s guitar

propped against the wall.Even the sight of his stuffgavemeahappyglowinside,forgoodness’sake.In the kitchen, there were

three places set for dinner.“Would you like to stay,love?”askedSienna.“It’smyfamouschickenrisotto.”“Oh, yes, please,” I said,

rememberingthatitwashelp-yourself-to-salad night athome. It smelled deliciousand I realized that I hadn’t

eaten anything since thatappleat lastbreak.“ButhowdidyouknowIwascoming?”Iasked,gesturingattheplacesettings.Sienna smiled. “Oh, I

didn’t.It’sfor…”“…my dad,” Marco

finished, justasLukewalkedin.I couldn’t help staring at

him. Luke, I mean. I’d seenan old photo, but even if Ihadn’t, I’d have known he

wasMarco’sdad.Hehadthesame piercing blue eyes, thesame slow, lazy smile. HeheldouthishandandIstaredatitforagesbeforecomingtoand realizing that I wassupposed to shake it. “I’mLuke, nice to meet you,” hesaid.“I’mAbbie,”Imanagedto

stutter.Mymindwas racing.Marco hadn’t mentionedanything about his dad atschool that day. Had he just

turnedupoutoftheblue?DidSiennamind?HowdidMarcofeelaboutit?“Oh,Iguessed,”Lukewas

saying. “Marco can’t stoptalkingaboutyou…”Marco emerged from the

fridge, where he’d beenrummagingfortheParmesan.I grinned at him. “Oh, youcan’t,huh?”Iteased.Helookedsocutestanding

there blushing, holding thismassivewedgeofcheese,that

I wanted to leap over andwraphimupinmyarms.ButI didn’t, obviously. Not infront of his mum. And dad.Hismumanddad.Wow,thatsoundedweird.Luke emptied a bag of

rocket into a bowl and gotsome salad servers from adrawer, then pulled a fewbottlesofwinefromtherackon the counter and looked atthem before choosing one. Icouldn’t help thinking that

Mum would kill Dad if hejuststartedhelpinghimselftothis or that (she barely evenlethimhaveacoffeewhenhecame to our flat), but Siennaacted like everything wasnormal. I guess it was, forher. The way Marco hadexplained it, his dad cameandwentlikethis.“Youdidn’ttellmehewas

coming,” I said softly toMarco, as he poured orangejuiceforustwo.

“Ididn’tknow,”hesaid.“Iwalked in after rehearsaland…”Hemotioned towardsLuke.“What, with no warning,

nothing? Isn’t your mumannoyed?”Marco shrugged. “She’s

usedtoit.”At that moment, Luke

came over to put the saladand the wine on the tablethen, so we couldn’t talkabout him any more. Next,

Sienna put a huge pot ofrisotto in the middle and weallsatdowntoeat.Ithoughtitwouldbereally

awkward, trying to think ofthings to say, but Siennamentioned Rainbow Beautyto Luke, and he asked meabout it and soon I foundmyself telling him about theproblems we were facingwith the new spa on ourdoorstep,andhowwe’dcomeupwithourownpromotionto

counterit.Itriedtostayonmyguard,

but when he said how muchheadmiredusforstartingourown business I couldn’t helpsmiling, andhebeamedbackat me. “I’m sure that HavenSpa issue’s just a blip,” headded. “People like to trynewthings–but they’llsoonfindtheypreferyourpersonalservice and home-madeproducts.”“Absolutely,” said Sienna.

“Noonecanresistthekindofintroductory offers they’remaking, but they can’tpossibly afford to keep thatup. You’ll soon be able tocompete with them on anevenfootingagain.”“Ihopeso,”Isaid.“And you can createmore

new offers all the time,”added Marco. “We can helpputpostersupandstuff.”Ismiledathim.“Thanks.”“That Avocado Body

Butter I bought last time Iwas at your place wasamazing,” Sienna enthused.“You could give one awaywitheachtreatment.”“That’s an idea,” I said,

giving her a smile. “Andyou’re right, you all are.Weprobably shouldn’t be tooworried about it. After all,plenty of people are comingin because of our offeralready.”By the timewe got to the

panna cotta (this yummyItalian set-mousse thing) Ifound myself liking Lukedespitetryingnotto.Well,hewas so like Marco, it wouldhave been hard not to warmtohim.Then we started talking

abouttheband,andLukewasreally keen to hear all abouttheir last gig at the cafe andall thewebsiteandFacebookand SoundCloud interestthey’d had. “Next time you

rehearse, I’d love to comeand have a listen if that’sokay,”hesaid.Marco looked at the table,

but I didn’t have to see hiseyes to know there was hurtin them. I could feel itradiatingfromhim.Iknewhewas remembering all thetimes Luke had promised tocome to things, then notturned up, and all the timeshe’d seemed interested inhim, thendroppedhim likea

stone and gone off again.“We’re not booked into thestudio until Friday so youprobably won’t—” Marcomumbled.“I’ll be here,” said Luke.

He sighed. “Look, I know Ihaven’t stuck around in thepast, but it’s different thistime.Iwantedtocomedownand be closer to you whileI’ve got the chance. In acouple of years, you’ll be allover the place doing who

knows what, touring withyour band, probably. You’llbeway too busy to see youroldman.”Marco glanced up at him,

thenhadanothergoodstareathis pudding. “Yeah, heard itbefore,”hemuttered.“Seriously. I mean it this

time,” Luke insisted. “I’vegot somewhere nearby tostay, and anothermatemighthavea job formeat avenueinExeter, so I’mplanning to

stick around for as long asyou’rehere…ifthat’sokay?”All three of us were

looking at Marco then. Hejust shrugged and said,“Whatever.”Luke sighed. “I know it’s

hard to believe in me, son,”he said. “But it’s differentthis time. I’ll prove that toyou.You’llsee.”Marco didn’t say anything

at all to that. I glanced atSienna, because it seemed

like someone ought to besaying something, but shewas concentrating very hardonherplate,beingcarefulnotto react. I was so gladwhenMarco ended the awkwardsilence by changing thesubject.After supper, I offered to

help clear up, and Marcodragged his dad into thelivingroomtoplayhimsomenewsonghecouldn’tbelievehe hadn’t heard yet. (“Call

yourself a muso?” he’dsneered.) As I cleared thetable, I heard Marco talkingaboutanothernewband.“Oh yeah, they played at

the club a few weeks back,”saidLuke.“Wow, that’s… Iwish I’d

seen them,”Marco stuttered,clearlyimpressed.“Hey,Ibetyou haven’t heard of theseguys yet, though. They’vejust started trending but I’veknown about them for

months…” And he put onanothersong.“CHOON!” cried Luke,

which I didn’t know dadswere allowed to say, butmaybeLukedidn’tcountasaproperdadanyway.“Luke’sreallynice,”Isaid

to Sienna as I stacked theplates up beside the sink. Iglanced at her, still lookingforareactiontothenewsthathewasstaying.Iwonderedifshe’d known that already, or

whether it had been just asmuchofasurprisetoherastoMarco.“Yeah,” she said, pulling

on a pair of washing-upgloves and filling the sink,revealingnothing.“It’snicethathe’ssticking

around,”Iventured.“I’ll believe it when I see

it,” Sienna mumbled. There.That was the reaction I’dbeen scared of. Huge greatalarm bells started going off

inmyhead.“Oh, don’t worry. Marco

won’t fall for it either,” sheassured me, seeing the lookonmyface.“It’sjustthewayLuke is. He’s all or nothing.And at the time, he reallymeansit,aboutchanging,andsticking around. But he’ll goagain.Marcoknowsthat.”“Shouldn’t you, like, say

something?” I said. Yikes, Iwas only supposed to thinkthat.

Sienna stopped the taps,glanced towards the door,then turned to me. Shesighed. “Look, I can’t keepthem from each other,” shesaid, in a low voice. “Iwouldn’t want to – they’refatherandson.AndofcourseI really hope Luke keeps hispromisesthistime.”She smiled at me and I

managed a small smile back,whilethinking,SodoI.“And it’s great that

Marco’sgotyou,”sheadded.“Iwassopleasedtohearyoutwo had sorted things out.He’s been so happy sinceyou’vebeenbacktogether.”I couldn’t help grinning

then. “Me too,” I said. Imanaged to shut my bigmouth before it added, I’mcrazy about him. WhateverhappenswithLuke, I’llneverlethimdown.“Oh, I’ve got something

for you,” Sienna said when

we’d finished the washing-up. She peeled off her pinkrubber gloves and vanisheddown the hallway. A fewminutes later, she came backwith a gorgeous purple scarfwithtasselends.“Iloveditsomuch that I couldn’t resistgetting it, but it’s not mycolour,” she explained. “Itmakes me look like I’ve gotthenorovirus.”Sheheldituptoherselfandpulledaface.“No,itdoesn’t—”Ibegan,

but she waved my wordsaway.“Anyway, I thought it

would really suit you,” shesaid,“sohere.”Shehandedittome.“Wow, are you sure?” I

asked. I put it on straightaway and Sienna noddedapprovingly.“I knew it would look

great,” she said. “But then,you’d look good in a binbag.”

I reallywanted tohugher,butIdidn’tquite(notetoself:get more Italianlyexpressive!) so instead Iended up thanking her loadsinstead.Siennawas going tomake

us all coffee to have in theliving room, but I knew Ireally ought to be back byseven if Mum was going tolet me out anywhere everagain.I explained about my

History homework andthanked her for dinner, andthen told Marco I had tomake a move. We did hugthen,anddotheItalianthree-cheek-kissing thing. And Idid the two-cheek-kissingthingwithLuke(eventhoughwhat I’d really wanted to dowas the I’m-watching-youthingwhereyoupointtoyoureyesandthentheireyeswhilepullingaFaceofSuspicion).Me and Marco went into

the hallway. “I’ll walk youhome,” he said, reaching forhis jacket from the pegs bythedoor.“No,I’mfine,really–you

stay with your dad,” Iinsisted. “Make the most ofhim while…” I stoppedmyself, but it was too late. Icould tell from Marco’sfrown that he was filling intherestofthatsentence.“Youdon’tthinkhe’llstick

around,doyou?”heasked.

I didn’t knowwhat to say.Whatcould Isay?“Well, it’sjust,fromwhatitsoundslike,this is kind of what hedoes…” I mumbled, goingbrightred.“It’s okay,” said Marco,

squeezingmyhand.“I’mnotoffendedor anything. I don’tthinkhe’llstayeither.Buthesays he wants to prove thathe’schanged.He’sneversaidthat before. So I guess we’llsee.”

“Yeah,Iguess,”Isaid.“I mean, you gave your

dad another chance, didn’tyou? Even after everythingthathappened?”I shrugged. “Yeah. I

supposeso.”“Well,then,it’sthesame,”

saidMarco.I smiled. “Sure it is,” I

said.I gaveMarco an extra big

hug, and we had a kiss, butnot a snog-type one, because

his mum and dad (that stillsounded strange) were onlyabout five metres away afterall. It did almost turn into asnog-typeone,butthenIwassure one of them wouldappear any minute, so Imanaged to use all mywillpower to pull myselfaway from him. Then wecouldn’tresisthuggingagain,and having a kiss, and thennearly a snog-type one, andthe whole thing happened

about five times before Ifinallymanagedtogetmyselfoutofthedoor.AsIstrodedownthestreet,

I found myself turning it alloverinmyhead.With my own dad I’d

decided to try and moveforward and not let the pastgetinthewayofthepresent.And I’d persuaded Grace todothattoo.AndSaff.SowhywasIbeingsohardonLuke?Why didn’t Marco deserve

that fresh start? And whydidn’t Luke deserve anotherchance?Becausehe’shad somany chances already, Iheardmyself think.And howmany chances is too many?Whendoyouwalkaway?Andwhenit’ssomeoneascloseasadad,doyouever?

InMedia class on Thursday,SummerandIwereusingtheopportunity to make postersfor my stall at the Autumn

Fayre. Strictly speaking, wewere supposed to beinventing a product and eachusing different methods topromote it.We had seen ourchance and put ourselvesdowntodoaliveeventasourtypeofpromotion.Ofcourse,I’dcreatedtheblueberryfacemask a while ago, but whenI’d asked Mr. Mac if wecould still use it, he’d let usbecause the event was forcharity. I’d made a few pots

ofittheeveningbefore,afterfinishing my Historyhomework (finally,yippeeeee!)andbroughtthemintotakephotos.Jess and Bex from netball

were doing a web page forthe sports support bandagethey’d created, and Josh andAlex were working on aFacebookcampaignforsomekind of secret-recipe saucethey were claiming wouldbecome as big as Reggae

Reggae Sauce (once they’dbeen on Dragons’ Den andgot the investmentmoney ofcourse). Raven and Selimawere working on apromotional video for theirmini-composters, and JakeandMaxhadgoneofftofilmkidsusingtheirdoubleyo-yoaroundtheschool.Ben and Marco were…

well, let’s just say theirproduct was still indevelopment, so right at that

moment they didn’t haveanything to promote. Whileeveryone else was busyworking on the computersalong the side wall, orspreading artwork out on thebig table, or running thingsoff on the massive colourprinter, the boys were beingannoying and distracting meandSummer.“Oh,comeon,Abs.Please

help us,” Ben begged. “Youalways have loads of ideas

and we’ve got literallyzilchio.”“I’vehad an idea!”Marco

protested.“Youjustwon’tdoit,that’sall.”“That’s because it’s

rubbish!”Bencountered.“What was it?” Summer

askedMarco.“Comeon,youcan tell us. Ben’s opinionisn’t the be-all and end-all.You might have come upwiththenextbigthing.”Ben pulled a face at her

andshegavehimtwofingers.“Okay,”saidMarco,giving

Ben a smug look andshufflinghischairclosertousat the computer. “You knowfood,right?”Summer and I looked at

each other and smirked.“Yeah, we are aware offood,”shesaid.Marco ignored that.“Well,

wouldn’t it be good if youcould have your favouritemeals without doing any

cooking?”Iwrinkledmynoseathim.

“Isn’tthatjustcalledgettingatakeaway?”Iasked.Marco sighed. “No, I

mean, in a way that’s easyandcheapandyoudon’thavetowaitfor?So,I’mthinking,cereal,yeah?Whydoesitjusthave to be cereal flavour?People eat it as a snack allday,andafteranightoutandstuff. So how about doingkebab flavour? Or fish and

chips?Youcouldevenhavearoast-dinner one. You know,littledifferent-colouredbitsintheshapeofroastiesandbeefandcarrots.”“I think what you’re

describing is cat food,” Ismirked.“See?”saidBen,rollinghis

eyes.“Thisiswhyyou’vegottohelpus!”Marcoelbowedhimandhe

almostfelloffhischair.“Sorry,butthecerealthing

isawful,”saidSummer.“Totallyyuck!”Iadded.“I’ve thought of a product

you definitely need, though,”said Summer, grinning atBen.“Self-washingsocks!”“Yeah,yeah!”criedMarco.

“Evenbetter, socks thathavea built-in air freshener thatactivates when you move!Abs,youcouldinventthat.Itcould be aromatherapy,” headded,laughing.Ben called him a word I

can’t reallywrite down here,andtriedtopullhischairoutfrom under him.“Aromatherapy socks,” hesaid. “I know you werejoking,but there’s somethingin that. This couldmake ourfortune,mate.Weneeda tagline,though.”“Sweet Feet,” I said, just

offthetopofmyhead.“Cheers, Abs,” said Ben,

scribblingitdown.“Now we’ve done your

workforyou,couldyouletusget on with ours, do youthink?” asked Summer,raising her eyebrows andgivingBenacheekygrin.“Be my guest,” he said,

smiling back. They didn’tstoplookingateachotherforages and somewhere in theback ofmy brain, cogswerewhirring, and thoughts wereforming,andwonderings,likethe ones I’d wondered inEnglish, were being

wondered.But I didn’t have time to

focus on them, becauseSummer had brought ourdraft poster over from theprinter andwas holding it infront of my face. “Boooo-ring!”shedeclared.I had to admit I could see

what she meant. We’duploaded the photos she’dtaken of the face-mask pots,but even half-open to showthelovelybluemixtureinside

and dressed up with a fewblueberries, the poster stilldidn’tlookveryexciting.Wefiddledwiththefontsandtextsize, andMr.Mac suggestedchanging the backgroundcolour, which we tried, butthat didn’t improve it verymucheither.That was when Summer

lookedatmeanddidanotherof her cheeky smiles. “Itwould be more eye-catchingif someone actuallywore the

face mask,” she said. Shenudged me and glancedtowards the boys. I grinnedtoo–havingaboyratherthanagirlontheposterswouldbeevenmore eye-catching, plusitwasagreatchancetowindthemup.Summer wandered over to

thebig tablewhere thesockscampaign was taking shape,and informed Marco that hewasgoingtobethenewfaceof Blueberry Wishes Face

Mask.He smirked, obviously not

taking her seriously. “Whyme?Whataboutyoutwo?”“I’ll be taking the photos

and Abbie’s too busydesigning,”saidSummer.“Yeah, I’m too busy

designing,”Icalled,fromthecomputers, swooshing themouse around and peering atthescreen.“Ben’ll do it. Won’t you,

mate?” saidMarco. “I can’t.

I’mprobably,like,allergictoit.”“It’s all natural

ingredients,” I told him, “soyoushouldn’tbe.”“Oh, come on. It’s for

charity,” said Summer. “Youlook more the sort to use afacemaskthanBen.”“Oh,cheers!”criedMarco.Ben looked smug. “Are

you saying I’m the rugged,manly type?” he said toSummer.

“She’ssayingyoulooklikeatramp,mate,”IheardMarcoreply.ButIwasn’tlookingathim. Iwaswatchingmybestfriend.She’dgoneallredandstuttery when Ben had saidthe rugged-manly thing, andshewas taking a big interestinhershoes.Theywerequiteinteresting – I mean, theywere cool DMs with littleflowers painted on and oneyellowandoneredribbonforlaces – but theyweren’t that

interesting.“No, I just meant that

Marco’s got a more urbanlook than you and—”Summer began, then trailedoff into embarrassedmumbling.Ben was actually blushing

beetroot by then, and alsolooking like he wanted hisplastic chair to magicallyeject him out through theceiling.What ifSummer stilllikedhim(hencethered-and-

stutteriness) and what if heliked her now too (hence thebeetroot-blushing)? (Look atme, saying “hence”! See, I’dSO been listening inEnglish!)Well,thatwouldbejustperfect,wouldn’tit?Tocheckoutmy theory in

a scientific way, I neededmore evidence, so I smiledsweetly and said, “I’vechanged my mind. You’redoing the face-mask poster,Ben. No arguing. Summer,

you get it on him while Ifinishthis.”Well, they both looked

horrified. But they didn’targue.Andtherewasalotofawkward blushing andmumbling and generalembarrassment as Summerapplied the gloopy purplemasktohisface.Actually,I’mnotsurewhat

thatproved.PerhapsBenjustfelt like an idiot (everyonehad cheered and done a big

roundofapplauseasshewasdolloping it on him, whichcan’t have helped). Butmaybe there was more to itthan that. If therewas, Iwasdetermined to find out fordefinite.When the pictures were

done, Ben went to wash theface mask off (whilegrumbling about annoyinggirls and how we so owedhim an iced bun ascompensation at last break),

and Summer came and satdownnexttometoloadthemupontothecomputer.Ididn’tsay anything about Ben toher, though. I was tooterrified about getting itwrong, like I did before thebeach party, and somehowmessing up our group. I’dneed to be totally sure theylikedeachotherbeforeIsaidanything.

I foundmyselfwatchingBen

andSummeronFridaytoo–Ididn’trealizeIwas,butwhentheywere sharing a textbookin Geography, Summersuddenlydidthatgogglyeyesthingatme,asiftosay,Whatareyoustaringat?“Sorry, I’mmilesaway,” I

whispered. “Just thinkingaboutseeingDadtomorrow.”She looked all concerned

then and asked me if I wasfeelingokayaboutthat,andIfelt really bad for fibbing. I

realized when she asked thequestion that actually I wasjust mainly looking forwardtoseeinghim,andIonlyhada tiny bit of the stomach-churning, how-dare-you-wreck-our-familytypefeelingthatIusedtogetallthetime,whenever I even thought ofhim.I hoped Grace and Saff

would be alright too.Well, Imean, they’d both sorted outtheirdifferenceswithhimand

things were all okay on thephone,sotherewasnoreasonwhy they wouldn’t be. In astrange, non-logical way, IwishedMumcouldcometoo,so we could all be togetheragain, andget along just likewe used to. I guess what Ireallywanted to dowas turnback time, to when we werein our cosy, happy house inEaling, laughing and teasingand bustling about andtalkingnon-stop.

But I’d accepted that wecouldnevergoback–andatleast now we had some wayof going forwards. Mum,Grace, Saff and I hadRainbow Beauty, newfriends, the flat and eachother. My sisters and I hadDad back in our lives. Itwasn’tperfect,butitwasourlife now, and I was reallybeginningtoloveit.

On Saturday afternoon, Dadmet Saff, Grace and me atVictoria Coach Station inLondon and we all hadmassivehugs(andDadhadacouple of tears, which Saff

didn’tnoticeandGraceandIpretendednottosee).“Nicelook,Dad!”saidSaff

approvingly, and Iremembered that only GraceandIhadseenhimgobacktobeing suited and booted andsmellingofaftershavelikeheusedto.Wewereexpectingtohead

backtohisflat–well,bedsit–buthehadasurpriseforus.Massimo, the owner of agorgeousvintage-stylebeauty

shopcalledBeau,hadinvitedusintopresentthenewrangeat twoo’clock.We’dpitchedto himbeforewhenwewereselling our Beauty and theBeach range, and he’dordered loads, so Saff and Iwerereallyexcited.ButGracelookedhorrified.

“Dad, it’s already twelve,”she gasped, “andwe haven’teven shown you the newproducts or gone through thepricingoranything!”

“Well, we’d better getcracking then,” said Dad,withagrin.SowefoundanItaliancafe

just down from the coachstation and us three orderedpaninis while Dad got amassive plate of Bolognese.Gracemadehimwear a loadof paper napkins tucked intohis collar in case he got anydownhisshirtrightbeforethepitch.Icouldn’thelpsmiling,watchingherfussoverhim–

I knew just how muchcourage it had taken her togivehimanotherchance.We walked into Beau at

two on the dot and weregreeted like old friends byMassimo himself, with thethree-kisses-on-the-cheekthingthatMarco’smumdoes.He’d made us coffee in aposhcafetièreandtherewerelong, thin biscotti withpistachios and orange peel.He told us how well the

Beauty and the Beach rangehad gone down with hiscustomers, and then wepitchedtheRainbowrangetohim. He loved the conceptand was especially keen ontheRedSpicyDelightBubbleBath and the Blue MassageOil Blend. He took ten eachof those and eight ofeverything else, as well asfiveofthegiftpacks.Saff’s eyes were popping

out–shehadn’tpitchedwith

us before, so she was onlyusedtoseeingpeoplebuyoneor two products at a time.GraceandDadlookedquietlypleased. Over lunch they’dagreed that sixty orderswould be brilliant. Luckily Imanaged to control myselffrom going “Yes!” andpunching the air or doing ahappydanceoranything.After that, Massimo spent

time chatting with us andshowingussomeoftheother

new products he’d got inrecently from differentsuppliers. “Florals mixedwith citrus are trending rightnow,” he told us. “Here,smellthis.”“Citrus – see?” said Saff

smugly to Grace, as hehanded us all little bottles ofhandcream.I was soon lost in the

heady scents of orange,jasmineand…“Isthatrose?”I asked, breathing in the

deliciousscent.“Yes,” said Massimo,

looking impressed. “They’refree samples. Take them ifyoulike.”Then he showed us a new

men’s range he’d ordered.“It’s good quality,” he said,“butIdon’tliketheirscrubasmuch as yours.” (He’ddisplayed our Zingy Limeand Ginger Sea Salt BodyScrubinthemen’ssectionaswellasthewomen’sandnow

itwasallsoldout.)ThatwaswhenIhappened

toglanceatGraceand foundherdoingagogglyeyesthingatme.Aftera fewseconds, Icaught on to what she wasgetting at. “Oh, I’m sure wecanmakeyousomemore,noproblem,”Itoldhim.“Thatwould be fabulous,”

saidMassimo.“Putmedownforten.”“Thank you. We really

appreciateyoursupport,”Dad

said.“It’s a great product,” said

Massimo. “And it’s apleasure forme toencouragenew talents like Abbie.Youngpeoplelikeherarethefuture of the beautybusiness.”Erm, the FUTURE of the

BEAUTY BUSINESS? Me?OMG,withbellson.Itreallyhit me then – I’d started offcreatingafewproductsatthekitchentabletotryandcheer

upMum andmy sisters, andnow I was standing hereselling them to one of thesmartest beauty shops inLondon. I stared at a walldisplay of moisturizers andtried to act normal and nothave a total hysterical freak-out.“Do men spend a lot on

tartingthemselvesupthen?”Iheard Saff asking, when Icame round from my OMGmoment.

“On grooming, yes,”Massimo said, giving her anamusedsmile.“That’s something we

should look into for thefuture,” said Gracethoughtfully.“Wecoulddoawholemen’srange.”“Well, it’sprobably just in

London,” said Saff. “I betsome of the hippy blokesdown where we live don’tevenusesoap!”“Oh, you’d be surprised,”

said Massimo. “Malegrooming is big everywherenow.”“Maybe we could market

some of our products asunisexandselltomentoo…”saidGrace,thinkingaloud.“Youremindmeofmyself

at your age,” Massimo toldher, “always looking for thenextbusinessopportunity.”“Andme.Like father, like

daughter,”saidDadproudly.While Grace was blushing

about a zillion degrees buttrying to look cool about thecompliments, Massimo said,“I’m creating an autumndisplaythemedaroundberriesor spices for the men’swindow, and if you canprovide something alongthose lines, I’ll include it. Ireally like your Red SpicyDelightBubbleBath, but it’sa bit too sweet formen, andthey don’t really buy bathproducts,assuch.”

Weallgapedateachother.Being asked to make abespoke product – what amassive opportunity! Then Irealized that Dad and mysisterswerestaringatme,notjust to go “Wow!”, butbecausetheywerewaitingforme to come up withsomethingonthespot.I know a lot of thingsmy

mouth comes outwith on itsownareembarrassing,butfora change it said something

sensible, i.e., “We couldmake it into a shower gelinstead.”AsMassimonoddedapprovingly I found myselfthinking of Marco’s spicy,woody smell. “And, erm,wecould keep the frankincenseand ginger as they’re thedeeper notes from the Redbubble bath you like, butswap the sandalwood forcedarwood,andbringinsomemusk and cinnamon.” Imanagedtostopmyselffrom

adding, Which is how myBOYFRIENDsmells.Massimo grinned. “I

wouldn’thavethoughtofthatcombination, but it soundsdivine. If you do developsomething,sendmeasampleandwe’llgofromthere.”“Okay, great…thanks,” I

stuttered.Massimohadtoheadoffto

a meeting then, so when theorders were written up andthe deposit paid,we said our

goodbyes and stepped outintothestreet,walkingonair.“Thatwasamazing!”cried

Saff. “He really loved theproducts, and our brand, andus!”“Great, isn’t it?”saidDad.

“When it goes well, sales isthebestjobintheworld!Andhe was right, you are allreallytalented.”“Well, if you don’t mind,

I’m off to be really talentedsomewhere else,” said Saff,

pulling a little mirror fromherbagtocheckherhairandmake-up. “I’m meetingSabrina on Kensington HighStreet and thenwe’re havingdinneroutwiththerestoftheArts Ed lot, so don’t cookanythingforme.”Sheslickedonsomemorelipgloss.“Seeyouguysaboutnine-ish?”“Sure,”Isaid,givinghera

bighug.“Havefun.”“Watch your bag on the

Tube,” said Grace gravely.

“ThisisLondon.”“Yes, where I have lived

formostofmylife,”Safftoldher,pullingaface.Me and Grace were going

straight back to Dad’s withhim. I had thought aboutmeeting Em and Zo thatafternoon but I hadn’t calledthemintheend.LasttimeI’dseen them we hadn’t gelledlikeweusedto,andI’dfoundmyself wishing the timeaway. It was like our lives

had gone in differentdirections. They weren’t thesame, or rather, they were –butIwasn’t.Luckily Emily had loaned

Saff her old phone for theweekend,soDadtoldSaff totexthimwhenshegotofftheTube and he’d walk up andmeet her at the station. Thenweall sawheronto the rightbusandwavedheroff.

When we got back to Dad’s

place,Iwasimpressedtoseethat it was still looking asgoodasSaffandmehad leftit after our cleaning spree.Mum had givenme the pay-as-you-gophonetobring,andIrummagedinmybagforit.Iburst intoahugegrinwhenI saw that there was a textfromMarco.Lookinthesidepocketofyourbag,itread,intexty language.So I did, andfound a bag of lemon dropshidden there, like in

“Somewhere over theRainbow”. I smiled andpopped one into my mouthbefore offering the bag toGrace. It really did feel likemy troubles were meltingaway, like it said in thesong–we’ddealtwiththenewspaopening, and the Londonorders would be piling insoon enough. Perhaps we’dbeabletopayMr.Vulmersixmonths’ rent in advanceratherthanthree–thatwould

giveusevenmoresecurity.Wewere really hungry by

half five (even Dad, evenafter thetonofspagbolhe’deaten for lunch), so I gotinventivewithhishalf-emptyfridge and made somecheese-and-mushroomomeletteswithloadsoftoast.After we’d eaten, Grace

and Dad went back todesigning the web page. Ihelped them as much as Icould by writing out all the

product information for thenewrange,aswellascomingup with a few linesintroducing the RainbowBeauty brand. But at abouthalfeightIcollapsedinfrontofthetelly,happytoseethemworking so closely together,both with the exact samelooksoffrownyconcentrationontheirfaces.We were all surprised

when the bell rang an hourlater and it turned out to be

Saff. Dadwent to let her in,and followedher back to thesitting room, saying, “But,love, why didn’t you text? IsaidI’dcomeandmeetyou.”“It’s no big deal,” she

mumbled.Whensheaskedwho’dlike

tea,GraceandIsaid“Hi”and“Yes please”. But from theway shewasbanging aroundinthekitchenette,Istartedtowonder what was up. Gracedidn’t seem to notice

anything, though, and soonshe and Dad were side byside at the little table,engrossedinthewebsitestuffsgain. Saff came in and puttheteadown,glancedatthemandwentoutagaininsilence.Ithankedherforminebutshedidn’t even seem to hear.Then suddenly, completelyout of nowhere, she stormedback into themain roomandwentintomeltdown.“Well, Ididn’t thinkyou’d

forgetsoquickly,Grace,”shesnarled. “Don’t you feel likeyou’re betraying Mum,cosyingupwithhim?”“Saff, what’s going on?”

Graceasked,lookinguneasy.But Saff didn’t reply.

InsteadsheturnedonDad.“Oh,you think it’sall fine

now, don’t you?” shesnapped. “You’ve got us allback, like nothing happened.Andnowyou’regettinginonour new business too – how

perfectforyou!”For a moment Dad just

stared at her, and I thoughthe’d say something to calmher down. But then he justexploded.Grace and I staredateachotherinalarm.Itwassounlikehimtofightback.“No, I’mnothaving that!”

he shouted. “Nothing’s fine.Nothing’s right. I miss youthree every second of everyday. I’m even missing younow you’re here because I

knowthattomorrowyou’llbegone and God knows whenI’llseeyouagain.”Saff looked really taken

aback.“Dad,I—”shebegan.But by then words were

pouring out of him. “I regreteverything that’s happened,and I feel so, so guilty and Iwish I could change things,but Ican’t,and thatkillsme.AndifyouwanttoknowwhyI’m so engrossed in YOURbusiness, it’s because I’m

desperate to do everything Ican to helpmake itwork foryou. And…and…” Hefaltered, and shook his head,like he’d decided not to sayanythingmore.ButthenGracespoke.“Go

on,”shesaidgently.Dad sighed. “And because

I’mterrifiedthatifIdon’tgetup and showered and shavedand started on all this thesecond I wake up in themorning, I’ll go back to

where Iwasbefore Igot thischance.Backdownthatblackhole. Feeling pathetic anduseless. Or worse, feelingnothing at all, some days.Andthatwasaverydarkandscary place, where I neverwanttobeagain.”Myheartstartedpounding,

hearing him say that. Ithought back to how thebedsitwaswhenIfirstsawit– filthy and dingy, withrubbish everywhere and the

curtains closed in themiddleof the day. Dad had been amess too – unshaven, withdirty old clothes on andhardlyabletomakehimselfacupoftea.Saff had been there too,

hadseenthestateofhim,andnow she looked horrified.“Dad, I’m so sorry. I didn’tmeanit,”shegabbled.“IhadnoideaIevenfeltthatway.Imean, I don’t feel that way,notusually.Allthatjustcame

out…”Dad sighed. “I’m not

tellingyouthis to tryandgetsympathy,” he told her.“You’ve every right to beangry – to feel however youfeel. I’m just saying itbecause it’s a fact.” Herubbed his hands over hisface and sighed. “Look, I’mgoing for a walk. Just for afew minutes. I need a bit oftime alone, okay?”Andwiththat he strode out without

even picking up his jacket. Ithinkhewasabouttocry,andhedidn’twantustosee.After the door had shut

behindhim,Saff,GraceandIwere just silent for a while.Wewereinshock,Ithink.Finally,Gracesaid,“Look,

Saff,it’snotthateverything’sbeen forgiven andforgotten…”Saff flopped down on the

sofaand Iputmyarm roundher. “I know,” she said. “I

wish I hadn’t said all thatnow, but when I saw youall… Well, this anger justboiled up inside me. I reallythought I was fine with Dadnow. It just came out ofnowhere.”“Youprobablyjustwanted

to be fine so much that youreally thought you were,” Isaid.Saff shrugged. “I guess I

feel much more angry abouteverything than I realized,”

shesaid.“Must have been hanging

out with all those stage-school kids tonight,” Gracejoked, “bringing out yourinnerdramaqueen.”She was only trying to

make Saff smile, but Saffsaid,“Maybeitwas,inaway.Seeing my friends againmade me realize just howmuch I miss my life here.And then coming in andseeing Dad there with you

two, like everything wasokay,whenhe’dtakenallthatfrom me, taken everythingfromallofus…”“He couldn’t help his

business failing,” I saidsoftly.“Iknow,buthecouldhelp

lying about it, and having anaffair,and leavingMum,andforgettingtomentionthat thehouse was about to berepossessed.” The angerrushedintohervoiceagain.

“We’reallstillupsetaboutwhat happened,” said Grace.“Itisabigdeal,Saff,toallofus.Noone’stakingitlightly.We’re just trying to find awaytomoveon,that’sall.”“I know,” Saff mumbled.

“And I know Dad’s tryingreallyhardtomakethingsupto us. Oh, I wish he hadn’tgone off like that. I reallywanttotalkitoverwithhim.”Wewaited up for awhile,

butDaddidn’t comeback. It

gotcoldandwecouldn’tfindthe heating control, so justafter half ten we all climbedinto the saggy old bed withthescratchybrowncoverandsnuggledtogether.Saff and Grace fell asleep

after a while but I couldn’tbecause,forastart,theyweretaking up all the space and Iwashangingofftheedge,butmainlybecauseIwasworriedabout Dad. Just as I wasabout towakemysistersand

suggest calling the police orsomething,hecreptbackin.“Dad!” I gasped with

relief. “Thank God! You’vebeen over an hour! I wasstartingtothinkallsorts…”“Sorry, love,” he

whispered. “Once I startedwalking, I couldn’t seem tostop. I just had to clear myhead, that’s all. I’m stillstruggling…But I knowyougirlsaretoo.It’snoexcuse.”I slid out of the bed and

tiptoed over to him. I gavehimabighugandhehuggedme back. “Look, Saff didn’tmeanthosethings,”Ibegan.“Yes, she did,” he said

flatly.“Well, okay, she did, but

she didn’t mean only thosethings. Look, talk to her inthemorning.”Dad gaveme another hug.

“What would I do withoutyou,Abs?”hesaid.“You don’t have to worry

about that, because you’llnever be withoutme,” I toldhim.“Oh,love…”hebegan,but

then there didn’t seem to beany more words, so we justsmiled at each other in theorange glow from the streetlightoutside.Now I knew that he was

safely home I just felt soexhaustedIhadtosleep.SaffandGracehadexpanded intothe entire bed space by then,

so Dad insisted I have thesofa. He lay on the ruginstead,usinghisjacketforablanket, claiming that thefloor was the best thing forhisdodgybackanyway.“Night,Dad.Iloveyou,”I

toldhim,alreadyhalfasleep.“I love you too, Abs,” he

said. His voice went a bitwobbly, and in my mind Icould see the tears slidingdownhischeeks.

Well, as you can imagine,thingswereabitawkwardonSundaymorning.Dadseemeddetermined to be cheerful,though, and when Saff triedto say sorry again, he justbrushed it off. “I reallywantus toenjoy the timewehavetogether,”hesaid.“I’vebeensolookingforwardtoit.Let’sjust have a lovely morning,okay?”“Okay,” said Saff, looking

relieved.

“So,” said Dad, “yourcoachisn’ttillhalftwo,isit?There’sawholebig,beautifulcity out there – what wouldyouliketodo?”“Shopping!” cried Saff.

Predictable.And then of course we all

got carried away, suggestinglunchout in theWestEnd, amovie, a trip on the LondonEye…“Well, that’s all out of

budget,” said Dad, “but I

knowwherewecanhavejustas much fun for free. Comeon.”“Where are we going?”

Saffdemanded.“Surprise,” said Dad,

winking at her.He pulled uphis cuff to check his watchand his silver cufflinkchinked against it. This wasour old dad back again –smart, savvy and completelyin control. “Grab your stuff,there’sabusintenminutes.”

Dad kept the surprise tohimselfallthewayintotownand we were really excitedwhenheherdedusoffthebusat Covent Garden. As welinkedarms in abig lineandheaded into the crowdedpiazza,Dad said, “Etvoilà –all the shops, entertainmentanddelicious foodyoucouldwant. Well, window-shopping, street theatre andCornishpasties,anyway.”“Greatidea,”Itoldhim,as

Saff dragged me off to lookinOasis.Wetriedonhalftheshop and had a real laugheven though we couldn’tafford anything, while Dadand Grace browsed in thebookshop just down thestreet. Then we met up andgot steaming coffee andpasties, and ate them whilewatching this brilliant swordswallowing-juggling-comedyactbythechurch.After that, we walked

round the different levels ofthe piazza, looking in all thelittle shops and stalls, and ofcoursewespentagesinLush.I was in heaven surroundedbyallthegorgeousproducts.When we came out, we

foundSaffwaitingoutsideforus,eyeingupaladandgivinghimhermostflirtysmile.Hewas just coming over whenDad appeared in the shopdoorway, immediatelyclocked what was going on

and gave him such a death-stare thatheprettymuchranintheotherdirection.“Oh, thanks very much,

Dad!”saidSaff,pouting.“No one looks at my

princess like that,” Dadgrumbled, still glaring at theboy as he disappeared roundthecorner.Well, Saff couldn’t help

smiling, and she onlypretended to be put out forabout two more seconds

before taking Dad’s arm andleadinghimofftolookinthewindow of Ted Baker. Ismiled too, glad that thingswere okay between themagain.As Grace and I followed

behind, talking about whichthingswe’dlikedthemost inLush, I felt a huge wave ofhappiness inside me. I justloved the buzz ofLondon somuch and clearly my sistersdidtoo.

ButIdidn’tloveitasmuchasTotnes,Irealized.Infact,Iwas already starting to lookforward to seeing Marco thenext day at school, andSummerandBen.Andtomeand my sisters all squashingup on our revolting brownsofa and getting an updatefromMumonhowthingshadgone at Rainbow Beautywhilewe’dbeenaway.I’dalreadystartedthinking

about how to package the

men’s shower gel forMassimotoo,andIwaskeentoget startedonworkingoutexactly the right combinationof essential oils to make itreally deep and rich. Icouldn’t help smiling tomyself. Here was the wholeofLondonspreadoutinfrontofme,and itwasgreat–butitwasn’thome,notanymore.Home was our shabby littleflat. Home was RainbowBeauty, andCavendishHigh,

and Marco and my friends.Homewas gorgeous, slightlycrazyTotnes.

Wewereallabitquietonthecoach, and I thought maybeGrace and Saff were stillgoingoverwhatSaffhadsaidto Dad, like I was, andwondering when they’d seehimagain.Wecheeredupaswe walked back to the flat,though, imagining Mum’sfacewhenwe told her about

the visit to Beau and whatMassimo had said about ournew range, and about himreordering the lime andginger scrub, and actuallycommissioning me to comeupwith amen’s shower gel.We burst in at about nine,brimming with chatter, onlyto find Mum sitting at thekitchen table, staring intospace, looking ragged withexhaustion.“I knew I should have

stayedtohelpyou,”Icried.“Don’t be silly, love,” she

said.“I’mjusttired,that’sall.I’mgladyouwent.Now, tellmeeverything.”Grace started talking

through our new orders andwhatMassimo had said, andSaff asked if there was anysuppergoing.“Oh, I haven’t even

thought about eating,” Mumsaid. “Sorry, girls. I don’thave anything in. I could

probably rustle up a bit ofcheeseontoast…”“You stay there,” I told

her.“Saffcangetit.”“Oh,yeah.Saffcangetit!”

my sister grumbled, openingthe fridge anyway. “Saffwho’s been busy all day,looking fabulous and beingirresistible to boys! I’m theonewho’sexhausted.”Mumbarelysmiledatthat,

and then only nodded alongas Grace told her about the

shower gel costings.Although my sisters seemedtohave taken it at facevaluethat she was just tired, Istarted to get an uneasyfeeling. For a start, shelooked all pale and trembly,and like she was about toburstintotearsatanyminute.“Mum, if something was

up, you’d tell us, wouldn’tyou?”Isaid.She sighed deeply and

tears sprang into her eyes.

“Oh,Abbie…Iwashopingtokeep it to myself untiltomorrowatleast,but…Isawthistoday.”She pushed the local free

paper towards me. It wasfolded over at a full-pageadvert for the Haven Spa.“Half-price body treatments,plus free manicure,” I read,and nearly choked withshock.Saff gasped. “They’ve

copied our promotion, pretty

much!”shecried.“Right,thisis war! Let’s match theiroffer.No, let’sbetter it!Thatwill show them where theycansticktheir—”“We can’t afford to,”

Gracecutin.“Anyway, they’ve done a

price promise,” I said,handing the paper across toher. “Just to make sure wecannevercompetewiththemonthatscore.Look.”Saff read, “We pledge to

match or better the prices oftreatments and thepromotional offers of anyother beauty establishmentwithin a three-mile radius.They’re talking about us!This is a direct attack!” shecried. “We need to go downthere, Mum. Have a wordwith them. They can’t dothis!”Mumsighed.“Iunderstand

howyoufeel,love,”shesaid,“but technically they haven’t

done anything wrong.They’re just promoting theirbusiness.”Saff sighed sharply and

was about to say somethingelsewhenMumadded,“Andwe’ll just look silly ifwe goand fling accusations about.Promise me you’ll stay wellawayfromthere.”Saffdidn’tanswerforages,

butMumkepteyeballingheruntil she huffed, “Fine. Ipromise.”Butshedidn’tlook

atallpleasedaboutit.“The paper came out on

Thursday, so that explainswhat happened,” Mum saidthen.“What? What happened?”

Gracedemanded.Mumsighed.“Thingswent

very quiet on the offer frontonThursdayafternoonand itwas the same on Friday. Ididn’t say anything to yougirls,becauseIthoughtitwasjust a lull, and that lots of

peoplewouldwalkinwithoutbooking.Buttheydidn’t.”“But you said things had

been fine!” I cried. “I askedyou, both nights, and yousaid!”“Why didn’t you tell us?”

Gracemurmured.“Iwouldhave,butIdidn’t

think there was anything toworry about,” Mum insisted.“I thought I’d have a busySaturday, with Emily rushedoff her feet doing the free

manicures, and everythingwould be fine. But only onemoreladyranguptobookinon Friday. And I didn’t getany more bookings onSaturday,soitwasveryquietin the end. And two of thebookings didn’t actually turnup,whichwas evenworse. Igoteverythingreadyandthenfelt awful as the minutesticked by and I realized theyweren’t coming. And thenI’vebeenhereonmyownall

today, worrying andwondering about thatbloomingHavenSpa.”“Poor you. It must have

beenawful,”Isaid.Mum sighed. “It gets

worse, I’m afraid… I wentfor a walk round town thisafternoon, to clear my head,and I saw that they’ve puttheir offer posters right overourleaflets—”“They can’t do that!” Saff

gasped. “Right, I don’t care.

I’mgoingroundthere—”“No, you are not!” Mum

cried. “I knowhowyou feel,though. I was furious too. Imean, it wasn’t just on thetreesandlampposts–they’ddone it on the noticeboardswhere there was plenty ofroom for both. That wasdeliberate,nastysabotage.”I thought of all our hard

work–Marcotrudgingroundtown with the leaflets, Bengoing up to Dartington

specially and Summerhappily taking a stack to putround the village near herhouse. It really did feel likethe new spa was personallyattacking us. Grace stillhadn’tsaidanything.Shejustlookedpaleandshocked.“If they’re going to be so

aggressive, I’m just worriedthat…” Mum began. Thenshe waved her hands in theair, blinking fast.We waitedfor her to carry on, but she

shook her head and let thetears roll down her cheeks.My heart lurched and I putmyarmroundher.“You’re worried that they

won’t stop until they’ve putus out of business,” Gracesaidflatly.Mum nodded, sniffling.

“I’vehad todip intoour rentfund already, just to pay thatsupplier invoice that wasdue,” she murmured. “Ithought I’d easily be able to

find the money from theweek’s takings, but therewasn’t enough left after all.I’ve cut our housekeepingbudget, and only ordered theminimumofthenewsuppliesweneedforRainbowBeauty,butstill…”“Dirty tactics, that’s what

thisis,”Saffgrumbled.“They won’t wreck

everything we’ve workedfor,”Isaidfirmly.“Wewon’tlet them. We’ve got the

London orders coming,remember? And as forRainbow Beauty itself, wejust need to come up with anew idea to get peoplethroughthedoor.Notanotheroffer that theHavenSpawillbeatormatch,but somethingdifferent – something thatplaystoourstrengths.”“You’re right,” saidMum,

managingasmallsmile.“Like what, though?”

asked Grace. All three of

them looked at meexpectantly, waiting for theanswer tocometumblingoutofmymouth.But it didn’t. At that

moment my creative brainseemed to have crawledunder the duvet, put itsheadphonesonandgoneforaverylonglie-down.Iguessedwe should do the same.“Let’s sleep on it,” I said.“We’re bound to come upwith something in the

morning.”So we all slopped around

getting ready for bed, ourexcited mood completelygone.

Itwasnice to seemy friendson Monday, but not evenBen’s jokes, Summer’s hugsorMarco’s arm roundme aswe walked between lessonscould make me feel better.

Theywere all really shockedabout the Haven Spa’shardball tactics. They weregutted for me when Iexplained that people hadstopped coming in for ouroffer (and in fact seemed tohave stopped coming in, fullstop)andtheywerealmostasworried about our rent fundasIwas.Marcogotreallyangryand

macho and said we shouldsue, Ben offered to go up

there and come back withsome dodgy illness, butSummerunderstoodthattherewasn’t a lot we could dobecause, like Mum said, onpaper the new spa offeredsimilar things to us and hadthe right to promote them inwhichever way they liked,even though it felt like apersonalattack.Marco asked me if I

wanted to go into town withhim after school (he was

meeting Luke at Pete’s cafe,wherethegighadbeen)butIsaid I couldn’t. My sistersand I hadn’t been able tocome up with a plan tocombat the new spa’saggressive tactics, but aswe’d set off down the roadtogether that morning, we’dthoughtofsomethingtocheerMumup,atleast.So,assoonas thebellwent,Graceand Ihurried straight home to putourplanintoaction.

Mumwasstillinoneofthetreatmentroomswithaclientas we got things ready, andSaff joined us half an hourlater, bursting in and sayingshe’drunalltheway,even inthese shoes, to be on timeafter the stupid buswas late.GraceandIhadbeen tidyingthe parlour so that Mumwouldn’thavetodoanything,andSaffhelpedusfinishthatoff. Mum came out a fewminutes later, and cheerfully

madeup her client’s bill andthen saw her out, beforecollapsingintoaheapononeof the purple velvet sofas.“Oh,I’vehadaterribleday,”shewailed.“Therewerethreecancellations…”“Oh,Mum,I’msosorry!”I

cried.As Grace, Saff and I

listenedtothedetails,Ihadadeepening feeling of doom.Even with all our RainbowBeauty powers, the storm

cloudhangingoverMumwasso big and black, I didn’tthinkwehadahopeofliftingit.“It was probably just a

coincidence that theycancelled,”Saffsaidblithely.IknowshewasjusttryingtocheerMumup,butGraceandIbothcringed.“Of course it wasn’t!”

Mumsnapped.“Howcanyounotbeworried?Welostoverhalf our bookings today, and

therestoftheweekislookingverypatchy.”“Of course I’m worried,”

Saff snapped back. “Butgetting all moody about itisn’tgoingtohelp!”“Moody?” Mum cried.

“Saff, I’m not sulking. I’mdevastated!”BeforeSaffcouldopenher

mouth and say anything tomake Mum even morestressed, Grace dragged herinto the kitchenette.

Meanwhile, I foundaway tosendMumoff up to the flat,claiming that I couldn’t findthe stock sheets anywhereandsayingthatshemusthaveleftthemsomewhereupstairs.When she’d gone (well,

stomped off, complainingabout me losing things) werushed around getting thesurpriseready.Afewminuteslater she stormed back downagain. “Well, they aren’t upthere,” she snapped. “You’ll

havetogoandborrowLiam’sprinter and run off somemore. Honestly, Abbie, thatpoorman’shelpedusenoughwithoutyouhavingtogoandask for something else. Hemust be sick of the sight ofus…”She trailed off and

gradually took in what we’ddone. There were candleseverywhere, and soft musicwas playing. She’d marchedright past Grace and Saff,

whowerestandingeithersideof the door. Grace had aspecialsmoothieonatrayforher and Saff was holding afluffy dressing gown andslippers. “Surprise,” we allmumbled, feeling like thewhole thing was a bitpointless.Mum gasped and put her

hands to her mouth. Tearssprang into her eyes. “Oh!”she gasped, her voice goingallwobbly.

“We wanted to dosomething special foryou,” Itoldher.“To show how much we

appreciate everything youdo,” added Grace, walkingover and handing her thedrink.“It’s pineapple and

blueberry, your favourite,”saidSaff,inasadlittlevoice.“Oh, come here!” Mum

cried, pulling her into a hug.“I’m sorry I snapped at you,

love.”Saffsmiledandhandedher

the dressing gown andslippers. “Don’t worry aboutit,” she said generously(usually she’dmilk it and besulky for at least an hour).She gestured towards thetreatment room we’dprepared, and put on thesoothing professionalbeauticianvoice sheused forclients. “If you’d like to goand get changed and then

make yourself comfortable,Mrs. Green, your therapistswill be with you in amoment.”Mum raised her eyebrows

at Grace and me, andwandered off, sipping herdrink as she went. After amoment,we all followed herin. In the treatment room,there were more candles,relaxing music, and a blendof rose and geranium oils intheburner.

“Oh, my favourite scent,”shesaid,takingadeepbreath.“You’re having the same

oils for your massage too,”said Saff. “Right, up on thetable please, madam.” Mumlay down with no arguing.“Then there’s a luxurypedicurewithourOliveGrainFoot Scrub and SoothingMinty Foot Lotion, whichAbbie’s doing, while Gracelooks after your nails, andgives you a hand massage

with our skin-saving Carrotand Calendula Hand Balm.I’ve taught her everything Iknow. She’s getting verygood.”“That sounds great, but

what about your homework,Grace?”saidMum,sittingupagain. “It’s alwaysMaths onaMonday,isn’tit?”My sister smiled sweetly.

“Luckily I’m very, verybright, so I’ll just quickly doit in the loos before school

tomorrow,” she said. “Now,laybackandrelax–that’sanorder.”

Acoupleofhourslater,Mumwas swanning around in thedressing gown, smilingserenely. She looked like acompletelydifferentperson.“That was an amazing

treat, girls. Thank you somuch,” she said, as weheaded off (she was sorelaxed that she didn’t even

care about walking out thefrontdoortogouptotheflatstillinthedressinggown).Iwas just locking up after

us, and looking in at ourgorgeous beauty parlour, andMumwas in thestreet inherdressing gown, beaming andwaving to Mr. Trewis fromthe corner shop, whensuddenlyitcametome…I knew how we were

differentandspecial.AndIknewwhatwecould

do to compete against thenewspa.“Mum, I’ve got a plan,” I

saidsuddenly.GraceandSaffturned back to listen. “Weshould put on a pamper day,with a really personal,community feel,” I told themall.“Everyonewillget toseetheir friends and meet newpeople, have treatments andtry out our products, andwecould do a massagedemonstration so they can

haveagoathome,andwe’llputonabuffetlunchtoo.Thenew spa may have the latestequipment, but they don’thavewhatwehave–us!”“Wow,Abbie, that’s a fab

idea,” said Saff, straightaway.“Iagree,”saidGrace.Then

she added, “We’ll need tothink about how much tochargeforit,though,becausethey’d probably want to justpayasetprice,wouldn’tthey,

foreverything,and—”“It is a great idea, love,”

Mum cut in. “But do youthink we could discuss itupstairs,because I’mstartingto feel a bit silly standing inthe street in this dressinggown!”Soweallhurrieduptothe

flatandIgrabbedanotebookfrommychill-outroomwhileSaffkickedhershoesoffandput the kettle on. Mum gotchanged and Grace got out

her beloved calculator andbegan sharpening her pencilstoneatpoints.Thenweallsatdown and worked out thedetailsofthepamperday.Myheart was thudding withexcitement. I love it whenideas just happen, likemagic– it makesme feel charmed,andinvincible.“So, Abbie, say what you

said downstairs and let’swrite each point outseparately, so we can talk

aboutit,”saidMum.“Okay, well, there would

be a chance to try out theproducts,” I said. “Andwhatabout teaching them how tomakethesmoothiesandfreshfacemasks?Andeachpersoncould have a mini-treatment,likeaheadmassage,facialormanicure–maybetheycouldchoose from a list of four orsomething.Wecoulddothemin themain receptionaswellas using the treatment

rooms.”“Hang on!” Mum cried.

“What was that last one?Manicure?” she asked. Inodded and she wrote itdown.“We’d put on lunch,” I

continued. “You could makeyourlovelycanapés, likeyoudidforthegrandopening.”“That sounds great!” Saff

enthused.“It does,” Mum agreed.

“Oh, Abbie, thank goodness

foryou!Forallofyougirls!Iwas feeling so down today,andyou’vecompletelyturnedthingsaround.”“Ijusthopeitworks,”said

Grace.“It will,” said Saff

confidently. “People lovebeing pampered with theirfriends.”I smiled. “Look, I know

we’ve been badly hit by thisnew spa, but we’ve workedso hard to get Rainbow

Beauty up and running,nothing’s going to stop usnow.”“Ihate tosay this,butone

pamper day isn’t going tomake everything better,”Grace began. “We’re behindonourrenttargetsnow.Waybehind…”“I know,” I told her. “But

it’s a start. And if it goeswell, we could have one amonth. And don’t forget theorders from the London side

–they’llbecominginsoon.”“Flooding in, I bet,” said

Saff. “It went so well withMassimo, I’m sure it will bethe same with the othershops. Dad’s had threemoreappointmentstoday–he’llberacking up orders as wespeak. Maybe I should ringhimtogetanupdate…?”“Do if you like,” I said,

“butIknowhe’sgotmeetingsbooked in for tomorrow andWednesday too. Maybe we

should leave him to it fornow.He’sprobablytravellingback to his flat at themoment.”“Okay,”saidSaff.“We won’t let this beat

us,”ItoldGrace.“Noway.”“Let’s do the ticket sales

justbywordofmouth,andatthe Autumn Fayre, though,”she said. “No posters oranything. If they getwind ofthis at the new spa, they’lljustdosomethingtosabotage

it.Weneedtobeclever.”“Good thinking,” I said,

andMumandSaffagreed.We decided to hold the

pamper day on the first ofOctober, so that we didn’tclashwiththebigartsfestivalintowntheweekbefore.Saffhad wanted to do it rightawaythefollowingweek,butMum was worried wewouldn’thaveenoughtimetosellallthetickets–andweallagreed it had to be sold out.

Wesettheticketpriceat£25,including lunch and a mini-treatment, and agreed to tryandsellfifteentickets.Then Mum said, “Right,

now that’s sorted, howaboutsometea?”Andwhenwe sat down to

eathalfanhourlater,Ididn’tmind that all the posh bitswere missing from ourcannelloni and it was justtomato pasta again. We hadthe London shops (I’d just

sent the shower-gel sampleofftoMassimoalongwiththeten lime and ginger bodyscrubshe’dordered), andwewere expecting big thingsfrom Dad’s pitches. Andnow, with the pamper-dayplan in place, we hadsomethingspecialtoofferourlocal clients, too. We weresurewe’dget therentmoneytogether in time, and get ourmozzarellaandcrèmefraicheback!

Getting on with the pamper-day stuff gave me a goodfeeling for all of Tuesday,and it lasted most ofWednesday too. I was alsobusycountingdownthehoursuntil we heard back fromDad. His last appointmentwas at four o’clock that dayand he’d promised to call usstraightafter.LikeGracehadsaid, the pamper day was astepintherightdirection,butitwastheLondonordersthat

would keep us afloat, andmake up the main chunk ofourrentpayment.GraceandIrushed back from school andSaffgotinjustafterus.Thenitwas prettymuch a case ofall fourofushovering roundthe phone on the receptiondesk.When it finally rang, Isnatcheditup.“Hi,love,”saidDad.“Dad! Thank goodness!” I

cried, automatically hittingthe button for speakerphone.

“So, did they love the newrange?”“How are the figures

looking?” Grace cut in,grabbing up a pen and somepaper from the receptiondesk. “Have we hit ourtargets? I know we wereaiming for 200 initial orders,but I’m hoping it’ll be morelike300.”“Ihave to stopyou there,”

said Dad in a weary voice.“I’mafraidIhaven’tgotgood

news. I’ve been to all mypitches now, and at everysingle one they told me thesame thing. It seems thatcommitting to a year-roundrange is much more difficultforthemthanwe’drealized–our Beauty and the Beachproducts went into theirpromotionalspace,andthat’llbefilledwithChristmasstuffsoon, which they’ve alreadychosen. To get permanentshelf space is much harder,

apparently.”“But Massimo loved

them!”Icried.“Iguessweshouldn’thave

relied on the opinion of onesingle retailer,” said Dad.“We should have checkedwith a few more. Well, I’vedonethatnow,andtheresultshaven’tbeengood.”“Sowhatareyousaying?”

asked Saff anxiously.“They’ve still taken some,haven’t they?Evenif it’snot

asmuchaswe’dhoped?”Dad sighed deeply. “The

rainbow theme didn’t reallyhelp,”hesaidthen.“Theyfeltthey’d need to take some ofeach product to line themupnicelyasarainbow,andthenif some sold through quickerthan others it would be leftlookingbitty.”IreallythoughtIwasgoing

tothrowupthen.“Isuggestedthe core range, and had therainbow idea,” I stuttered.

“Thisisallmyfault.”“Don’t be silly,” Mum

cried, putting her arm roundmy shoulders. “We allagreed.Your dad and I havemore business experiencethan you, so if anything,weshould have thought of theseissues.”“We should have done

citrus,” said Saff.Unhelpfully.“We should have just

concentrated on the gift sets

instead of trying to sellindividual products, so theywereall complete rainbows,”saidGrace.We stared at her. Shewas

right.I groaned. “Why is it that

thingsyoucompletelymissatthe time seem obviousafterwards?”“We all missed it,” said

Mum. “Everyone makesmistakes in business. It’slearning from them that

matters.” She smiled at me.Well,shetriedto,butitwentall wobbly. She was right –about making mistakes, Imean. But would we havetimetolearnfromthem?“Dad, you didn’t answer

the question,” Saff said then.“Howmanyorders?”There was a long pause.

“I’m afraid only two shopshave actually orderedanything,”hemuttered.Therewasstunnedsilencefromour

side. “And you’re right,Grace,” he said. “They didonly go for the gift packs.Oneshopwouldlikefiveandtheother,three.”“Eight?” I gasped. “Is that

it?”Mystomachdroppedintomy shoes. The future ofRainbow Beauty was ridingon the London orders. Thiscouldn’tbehappening.“The gift pack product

sizes are smaller, so there’smuch less profit when you

factor in all the packaging,”said Grace. “We’re hardlygoingtomakeanymoney!”“I’m sorry, love,” said

Dad, and I heard his voicebreak a little. It must havebeen tearing him up to haveto give us such bad news. “Itriedmybest,Ipromiseyou.”“I know you did,” I said

quickly. “We all know youdid.”“Yes,wedo,”saidSaff.“Yeah,”Gracemumbled.

Mum didn’t say anything.Shejustlookeddazed.“It was my fault. The

product was wrong,” Imuttered.“No, it wasn’t,” Dad said

firmly.“Whatyourmumsaidwas right –we all agreed onourstrategy.”“And don’t forget,

Massimo liked them as theywere,”Saffremindedme.“We can tweak the range

now we’ve got feedback,”

saidGrace.“We’lljustdogiftpacks of all seven products,and make the sizes a bitbigger.”“I don’t think I’ll get

anotherchancetoselltheminto those shops,” said Dad,“and the big stores haven’tevenreturnedmymessages.”“Well, then you’ll have to

—”Mumbegan.“Idid go in,” he snapped,

cutting her off, “but thebeauty-department buyers

refused to seemewithout anappointment. It’s sofrustrating! How am Isupposed to arrange one iftheydon’treturnmycalls?”I felt really sick and

worried then. For thebusiness, but for Dad too.This had obviously knockedalltheconfidenceoutofhim.What if he got himself backintheawfulstatehe’dbeeninwhenSaffandIfirstsawhiminthebedsit?

“Libertyholdsanopencallfornewsupplierseveryyear,”I said, trying to findsomethingpositivetosay.“True,”Dad said. Then he

sighedloudly.“Nextspring,Ithinkit is.Look,don’tworryaboutthis.Ifyousenduptherevisedrainbowgiftpackandcostings, I’ll just cast the netwider.”Wecouldalltellhowdisheartenedhewas,though.“Well, did Massimo like

theshowergel?”Iasked,ina

tinyvoice.“Yes, love, he did,” said

Dad,“andhe’dliketenmoreplease,sothat’ssomething.”“Good,” I mumbled.

Usually it would have beenfantastic. But coming aftersuch bad news, it felt like areallytinyamount.We all told Dad we loved

him (well, except Mum, ofcourse)andthenrangoff,andIspenttherestoftheeveningdesperately wishing I could

somehow magic myself toLondon to give him a bighug, without a six-hourjourney, or missing school,which I knew Mum wouldneverallow.

Whenthebellabovethedoorjangled on Thursday afterschool, we were all inRainbowBeauty,smilingandlooking smart in our pinkuniforms, ready for our veryimportantvisitor.

IthadbeenMum’s idea toinvite Mr. Vulmer, thelandlord, over. “With theLondonhiccup, and this newspa, there’s no way we’regoing to have the threemonths’ rent that he wants,”she’d said, as we sat quietlyover supper the night before,still upset aboutDad’s news.“So rather than bury ourheadsinthesand,we’dbetterstart talking to him aboutpayingininstalments.”

So she’d called him, andwe’d made sure everythingwas shipshape in the parlouras soon as we’d got homefrom school – we wanted toshow him how professionalwewere.He camewheezingthrough the door, and evenwithautumnintheair,hewasstillwearingoneofhisgarishpalm-tree-patterned shirts. Iforced myself not to wrinkleup my nose at his signaturescent,whichwasamixtureof

stale bacon fat, sweat andcigarettes.“Mr.Vulmer!”criedMum,

greeting him like an oldfriend. “Can I get you a cupof tea?We’ve got digestivesin too, because we knowthey’reyourfavourite.”“No thanks, Mrs. Green,”

he rasped, hardly evenbothering to look at her (andcompletely ignoring me andmysisters).“I’mabusyman.Whydidyoucallmeroundat

such short notice? If it’s theratproblemagain,Itoldyou,there’saboxofpoisonunderthe—”“No, no, the rat issue has

been dealt with by a pest-control company,”Mumsaidhurriedly.“Everything’sbeendone completelyprofessionally, and allapproved by Health andSafety. As you can see, wehave a very nice businessgoinghere.”

He’d been peering aroundat the beautiful sofas andreception desk and granitesmoothie bar and the glassshelves full of products. “Ican see that,” he said. “Weshould talk about increasingthe rent now you’ve gotyourselvesupandrunning.”Saff made a sudden, half-

choked noise and Mumlookedpanicked.Sheseemedtobetryingtosaysomething,but no words would come

out. She gave Grace adesperate look and my sistersteppedin.“Actually, we did ask you

here to discuss the rent,”Grace said, sounding calmand breezy (I’m sure only Inoticed her hands tremblingslightly with nerves). “Beinga businessman yourself, I’msure you can appreciate that,asanewbusiness,we’vehada lot of initial costs tomeet.We’re only just recouping

those now. So, to help withour cash flow, we’d like topayyoumonthly, in advanceof course, rather than inthree-monthlyinstalments.”Mr. Vulmer peered at her,

probably dimly rememberingthat she was the one who’dtalkedhimintolettingusrenttheshopandtheflatatsuchalowrateinthefirstplace.ButGrace’smagic didn’t work asecond time. “No,” he saidflatly. “That’s not possible. I

need to know you’re notgoing to take off at amoment’s notice and leavemewiththislottosortout.”Mum looked furious at

that,andIhadtoputmyhandon Saff’s arm because Ithought shewas going to flyat him. I should have stuckmy other hand over hermouth though, because,“Whywouldwedothat?”shesnapped. “We’ve built up abusiness here. Our life is

here.We’redesperatetokeepitgoingandthat’swhywe’reaskingyoutogiveusabitofleeway. You’ll get yourmoneyeachmonth,butifyouwon’t let us pay like that,well,youmightnotbegettinganyatallbecause—”“All Sapphire is saying,”

saidMum,glaringatherandcutting in, “is that we’re askeen to make this work asyou are. So if we could justagree to pay monthly – and

we could do direct debit, soyouhadtheguarantee…”Mr.Vulmer sneered. “Ido

cash only,” he wheezed.“And I’ll be round for mythree months’ rent for boththe shop and the flat on theeighth of October, as weagreed. If you haven’t got it,yougo.Endof.”Mum looked like she was

abouttoburstintotears,andIwasn’tsurehowmuchlongerIcouldholdSaffbackfor.

AsMr.Vulmer turnedandlumberedout,noneofussaidanything. We just watchedhim, barely breathing, hardlymoving. Then, when he’ddisappearedfromview,weallcollapsedontoeachother.“What a hideous man!”

Saffcried.“He’s being so unfair!”

saidMum.“Mostpeoplepaytheir rent every month, orevenweekly.”“You’d think he wanted

the business to fail!” Igrumbled.“I think he does,” said

Gracequietly.“What?” gasped Saff,

roundingonher.“Whywouldyousaythat?”Gracesighed.“Thinkabout

it.He’sgettingaprettysmallrent fromus,but the shop fitwillhaveadded thousands tothe value of this place. If hechucked us out, he might beable to sell it, or rent it to

someoneelseatahigherrate,or even just rip out all thefittings and sell them – Iknow we got everythingcheapthankstoLiam,butthislotwould beworth a fortuneifitwassoldoff.”Mum,SaffandIjuststared

at her. I felt physically sick.“Thatcan’tbetrue,surely?”Istuttered.We’vegottotalktohim again, make himunderstand…”Mum sighed. “The only

language that manunderstands is money,” shesaid.“We’vegottohavethatcashreadyfor theeighthandthen we’ll probably have toagree to a rent rise to keephimoffourbacks.”“But we won’t have the

money,”saidSaff,statingtheobvious.Mum sighed. “It doesn’t

looklikewewill,no.”“There’s still the pamper

day,”Isaidquietly.“I’vesold

quiteafewtickets.”Mumgavemeaproud,sad

look, as if her heart wasbreaking. “That’s great, hon,but without any decentLondon orders it’s not goingtomakemuchdifference…”“I know,” I murmured. “I

know.”No one said it would be

okay, and no one said we’dwork things out, and no onecame up with a miraclesolution. In fact, we barely

spoke,andafterforcingdowna thrown-together supper ofscrambled eggs on toast, weall stumbled about, staring atthe TV, flicking throughmagazines without takinganything in, and drinkingendlesscupsof teawedidn’treallywant.I couldn’t get to sleep for

ages that night, and when Ifinally did, I had horribledreams about RainbowBeauty being closed down.

Everything was ripped out,and it was all dingy anddusty, with a pile of unpaidbills on the floor. The doorwasboltedandwhenwetriedto get up into the flat, thelockshadbeen changed.Ourstuffhadbeenpileduponthepavement, and we hadabsolutelynowheretogo.

Saturday – the day of theAutumn Fayre – was lovelyand clear with a chill in theair. Even though I still feltawful about, well, prettymuch everything, I had to

pull on my clothes, and asmile – Summer needed me,after all. I’d promised MumandmysistersthatI’dsellmyheart out (and promote mybottom off!), given them allbighugsandgone tocall forLiam, who’d offered to takemeandmystufftoSummer’splaceinhisvan.When we got there, Liam

stayed to help her dad, John,and her brothers set up thestalls.TheAutumnFayrewas

being held on a big bit ofgrassy garden past thevegetableplotsatthebackofthe house. As well as theusual random chickens, plusBiff and Chip the dogswanderingaround,therewereloadsofcars in thedriveandpeople unloading things andluggingstuffabout.Iputtheblendersdownon

my stall, along with theposterswe’dmade, andonceI’dwavedgoodbyetoLiamI

wandered into the house tofind my best friend.Summer’s house is one ofthose walk-in-the-door-and-shout-hello! ones, and IalwaysgetawarmfeelingasI step through into theofficially fabbest, maddest,messiest, cosiest kitchen inthe world. A huge rack ofbunchesofherbshungupbythe ceiling, and the giantdresser was cluttered withmismatched china, boxes of

strange teas and bits ofartwork that looked likethey’d beenmade in primaryschool by Summer and herbrothers,andputuptenyearsago. The big red Aga wastoppedwith traysofmuffins,cupcakes and brownies,coolingreadyfortheFayre.“Hi, Abbie! Help

yourself,” said Annie,Summer’s mum, as shewandered in and saw meeyeingupthestovetop.

“Thanks,”Isaid.Ireachedinto my blue denim skirtpocket and found 50p todonate. Iwas alsowearing apurple top, pinky-purpleleggings, and the gorgeouspurplescarfSiennahadgivenme. Saff had even done mynailsindigo,soI’dmatchmyblueberry-themed stall fromheadtotoe.Summer came crashing

down the stairs then,burst inandpulledmeintoabighug.

“Youlookgreat!”shecried.“You look amazing!” I

shrieked. She was in chargeof the face-painting, and hadstarted with herself,shimmering with pinks andpurples, and wearing fullhippy fairy gear – stripytights, glittery DMs, tutu,tattered tie-dyed top, wingsandall.“Give me a hand taking

these to thecakestall,wouldyou, girls?” Annie asked.

“People will start arriving inhalf an hour and I haven’tevengotthebuntingupyet!”Annie grabbed a pile of

gorgeous vintage plates andplatters from the dresser andwe arranged the deliciousgoodies on them. We onlyhadtwoofthosedomethingsyou put over cakes, butSummer had had the idea ofimprovising by covering therestwithsomeupturnedglassmixing bowls and they

lookedreallygoodtoo.Anniefound the white paper bagsand tongs and put them intothe big pockets of herpatchwork skirt and we setoffforthecakestall,weavingourwaythroughtherunawayrunner beans and the brightclumpsofrainbowchardthatgrewrightbythebackdoor.We reached the lawny bit

andfound that theFayrewasalready taking shape. Johnwas getting the spit-roast

going, some young mumswereorganizingabric-a-bracand baby clothes stall whiletheir little ones toddledaroundonthegrass,acoupleof older ladies were stickingnumbered tickets onto prizesat the tombola, and over inthe field to the right, Carrotthe donkey was getting agood brush down by Jim,Summer’sbrother,beforehisstarring role giving donkeyrides. The goats and sheep

had been brought into a penby the fence for petting too,though the chickens hadobviously decided that theywere staying free range,thank you very much, andhadstruttedoff toinvestigateSummer’sface-paintingtable.It looked gorgeous with allher colours and brushes andglitter sprays set out on it.She’d even put up somepicturesalong the sideof thetable of the kind of faces

childrenmight like tochoose– there were tigers, lions,pandas, pixies, aliens,wizards and witches, andfairies,ofcourse.“Icoulddoyouasablueberry,”Summersaid,appearingatmyside.“Thanks,butIthinkIlook

likeenoughofonealready,”Itoldher.“Canyougivemeahand with my stall? TheFayrestartsinfifteenminutesand everything’s still inboxes.”

Summer linked arms withme. “Sure,” she said. “Oh,today is going to befantastic!”When we’d finished my

stall, it looked really cool.The posters of Ben with theblueberry mask on (andpulling a silly face) were sofunny, and much better thanif I’d beenon them.Summerhadn’t been jokingwhen shesaidthatshethoughtTomthegreengrocer would donate

loads of blueberries. Hebrought over about fortypunnets of gorgeous freshindigo berries, glowing likejewelsintheautumnsunlight(and we thanked him loads,of course). We left them inthe wooden crates and justpropped those up with someold bits of brick, to showthemoff.Thenwesetup theblenders and paper cups forsmoothies, and Jed broughtover a cool box of Annie’s

home-made yogurt, whichwas going into them, andsorted out an extension leadforus.When we were all ready,

wehadafewminutesfree,soSummer tookmeover to seethe yurt. She and Annie hadtransformed it into anenchanted storytelling tent,with scarves hangingeverywhere, and a hugepapier mâché dragon curledaround the floor cushions.

The little fairy lights thatSummer had put up for ourlastsleepovermadethewholethingglowmagically.“Wow, Summer, it’s

amazing!”Igasped.“We’ve got an actual

storyteller coming,” she said.“Whenwesaidtheeventwasfor charity, he offered toperformforfree.”“That’sreallykind,”Isaid.“Yeah, everyone’sbeen so

amazing, helping us out,”

said Summer, as we duckedbackoutoftheyurt……and pretty much fell

straightintoBenandMarco.“Hey, Abs,” Marco

drawled. I blushed about azilliondegrees,ofcourse,andwobbledabit,becauseseeinghim always made my kneesgocompletelycollapsy.“Hi,” I said, and luckily it

didn’t matter that I couldhardly stand up because hepulledmeintoahug.

Whenwe broke apart, andIregainedtheuseofmylegs,Ben was still staring atSummer inwhat Iswearwasa“melikey”kindofway.“What?” she demanded,

doingthegogglyeyesthingathim.Ben came to and grinned.

“Oh,nothing.You’vejustgotsomething on your face,” hesaid.“Haha,”shesaid,swatting

at him. Ben grabbed

Summer’s wrists and startedon about her violent streak,andsheaimedherDMsathisshins while he leaped out ofthe way, smirking. Theyjumped about two metresapartasAnniecamehurryinguptous,though.“Hi, boys! Thanks for

coming,” she said. “Sorry torush you, but people arealready arriving. So, Abbieand Summer, if you couldtake your places, and Ben,

you’re on donkey duty.Marco—”“Sure thing,” he cut in.

“Summer told me I’mhandling the spit-roast.” Hegrinnedatmeandthenstrodeaway, saying, “Fire, meat –what’snottolove?”“Erm, change of plan,”

Annie called after him.“Ethel’snotwell,soweneedyouonthecakestallwithIrisandBrenda.”Well,SummerandItotally

killed ourselves laughing atthat. Luckily her face-painting table was right nextto my stand and we wereprettymuchoppositethecakestall, so we could keep onkilling ourselves laughing asIris and Brenda fussed overMarco, tying up his floweryapron and showing him justthe right way to set out thepricelabels.We had a good few

minutes of giggling and

going, “Oooooh, youngman!”(whileMarcohadabigsessionofsecretlyflickingV-signs at us when Iris andBrenda weren’t looking),before people startedmakingtheirwayacrossthelawnandwe had to concentrate onwhatweweresupposedtobedoing.Well,thingsgotbusyreally

quickly, and I was whizzingupand selling somany freshface masks that another

volunteer – Sue, from thecafewhereHeadrushdidtheirlast gig – had to come andtake over making thesmoothies for me. It wasreally fun, chatting to peopleabout Rainbow Beauty. Igaveoutloadsofleaflets,too,and it felt like our openingdayagain,whenwe’dgonetothe town fayre and set up astall. Lots of people wereinterested in thepamper day,and I sold three tickets for it

withinhalfanhour.But thenIkeptsuddenlyfeelingreallysick, thinking about theLondondisasterandwhatthenew spa might do next, andhow on earthwewere goingtofindthenextthreemonths’rent for vile Mr. Vulmer byhis horrible deadline. It waslikebeingonarollercoaster.Still,I justhadtoputitall

out of my mind andconcentrate on making themostmoney I possibly could

for the hospice, so I smiledandchattedandsoldmyheartout. Our bags of BlueberryWishes were selling reallyquickly too, although no oneseemed to have heard of itbefore, so I guess itwas justSummer’s family tradition,and not the whole ofDevon’s,afterall!Summer had a queue of

childrenathertableandsoonthere were little pixies andlionsandalienspingingabout

everywhere,andevenaHarryPotter lookalike, with apainted-on lightning-boltscarand glasses. We all workedsolidly for the first coupleofhours, and more and morepeople kept arriving, and itwasn’t till about midday,whenthespit-roastwasreadyandeveryonemadeabeelinefor it, that we had a quietpatch.Sue said she was fine to

look after my stall for a

while, and Summer put aBack in ten minutes sign onhers and we grabbed Marcoand headed over to the fieldto see how Ben was gettingon.Onthewaywedidafewmore rounds of “Oooooh,youngman!”andinsistedthatwe saw him checking outBrenda’s bum, just to windhim up. We found Benrunning around the petting-zoopen–thegoatsandsheepseemed tohave joined forces

toterrorizehim.“Summer, do something

aboutyourpsychoticanimals,willyou?”heshrieked.“Thatgoat’sjusttriedtobiteaholeinmyshirt!”Summer just about

managed to control herlaughterenoughtogetoutherphone and take a fewpictures. “I’m not coming inthere,” she giggled. “I don’twantpooontheseboots!”“Summer!Thisisserious!”

Benyelled,asshedoubleduplaughingagain.I managed to control my

giggles for a moment andgaveMarco a pleading look.He gazed down at his Vanssadly. Then he sighed andmarched towards the pen,saying, “You shouldn’t havesentaboytodoaman’sjob.Watch and learn, ladies.Watchandlearn.”But as soon as the goats

and sheep spotted Marco,

they headed in his directioninstead. They weren’t evenrunning or anything, justgoing to have a look at him,but he totally freaked out,doing a really girly scream,scrambling back to the fenceand just throwing himselfover it. It was so funny Icould barely breathe fromlaughing. Marco landed in aheap in themud by our feet,andSummersnappedanotherpicture. “That’sSOgoingon

Facebook,” she told him.“Not such a cool rock starnow!”“What were you saying,

mate, about boys and men?”calledBen,who’dslippedoutof thegatewhile theanimalsweren’t looking. Marco justgavehimtheevils,thenstoodup and brushed himself off,grumbling.“I thought you were on

donkey rides?” Summer saidtoBen.

“I was,” he told her, “butCarrot’s having a hay breakbecause he was going non-stop all morning. I thoughtI’d help out with these, butthey’revicious!”“Onlytoyou!”Igiggled.A

mumandsmallgirlwerenowpetting the goats and sheepthrough the fence furtherdown, and the animals werestanding calmly, lookingsuper-cute.Benscowledatthem.Then

he said, “Who’s up forcheckingoutthestalls?”“I’d better get back tomy

table,” said Summer with afrown, “or there’ll be anangry mob of five-year-oldsonmycase.”Shehurriedoff,and Marco headed into thehouse tode-muddifyhimself,sojustBenandIwentbacktothemainbitof theFayreandwanderedround.We had a go on the

tombola andwhenBen drew

a ticket ending in zero, heleapedaroundcelebratinglikealittleboy.“Iwouldn’tgettooexcited.

It’snot the lottery,” I teased,wrinklingmynoseupathim.“Abs, you don’t

understand,Ihavenevereverwon anything in my entirelife!” he cried. “I don’t carewhat it is. Even if it’s just abox of chocolates orwhatever,I’vewonit!”Igrinnedasoneofthenice

old lady volunteers matchedthe ticketwith therightprizeand handed Ben somethingpink and knitted and a littlebitscary.He took it, thanked her,

grabbed my arm and pulledme away from the stall. “Ohmy God, it’s hideous!” hehissed.“What’sitevenfor?”“That, my friend, is your

classic ballerina loo-rollcosy,” I told him, smirking.“Last seen in a bathroom

circa1985.”Ben squinted at it. The

spooky-looking half Barbiedoll on top seemed to bestaringbackathiminanevilway. “I think this one’shaunted,” he said. “Andwhowants to keep a loo rollwarm, anyway? Isn’t that abitpervy?”I shrugged. “You could

alwayswearitasahat.”Benput it on andpulled a

poutyfashion-modelface.

“That actually really suitsyou,” I giggled, and weambled over to the coconutshy, where he took the loo-roll cosy off his head so hecouldconcentrateproperlyonwinningoneofthenon-scarycuddlytoysonoffer.Ben had hit two coconuts

outof two, andwasabout togoforhisthirdthrowandwinhimself something less awfulthantheloo-rollcosy,whenIdecided it was the perfect

moment to strike with mysuspicions about him andSummer.My theorywas thatas he was concentrating sohard on something else, he’djustgivemeastraightanswerwithout even thinking aboutit.Clever,huh?Well, not so much, as it

turned out. Just as he wasabout to throw, I said, “So,thingsarehottingupbetweenyouandSummer.”

What actually happened isthathewhirled round to facememid-throwandifIhadn’thad such quick duckingreactionsfromyearsoflivingwithSaff,hertemperandherflying shoes/biscuits/teddies,he’dhavetakenmyheadoff.“What do you mean?” hedemanded.“Woah,steadyon!”Icried.

“I just meant that I’m gladthings are okay now. Youknow,afterwhathappenedat

thebeachparty—”Ben glanced sharply

behind us, to where Jim andJed, Summer’s big brothers,were lazing on the grass,stuffing down baguettes fullof spit-roast pork. “Oh myGod,keepyourvoicedown!”hehissed.“Theydon’tknow,do they? About whathappened?”“No, course not,” I

whispered. Then I added, “Ifthey did, you’d be dead by

now.” I was joking,obviously, but Ben justlookedterrified.I sighed. “Look, I’ve

noticed,lately,youandher…Well, I wondered ifsomething…”“Nah, you’ve got that

wrong,”he insisted.“I’mnotinto Summer. And even if Iwas, just in theory, shewouldn’tbe intomeanyway,notafterwhathappenedatthebeachparty.”Hecastanother

nervous glance at Jim andJed.“Well, I wouldn’t be so

sure about that,” I said. Uh-oh. That mouth of mineagain.Goingtoofar,asusual.But I was glad I’d said it,becauseBenstaredatmeanddemanded, “What? Has shesaid something to you?What’sshesaid?”Well, that was way too

intense for someone whowasn’t bothered. “No,

nothing…she hasn’t saidanything,” I insisted.“Notassuch.”Ben huffed about a bit

then, saying, “Well, you’reprobably just imaginingthings. I knowwhat girls arelike, seeing stuff that isn’tthere.Notthatitmatterswhatshe thinks anyway becauseI’mnotintoherinthatway.”I rolledmyeyes. “I know.

You said. Several times.Look, there’s no queue now.

Why don’t you have a go atthecoconutsagain?”“Tooright,”saidBen.“I’m

not leaving this stall until Iwinsomethingproper.”It didn’t take long,

actually. He hit threecoconutsjustlikethat–bam,bam, bam – in quite animpressive manly way. Andthen he chose the mostunmanly prize on offer – alittlepurplesparklyunicorn.“Goodchoice,”Iteased.

“It’sforGabe,notme!”hesaid, giving me a despairinglook. “Come on, we’d bettergetbacktowork.”

The Fayre finished at two,andJohnandAnniegatheredus all together to thankeveryone, and we gave thema huge clap too, fororganizingsuchagreatevent.They said they didn’t knowexactly how much we’draised, but it looked like

being close to £2000 –well,everyone went mad aboutthat, clapping and cheeringand the blokes doing thatback-slapping “good onemate” thing. Except Marco,that is, who got hugged byboth the cake-stall ladies atonce! I was pleased that allour leaflets had been taken,too, and from chatting topeople,IwasprettysureIhadseven definites and at leastfive maybes to book in for

treatments. I’d also sold agrand total of eight pamperdaytickets.I was staying on at

Summer’s to help cleareverything up, and thensleeping over, because we’dplanned to work on ourpresentation for English onSunday morning. I thoughtMarco and Ben might stickaround for a while too, butBen had to head off to hisconservation group at

Dartington Hall and Marcowas meeting his dad atRocket.“Youdon’tmind,doyou?”

Marco asked, pulling meclose.“No, course not,” I

insisted. “It’s great you’respending time together.” Hepulledmeintoahugandgaveme a quick, non-snog-typekiss.IhuggedBengoodbyeand

thenMarco grabbedSummer

anddidthatkindofheadlock-while-swinging-from-foot-to-foot thing they always do,becausethey’retoomuchlikebrother and sister to have anormal hug. Then Summerwent to say goodbye toBen,and he obviously thoughtthey were hugging but shewentforcheek-kissing,anditended up in a strangesquashedembrace.“Alright, don’t suffocate

me!”hegrumbled.

“Well, I thought youweredoing the cheek-kissingthing,”huffedSummer.“Since when have I done

thecheek-kissingthing?”Bendemanded. “I never do thecheek-kissingthing!”Summer sighed crossly.

“Well, you sort of lunged atmyface,soIthought—”“I didn’t lunge!” Ben

protested. “It’s this potholeypath,makingmetilt!”“You’re blaming my path

for your lungey-ness?” sheshrieked.“Goon,bogoff,thepairofyou!SeeyouMonday,yeah?”“Whatevs,”saidBen.“Yeah, see you!” called

Marco. He didn’t seem tohave noticed anythingunusual between Ben andSummer.Butthen,boysdon’treally notice anything, dothey?Notunlessyoumakeamassivebannerandhangitinfrontofthem.

As the boys headed offacross the lawn, SummermusthavebeenwatchingmewatchingMarco,becauseshesaid, “Is it worrying you?Himandhisdad?”“Idon’t know,” I toldher.

“It was, at first, but maybeLuke is really staying thistime.”Summerfollowedmygaze.

“Well, it still worries me,”she said. Then she linkedarmswithmeandweheaded

overtoclearuphertable.“Oh!” she gasped, picking

up the little purple unicornshe’d found sitting amongstthe face paints. She cuddledhim close. “He’s gorgeous!”shecried.“Benwonhim,”Itoldher.

ForGabe?Yeah,right!“Ihadmyeyeonthislittle

one when we were settingup,” she told me. “I said toBen that I can’t chuck a balltosavemylife…”

“Sohewonhimforyou,”Isaid.Summersmiledatthelittle

unicorn. “Yeah, I guess so.He’ssuchagoodmate.”Iwantedtosaythatmaybe

hecouldbemorethanamate,but just thenAnnie called usover to help carry in thetables, and after that therewere always people aroundand things going on, so wedidn’t get a chance to talkproperlyuntilthesleepover.

At about seven o’clock, wehad one of those sharedsuppers that seem to emergefrom nowhere at Summer’s,the table justsuddenlyfillingupwith riceandbeansalads,bread,cheese,coldmeatsandaquichemadewitheggsfromthe random wanderingchickens.As we all sat round, I

ended up talking about thepamper day, and suddenlyAnniewasoffering todo the

lunch.“Oh, wow. Are you sure?

That would be amazing!” Isaid.“Yes, of course,” she said.

“Yourmumwillhavefar toomuch to do on the daywithout thinking about thefood as well. And I’ll dosomecupcakesandbrownies,too.”“Putmedownforaticket,”

Jill,Annie’sfriend,cutin.“Itsoundslikegreatfun.I’ll tell

everyone at Am Dram Clubtomorrow as well, and Iexpectyou’ll get a fewmoretakersfromthat.”I couldn’t help beaming

then.The pamper-day ticketswere selling like hot cakes. Iknew it wasn’t magicallygoing to save RainbowBeauty,but itgavemea reallift. Jill bought her ticket onthespot,and thenweallhada small friendly row aboutwhether Annie was paying

for hers – I insisted shewasn’t and she insisted shewas, as we were still a newbusiness.Igaveinintheend,because she pretty muchforced the money into myhand,andalso,Ididn’tfancybeingonthereceivingendofGraceifsheheardI’dgivenaticketawayforfree.Then, once our faceswere

completely and utterlystuffed, and I’d thankedAnnie again about ten times

for offering to do the food,Summer and I headed out totheyurt.We were carrying candle

lanterns, our sleeping bagsand a couple of big hoodiesscrounged from Jed. Jim hadlitthewoodburnerforusandwe found that Annie hadsneaked in and left us abasket with a flask of hotchocolate in it, and a coupleof punnets of blueberries leftover from the Fayre, as well

as the lastbrownies from thecake stall and some incensesticks. Summer was still inher fairy regalia, and whenwe unravelled our sleepingbagstoget insidesowe’dbeextracosy,Ifoundthatshe’dtucked the little unicorn intohers,andnowshesathimonher lap and fiddled with hispurplemane.I’d been so desperate to

talktoheraboutBenallday,and seeing the unicornmake

another appearance andeverything,well, I just foundmyself wading in. “It waslovelyofBen towin that foryou,” I said. “Anyonewouldthinkhehad a crushonyou,and what with the way youtwoflirtallthetime…”Summer gave me a

scandalized look. “Wedon’t!” she cried. “HewindsmeupandItrytoinjurehim.That’snotflirting!”ButIwasn’tgivingupthat

easily.“Andthingsusedtobesoeasybetweenyou,butnowthere are these awkwardmoments, likewhenyousaidgoodbye today. It’s so likeme and Marco were beforewegottogether…”“Abs, you’re imagining

things!” Summer insisted.“Yeah, I did like Ben, youknowIdid.But thatwasjusta silly summer-crush thing.Like I said, I’m completelyover it now.And anyway, in

case you’ve forgotten thehideous disaster at the beachparty, he doesn’t like me inthatway.Look,I’mjustgladit’s over with, so there’s noneed to bring it up again,yeah?”“Yeah, sure, whatever,” I

said.Then she gaveme a quick

glance and mumbled, “Imean, unless he’s actuallysaidsomething…”Huh! That was almost the

same as what Ben had said,whenhe’d thoughtshemighthave said something. But Iwas careful not to let mymouth run away with meagain. I’d made a mistakebefore, telling Summer thatBen liked her, just because Iwassureofit.ThistimeIwasdouble-triple surer than sure,but I didn’t dare risk sayinganything – not until he’dactually admitted it to me.Andmaybeevensignedsome

kindofformorsomething.Andas forSummer, Iwas

110% certain she was stillinto him, but 120% certainshe’d never admit it withoutabsolute proof that he likedher–notafterherhumiliationat the beach party. So,reluctantly, I made myselfleave it alone for the timebeing.We chatted for a while

about school and stuff, and IgothertotrythenewJasmine

andBergamotHandLotion Iwas working on (which sheloved, BTW, so that wasgood!). Then I ended uptalking about RainbowBeauty, and how much wewere struggling in theparlour,andhowbadlyMumwas taking losing customerstotheHavenSpa–howbadlywewereall taking it.Andofcourse she knew about thedisappointment we’d hadwith the London orders too,

and Mr. Vulmer refusing tobudge on the rent, and shesaidagainthatshewishedshecoulddomoretohelp.“You are helping, just by

supportingus,”Itoldher.“AndI’llbeonhandatthe

pamper day, of course,” shesaid, “even if I just takepeople’scoatsandstuff.”I gave her a smile.

“Thanks,”I toldher.“Maybeyou can make the smoothiesorsomething?”

It was really private andcosy round thewood burner,and I felt so at ease withSummer. Honestly, I’d justbeen feeling so happy,thinkingabouthowmuchI’ddone to promote RainbowBeautyattheFayre,andhowmany pamper-day tickets I’dsold, and then suddenly Ifoundtearsrunningdownmycheeks. “Oh, Summer!” Igasped. “I’m just so scaredabout how badly things are

going, and there’s nothing Icandoaboutit!”She shuffled her sleeping

bagoverandpulledmeintoahug. “You’ll find a waythrough,” she said. “Youalways come up withsomething.”Isighed.IfeltlikeI’dused

upallmyideas–allmyninelives.“MakeaBlueberryWish,”

shesaidsuddenly.I shook my head, feeling

hopeless. “Wishing won’thelp.”“Well, it won’t do any

harm,”Summer insisted. Shereached into the basket,counted out ten blueberriesand tipped them into myhand. “Out loud, don’tforget,”sheremindedme.I gave her a small smile.

“Fine. Just foryou,” I said. Iatetheblueberriesonebyoneand then said, “I wish forRainbowBeautytosurvive.I

don’tseehowitwill,though,so…I guess I wish for somekind of miracle. Right, younext.”Summer picked out ten

blueberriesandatethem,thensaid, “I wish that…” Shepaused and shook her head,asifshewastryingtoshakeathought out of it. Then shesaid, “Iwish Jimwould stopsnoring at night. I can hearhim through the wall, andthey’re about two foot thick

inourhouse!”Ipeeredather.“That’snot

what you were about tosay…” I accused. I wascertainshewasgoingtowishthat Ben liked her, or thatthey’dgettogether.“Itwas!”shecried.“It’sno

joke. Jim sounds like anelephantwithsinusitis.Ican’tgetanydecentsleep!”“Hmm,” I said, giving her

asternlook.Then I realized I needed a

wee, and I tried to just gooutside on the grass likeSummerdid,butforastartitwas cold, and plus I wasworried that someone mightdecide to look out of thewindowrightatthatmoment.Then, just when I’d scannedthe house about three timesand bobbed down, I glancedtowards the field. “I can’t go– there’s a goat staring atme!”Ishrieked.Summer popped her head

out of the yurt and I boltedupright, whipping myleggings back up. “Goatsdon’t have Facebook, youknow!”sheteased.“I don’t care. It’s got

eyes!”Iscreeched.“Come on then, city girl!”

she giggled. She linked armswith me and together westumbled back towards thehouse. I snuggled in close toher and we matched oursteps,likeGraceandIalways

do.

Iwasgladtogetofftoschoolon Monday, as I’d arrivedback at the flat on Sundayafternoon to find a cloud ofgloom hanging overeveryone. Saff had told me

thatonSaturday, fourpeoplehadn’t turned up for theirappointments and, as weweren’t even fully booked inthe first place, RainbowBeauty had felt like a ghosttown. The good news abouttheAutumnFayregoingwell,and selling loads of pamper-dayticketscheeredthemupabit,though.Unfortunately, Monday

wasn’tanybetteratRainbowBeauty, andwhenGrace and

I got back on Tuesday afterschool,SafftoldusthatMumhadbeen really upset all dayas they’d rattled around thenear-empty parlour together,eventhoughshe’dtriedtoputabravefaceonthings.JustasSaff was saying that, Mumwalked in and we quicklychanged the subject, actinglikenothingwaswrong.Mumsaid she wasn’t feeling wellandwenttobedearly.On Wednesday, she woke

up with an awful cold. Shestill got up and dressed asusual, but looking at herslumped at the kitchen table,sweating and shivering, wecould see there was no wayshecouldwork.Afterabitofanargument,Saffmanagedtogethertogobacktobed,andGrace and I went downstairstocallherclients.Ofcourse,withnoone tocover forher,we had to cancel theirtreatments.

Saff said she’d misscollege and handle themanicures and pedicures sowe didn’t have to cancelthose too (and told us not tomentionthattoMumorshe’dgomad),buteventhatdidn’thelp. The two people whowerebookedinformanicureswere having body treatmentsas well, and the first oneGrace spoke to said she’drather just cancel the wholething. I realizedwhywhen I

spoke to the other lady,whosaid she’dcancel too. “Don’tworry, love, I’ll go to theHavenSpa instead,” she saidcheerily. “They’re offering afree manicure with a half-price massage.” (Like, as ifwedidn’tknow!)Hearing that made my

stomach start churning and Ifelt likebeingsick,but Ihadto pretend not to mind, andsay, “Oh, that’s a very gooddeal. I hope you enjoy it.”

What on earth would Mumsay when she found out noone was rebooking with us,and that we were basicallyhanding our existing clientsovertothenewspa?Even worse, a couple of

people didn’t pick up thephone,sowejusthadtoleavemessages and hope they gotthem in time. The veryabsolute worst call was theone I made to a lady who’dreally wanted amassage and

facial thatday,becauseshe’dgotthedayoff.Sheaskedmewhether I could recommendanywhereelseshecouldgoatshort notice and I foundmyself actually suggestingtheHavenSpaandtellingherthey had an offer for adiscounted body treatmentandfreemanicure.GraceglaredatmewhenI

hung up. “Oh, great! Nowyou’redoingtheiradvertisingforthem!”shehissed.

“Whatelsecould I say?” Isnapped. “It wouldn’t doRainbowBeautyanygoodforme to be unhelpful and justsay, ‘Erm, don’t know’. Ifyou’regoing tocriticize,youdotherestthen!”“Fine, I will…or we’ll

never get anyone back,” shemutteredasshedialled.“Well, cheer up first or

they won’t be returning forourwarm,friendlyservice!”Icountered.

“Shh!”shehissed.Weglaredateachotherfor

a moment, until the clientpickedupat theotherendoftheline.In fact, Grace didn’t have

any more luck than me withthenextcall.Trish,a regularclient – the one who Mumhadbeenonagirls’nightoutwith – was the only personwho said it was no problemand that she’d rebook whenMumwasbetter.

After the hideous phoningordeal, Grace and I draggedourwaybackup thestairs tothe flat to get our stuff forschool.ShelookedassickasI felt. “Whatoneartharewegoing to tellMum?” I hissedaswereachedthetopstep.“We’re not,” said Grace

firmly. “She’s feeling badenough as it is. She’ll beasleep by now. Let’s justcreepinandgetourstuff—”But Mum was leaning on

the door frameof our sharedbedroom,backinherdressinggown, and looking dreadful.“How did it go with theclients?”sheasked.Grace gave me a quick

glanceandwebothputonbigfakesmiles.“Oh,good,yes,allsorted,”

I toldMum. “Trish asked ustosayshehopesyougetwellsoon. She’ll rebook whenyou’rebetter,noproblem.”“Oh, that’s nice,” said

Mum.GraceandItriedtomakea

dashpastherintothekitchenfor our school bags, but shesaid, “And the others? Weretheyokaytorebooktoo?”“Yeah, absolutely. It’s all

fine,” said Grace. Not veryconvincingly.Mum sighed. “It’s awful,

isn’t it? Abbie, tell me thetruth.”She looked right into my

eyes,andIknewtherewasno

way I could lie.My stomachsankintomyshoes.“Yes,it’sawful,”Itoldher.ThenGraceand I summarized theawfulness. All of it. Thecancellations, the rush to thenew spa, the fact that I’dactuallyhadtopointsomeoneintheirdirection.Mumlookedshockedfora

moment, then went alldetermined.“Right,ringthemback. I’m working today,”she said, striding into the

kitchen.Butthenshestoppedby the table, swayed andclutched the back of one ofthe rickety chairs. I racedoverandheldherup.“Mum?” Saff cried,

emergingfromthebathroom.“You’remeanttobeinbed.”“I’m going to work,” she

insisted.“No, you’re not. You’re

about to faint! Sit down,”Graceordered.“I’ll be fine,” Mum

muttered. She was drippingwith sweat, and shudderingwith chills. Itwas starting tolook like more than just acold.Maybe she had the flu,or a nasty virus.Whatever itwas, she wasn’t goinganywhere.AsGraceput thekettleon

to make Mum a hot drink,Saff tookonearmandI tookthe other and together wefrogmarchedherbacktobed.“Oh, we’ve got to face

facts…thisishopeless,”Mumsaid sadly, wriggling rightunder the covers as Gracebroughtheracupoftea.“I’msorry, girls. We were onlyjustgettingstartedbefore theHavenSpaopened,andnowIthink we’re doomed to fail.We’ll have to close downRainbow Beauty. I’ll startlookingforajob.”Tears sprang intomy eyes

and I felt panic rising inmychest. To hearMum say that

wasawful…Grace looked really

wobbly too, but Saff justbundled us out of the room,saying we’d be late if wedidn’tgetamoveon.My heart was still

thumping as we all hurrieddown the road, and my legswere shaking somuch I wasgladIwasinthemiddle,armslinked with Saff on one sideandGraceon theother. “Shedidn’t really mean that,

surely?” I croaked, as weturnedontothemainroad.“No, of course not. She’s

virtually delirious,” said Safffirmly.Grace sighed. “The

problemis,successor failureisaspiralandwe’respirallingthewrongway. If theHavenSpa hadn’t opened, thenmaybe… But you saw todaywhat a draw it is for ourcustomers.Mum’sright.Howcan we keep goingwith that

onourdoorstep?Mr.Vulmercan’twaittoshutusdownsohecangethishandsonallthefittings and stuff, and wewon’thavethemoneytopayhim on the eighth. We’renowherenear.”Well, that wasn’t what I

wanted to hear, not fromsensibleGrace,whoknewallthe figures for the businessinside out. “We’ll find themoney somehow, though,won’t we?” I asked again,

this time hoping that heranswerwouldmagicallybeayes.Saff squeezedmyarmand

gave Grace a sharp look.“Abs,honestly,we’llfindthemoney,” she insisted. “AndMumwillhopefullybebetterby tomorrow, and ready totakeontheworldagain.Thenthere’s only Friday untilwe’re all there to help, andthen just Monday till I’mthereonTuesday, and I’ll be

qualifiedinonly—”“Three years!” Grace

snappedmoodily.“Yes,butI’llbeabletodo

more and more treatmentslongbeforethen,whenIstartpassing the differentmodules,”Saffsnappedback,“and next year I get tworelease days a week. Look,insteadofmopingandtalkingabout giving up, we need toput up a fight. We have tocome up with some more

unique offerings, let peopleknow why we’re differentfrom the Haven Spa, andworthpayingabitextrafor.Ibet all their products aren’tnaturalandhome-made.”Grace sighed. “But we’ve

tried offers – we just can’tcompete.”“I know,” Saff admitted.

“We need to come up withsomething, though. There’salwaysaway,ifyouputyourmindtoit.”

They both turned andlookedatmeexpectantly,butIwascompletelyoutofideas.And positive vibes. It felthopeless. After all our hardwork, all the love and careand passionwe’d put into it,could we really be about toloseRainbowBeauty?

AtschoolIwastoomiserableto even have much of a flirtwith Marco in lessons, andthat’s saying something. Or

to scheme about how to getBen and Summer together,even though I was nowcompletely convinced thatthey were into each other.(Summer still insisted shewasn’t,butshe’dattachedthelittlepurpleunicornBenwonforhertoherschoolbag.Saynomore.)WhenItoldSummerabout

Mum being ill, and how I’dactually had to recommendtheHaven Spa to one of our

cancelled clients, she saidshe’d never seen me somiserable. “But what aboutall thosepeopleyouspoketoat the Fayre?” she asked.“Didn’t they makeappointmentsintheend?”“Fivehavebookedfornext

week, but only three for thisweeksofar,andI’vejusthadtocanceloneofthose,”Itoldher. “Eight new customers isgood,ofcourse,andI’dhavebeenoverthemoonwiththat

numberifweweren’tinsucha bad situation, but the waythings are, everything we dojust seems toosmall tomakea realdifference.Weneed tofind£2000bytheeighth,andat the moment we’ve onlybeen able to put aside £550.No,actually,£462.Mumhadto pay our business rates outofit.”Isighed.“Maybeshe’sright and it is hopeless. Imean, we’re probably goingtobeforcedtoclosedownby

Mr.Vulmerinlessthanthreeweeks,sowhat’s thepoint ineventryingtodrumuptrade?We probably shouldn’t evenbother with the pamper day,but we’ve sold most of thetickets now, andwe can’t letpeopledown.”I paused for breath and

noticed that Summer wasstaring at me, lookingshocked. “Abbie, you can’tgive up,” she said. “You’retheonewhoalwayssays—”

“I’m not giving up,” Iassuredher.“It’sjustthatI’mall out of ideas, and time’srunningout.”Shegavemesuchalookof

sympathy and kindness Ialmost couldn’t stand it.Luckily the bell went then,and I linked arms with herand hurried her into class sothatwecouldn’t talkabout itanymore.

Thursday at school wasn’t

much better, especiallywhenJess asked me if she couldbuy some more MandarinBodyButter.Ihadto tellhershe couldn’t – we’d run out,and there wasn’t any moneytoordermore sheabutter fora new batch. In fact, therewasn’t any money, full stop.Our takings from that weekso far had gone straight outonanelectricitybill thatwason its absolute, final, pay-now-or-we’ll-cut-you-off

demand. Saying it to Jessmademefeelsick.Itwaslikethe spiralGrace talked about– ifwe couldn’t affordmoreingredients, and couldn’t sellmore products, how on earthcouldwehope tomakemoremoney?On Friday, I had to turn

downthreemorerequestsforRainbow Beauty productsfrom Year 8 girls, because Iknew we didn’t have any instock, and I was banned by

Grace from buyingingredients to make anymore. We’d somehowmanaged to save up an extra£100 for Mr. Vulmer byputting every scrap of whatwe’d made from clients’appointments on Thursdaystraight into our rent fund,and we were all absolutelybannedfromtouchingit.Benboughtmeanicedbun

atfirstbreak(Ihadn’twantedtoaskMumforanyspending

money),whichIhadtoforcedown because I almost felttoo sick to eat. At lunchtimeMarco skipped a bandmeeting tohangoutwithmeand try and cheer me up. Itdidn’t work, but leaningagainst him on the field in asortofsittinghugwasnice–we had to move apart whenMr. Carver strode past andhad a go at us, though. HestartedonaboutInappropriatePublic Displays of Affection

(i.e. Being a NormalTeenager, IMHO. As Marcosaid, it’s not our fault he’snever had a girlfriend!).Summer said if it did comedown toMumhaving to findanotherjob,shecouldputherintouchwithloadsofpeopleherfamilyknowintown,likePeteandSueatthecafeforastart. That was nice of her,but it actually made me feelworse,becausethenitseemedevenmorereal.

I met Grace at the gateafter school and we hurriedback to Rainbow Beauty tohelp Mum out. She stillwasn’t well, not by a longway, but she’d insisted onworkingallday,andnowshewas sitting on one of thepurple velvet sofas, lookingcompletelyspacedout.She’donlyhadthreeclients,andnota single person had come infor a smoothie or to buy anyproducts, despite the

chalkboard I’d put outside.AsIthrewawayapileoffruitthat was way past its best, Iwent all trembly. But Graceand I just kept our headsdown and got on with thetidying up, and soon Saffarrivedandgaveusahand.That was when Mum

draggedusallovertositwithheronthesofas.Thelookonher face made me instantlynervous, though I couldn’tpossibly have foreseen the

bombshell she was about todrop.“Areyouokay?”Iasked.“Something’s come up,”

she said. “It’s just an idea,andIhopeyou’llhearmeoutbefore you jump down mythroat about it.” She took adeep breath. “My friendJaninerangtoday.Sheknowswhat’s happened, of course.Her, Peter and the kids aregoing to Canada for a yearwithhiswork.Shewondered

if we’d like to house-sit forthem…”Oh.My.God. I just stared

at her – it was like she wasspeaking Japanese. Grace’sface was frozen into a maskof horror. Even Saff wasspeechless. Janine’s housewas in Islington, as inIslington,London.“What?” I gasped, after

whatfeltlikeforever.“No way! We can’t leave

here,”saidSaff.

“We might not have anychoice,” said Mum flatly.“We’re not even close tohavingall therentmoneyforMr. Vulmer, so we’llprobably lose the flatanyway.”“We could get benefits,”

saidGrace.“I don’t think so, not if

we’ve still got the beautyparlour,” saidMum. “And ifwehaven’tstillgotthebeautyparlour…” She paused,

obviously finding it hard togoon.“Well, then,wemightas well be in a rent-freehouse, building up theLondon side of things. Theirkitchen is huge, more thanbigenough tomakeproductsin.Andinsteadofsittinginamostlyemptybeautyparlour,feeling more and moredownhearted, I could be outsellingourproductswithDad– well, not with him,obviously, we’d kill each

other,butaswellashim.”Shewastryingtobefunny,

but none of us even smiled.Saff andGracewere lookinganxiously at me and I wasglaringatMum.HowcouldIleave my life…my friends…Marco? How could RainbowBeauty not exist? I felt likestormingoff,butIknewIhadtostayputandtalkheroutofthiscrazyidea.“Youcannotbeserious…”

Imuttered.

“But why move back toLondon?” asked Grace,lookingdazed.“Wecanmakeand sell products to retailersfrom here, even if we closedown the treatment side ofthingsforawhiletofocusonit.”“Grace,we don’t have the

money for the rent, and Mr.Vulmer won’t budge!”Mumcried,gettingfrustrated.“YouknowthataswellasIdo.I’msorry to sound harsh, girls,

buttherewon’tbeany‘here’in precisely sixteen days’time. We are going to beevicted,likeitornot.”“You’re giving up!” I

accused. “You said we’dneverdothatandyouare!”Mum sighed. “No, Abbie.

I’mactuallytryingtosavethebusiness, believe it or not. Ifwe can keep making andselling products, there’s achance we can stay afloatand,whoknows,maybeopen

anotherparlourinacoupleofyears’time.”I refused to nod or

anything,butIknewwhatshemeant. Itwas likewhen Jesshad asked me for that bodybutter,andI’dhad to tellher– and all those other girls –thatwewereoutofstock.Wewere already running prettylow on other products atRainbow Beauty – whatwould happen when we ranout altogether, or couldn’t

afford to order in more legwax and nail files and body-wrap film? Things wouldgrindtoahalt.“This opportunity has

come up to have somewheretolive,rent-free,andkeepthebusiness going,” Mum wassaying. “I’d be mad not toconsiderit.”“Well, I suppose we’d be

nearer to Dad,” Grace saidquietly.Iglaredather.Whoseside

wassheon,anyway?“Yes, there is that,” Mum

said. “Your dad would beoverthemoon.”I felt bad then, like I was

being anti-Dad or somethingbywanting to stay.Butwhatabout Ben and Summer?What about Marco? Justthinkingoflosingthemmademe feel sick…. “But I don’twant to—” I managed tocroak, as tears spilled downmycheeks.

Mum winced when shesawIwascryingandtriedtoput her arm round me, but Iwriggledaway.“Well,youlotdowhatyou

like,butI’mnotgoingback,”Saff announced. “I like mycourse, and my tutor thinksI’mdoingreallywell.I’llgetsome studentaccommodation. Maybethey’ll let you stay with metoo,Abs.”Mum looked horrified at

that. “Oh, Saff, love,” shesaid,“please,pleasedon’tsaythings like that.” I could feelthat she was desperatelytrying to catchmy eye, but Istill wouldn’t look at her. “Iknowit’salottotakein,”shegabbled, “but just so you’vegot all the facts, you shouldknow that I’ve checked andyou could transfer to aLondon college with noproblem,andyoucouldenrolfor a singing course at Arts

Ed, just evenings – it’s notnearly as expensive as thefull-timeone.”“I’m not interested,” Saff

grumbled, but she didn’tsoundoutragedanymore.“How can you even think

of leaving everything we’veworkedsohardfor?”IaskedMum,stillrefusingtolookather.“Abbie, we don’t have a

choice,” she said flatly. “Wehave to facefacts–Rainbow

Beautyisbeaten.Nowwe’vegot to savewhatwe can andmove on.And ifwewant tomake sure we’ve got a roofoverourheads,I’llhavetoletJanine know as quickly aspossible.”I finally looked at her.

“When?”Isaidquietly.She lookedawkward. “We

canmoveinnextSunday.”“NextSunday?”Ishrieked.

“Butwecan’t!”“And if we don’t, the

following Saturday Mr.Vulmerwillcometocollectapayment we can’t possiblyfind, and then he’ll throw usout,” Mum said. “At least ifwegotheweekbefore,itwillgive Liam the chance to selloff all the Rainbow Beautyfixtures and fittings, so thatrevolting man won’t get hishandsonthem.”“But what about the

pamperday?”Icroaked.“We can still do it as

planned, on the Saturday,”shesaid.“Lotsofourregularsand friends are coming, so itwill be a nice chance to saygoodbye.” She smiled atme,as if thatwasmeant tomakemefeelbetter.Instead,aswirlof fury rose up in my chest.My pamper-day plan wassupposed to help save thebusiness,andshewasn’tevengoing to give it a chance.Insteadshewasturningitintoourfinalfarewell.

IglancedatSaffandGracefor support. “Come on, saysomething! Surely you twodon’twanttoleave?”“Coursewedon’twantto,”

said Grace quietly. “ButMum’sright.Wecan’taffordtostay,orstayopen.Andthisoffer of somewhere to livewon’t come along again. Idon’t think we’ve got anychoice.”IlookedatSaff.“Well, I suppose, if I can

carry on my course upthere…” she began, thentrailed off and looked at thefloor.Icouldn’tbelieveit.It felt like one of those

awfulnightmaresthatyougetstuck in and can’t wake upfrom.Ilookedatthebeautifuldisplay of colourful productson the glass shelves, at thebright chiller counter full ofdelicious fruit, the gleaminggranite smoothie bar and the

gorgeous old-gold receptiondeskandcomfypurplevelvetsofas.Myheartlurchedinmychest.No,no,NO!This couldn’t be

happening, not after we’dworkedsohard…On jerky legs, I walked

out.“Oh, love, don’t go. Let’s

talk about this,” beggedMum.But I just kept going,

slamming the door behindme.

I stomped round the streetsfor a while, thinking aboutwhether to go toMarco’s, orSummer’s, or walk to thepark where I knew Ben wasplaying footie with somemates. But I didn’t feel likeseeinganyone.Iwalkedrightup to the top of the highstreet,whichmademe reallythirsty,butIdidn’tevenhave

the money for a bottle ofwater, so in the end I had togobacktotheflat.Istormedup thestairsand

marched into the kitchen.They were all sitting roundthe tablewithmugsof tea infrontofthem,andIpointedlyignoredthemasIreachedfora glass and filled it from thetap.“Abbie, I really think we

needtotalk—”Mumbegan.“Why, have you changed

yourmind?”Isnapped.“No,but—”“Well, we don’t then,” I

cutin,swishingpastthetable.I planned to shut myself inmy chill-out room with abook and ignore the lot ofthem. But instead I foundmyself turning and shouting,“Wecan’tjustgoback–whycan’t you see that? Whatabout your new lives, yournew friends? What aboutmine?WhatamIsupposedto

dowithoutSummerandBen?WhataboutmeandMarco?”“And what about your

dad?” Mum asked quietly.“You’vegotthechancetobenearer to him and see himmuch more. Isn’t that whatyouwanted?”“Well, of course, but…” I

trailed off. I felt tongue-tied.How would Dad feel if hecouldhearme?Ijustfeltsoconfusedthen,

anddefeated.Ididn’twantto

talk about it any more, so Igrabbedabreadrollfromtheleftover supper bits on thetableandhurriedtomychill-out room. I put myheadphonesinandlistenedtothe songs Marco haddownloaded forme, readmybook, and pretended Icouldn’t hear my mum andsistersknockingonthedoor.

OnSaturdaymorningIwokeup still in my clothes,sprawledoverafloorcushionin my chill-out room (well,cupboard)andforamomentIwondered what I was doing

there. Then I rememberedeverything thathadhappenedand, feeling awful, draggedmyselfofftothebathroom.Ididgodown toRainbow

Beauty to get things ready,but I found myself juststanding still, lookingaroundmeandthinkingaboutgivingitallup,andIsuddenlyknewthatIhadtogetoutofthere.Itexted Summer and half anhour later Jim pulled upoutsideintheirbatteredLand

Rover, just asMumandSaffwerecomingin.“Hi, love. How are you

feeling?”askedMum.“I’m going out,” I

muttered.“Abbie, please…” she

began, but I pushed past heroutofthedoor.Jed was in the front

passenger seat so I squeezedinto the little back seat withSummer,sayinghitothemallinmybest,cheerynot-about-

to-have-a-massive-cry way.Summer and I had a bighugand I found it really hard tolet her go, and even hardernottoburstintotears.“Sowhat’sup?”sheasked,

when we broke apart. I wasabout to tell her but then Irealized that if I did thatwould be it. She’d know ourfriendship was going tochange for ever. I wantedthingstostayastheywerefora while longer, so I found

myself saying, “Oh, nothing.It’sjustthatIknewyouweredoing your photos at thebeach today and we weren’tbusysoMumsaidIcouldgoout.”“Oh, okay. It’s just that in

your text you sounded abit…”A bit what? Desperate?

Gutted?I shrugged. “Oh, I was

going stir-crazy stuck inside,that’sall. I just fanciedsome

freshseaair.”Devon air, I thought to

myself.

Soon Summer and I werewalking along a sunnyautumn beach, with a strongbreeze blowing my hair intomad styles, watching herbrothers fly these massivemulticoloured kites. Summerwastakingphotosofthemforher GCSE photographyproject, and I was stealing

glances at her, feeling ahorrible ache inside andalready missing her, eventhough shewas right next tome.Thensuddenlytearssprang

intomyeyesand,ashardasItried, I couldn’t hold themback. I did the oh-gosh-the-wind’s-making-my-eyes-waterthingforafewseconds,butSummerwasontome.“I knew something was

up,” she said, pulling me

down onto the sand. She satbeside me and put her armround my shoulders. “Comeon,tellmewhat’sgoingon.”I shookmy head. “I don’t

knowhow,”Imuttered.“Is anyone hurt?” she

asked,lookingpanicked.Ishookmyhead.“Has something happened

withMarco?”“No,”Isniffled.Summer squeezed my

shoulder. “Abs, you know

you can tell me anything.You’re my best friend –whatever it is, we can talkaboutit.”“And you’re mine,” I

choked out. For amoment, Iclosed my eyes against thetears that were trying toescape and listened to thewaves crashing on the shore.ThenIfellontoherandburstinto huge, shaking sobs.“Mum’s moving us all backtoLondon,”Isaid.

She sat bolt upright,lookingstartled.“What?Whywouldshedothat?”I explained about the

house-sit and how everyonewas completely sure wewouldn’thavethecashtopayMr. Vulmer on the eighth,evenGrace.Summer listened without

saying a word. I think shewas in shock. “But that’scrazy,” she said, when I’dfinished.

Buttheworstthingwas,asI’d been hearing myselfspeak, it hadn’t soundedcrazy at all. It had soundedsensible. Sensible, butwrongsomehow. I couldn’t put myfinger onwhy exactly, but itfeltvery,verywrong.“You can’t go!” she cried.

“Ican’tbelievethis!”“Ican’tbelieveiteither,”I

toldher,“butitlookslikeit’shappening.”“When?” she asked. “At

theendofterm?”I shook my head. If only.

“Aweek.”Shegaspedatthat.“Ohmy

God, no!” she shrieked.“You’vegottopersuadeyourmum out of it. Tell her howmuchyouwanttostay!”“I have!” I cried, feeling

really frustrated. “Course Ihave! But she really thinksit’souronlychoice.”“Don’t go,” Summer

pleaded. “Stay with us. At

least in term time.Mumwilllove it, she’s always sayinghowus twoareoutnumberedby smelly blokes.” She wasnearlyintearsherself.I peered at her. “Do you

thinkIcould?Really?”“Yeah, course,” she

insisted.“MumandDadthinktheworldofyou.Wealldo.”It was such a kind offer,

andIwantedtostaysomuchthat foramoment Iseriouslythought about it. But I knew

deep down that it wasn’t anoption. Reluctantly, I shookmy head. “Thanks, but Icouldn’t,” I told her. “Myfamily has been fracturedenough already. The mostimportantthingisforusalltostaytogether.”“I understand,” said

Summer. “If it was me, Icouldn’tdoiteither,howevermuch Jim snores!” We bothsmiled a bit at that. “What anightmare, though,” she said

then.“WhatdidMarcosay?”I sighed, picked up a

pebble and threw it into thesea.“Ihaven’ttoldhimyet.”“Oh, Abs, it’ll be alright,

you know,” she said, pullingmecloseagain.“I’m just worried that…if

we’reapart…”Ibegan.ButIcouldn’t even finish mysentence. I could hardly bearto think about not seeingMarcoeveryday,nevermindaboutwhetherwecouldmake

a long-distance relationshipwork.Ileapedupandheadeddown the beach. I suddenlyfeltlikeIneededtowalk.“You two aremeant to be

together,” said Summer,joggingalongtocatchmeup.“No amount of distance willtearyouapart.Youcancomedown and stay with me anytimeyou like.Everyholiday,and then some weekends inbetween. And I bet Marcowould love the chance to be

inLondonallthetime,goingto gigs and mooching roundrecordshops.You’dprobablynevergetridofhim!”“Thanks,” I said. “I

supposeit’sonlyLondon,notthemoon,”Iconceded.“Exactly,” she said. “And

what with me coming upevery five minutes to goround Camden Market withyou,andBenwantingyou toshowhimalltheRoyalParks,you’ll be sick of the sight of

us.” She tried to smile, butshe couldn’t stop the tearsfromfallingdownhercheeks.Assoonas Isawthem, it setmeoffagaintoo.“Oh, I feel like I could

just…I don’t know…” Ikickedthegroundandasprayofpebblesskittereddownthebeach. “I feel like throwingmyself on the floor andhaving a massive tantrum,two-year-oldstylie!”IknewSummerunderstood

because she took my handand said, “Try this.” Shepulled me along the beachand let out a loudwar cry. Iran as fast as I could, andshouted as loud as I could,andwe ranandshouteduntilJim and Jed and the kiteswere tiny specks. Then, asourlegsgavewayunderneathus,wefellontoourkneesonthestones,gaspingforbreath.

I’d asked Summer if they

could drop me in town, so Icould go straight to seeMarco at the rehearsalstudios,whereIknewhewassorting out a new set forHeadrush’s next gig at thecafe. The sky had cloudedover and threatening stormcloudshadgathered,andasIwalked down the road,shivering in just my littlejacket, it felt like they weredeliberately hanging rightoverme.

WhenIgottothestudios,Iwasplanningtohangroundatthe back until they stoppedfor a break, but Marco sawme and immediately put hisguitar down, bounded overand dragged me up to theother guys. I said “Hi” tothem all and, even though Ihad the biggest lump in mythroat from knowing what Ihadto tellhim,Imanagedtoask,“How’sitgoing?”“Great!” Marco enthused,

putting his arm round mywaist. “We’re working on anewsong–it’sdefinitelyoneofourbest.”He did a big sweeping

gesture towards Tay, whonodded sagely and said, “Ithankyou.”“Well, if you’re busy, I’ll

justcatchyoulater,”Ibegan,getting that feeling I’d hadwith Summer too, of notwanting to tell him, ofwanting things to stay the

same.“Course not. I’ve always

got time for you, Abs,” hesaid,smilingatmeandgivingme a kiss on the lips, whilethe other guys pretended notto notice. “Do you want tohearit?Yeah,let’sgoforit!”he cried, and did a bigAmerican-type whoop. Heseemed a bitmanic and overthe top, not his usual self.And hang on…wasn’t Lukesupposed to be down here

watching?That’swhatMarcohadtoldme,anyway.“I thought your dad was

comingdown,”Isaid.Marco’s cheerful façade

slipped then – just for amoment,but longenoughformetoseethehurtunderneath.“Oh, him?Nah, he left townagain.Usualstory.Boringoldstory,” he said quickly. “So,let’sgivethissongago—”“Oh, Marco, I’m so sorry

—” I began, but he cut me

off.“It’s no big deal. I totally

expectedit.”Ipeeredathim. Iknewhe

hadn’t. I knew that this timehe’dreallybelievedLukehadchanged.Thathewasstickingaround. I felt really hurt forhim – I knew that under allthe bravado he waswonderingwhatonearthhadhappened, maybe askinghimself what he’d donewrong. “But all the plans he

talkedabout…”Ibegan.Ifeltterrible. I shouldhave stayedonmyguardwithLuke. Justbecausemydadhaddeservedanother chance, I’d come tobelievethatLukehadtoo.“Look, of course I wasn’t

happyaboutit,”hemumbled,“but I’ve had a chat withMum, and I know that thepeople who matter are theones who are really here forme.Her,you,mymates.”Heleaped over to Chaz, still in

manicmode, and did the bigback-slapping bloke thingwith him, and thenwith TayandDeclan.OMG, now I had to tell

him about London. I almostdidn’t. But then Iremembered that Summerknew, and Jed and Jim. Icouldn’t keep it from him.Thatfeltworse,somehow.I took his hand. “Let’s go

outside,” I said. “I’ve got totalktoyouaboutsomething.”

He grinned at me. “Youcan say anything in front ofthese guys. They’re likebrothers tome,”hesaid.Cuemore of the back-slapping,man-hug stuff with Chaz,who was nearest. He was sogoingover the top to try andprovehewasn’tthatbotheredabouthisdadleavingagain.“No really. Let’s go

outside,”Isaid.Fatdropsofrainwerenow

spattering the gravel of the

carpark.Itookadeepbreathand went for it. “Mum’smovingusbacktoLondon,”Ihalf-whispered. “NextSunday.Forgood.”Hedidn’tsayanything.He

justlookedatme,completelybewilderedandconfused.Andthenhewalkedaway.I dashed after him, calling

his name, but he didn’t turnaround.Instead,hespedup.I couldn’t give up. I kept

following him and I was

almostatthebridgewhenthestormbroke.Therewasabigcrackoflightning,andthenaboom of thunder as a hugeblack cloud opened aboveme. The rain pounded downso hard it was like someonehad turned on a cold showerover my head, making meshiverandgaspforbreathasItried to run, feet slipping inmy (well, Saff’s) red balletpumps. When I wiped therainfrommyface,myfingers

were covered in inky blackmascara.Icouldn’tseeMarcoany more, but I had an ideawhere hemight have gone. Iran across the grass on VireIsland – well, squelchedacross it – looking left andright,tryingtoshieldmyfaceenough to see. There was aman walking his dog, headdown,making for home, andawomanshakingaraincoverout to put over her doublebuggy,butnoMarco.

The rain began drummingdownevenharderthen,andIsquealed and tried to shieldmy facewithmyarms. I feltpanic rising up in my chestandIjuststoodthere,gettingsoaked,untilsomeonerushedup behind me, grabbed myhand and pulled me over totheteastand.“Marco!” I gasped, falling

intohim.We huddled under the

awning at the side of the

stand.“Areyouokay?”heasked,

shrugging off his jacket andputting it over my shoulderslikehehadwithhisblazer,inthe storm, the first time wemet.“Areyou?”Igasped.“Course not!” he cried.

“Dad leaving, and now you—”“But I don’t want to go!

I’m not choosing to go!” Icried.“Mum’smadehermind

up.”He kicked the ground.

“Well, tell her you’re notgoing!”I sighed. “I can’t! You

know how things are atRainbow Beauty. She’s surewe can’t get the money forourrentintime.”“But what about your big

pamper day?” he asked.“Surelythatwill—”“It won’t be enough,” I

said. “Not even close.

Lookingatthefigures,well,Ihatetoadmitit,butIcanseewhyMum’sdoingthis.”“Butyoudon’thavetogo.

You could stay withSummer,”heargued.Ishookmyhead.“Shedid

offer, but I can’t.My familyhas been through so muchlately – whatever happens,me, Mum, Saff and Gracehavetosticktogether.Ican’tleavethem.”“You’renotleavingthem,”

he cried. “They’re leavingyou!”“You don’t understand,” I

said.“Yes, I do. I understand

that you don’t care aboutstaying with me,” he saidquietly.“It’s not like that,” I

insisted.“They’remyfamily.Wehavetostaytogether.Wejusthaveto.”He sighed. “I’m sorry. I

know…I know it’s not a

competition.” He swallowedand looked at his soggyshoes.“I talked to Summer,” I

went on, “and I can comedown loads to stay with herandyoucancomeupandseemeallthetime.Wecanmakedefinite plans. It’s not likewithyourdad—”“It’sgotnothingtodowith

mydad!”hesnapped,lookingreallyupset.“Don’tbringhiminto this! This is about you

andme.Itsoundslikeyou’renot even trying to fight this.It’slikeyoudon’tevencare!”“Course I do!” I half-

shouted. “I’ve argued withMum,butIcanseeherpoint.Not thatI’veadmittedthat toher. It’s true, though – wedon’t have themoney,we’regetting chucked out, andthere’s a rent-free housegoing… What would youdo?”He pulled me into a hug

then. “Sorry, sorry…” hesaid, into my hair. “I knowit’snotyourfault.Iknowyouneedtostaywithyourfamily.It’s… I just… Abs,” hemurmured, “this is anightmare.We’remeanttobetogether.”“I know!” I cried. “And I

also know that nothing – nottime, not distance, not otherpeople – nothing is going totearusapart.”“That’s how I feel,” he

said. He pulled away so hecould gaze into my eyes.Suddenly he looked sodetermined. “I’m not losingyou. So what if you go toLondon?Sowhatifyougotothe moon? Nothing is goingtobreakusup.I’veneverfeltthis way before. I’ve neverbeen in love with anyonebefore…”I stared at him, my heart

pounding.“I love you, Abbie,” he

said.Ihuggedhimtight.“Ilove

youtoo,”Iwhispered.AndthenIkissedhim.And

hekissedmeback.And the rain drummed

downallaroundus.

A littlewhile later, the stormebbedawayandthesuncameout, making everythingtwinklewithraindrops.Itookadeepbreathasweemergedfromundertheawning.Ilove

that after-the-rain smell – itmakes everything feel freshandnewagain.ThenIsawtherainbow.Marco grabbed my hand.

“Comeon.Let’sfindtheend!There’smeant to be a pot ofgold,isn’tthere?”“You’remad!”Igiggledas

I lethimpullmealong,bothof us slipping and sliding onthewetgrass.Wehadtogiveup when we reached the faredge of the island a few

minutes later, because therainbow’s end seemed todisappear somewhere on theothersideoftheriver.“We’llneverreachitnow,”

Marcosighed.“Notwithoutaboat,anyway.”Ipulledhimclose.“It’sthe

tryingthatcounts,”Isaid.And then I kissed him

again. And even thoughnothing had changed,everything suddenly seemedmuch,muchbetter.

When I got in, I still didn’twant to talk to Mum, so Iwent straight to my chill-outroomandshutthedoor.Lateron, I came out to get sometoastandgotothebathroom.I could have marched rightoffagain,butinsteadIsatonthe arm of the sofa whileMum and Grace werewatchingtelly.EventhoughIwasstillreallyupset,Isortofwantedtobewiththemtoo.Ididn’t say anything, though,

apartfromatonepoint,whenGraceaskedifIwantedacupoftea.“Yeah, I suppose so…if

you’remaking it,” I toldher,andthatwasit.Mum sighed and shuffled

andlookedlikeshewasgoingto start on about the moveagain a couple of times. Atone point she said, “Abbie, Ido need to talk to you aboutyournewschool…”ButIjustglaredathersohard thatshe

musthaverealizeditwasn’tagoodideatocarryon.ThenIwent back into my chill-outroom and readmy book andlistened to Marco’s musicuntilthey’dgonetobed.WhenIwassuretheywere

all asleep, I crept out, tookthe Rainbow Beauty keysfrom the hook and wentdownstairs to the parlour. Ilocked the door behind meandsatinthedark,withonlytheglowfromthestreet light

coming in through thewindow,bathingthebeautifulsmoothiecounterandshelvesof gorgeous products andpretty gold reception desk ina pale orange light. After awhileIgotchillyandhuddledunder a pile of towels. AndthenIstartedcryingandIjustcried and cried and cried.Every time the tears stopped,and I thought that was it,more welled up and camepouring down my cheeks. I

couldn’t believe it was allover.Mydream,ourdream,was

over.

I woke up on the purplevelvet sofa, under the pile oftowels,stiffandstickyinmyclothes from the day before.For a moment I couldn’trememberwhyIwasthere,orwhymy eyes felt bleary andbee-stingpuffy,andthenitallcame flooding back. I was

desperate for some fresh air,and for a moment I thoughtabout just going straight outwithout leaving a note, butdeepdown IknewIcouldn’tletMumworryaboutmelikethat, so I crept up to the flatand scribbled on the back ofanenvelope that Iwasgoingto—I paused – where was I

goingto?Then I knew. Of course I

did. I was going back tomy

own special place. VireIsland.

It was almost deserted, apartfrom a few dog walkers andjoggers (and one dog-jogger,weirdly). The tea stand wasclosed up, unfortunately.There was an early-morningchill in the air and I’d beentelling myself that I’d get anice, steaming-hot cupof teawithmylastbitofchangeassoonasIgotthere.

Isatonmyfavouritebenchand stared at the river,watching the weepingwillows swish in the breeze.Afterawhile,Istartedtofeela bit better about everything.I knew that Mum really didthink shewas doing the bestthing for all of us, and thatGrace and Saff probablybelieved that too. I didn’t –but as I turned things overand over in my mind, I stillcouldn’t see any other

solution.As I sat thinking, I found

myselfstaringatsomeoneona bench right by the river. Itlooked like he wasbirdwatching. What asensible person, I thought, tobring a flask. And to wearthatwarmknittedhat,evenifitwasabitgeeky.Iblinkedatthehat.Iknewthathat.ItwasBen’s hat – the blue beanieoneheusuallyworewhenhedidn’t have a scarypink loo-

rollcosyonhishead.Istoodupandwasabouttohurryoff,thinking that I didn’t feel uptotalkingtoanyone.ButthenI realized that hewas one ofthe fewpeople I actuallydidwanttotalkto.I sneaked up behind him,

lowered his binoculars andput my hands over his eyes.“Guesswho?”Isaid.“That perfume…” he said.

“ItcanonlybeAbbie.”I lifted my hands and he

turned and grinned at me.“Whatareyoudoinghere?”Isighedandfloppeddown

on the bench beside him.“Avoidingmyfamily,”Isaid.AndthenItoldhimwhy.He was gutted, of course,

and shocked, and for awhilehe pretended to have spottedsomething vital in the birddepartmentandwouldn’ttakethe binoculars off his eyes. Ipretended I believed him,because it gave me time to

sortmyselfoutabit,too.“I’m really going to miss

you,”hesaidatlast,loweringthebinocularsandblinkingalot.“IknowI’mnotSummer,orMarco…”I nudged his arm. “You

meansomuchtome–Ihopeyouknowthat,”Itoldhim.“Imean,who’sgoingtobuymeicedbunsnow?”“Cheeky mare,” he said,

givingmeasadsmile.“I get why they’re doing

this,”Isaidthen.“Theythinkit’stheonlyoption.”“Andwhat do you think?”

heaskedme.“I think…I can see all the

reasonstogo,logically,inmyhead. But in my heart…Isuppose it feels like givingup…”Ipaused.“Goon,”Benprompted.“Well,IwantMumandmy

sisters to see that theRainbow Beauty parlour ismore than just a business

premises,”Itoldhim.“Iwantthemtorealizethatit’sbeenamagicalplace forus tocometogether as a family, to healourhurtfeelings,tofindnewconfidence. That it can bethatforourclientsandfriendstoo. For the wholecommunity. I keep thinkingtherehas tobeawaytosaveit…there just has to be. Butthenmy brain kicks in and Ithink,How are we going toget two grand by next

Saturday?” I sighed. “I justcan’t face letting RainbowBeautygo.”Ben stared out at the river

foramoment.Thenheturnedtomeandsaidsimply,“Well,then,don’t.”“What?”He shrugged. “Don’t let it

go.Theremustbe somewayofraisingthemoney…”“We’ve been round and

round that and I really don’tthink there is,” I said. “And,

anyway, it’s not just themoney. There’s the new spatoworryabout,andwetotallymesseduptheLondonsideofthings…”Istopped,realizingI was being just as negativeas my mum and my sisters.“You’reright,”Isaidslowly.“Ihadgivenup, just like therestofmyfamily.”Wasn’t Rainbow Beauty

worth more than that? Afterall we’d been through,shouldn’t I fight to the very

endtosaveit?Ifeltarushofpositive energy race throughme. “But I’m back on thecase now,” I said then. “I’mnot giving up until we areactually being thrown out onthestreetbyMr.Vulmer.I’mgoingtocomeupwithaplanifitkillsme.”“That’smore like it!” said

Ben.“You’re very wise, for a

boy,” I said, with a smile.“It’s almost like, I don’t

know…like you’re not aproperbloke.”He stood up and sat back

down with his legs wideapart, andwiped his nose onthe back of his hand beforepointing at a pair of birds inthe nearest tree and saying,“Nicetits.”“Ha ha!” I said, swatting

him one. “Seriously, though,if you’re so determined andmotivational when it comesto my life, how come you

don’t go for the things youwantinyourown?”He raised an eyebrow at

me. “I have no idea whatyou’retalkingabout,”hesaidprimly, before putting thebinoculars up to his eyesagain.“Oh, I think you do,” I

countered. “Lovely autumnwe’re having, by the way.Shame summer’s over,though.”Then Iwinked at him, got

upandflittedoff.“Bye!” he said, raising an

arm, but not turning round.Thenhecalledout,“Hangon,areyoustilldoingthepamperday? I’mhandingout drinks,aren’tI?”“Yup,”Itoldhim.Thenan

idea shot right through me,rockingme to the core, as ifI’d been struck by lightning.“Oh,Ben…that’sit!”Icried.He turned then and said,

“What’sit?”

I grinned at him. “I’ll tellyou tomorrow at school!” Icalledout.“Andthanks!”

WhenIgotbackin,therewasstill no one up so I screwedupthenoteI’dleft.Abouttenminutes later, Iwas sittingatthe table with a mug ofsteamingtea,scribblingawayinmynotebook.Mumpeeredthrough the doorway and Isnapped the book shut. “Is itsafe to come in?” she asked.

“Or are you going to throwthatatme?”I managed a little smile.

“Sorry about yesterday.” Iwrinkled up my nose. “Erm,and Friday. I do understandwhy you think what youthink, even if I don’t agreewithit.”Mumlookedsorelievedat

that, I thought shemight cryorsomething.Butinsteadshegave me a small smile andsaid,“CanIpush itabitand

askifwecantalkaboutyournew school? I think it mighthelp you feel better aboutthings.”I shrugged. “Sure.” She

went to get our laptop toshowme the schoolwebsite,andshepointedoutalltheartand music and stuff they doandwehadagoodlookandInodded and smiled away.Andyes–itlookedokay.Butinside I was determined – Iwasn’t going to any new

school.I wasn’t going anywhere.

Noneofuswere.I was staying right here,

and saving Rainbow Beauty.Ifeveryoneelseinmyfamilyhad been ground down sobadlythat theydidn’tbelievethey could save our dream,well, then I’d just have tobelieveinitenoughforallofus.

I’d thought about my planwhile making Massimo’sshowergelsandtheRainbowGiftSetordersat thekitchentable on Sunday, and I’dthought about it in the bath,

and while I was writing upthe refraction stuff in myPhysics book. By the nextmorning, I was ready to getmyfriendsonboard.Atbreaktime, I dragged them out ofthe dining hall and onto thefield. There was a chillybreeze, but at least it wasquiet, and I could see in alldirections, so there was nochance of Grace accidentallyhearinganything.“This had better be

important!” said Ben, givingme a cheeky smile. “I didn’teven get a chance to buy anicedbun!”“Here,haveanapple,”said

Summer, offering him hers.“You could do with eatingmore healthily – your skin’sbeen looking a bit dullrecently.”“Cheeky cow!” cried Ben,

shoving her sideways.Summer shoved him back,then went to eat the apple

herself but he grabbed it andtookabigbite.“Ididn’tsayIdidn’twantit,”hespluttered,sprayingjuiceeverywhere.“Er, gross…keep your spit

to yourself!” Summershrieked.“So, what’s up?” asked

Marco, linking his fingerswith mine as we walkedalong.I squeezed his hand. “I’m

not leaving,” I told them all.“Instead,usfouraregoingto

raisetherentmoneyandsaveRainbowBeauty.”Ben stoppedmunching the

apple and Summer stared atme. “But how? It’s loads,isn’tit?”“£1438, to be precise,” I

toldher.“Abs, I’m desperate for

youtostayhere–weallare,”said Marco. “And we wantyoutokeepyourbusinessandeverything you’ve workedfor.But,Ihavetoask…How

on earth arewe going to getthat kind of money? And inlessthantwoweeks?”“I’ve had a few ideas,” I

told him, pulling him downonto the grass. Summer andBen sat down too (a littlecloser to each other thanstrictly necessary, I thought).I pulled out my notebook.“We’re going to expand thepamper day,” I told them.“Sell twice as many tickets,and have stuff going on out

thefront,andmakeupgoodiebagstosell.Andwe’llhaveabigraffle,sowe’llneedtogetroundtolocalbusinessesandsee if we can get hold ofsome prizes. Something elsewe’re going to do is sellRainbowBeautystufftogirlsat school. I can’t give themall the exact things theywanted, but I’m going tobringinloadsofthestockwestill have and set up a salestable in the dining hall at

break time, hopefullytomorrow. If some peoplehaven’t got the money onthem, they can bring it in onWednesday – we can keep alist of who owes what. I’vemade a list of the girlswho’vealreadyaskedme forthings, so we can find themtodayandtell themabout thestall, and get them to spreadthewordingeneral.”My friends just stared at

me.

“Wow, that’s amazing,Abbie,” said Summer.“You’re serious about this,aren’tyou?”“Deadly,”Itoldher.“Now,

we need to work out who’sdoing what. Any more ideasalsowelcome.”“Me and the band could

putona lunchtimegig in thehall,” said Marco. “Chargeeveryone a couple of quid togetin.”“Great,” I said, scribbling

itdown.“TalktoMrs.Leavisatformtime,yeah?”Marco winked at me and

said,“Consideritsorted.”“Yousaid thatyouneeded

stuffgoingonoutthefrontofRainbow Beauty,” saidSummer.“Mumcouldhaveacake stall and I bet hergardeningclubwouldprovideplants to sell too. I’ll askherwhenIgethome.AndI’llsetup the product-samples stallhere at break with you

tomorrow and help you taketheorders,”sheadded.“Fab,” I said, glancing up

togrinatherasIscribbleditalldown.“I’ll go round and ask for

raffleprizes,” saidBen.“I’msure I can charm a few ladyshopkeepersintopartingwiththeir wares.” He put on asmoothsmileandwiggledhiseyebrows.“In your dreams,” said

Summer, poking him in the

ribs.“Inyours,youmean!”said

Ben.“You wish!” Summer

snorted.Iwanted to shout,Oh, for

goodness’ sake, do us all afavourandgettogether!ButIstoppedmyself and just said,“Thanks,Ben.”I’dhadaplanforhowtosort those twooutaswell,actually,butitwouldhavetowaitforthemoment.“Summer, can you make

up some excuse so your dadhas to drive us both in toschool tomorrow?” I askedthen. “I don’t want Grace toseetheboxesofproducts,andanyway, I’ll need a liftbecause they’re quite heavy.Ifwego lateshewon’t jumpinwithus–Iknowshelikesto meet Maisy and Aran inthe library the second thedoors open. She’s alwaysmakingmecomeinearly.”“Yeah, sure,” said

Summer. “Don’t you wantyour family catching on tothis,then?”“Of course I’d love to tell

them,” I explained, “but I’mworried that if I do theymight put a stop to it. Theywon’tbelieve thatwecandoit until I actually put themoney in Mum’s hand, sowe’llkeepitbetweenusuntilthen,yeah?”“I understand,” said

Summer.

“Let’s say the Headrushgig is to raise money for anewamp,”saidMarco.“Goodthinking,”Isaid.“Grace will probably see

us doing the product sales,though,”Benpointedout.“Well, I picked first break

tomorrow because she’s gotMaths Club,” I said, “sohopefully she won’t, but ifshedoes,I’ll justtellherI’mselling a few things to somefriendsbeforeIgo,becauseI

promised them. And I’llpersuade her not to tellMum.”“Abbie,doyoureallythink

we can do this?” Summerasked.“Honestly?I’mnotsure,”I

said.“It’salotofmoney.Butwe’re going to give it ourverybestshot!”Sheputherhandout.“We

candoit,”shesaidsolemnly.Benputhishandonhers,andthenMarcodidthesame,and

finallyIputmineontop.“Go, Team Rainbow

Beauty!” I cried, and we allwhooshedourhandsupintheair.“Go, Team Rainbow

Beauty!”Marcoechoed.“Oh,but hang on.Couldn’twe becalled something a bit moremanly?”

Mrs. Leavis was completelybehindourproductsalesidea,andcleared itwithMr.Dean

theheadteacherforus.Thenshe showed us even moresupport by buying loads ofstuff herself during Tuesdaybreak in the dining hall, andso didMrs. Lurman, our oldform teacher. Summer and Ihad a queue of girls beforewe’devenfinishedsettinguptheproductson the tableandMrs.Leavisclaimedteachers’rights to get to the frontbefore she had to go onplaygroundduty.

Justaswewere starting toshow off the products andmake sales, Ben and Marcoappeared, looking verypleased with themselves.They were wearing emptytool belts borrowed fromBen’sdad,andnowfilledtheslot thingies with goodies totakeoutandshowgirlsintheplayground.As they headed off, Ben

turned back, pulled twoshowergelsfromthebeltand

twizzled them round a bitbefore pretending to shootthem at us. “We’ll see youladies later,”hesaid, inwhatIassumewassupposed tobea Western drawl. “Let’s goand lasso us somecustomers!”Marco gave me a salute

and, with that, they bothswaggeredoff,cowboy-style.I couldn’t help giggling,

and Summer just rolled hereyes,butitturnedouttobea

great idea, as girls wereobviouslylovingtheattentionfrom Ben and Marco. Soontheywere flooding in to buythings, having already triedsamples of hand creams andbodylotions,andsmelledourlovely bubble bath andshower gels. Most of themdidn’t have their money onthem, but they promised tobring it in the next day, andSummer wrote what theyowedonalist.

As for our other plans,everything seemed to becoming together pretty well.Summer had said that Anniewas more than happy doingthe cake and plant stall, andBenhadbeen round townonMondayafterschoolandwasdoing a great job of gettingprizes for our raffle. MarcosaidSiennawasalso runninga prize draw in the pub sheworked in with a hugeRainbowBeautyGiftSetthat

she’dbeeninandboughtwithher own money (bless her!).The Headrush pop-up gig inthe hall was all set forThursday and word wasrushingroundschoolaboutit.Atleastthreedifferentpeopletoldmeaboutit–like,asifIwouldn’talreadyknow!

After lunch on Tuesday wehadMedia.Firstofallwesatroundonebig table,workingon the Rainbow Beauty

pamperday.I’dtoldMr.Macabout it and he’d said itwasperfectforthewholegrouptouseasacasestudybeforewegotintopairstocomeupwithour own product, service orcausetopromote.Ihadn’ttoldhim,oranyof

the other teachers, that Iwasleaving (well, possiblyleaving), and I’d persuadedMumtoholdofffromcallingthe school for a couplemoredays,tellingheritwasjustso

I could enjoy things beingnormal for as long aspossible. I’d asked Marco,Summer and Ben not to sayanything to anyone else,either.So anyway, Jess, Bex,

Josh, Alex, Raven, Selimaand us lot were coming upwith ideas for how to getpublicity for RainbowBeauty.Mr.Macsaidareportabout the pamper day wouldbe something the local press

might like, so we contactedthe Totnes magazine andpaper, and Ben had the ideaofgettingitintheDartingtonHallnewslettertoo.Selima suggested telling

the local news programme,OutandAbout. Iwasn’t sureitwouldbeabigenoughdealfor them but Mr. Mac saidyou never know unless youask,soAlexrangupand leftthe info with them,emphasizing that I invented

all the productsmyself and Iwas only fourteen. Mr. Machad told him to say that,explaining that we had tothinkofdetails thatmightbeespecially newsworthy tomake our event stand out, sohopefully they’d decide tocover it. We’d sold theoriginal fifteen pamper-daytickets,butIwantedtosellatleastfifteenmore,soSummerandIstarteddesigningaflyerto give out round school for

people to pass on to theirmums,andJessandBextooksome for thegirls fromotherschools that they’d see atCounty Netball training thatnight.Weweren’tplanningtoput any round town, in casethe Haven Spa found outwhat wewere doing and didsomethinghorribletospoilit.Theleafletgavedetailsaboutthe pamper day on one side,but the other side was justaboutRainbowBeauty,using

textandpictureswehadfromother leaflets, sowehoped itwould attract people to bookinfortreatmentstoo.When that was all done,

Summer and I were allowedto keep working on mypamper day, but everyoneelse had to come up withsomething of their own topromote.Benannouncedthatheand

Marco were doing“recycling” as their topic,

making Marco slump in hischair, rollhiseyesandgroanloudly.“Ignorehim.That’sagreat

idea,” said Summer, and Isaw my chance to startputting my Ben-and-SummerPlanintoaction.“Hey, I know, why don’t

weswappartners?”Isaid,ascasuallyasIcould.“Summer,yougowithBen.”Summer stared at me,

obviously wondering what I

wasupto.Imethergazeandtried to look like Iwasn’tupto anything. “I know you’llhave loads of ideas for therecycling thing, and it’smainly the running-aroundstufflefttodoonthepamperday,” I explained. “I don’tneed brains so much at thispoint, so Marco will be finetoworkwith.”“Oh, charming!” grumbled

Marco,narrowinghiseyesatme. But anyway, he helped

memakesomemorepamper-day tickets andwrite a pressrelease. And afterwards Idragged him off beforeSummer and Ben had evenstartedpackinguptheirstuff.“Whatwasallthatabout?”

he asked, as I marched himdown the corridor. “If youwanttospendmoretimewithme,youonlyhavetosay—”“Notyouandme!Summer

andBen!”Ihissed.Marcogavemealooklike

I was speaking Japanese.“What?”“I want to get them

together,” I told him. “Theylike each other, I’m sure ofit.”Marco looked very

surprised.“BenandSummer?Really?” he said. “I haven’tnoticed anything.” Typicalbloke.I rolled my eyes. “Well, I

reckon they’re into eachother.Andyoucanseethey’d

begreattogether.”“Huh,” he said, like he’d

never even thought of itbefore – which he probablyhadn’t.I sighed and ploughed on.

“Now they’re doing thisrecycling project together,they’ll have to spend timealone.So,whatwedois,youtell Ben and I tell Summerthattheotherone’sconfessedto liking them, but doesn’tdare sayanythingafter the…

you know, the…” I blushedbrightredthen.“Iknow,”mutteredMarco.Neitherofussaidafter the

beachparty.“It’s all a bit cloak-and-

dagger, isn’t it?” he said, amoment later. “Why do girlshave to make things socomplicated? Why can’t wejust go, ‘Oi, you like eachother.Gettogether.’Endof.”Irolledmyeyes.Honestly,

boys. I gave Marco a nudge

intheribs.“Okay, okay, we’ll do it

your way!” he muttered.“Girlsaremad,though.”

A fewminutes later, us fourwere in the canteen.No timelikethepresent,Ithought.SoI announced that I had thatthing I needed to urgentlylendSummerthatshe’daskedfor.She gaveme a blank look

and I dragged her off before

shecouldsayanything.“What’s going on?” she

asked,asIpulledherintothegirls’loos.I braced myself. Show

time.“Okay,I’mjustgoingtocome straight out with it.Ben. Why do you think hewassokeentoworkwithyouinMedia?”Summer peered at me in

themirror.“Washe?”“Yeah!ItwasSOobvious.

He jumped at the chance to

swap.” I rearrangedmy littlesparkly hair clips as anexcusenottolookherstraightin the eye. I didn’t want herto realize that what I wassaying was a little, weeny,tinybitnotentirelytrue.“But that’s just because

Marco hardly does anythingwhereas I’m an excellentstudent…”I sighed. “No, it’s not.

Look,yousawmeandMarcotalkingafterthelesson,didn’t

you?”“No,but,goon…”“Youhave to swearnot to

act like you know this,” Ihissed, lowering my voiceeventhoughwewerealoneinthere.“Heletsomethingslip.Something Ben told him.”Pause for dramatic effect.“Ben toldhimhe really likesyou.”“Ofcoursehedoes.We’re

mates,”saidSummer.You’vegot to hand it to her – full

marks for acting like shewasn’tbothered.Butshewasblushing, and desperatelytryingtokeepasmileoffherface.“No, he really, really likes

you, as in capital L,” Iinsisted.“Fanciesyou,capitalF, and thinks you’re anAmazing Person, capital AandP.”Summer giggled. “Okay,

okay,IGetIt,capitalI,GandI.”

ThenMrs.Lurmanpoppedher head round the door andsaid that the bell had gonetwominutesbefore.Sheheldthe door open for us, so wehad to head straight to herlesson.We linked arms and

walked quickly down thecorridortogetoutofearshot.“But why hasn’t he saidanything?”Summerhissed.“Hemade such a big idiot

of himself at the beach party

thathe thinkshe’sblown it,”Isaid.“Buthehasn’t,hashe?Youstilllikehim,right?”Summer blushed about a

zillion degrees. “Well, I canadmit it now that I know helikes me,” she whispered.“Yes, I still like him.” Cuesomereallyhigh-pitchedgirlysquealing. Seriously, therewereprobablybatsincavesahundredmilesawaywithsoreears.“I knew it. Yes, yes!” I

yelled, doing that punching-the-airAmericanthing.Summer leapedonmeand

got me into a headlock andhissed,“Forgoodness’sakes,calm down! Mrs. Lurman’srightbehindus!”So then we had to be

sensible because we’dreached the classroom andnot only was Mrs. LurmanbehindusbutBenandMarcowerecomingtowardsus.“Justactnormal!”Ihissed.

Summer looked at me inhorror, blushed crimson andclung onto the classroomdoor frame (i.e. NOT actingverynormal).“What’s up with you?”

Marco asked her, as hewalkedpastusintotheroom.“Oh, time of the month,”

saidBenknowledgeably,andfollowedhimin.I looked at Summer. Her

face was twice as horrifiedafter that. “OMG, Abbie!

Whyonearthdidyousay—”Igiggled.“Ididn’tsay.He

must have thought when wewenttotheloos…”“Come on, girls!” Mrs.

Lurman trilled, shooing usintotheroomandclosingthedoor. “I’m going to assumethis excitement is because ofyour thirst for knowledge,”sheaddedarchly.Sowehadtowaituntilthe

bell went to talk about itagain,becausewehadoneof

those whole-class-debatethings where you all bringyour chairs into a circle andtrytofocusonthePoorLawsof1834,whenyourgorgeousboyfriend is sitting two seatsaway.Afterwards Summer

grabbed me beside thelockers, and by grabbed, Imean actually grabbed. Shelookedinacompletepanicasshehissed,“WhatshallIdo?Me and him are working on

ourrecyclingprojecttogetherallweek!”Iglancedupanddownthe

corridor for signs of Ben orMarco, then said, “Don’t tryany of your flirting, you’llterrifyhim.Justbeyourself.”Thentheboyscameroundthecorner and Summer leapedabout five feet in the air andbolted in the oppositedirection. That’s when Istarted to feel a tiny bitworried that she’d never go

near Ben again and my planwasgoingtototallybackfire.AsBenwasrummaging in

his locker, I did a mostuncool double-thumbs-upthing to Marco to mean thatI’d told Summer and she’drevealed she likedBen.ThenI did a big shrug to mean:Have you talked to him yet?And he shook his head anddid a shooing-away-with-his-hands thing, meaning: Scoot,I’m just about to. So I stuck

my tongue out at him andhurriedofftomeetGrace.Just as me and my sister

were heading off down theroad,Marcocamerushingup.“Wait!” he called. “Hi,Grace.”“Hi,” said my sister,

lookingbemused.“Ijustwantedtotellyou…

job done,” he said to me,looking very pleased withhimself.“Ijusttalkedtohim,onceyou’dfinallygone.”

“And? OMG, I hope hesaidhedoes likeher,or I’veactuallyliedtoher,insteadoftelling the truth but just kindofswitchingthetimingroundabit…”Igabbled.Marco smirked. “Well, if

you’llletmegetawordin…”I swatted him and said,

“Fine. Continue.” Then Imadeazipping-my-lipssign.“Erm,whatareyoutwoon

about?”askedGrace.“Well,”saidMarco,“Isaid

she liked him and he wasreally surprised because hesaid that after the…youknow…the disaster in theholidays, he thought itwas anogo.Butonceheknewshelikedhim,headmittedthathelikedher.”I clutched his arm.

“OMG!” I squealed. “That’sbrilliant!”“Nope,stillnocluewhat’s

goingon,”saidGrace,rollinghereyes.

“What did you say?Whatdidhesay?”Icried,grippingMarco’sarm.Marcogavemeagirls-are-

madlook.“Ijusttoldyou.”“No, dipstick, I mean the

actualwords!”Marco repeated the look,

but ramped it up to a girls-are-really-really-nutslevel.“Isaid, ‘Abbie’s definite thatSummer fancies you. She’sfit. I mean, not to me cosshe’s like my sister, which

would be gross, but youshouldgetinthere’.AndBensaid,‘Cool’.”“Oh!”saidGrace.“Right!”Ishookmyheadindespair.

“A bit lacking in romance,wasn’tit?Oh,well,itdidthejob,Isuppose.”We had a quick hug (I

wantedtogivehimakisstoo,butIknewthatifIdidGracewouldn’t shutupabout it theentirewayhome)andthenhewent off to band practice. I

linked arms with my sis anddid a little skip so our stepsmatched,left,right,left,right.“Abbie, you haven’t been

matchmaking, have you?”Graceasked.“Not really. It was more

like just helping thingsalong,” I said, with a smile.“I’ve done all I can do now,though. The rest is up tothem.”

At home on Monday and

Tuesday evenings, I keptquiet aboutwhatme andmyfriends were up to, and Ijoined in when Mum, Saffand Grace talked aboutpacking, and the new schooland college.AndwhenLiamcame to see howmuch stuffthere was, to make sure itwouldallfitinhisvan,Ihadto go down to RainbowBeauty and show him whatstockwehadleft.Aswecheckedthroughthe

boxes, I put on a sad smile,while inside Iwas strugglingto stop myself crying out,“We’renotgoing!”But then,as soonas I’d thought that, Icouldn’t helpwondering,butwhat ifweare?ThenI feltahuge wave of sadness breakovermeforreal,andIhadtomakeanexcusetogointothekitchenette for a minute andpull myself together before Istartedcrying.Ben and Summer were

flirting like crazy allWednesday(Summerseemedto have finally worked outhow to do it without beingtoo scary) but somehow theymanaged to concentrate onwhat they were doing longenough to collect up themoney from the girls who’dbought Rainbow Beautyproducts.We gave out loadsof our leaflets in theplayground too, and toldeveryonetogettheirmumsto

book in for the pamper day(we still had a few ticketsleft) or just for treatments ingeneral.Headrush’s lunchtime gig

in the hall on Thursday wascompletely packed out (andA-Mazing,BTW!), andwhenMarco came in late toGeography, he was beaminglike a little boy. “We mademorethan£130,”hetoldme.“Iwenttogetitchangedintonotes for you by the

secretary, and she said youcan’t walk round with it soyou’llhavetocollectitattheendoftheday.”“Thanks!” I hissed. I

really, really wanted to hughim so much, and becauseMrs. Leavis is so nice, andbecause shewasbusy settingupstuffonthelaptop,Idid.When people started

comingintoEnglishafterlastbreak, they all seemed toknow that I was leaving

(Mum must have called theschool, despite me beggingher not to, just yet). Amanyand Iola gave me big hugsand we swapped emailaddresses.ThenJess,BexandRachel came in and we didthe whole hugging-and-address-swapping thing aswell, and then Ben’s footiematesallstartedhuggingme.I thought it was sweet, butMarco, who’d just come inhimself, scowledat themand

muttered“Anyexcuse”.

On Thursday night back attheflatweallsat roundaftersupper and double-checkedwe had everything ready forthe pamper day.No onewastalking about leaving anymore.Ithinktheyjustwantedto put it out of their mindsand enjoy the final few dayswestillhadleftinTotnes.“It’stypicalthatbusinessis

really picking up now,” said

Mum. “I had three newclients just walk in off thestreet today, andanother fivepeople rang to book ticketsfor the pamper day. We’repushing thirty now, Abbie,double what we originallyplanned. I think we’d betterstop there or we won’t haveroomforthemall!”“Ihavenoideawhyit’sall

pickedup,” I said, tryingnotto smile as I thought of usfour giving out our double-

sided flyers to all the kids atschool.Mum sighed. “Oh, well,

it’stoolittle,toolate,sadly…But it’s nice to go out on abrighternote.”“True,”saidSaff.“Itmeans I’vemanaged to

put another £160 away forour rent fund,” said Grace,looking up from herhomework (yes, shewas stillbothering to do it, eventhough she thought she was

leaving the school the nextday!).“I don’t know why we

don’tjustblowthatcashonamassive shopping trip anddinner out,” said Saff. “It’snot like there’s any pointsaving…”“No, don’t!” I cried, in a

suddenpanic, and then I hadto calmmyselfdownand trytolookcasual.“Ijustmean…because we’ll need it, won’twe?We’llneedmoneywhen

we get to London – foringredients for products andstuff.”“Iagreewithyou,Abbie,”

said Grace, giving me anapproving look. “It’s stillvital to save as much as wecan.”“You two are so boring!”

Saffgrumbled.“Ihaven’thadanything new in, like, forever! I’m almost in ragshere!”“Cheerup,Cinders,”Isaid.

“I’llmakeyouacuppa.”Ittookmeawhiletodothe

maths in my head while Imadethetea,butIeventuallymanaged to work out thatwithGrace’sextrasavingswehad £722, and then the gigmoney brought that up to£856,and theprofit from theproducts we’d sold at schoolmade a total of £970. Abouthalfthepeoplewho’dbookedtickets for the pamper daywere paying on the day, too,

soaltogether,ourextra ticketsales would give us another£375 (assuming they allactuallycame,ofcourse).Sothat was £1345, and thenthere’d be product sales onthe day, and the raffle andstalls, and goodie bags, andSienna’s draw… Raising thefinal£655fromallthatwouldbe a big ask, but perhaps itmightbepossible.“Abbie, love, are you

okay?”Mumwasasking(for

the fifth time, as it turnedout).“Yeah, sure…it’s just, you

know,it’sall…”Ibegan,butthenIdidn’treallyknowhowto finish, because there wassomuchgoingoninmyhead,and I didn’t want toaccidentally let anything slipabout my saving-Rainbow-Beauty plans. Mum didn’tseem to know what to sayeither, and she obviouslyassumedIwas justsadabout

leaving,soshecameoverandgavemeabighug.

Friday was my last day atCavendish High, so when Iwalked into the kitchen thatmorning wearing purplesparklytights,littlefingerlessglovesandenougheyemake-up for ten Saturday nights,Mum managed to restrainherself fromsayinganything.Grace had gone wild too –well,wildforher–withloads

ofmascara and eyeliner, andstripy tights with herConverse. I loved walkingacross the playground withher into school, seeingeveryoneturnandlookatus.Shappi and Nicky and theotherMarcofansfromYear9all watched as we swishedalong, arms linked, just likewe had on our first day(except we’d both beenwearing our revolting pea-green posh-girl uniforms and

hideous brown loafers then).ThewayMarcolookedatmewhen I got into class wasverysatisfyingtoo.Hestaredinashe-is-my-girlfriend-and-I-lurve-her kind of way, asSaff would put it (well, singit).At last break, Ben and

Summer were giving ademonstrationaspartoftheirrecycling campaign forMedia,andthey’dputpostersupallroundtheschoolabout

it,sotherewasabigcrowdofpeople gathered to watch,including all of usMedia lotobviously, plus most of ourclass, the Year 9 Fan Club,the band, and Grace, MaisyandAran.Ravenwasfilmingit to create a video forYouTube and Selima wastaking pictures for SummerandBen’sleafletcampaign.Summer had told me that

theideawastocreateabitoftheatretogetthepointacross

in a memorable way, andthey’d certainly done that –theywerestoodinthemiddleof a massive pile of stinkyrubbish, dressed in blueplastic boiler suits with thehoods up. They’d pulled thestring bit tight so just theirfaceswerestickingout.They started talking about

how you can recycle morestuff than you think byputting it all into differentplastic bins. The girls at the

front squealed as Benwavedthe black squidgy bananaskins right in their facesbefore putting them into acompostbin.Marco and I had been in

charge ofwelcoming people,and showing them where tostand,sowewererightattheback by the doors. As wewatched Ben and Summerlaughing and joking around,making everyone else laughtoo, the chemistry between

them was obvious. Even intheblueplasticsuit,Benwaslooking at Summer like shewasanabsolutegoddess(I’vealways said she’d look greatin a bin bag and I guess thiswas as close as I’d get toprovingit).Marconudgedmyarmand

when I looked up at him hegavemehisslow,lazysmile,makingmystomachflipover.I smiled back, feeling thestrong connection between

us.Ben and Summer’s

presentationwasbrilliant,andthey got a huge clap andcheer at the end. The bellwentandMarcoandIhad tohead off to class, but whentenminuteshadgoneby,andBen and Summer still hadn’tturned up to Chemistry, Mr.Fellowes said Marco and Icould go and give them ahandclearingup.As we reached the hall, I

looked in through the safety-glassbitofthedoor,andtheyhadnotclearedupanythingatall.Not one bit. Instead theywere kissing in their blueplastic suits, surrounded byrubbish and recycling bins. Iwas about to creep awaywhen Marco peered in too,clocked what was going on,and then, with a cheekysmile, opened one of thedoorsandshovedmeintothehall. I shrieked and grabbed

his hand – if I was going tospoil their moment, then sowashe!“Get in there, mate!” he

whooped,unromantically.Summer and Ben leaped

apart and then much boyback-slapping went onbetweenBenandMarco,andI have to admit that me andSummer did do a tiny bit ofgirly squealing and huggingtoo.Whenshecalmeddown,she told me that Ben had

asked her out.As in, not outanywhereinparticular,buttobehisgirlfriendingeneral.ItwasmyturntodoSaff’s

wiggly, chanty dance thingthen. Until Summerthreatened to lamp me one,thatis.“All set for tomorrow,

then?” Marco asked, as weheaded back to class afterclearingup.“Yep, all set,” I reported.

“Just the goodie bags to do,

but I can sneak down toRainbow Beauty and getthose done later tonight.”Then, out of nowhere, I wassuddenlystruckwithaboltofpure cold fear. “What if itisn’t enough?” I mumbled.“What if we have to leaveafterall?”Summer hugged me and

then Marco and Ben joinedin, wrapping themselvesaroundus.“Youwon’t,”saidMarcofirmly.

Ipulled themallcloseandfelt a wave of love for themcrash throughme. “Thiswillwork. Ithas to,” Imurmuredinto Marco’s shirt. “There’snowayI’mleavingyouguys.Noway!”

WhenIwokeuponSaturdaymorning, it only felt like I’dbeenasleep forabouthalfanhour, because I’d spentmostofthenightgoingthroughallthelast-minutejobswehadto

do for thepamperday inmyhead,andthinkingabouthowmuchmoneywestillneeded.MybrainkeptaskingWhat ifwedon’tmakeenough?AndIhad to keep pushing thatthoughtaway.I got dressed in my pink

RainbowBeautyuniformanddid my hair and make-upreally nicely (well, I neededto do something to take theattention off my horriblepuffyeyes).Imessedmyhair

up a bit, pulled it into a lowbunchononesideandaddedloads of little sparkles andclips.The pamper day was

starting at ten, so we alltrooped down to RainbowBeauty just after nine. Ihadn’t been able to find amomenttodothegoodiebagsthe night before – therealwaysseemedtobesomeonearound – so I was hoping tosomehowdothemsecretlyin

one of the treatment rooms.But then Annie pulled upoutsideintheLandRoverandsheandJohnbeganunloadingcrates and crates of plants.Mum asked what on earthwasgoingonand IknewI’dhavetocomeclean.My heart was pounding

and my mouth had gonecompletelydry.“I,erm,well,we…that’sme,Summer,Benand Marco…well, we’vebeen trying to raise the rent

money,” I gabbled. “Sowe’ve added to the pamperdayabit…”“Ohmygosh,Abbie.What

have you done?” Mummuttered as she put on a bigsmile and waved to Anniethroughthewindow.I explained about

deliberately supersizing thepamper day, and about theproduct sales at school, andthegig,andtheraffle,andtheflyers.

“So that’s why businesshas picked up, and why wesold those extra tickets!”gasped Mum. “And becauseyou did it at school, well, Iguessthat’swhythenewspahasn’t got wind of it andretaliated. Abbie, I can’tbelievethis!”“I wish you’d said,” said

Saff. “I couldhavedone thatroundcollege too, selling theproducts,Imean…”“And I could have helped

atschool,”saidGrace.They looked so hurt, it

made my stomach flip over.“I’msorrywekeptitsecret,”I told them. I glanced atMum. “I just thought thatmaybe,ifyoufoundout—”“I’dhaveputastoptoit?”

she asked. “Well, I mighthave done, I admit – Iwouldn’thavewantedyou toget your hopes up. I stilldon’t. It’s just such a lot ofmoney, and the rent isn’t the

only reason we’re going.There’sthenewspa—”“This was exactly what I

was worried about,” I cried.“You’regivingupbefore it’sevenover.Reallyover.”“I’mnotgivingup,Abbie.

I’m just being realistic,”Mumbegan.Andwewereabouttohave

an argumentwhenGrace cutin. “How much have youmade?”sheasked.“With the rent money

you’ve saved up, we’ve got£1345,” I reported.“Includingall theextraticketsalesfortoday.”“So,weneedtomake£655

onproductsales,”saidGrace,without even thinking aboutit.“And the stalls and raffle

andgoodiebags,”Isaid.“That’s a lot, but it might

just be possible,” sheconceded.“Even if it is, we’re still

going back to London,” saidMum firmly. “I can’t just letJanine down at the lastminute,andthisdoesn’tsolvethe problem of the new spa.Look, it was a nice thought,Abbie,and I’msoproud thatyou’vedoneallthistotryandsave the parlour, but it’s justnotanoption.”“ButI—”Ibegan.“I’msorry,love,”Mumcut

in. “Look, people will bearriving soon. We’ll have to

talkaboutthislater.Let’sjusttry and have a lovely day,shallwe?Now,ImustgoandsayhellotoAnnieproperly.”And before I could say

anythingelse,shehurriedoffoutside.Saffputherarmroundme.

“I’m sorry,Abbie,” she said.“What you’ve done isamazing, and I’m rightbehind you. Of course we’dway rather stay here,wouldn’t we, Grace?” Grace

nodded. “But Mum’s madeup her mind and nothing isgoing to change it,” Safffinished.Then, massive shocker,

Grace hugged me. Grace.“It’s not over yet,” she toldus. “Let’s focus on makingthatmoney– thenwe’ll dealwith Mum. So, smiles on,girls, and sell your heartsout!”I pulled Saff into the hug

too, and squeezedmy sisters

tight. “Even thoughwedon’talways get on, you are thetwo best sisters in the wholeworld,” I told them. “Willyou help me put the goodiebagstogether?”“Course,” they said at

once, then cried, “Jinx!” andshookpinkyfingers.So I revealed the stash of

mini-products I’d made bysplitting down our regular-sized stuff, and we got onwith the goodie bags. Then

Saff prepared the headmassage and nail areas inreception, and Gracerestocked the chiller counterwithgleaming fresh fruit.Bythe time Summer breezed injust before ten, we prettymuch had everything undercontrol. As I went to greether, I glanced around andrealizedthatRainbowBeautyhad never looked morebeautiful.A couple ofminutes later,

Ben came in, and he andSummer hugged and thenkissed on the lips and ofcourseGrace did theooooohthing and Saff demanded toknowwhatwasgoingon.Then Marco slouched in,

andhedidn’tgetakissonthelips from me, because Mumcame out of the kitchenette.“Oh, hi, love,” she said tohim, then, “Abbie, couldyoufindtheproductinfoyoutooktoLondonandfileitwiththe

other cosmetic-testingcertificatesandthings,please,incaseanyonewantstoknowmore about anything?” Thenshe hurried off to get thetowelsoutofthedryer.“Sure,” I called after her,

leaving Ben and Summer tofinish off the display. Thedisplay on the coffee table,that was, not the display ofkissing – although they didfinishthatofftoo.I rootedaroundbehind the

reception desk for the smartpitch bag we’d taken toLondon. As I pulled thefolder out of it, somethingsticky attached itself to myhand. I freaked out for amomentincaseitwasadeadsomething and flicked mywrist so thatwhatever itwasfell to the floor.When Iwassurethatitwasn’tliving,andhadn’t ever been, I picked itup again. It was a sticky,yellow oval thing, now

coveredinfluff.Alemondrop.I stared at it, remembering

how Marco had hidden thesweets inmybag so I’d findthem when I got to London.Onemusthave fallen inheresomehow,whenIwassharingthemround.Ithoughtaboutallthegreat

times Marco and I had hadtogether – hanging out onVire Island, and at the cafe,andhavingburgersatRocket.

Working together in lessons(well, okay, flirting togetherin lessons), and chilling outon the field at the endof thesummer term. GettingRainbowBeautyallkittedoutand painted ready to open.Saffsettingusup,makingmegive him a man manicure inone of the treatment rooms.Having dinner round hishousewithhislovelymum.Ifound myself rushing acrossthe parlour and hugging him

tight.He hugged me back

fiercely.“Thiswillwork,”hesaidintomyhair.Mum hurried over to the

door. “Everyone ready?” sheasked.“Yes!” we all cheered,

tryingtohideournerves.“Then let’s get this show

ontheroad,”shesaid.Ten minutes later,

Rainbow Beauty wasabsolutely buzzing with

people, insideandout.Anniewas doing a roaring trade onher cake-and-plant stall, andMaisy and Aran were verybusy sellinggoodie bags andproductsouttheretoo.Saff gave me her tray of

freshjuices,asshewasduetogo and start doing the mini-manicures.InoticedthatJess,Bex andRachel from netballhad come and were alreadygathered round her little nailstation, and I gave them a

wave. Mavis from the chipshop in the paradewas theretoo, and Florrie, Tom thegreengrocer’s wife, waslooking at our productsamples on the coffee tablewithSuefromthecafe.Tomhimself came inwith

a huge box of fruit and veghe’d donated for thesmoothies (Summer hadtipped him off), and Iwatched Liam take the boxfrom him and thank him

warmly.Irecognizedagroupof sixth formers from ourschool, and saw Saff’scollege tutor chatting toEmily. Emily didn’t stay aguest for long, though – shehadn’t even finished hersmoothie when Saff draggedher over to the nail table tohelp out, as she already hadquiteaqueueforming.Marcowasputtoworktoo,

bringing out the massagetableandsettingthingsupfor

the demonstration. Mum hadintendedtodoitinoneofthetreatment rooms, but it wasclear that there were far toomany people to squeeze inthere.Asheheavedtheheavytable past me,Marco lookedreally pleased with himself,and Summer grinned andsaid, “Aw, bless him, he’sbeen given a manly job atlast!”Grace was already ringing

up sales at the till, and she

called to me, “Abbie, couldyou go and find Mum? It’stime for the demonstration,andI’mnotsurewhereshe’sgotto.”I found her in the

kitchenette, fussing aboutwiththesparecupsAnniehadbrought. “Mum, it’s time,” Itoldher.“Letme just finish this…”

she muttered. Then shelookedupatmeandgabbled,“Oh, Abbie, there are so

manypeople! IwishIhadn’tput myself down for this.Whatifitgoeswrong?”“It’ll be fine,” I told her.

“Just step away from thechina. I know you can dothis.” I steered her back outintoreceptionandovertothemassagetable.Liam took one look at

Mum’s terrified expressionandsaid,“It’llbefine,Kim,”and before she could do arunner he pulled her into a

bighug.Astheybrokeapart,I spotted three more peoplearriving. They didn’t looklike pamper-day guests. Forone thing, two were guys.One of them was holding amassive film camera on hisshoulder while the otherwrestledaboommicthroughthedoor.“OMG, they came!” I

gasped. “TheOut and Aboutpeople!”“Hi, I’m Genna Harris,”

said the woman, stridingover. She was wearing abeautifulgreensilkdress,andshe held out her hand toshakeMum’s as she reachedus.“Perfect timing,” said

Liam.“Kim’sjustabouttodoamassagedemonstration.”“Not on TV, I’m not!”

Mumshrieked,butLiam justclappedhishands together toget everyone’s attention, andcalled out, “Ladies, if you’d

liketogatherround,Kimwillshow you the basics ofmassage technique, so you’llsoon be able to give yourloved ones a blissfullyrelaxing experience any dayoftheweek!”Thenhepulledhis shirt over his head, tohuge cheers, put a towelroundhiswaist,wriggledhisjeans off underneath it, andlaydownonthetable.Mum smoothed down her

uniform and hair, and took a

deepbreath.Thenshesmiledandsaid,“Sothefirstthingisto ensure that your client iswarm and comfortable…”Andthenshewasoff,talkingas she wasmassaging, aboutkey areas that hold tension,and pressure points, andwhichessentialoilsarereallygood for relaxation. After awhile she seemed to forgetabout being nervous, andabout the TV crew, and shewas just chatting like she

would to a room full offriends, and they werehanging on her every word.Whenshe’d finished, shegotahugeclapandcheer,andsodid Liam (as well as a fewwolfwhistles!).Then there was a short

break, and I realized with astart that I was up next, totalkaboutourproducts.Ifeltcompletely overwhelmed,though, looking at the crowdofpeople,soIpersuadedSaff

to do it instead. Well, I saypersuade,Ionlyreallyhadtogive her a help! look fromacrosstheroomandshecameboundingover,slickingonlipglossandfluffingupherhair.Shewasabsolutelybrilliant

at it, of course, andafterwards, during the buffetlunch, the products she’dshowcased started flying offthe shelves. She looked sopleased with herself that Ithoughtshemightbeaboutto

start signing autographs orsomething,butinfactshegotstraight back to the nailstation. She sat down besideEmilyandcalledthenameofthe next person on the list(their tutor had helpfullysuggested they start one, sopeople didn’t have to standtherewaitingforaturn).“PerhapstheTVshowwill

takeyouonasapresenter,”Isaidtoheramomentlater,asIhandedoverthenewcanof

quick-dry sprayandbottleofBlackCherrynailpolishtheyneeded.“Nah, I definitely want to

be a beautician now – well,ownachainofbeautyshops,anyway, and be flown toHollywood specially to givetreatments to the stars,” sheadded,grinningatme.Igrinnedbackather.“You

know what? I totally believethatwillhappen,”Isaid.I started restocking the

glass shelves then, becausewewere all out of the SpicyDelight Bubble Bath and theCarrot and Calendula HandBalm (Annie had beensinging its praises toeveryone). The bowl oforange and lemon star soapswas almost empty, too. Inoticed that the chillercounterwaslookingabitbareas well, so Grace poppedupstairs to grab the last boxof fresh facemasks fromour

fridge.Mumhurried overwith an

armful of products someonehad chosen and put them onthereceptiondesk.“Thesearefor Mrs. Claridge, the olderladysittingthereonthesofa,ifyoucouldputthemthroughthe till for her, and peoplehave nearly finished theirlunch, sowe need to get thenext round of coffees going,and Jane’s asking whetheryou’ve got any more of the

Rose and Geranium BathBombs…Oh,I’mrunoffmyfeet!” she giggled, lookinghappierthanshehadforages.WhileSaffandMumwere

serving the tea and coffee, ‘totted up how much we’dmade. (Okay,Grace did, andIwatched.)“That’s another £302,

which makes £353 more togo,”saidGraceexcitedly.“Ifwe can keep selling productsand raffle tickets right until

the end – and there’s themoney from Annie’s plantsand cakes, remember – itmight just be enough. Andeven if we don’t have quiteenough, ifMumagrees to usstaying, maybe we can tryand save the lastbitover thenextweek…”“That’s fantastic,” Ibegan,

but then my heart sank intomyshoesas thedooropenedand a familiar – and veryunwelcome – figure in a

hideously patterned shirtlumberedin.Mr.Vulmer.Mum was walking out of

thekitchenettewith a trayofcoffee cups in her hands andwhenshespottedourlandlordshe almost dropped them.“What’s he doing here?” shehissed. Shakily, she handedthetraytoMaisyandhurriedover to us, with Saff hot onherheels.“If you want a free

treatment, you’re out ofluck!” Saff snapped at Mr.Vulmerashereachedus.He gave her a nasty look.

“I haven’t come for atreatment,” he sneered. “I’vecomeformyrentmoney.”Wewere all stunned. “But

it’snotdueuntilnextweek!”Istuttered.“That’s not fair!” cried

Grace.Liam appeared by Mum’s

sidethen.“What’sgoingon?”

he asked her. “Do you wanthimtoleave?”MumclutchedLiam’sarm.

“Hewantstherentnow,”shemurmured.“We don’t have it. Not

quite.Notyet,”Gracesaid,assweetlyasshecouldmanage.“Ifyoucouldcomebacknextweek,asweagreed…”“No can do. I’m off to

Malaga tomorrow,” he said.“If you can’t pay, well, I’lljustgiveyouyournoticeright

now.It’smyright.”A hush had fallen over

Rainbow Beauty and Irealized that everyone waswatching us by then, andlistening. I really thought itwasallover.AndglancingatMarco,seeingthepainedlookonhisface,Iknewhedidtoo.Mum took a step towards

Mr. Vulmer and smootheddownheruniform.Whenshebegan to speak, I wascompletely sure she’d say, It

doesn’tmatter.We’releavingtomorrowanyway.But instead she drew

herself up and looked himstraight in the eye. “We’renot going anywhere,” sheannounced.Igapedather. “ButMum,

wedon’thave—”Ibegan.“You were right, Abbie,”

she said, cutting in. “All themagic, all the inspiration forour Rainbow Beautyproducts…well, it’s right

here. Things have been sodifficultI’dlostsightof that.But I realize now howmuchsupportandgoodwillwehavefrom the community.” Sheturned to our guests andfriends. “From all of you.We’ve already settled here,anditfeelslikehome.So,no,we’renotgivingup,notuntiltheverylastminute.”Mr.Vulmerrolledhiseyes.

“Nicespeechandeverything,but this is the very last

minute. And if you don’thave the full amount, I’mgivingyounotice.”In a daze I leaned down

andgrabbedtheredcashboxfrom under the receptiondesk.GraceandIhadputallthe rent money in there andnow she unlocked it andshowedhimthewadofnotes.“We’re onlymissing the last£350,” she told him. “Well,£353, to be precise. If youcould call back in a few

hours,perhaps…”“I told you. It’s now or

never,” he snarled. “And itlookslikeyoudon’thavethemoney,so—”Ben suddenly leaped

forward, digging in hispocket. “Iwant two strips ofraffle tickets, so that’s thethreequidsortedanyway,”hesaid, dropping the coins intothecashbox.Igavehimagratefulsmile.

It wasn’t nearly enough, of

course, but it was sweet ofhim.“I haven’t paid for my

goodie bag yet,” said Annie,stepping forward, “and I’mtreatingSummertoonetoo.”“Oh, Annie, that’s really

kind, but you don’t have to—”Mumbegan.“Kim, I was planning to

buy them today. I justhadn’tgot round to it yet,” Anniesaid firmly, andpushed three£10 notes intoGrace’s hand.

Gracestaredatthem,thenputthemoneyinthecashboxtooandsmiled.Mr. Vulmer looked

bewilderedforamoment,andthen he looked very, veryangry. “No, hang on. Youcan’tjust—”hebegan.But he was drowned out

because suddenly everyonewascrowdingroundthedesk,tryingtotalktoMum.“I’m booking next week’s

massage,” said Trish, “and

I’d like to pay now, inadvance.”Mumgaveherasternlook,

butTrishjustsaid,“What?Ithelps me keep track of mymoney.”Mumsmiledather.“Thank

you,”shemurmured.SaffandIstartedtalkingto

people too, and Gracehandled the cash box, andsoon lots of others hadbookedupfortreatmentsandpaid in advance, or were

insisting on paying fortreatments they’d alreadybooked, or were lining upproducts on the receptiondesk to buy. Annie had torush back outside to helpJohn with the cakes andplants, because there wassuddenlyarushonthosetoo.For the next few minutes,Mum,SaffandIwerejust inafrenzyofbooking things inand Grace’s hands wereflickinginandoutofthecash

box, taking money for salesand giving change. Mr.Vulmerjustwatched,withhismouth open and his eyesgogglingout.ThenSummerhurriedover

with all the takings from thecakes and plants, which wasjust over £50, and Gracewavedherhandin theairforquietandhandedMr.Vulmerthe red box. “Now it’s allthere,” she told him, with asatisfiedsmile.

Of course, being him,Mr.Vulmer stood there andslowly and deliberatelycounted it, while everyonewatchedhim.Thenhesmiledslyly.“It’satennershort,”heannounced. “Here, count ityourself.”“What? I’m never wrong

—” Grace stuttered. Butobviously,inallthemayhem,shehadbeen,justalittlebit.The next thing I knew,

Marco was by my side,

puttingacrumpledfiverandaheap of change down on thereceptiondesk.“Iwantoneofthose man manicure thingiesyoudemonstratedonme,”hetold me, then glanced atMum.“Honestly,Ireallydo,”he insisted. “Look, mycuticles are in a terriblestate.”Everyone burst out

laughing as he wiggled hisfingers in the air. As Gracehanded Mr. Vulmer Marco’s

money, another huge cheerwent up. I pulled myBOYFRIEND close andwhisperedintohisear,“Iloveyou,terriblecuticlesandall–which I am now going tohavetoseeeverysingleday.”“Iloveyoutoo,”hesaidto

me – well, more likeannounced to the room. Butnooneheard–therewaswaytoo much hugging andcheering and generalcelebrating going on. And

then therewasmore laughteras Mr. Vulmer dropped £1and insteadof just leaving it,hegotdownonthefloorandscrabbled around under thesofa for it.Thebiggest cheercameasheleft,slammingthedoor so hard that the bellalmostjangledoffitshook.Suddenly Marco and I

were jumped on by Ben andSummer. Emily was stillhugging Saff, Maisy andAran were mobbing Grace,

and Liam actually pickedMumupandswungherroundandround.“Yes!” cried Saff,

punching the air. “Devonrules,cowpatsandall!”Gracegrinned.“Hear that?

Saff’s signing up for morecountrywalks!”“Woah, steady on…” Saff

began.“Thankyou,Abbie!”Mum

cried. “Thank goodness foryou!Thankyouforseeingthe

truthandhelpingmetoseeittoo, before it was too late.Thankyoufornotgivingup,even when it all seemedhopeless.”I grinned. “You’re

welcome,”Isaid.Theninmyhead I found myselfrepeating, We’re staying.We’restaying.We’restaying.Eachwordwas delicious – aspell cast, a wish granted, adreamcometrue.“Okay!” Mum said,

detachingherselffromusandturningtoaddressourguests.The room fell silent. “Thankyou,” she said. “From all ofus, our heartfelt, sincerethanks for all your supportand friendship. We lookforward to being part of thiscommunityformanyyearstocome.”She got a huge round of

applause then, which madeher go all flushed andflustered and grin about a

mile wide. “Let’s all moveover to the smoothie bar andGraceandIwillshowyouthesecrets of beauty from theinsideout!”shesaid.“We’vegot a great new smoothierecipelinedupthat’sburstingwith vitamins for health andvitality. And we’ll alsodemonstrate how to make aquick and easy fresh facemask, because of course,what’s good for you on theinside can be great for your

skintoo.”She grabbed Grace’s hand

and strode over to thecounter, all traces of nervesgone. They stood behind theblendersandGracesaid,“So,for this beautiful blueberrysmoothie, which is justbursting with antioxidants,you’llneed…”“One punnet of gorgeous

blueberries,”Mumcontinued,holdingthemup.They gave a great

presentation, and everyonegot a little cup of thesmoothietotry,andasampleof the avocado fresh facemask they’d made to takehome.Soon after that it was

almost time to finish, so wedid the raffle, and Ben wentcrazywhenhewontheluxuryhandmadechocolatesdonatedby the little sweet shop intown. “Yes! That’s threethings I’ve won now!” he

whooped.ThenhegrinnedatSummer. “My luck isdefinitelychanging!”Saff and Emily had just

about finished all the mini-manicures by four, whenMum did her last headmassage, so we all thankedeveryone again for comingand buying and booking sogenerously.Maisy finished helping

Grace cash up, and then shewentovertoBenandMarco,

who were handing peopletheir jackets. “When Aran’sfinisheddryingup,we’llheadoff—”shebegan.“No way!” cried Liam.

“You’renotgoinganywhere!Wearegoingtocelebrate!I’lljustpopandgetsometunes!”And with that, he did acomedy dance out of thedoor.Just as the last guest was

leaving, with warm hugs forMumandapromise to come

backsoon,thephonerang.I grabbed it and almost-

sang, “Good afternoon,RainbowBeauty!”It was Dad. “You sound

very cheerful!” he said.“How’s the pamper daygoing?”“Great.Brilliant!”Icried.“Excellent. Good to hear

it,” he said. “Listen, do youknowwhen you’re getting tothe house tomorrow? I washopingthere’dbetimeforme

to come over and see you,before school starts andeverything…”Myheartstartedpounding.

Ofcourse,ournewswouldn’tbe good news to Dad. Butstill,Ihadtotellhim.I took the phone from the

stand and hurried to thekitchenette, where it wasquieter. “Dad, we’vemanaged to raise the moneyto stay here, and Mum’sagreedtoit,”Itoldhim.“I’m

so sorry – I know this isn’twhatyouwanted…”I thought he’d be really

upset,orgetangry,ormaybejust hang up. But insteadtherewas a silence, and thenhe sigheddeeply. “Of courseI would have liked you tomove back up here, but Iwantwhat’s best for you all,and I know your mum doestoo. So if staying is best…thenI’mveryhappyforyou.”“That’s really bigof you,”

I toldhim, feelinga surgeofloveandadmirationforhim.“That’s being a parent for

you,”hesaid.“Althoughpartofmewantstostampmyfeetand insist you come up here,ofcourse!”“We’llstillseeyouloads,”

I assured him. “Someone’sgot to make sure you’rekeeping your place up tomeand Saff’s standards. Oh,actually, I’ve just had athought – Janine won’t be

able to get professionalhouse-sitters at such shortnotice. I’ll ask Mum tosuggestyouasa replacementwhenshecallsher.”“Oh,yes,please!”saidDad

eagerly.“Then we’ll have

somewherenicetostaywhenwe come and see you,” Iadded. “I’ve recently learnedthat distance doesn’t matter,not when you love eachother.”

“Oh,” he said. “So, hangon,what’sthisaboutlove—”“Gotta go, Dad, speak

soon!” I gabbled, and hungupthephonebeforehecouldaskanyhorriblyembarrassingparental-type questions aboutmeandMarco.Backatreception,Iputthe

phone down in its stand andwenttomentiontheDadideatoMum,whohurriedstraightoff to ring Janine. Then IhelpedGrace to clearup and

sortoutthesmoothiebar.Aswestackedupthepaper

cups for recycling, she said,“Seeing this place buzzingtoday…I mean, we did this,Abs, all of it. It makes mefeellikeIcandoanything.”“Soit’snotjustSaffwho’s

going for world dominationnow,then?”Ijoked.Ifeltthesame,though,and

Iwasbuzzingwithnewideasforthebusinesstoo.Mum came up a moment

later.“I’vespokentoJanine,”she said. “She was a bitsurprisedaboutourchangeofplans, but she’s really happyfor us. And she’s happy forDad to stay in thehouse, too–we’ve both knownher andPeterforyears.”“Oh, fantastic!” I cried.

“I’lltexthiminaminute.”“Yes!Nomoresleepingin

thatvilesaggyoldbed!”criedSaff,who’dcomeovertoo.Mum smiled and had

begun to walk away when Isaid, “By the way, I’ve hadsome new ideas for thebusiness – we can offerpamper parties in people’shouses, and do mini-treatments in retirementhomes, and put on a specialmen’s night, and find moreevents to have a RainbowBeauty stall at, and thenthere’s the Devon CountyShow…”Mum giggled. “Good

thinking, Abbie!” she cried.“I just know we’ll be okayhere now, with you comingup with such great plans. Iwon’tforgetwhat’shappenedtoday. Whatever we have toface in the future, howevertoughitgets,wewillnotgiveup.Notagain.Notever.”I dashed round the

smoothie bar and gave her abig hug then, and Saff andGrace joined in too. “Go,Green girls!” cried Saff,

makingusallgiggle.A fewminutes later,when

theclearingupwasfinished,Islippedoffupstairstochangeout of my uniform. When Icame down again, I foundeveryone with blueberrysmoothies in theirhands,andSummer setting up hercameraonthetimertotakeapictureofusall.“Abbie, quick!” Marco

cried, pulling me in andwrapping his arms around

me.Igrinnedas theflashwent

off, then glanced around asMum, Annie, John, Trish,Liam, Summer, Marco, Ben,Saff, Emily, Grace, MaisyandAranstoppedposingandstarted chatting. Then we allburstoutlaughingastheflashwentagain.“Got you!” cried Summer

gleefully. “The surpriseshot’salwaysthebest!”Half an hour later, the

party was in full swing.Liam’s “tunes” turned out tobe“Celebration”byKoolandtheGangonaloop.He’dgotfish and chips from Mavis’splace for us all, and he andMumwereworkingtheirwaythrough a bottle ofchampagneandthreateningtochronically embarrass me byplaying Twister. Jim,Summer’s older brother, hadcome to get a lift home andended up joining the party.

Now he was dancing withSaff,who’dsneakilyputonafast song to get him up, andthenchangedittoasmoochyone once she’d got hold ofhim. Itwas “MakeYou FeelmyLove” byAdele.Not bigonsubtlety,mysis.When the music slowed,

Summer dragged Ben ontothedancefloor(well,theareawhere the sofas had beenpushedback),andIlookedatMarco and raised my

eyebrows. He held out hishand, and pulledme into hisarms. “I can’t believe you’restaying,” he said, as weswayed together. “It’sperfect.”“Your perfect life!” cried

Summer. “Personally, I thinkyour taste in boys is a bitdodgy,but—”“Oi. This is a private

conversation!”saidMarco.I giggled. “Everyone

knows slow-dancing with

boys is just an excuse forgirls to chat to each other,right?”IleanedtotheleftsoIcouldseeSummer.“It’s true.I’ve got everything I couldwish for,” I said to her. “So,if I had another BlueberryWish,I’djustwishforthingsto stay as they are…oh,except to grow the businessmore, of course, and to getmyownbedroom,andtostopbeingheadless…”Ben rolled his eyes.

“Girls…they’re neverhappy!”hegroaned.“Hey!”criedSummer, and

swatted him one, so hedancedherintoawall.Then Mum called out,

“Right, that’s enough of youteenagersmooning over eachother!”We all burst out laughing

andSaff said, “Mum, I thinkmooning probably meantsomething a bit different inyourday!”

Mum raised her eyebrows.“I’m still down with thekids,” she said. “How aboutthis?” And with that she puton a Korean horse-riding-basedpartysong(haha!)anddragged Saff, Grace and meovertodancewithher.Aswebouncedaround,giggling,myhead swam with all thecolours surrounding us, andall the friendship, fun andlaughter.AndIknewforsurethat our dream really had

come true. We were in thatmagical place, that placesomewhereovertherainbow.Our new beginning had

becomeourhappyending.

MixingupaRainbowBeautyfruitsmoothieisafun,fastandyummywaytohelp

ensureyou’reeatinglotsoffreshfruit–perfectfor

feedingyourskinandhairwithallyouneedtogiveyou

thatgorgeousglow.

AlwaysremembertheRainbowBeautymotto:

Beautyfromtheinsideout!

Youwillneed:

1banana

150g(5oz)blueberries

150g(5oz)naturalyogurt

Ifyoudon’thaveajug-style

blender,useahandheldblenderinstead.

1.Peelthebananaandcutitintothickslices.Rinsethe

blueberriesanddrythemonapapertowel.

2.Putthefruitinajug-styleblenderwiththeyogurtandwhizztogetheruntilsmooth.Thenkickback,relax,and

enjoy!

Tomakethisanextra-specialRainbowBeautysmoothie,

youcanpopinsomeraspberriesforabiggerburstoffruitygoodness.Orfor

somethingalittlebitsweeter,whynottryaddingapplejuiceoradashofrunny

honey?Delish!

Formoremouthwateringrecipesthatareperfectforparties,sleepoversandgirly

nightsin,checkout

ISBN:9781409532767

Abbie’slifefeelslikeonebig

raincloudsinceherparentssplitup.Nowsheliveswithhermumandsistersina

grottyflat.Onlynewfriends,Ben,Summer,andgorgeous,guitar-playingMarco,offer

Abbieasilverlining.

ButthenAbbiehasabrightideatoturnherfamily’s

fortunesaround.She’salwayslovedmakingherown

lusciousbeautyproducts.Couldopeninganew

business–theRainbowBeautyparlour–bringherfamilyapotofgoldandheal

theirheartstoo?

ISBN9781409539605ePubISBN9781409564546

School’soutforthesummer

holidays,butthere’snostoppingAbbie.Withbusinessboomingather

family’sexcitingnewventure–theRainbowBeautyparlour

–andheart-throbMarcowhiskingheroffondates,life

isonebigwhirlwind.

ButwhileAbbielongstoseeDadagain,everyoneelse

thinksheshouldbeleftoutinthecold.WillAbbie’ssummerbefilledwith

sunshineandstrawberries,oraretherestormcloudsup

ahead?

ISBN9781409540557ePubISBN9781409564560

BlueberryWishesstartswithAbbiegoingbacktoschool.Whatwasyourfavouritesubject?

English! I loved reading andwriting, and talking aboutbooks and poems. AndHistory and Spanish. I’mafraidIwasatotalHermione

at school but, like Abbie,quitebadatMaths!

ThestudentshavetodeviseaproductforMediaclass.Whatwouldyournewinventionbe?

Erm,Dog-Nav, soyouknowwhere they have gone whenthey bolt off chasing rabbits.Andmaybedog treatswithalong-range smell-activationso you could get them to

come back again straightaway. And some way ofkeeping pairs of sockstogether. And self-makingbeds… And self-cleaningchildren…Icouldgoon…

Thisbookhassuchacosyautumnalfeel.Whichseasondoyouenjoythemost?

The turn from summer toautumn is my favourite part

of the year. I love the back-to-school feeling (see myHermione-ness!)and thewaythe air changes andeverything smells different,with more golden sunlightand all the gorgeous fallingleaves.

WhatisyourfavouriteRainbowBeautyproductfromthisbook?

It’s gotta be the Blueberry

WishesFaceMask– Imighthaveagoatmakingsomeofthat, actually! And I’vealwayslovedthesoundoftheCarrot and Calendula HandBalm,too.

Abbie,Summer,SaffandGraceallhaveaveryindividualsenseofstyle.Howwouldyoudescribeyours?

I’mtotallyintoskaterdresses

at the moment, and wearthem all year round, eitherwith ballet pumps, or withblack leggings and boots.AndIcouldn’tbewithoutmybattered old leather jacket,which seems to work withpretty much everything elseinmywardrobe.

Intheseries,Abbiechangesfromaglamcitygirltoalaidbackcountrychick.Butwhichoneareyou?

Ha ha! Good question! LikeAbbie, I’mabitofboth. I’mjustabout tohopon the traintoLondon,butthismorningIwas deep in the woodswalking the dogs. So I’mlucky – I’ve got the best ofbothworlds.

VireIslandissuchaspecialplaceforAbbie.Where’syourfavouriteplacetobe?

Anywhere where there are

trees, I’m happy. I love thewoodland and heathlandwhere I live, and ChiswickHouseParkinLondon.Ialsolove Lazienki Park inWarsaw – I’ve only beentheretwicebutit’svery,veryspecial.

Abbie’sfriendsaresoingeniousinhelpingtoraisethecashtosaveRainbowBeauty.Ifyouhadtoholdafundraiser,whatwouldyou

do?

Maybe a sponsored silencecos my family and friendswould know how massivelyhardI’dfindthatandsponsorme loads. Or a vintagefashionshow–thatwouldbefun!

So,weknowLiam’sabigfanof“Celebration”byKoolandtheGang,butwhat’syourultimate

celebrationsong?

Anything that makes me goWoo-hoo,yeeeaaahh!whenitcomes on! I put on KatyPerry or Adele to celebratefinishing writing a book (orjust a chapter or scene– anyexcuse to get up and dancearound).

ImagineAbbieintenyears’time.Whatdoyouthinkshe’llbeupto?

Backfromhertravelsaroundtheworldlearningthebeautysecrets of different cultures?Engaged to Marco? Runningthe London branch ofRainbow Beauty with Saff?Youdecide!

ForallthelatestnewsfromKelly,checkout

www.kellymckain.co.uk

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www.kellymckain.co.uk/rainbowbeauty

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CreateyourownpersonalisedRainbowBeautyeCardtosendtoyourfriendsat:

www.usborne.com/rainbowecards

Firstpublishedin2013byUsbornePublishingLtd.,UsborneHouse,83-85SaffronHill,LondonEC1N8RT,

England.www.usborne.com

Copyright©KellyMcKain,2013TherightofKellyMcKaintobe

identifiedastheauthorofthisworkhasbeen

assertedbyherinaccordancewiththeCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct,

1988.Illustrationscopyright©Usborne

PublishingLtd.,2013.IllustrationsbyAntoniaMiller.

ThenameUsborneandthedevicesareTradeMarksofUsbornePublishing

Ltd.

Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedinaretrievalsystemortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recordingorotherwisewithoutthepriorpermission

ofthepublisher.

Thisisaworkoffiction.Thecharacters,incidents,anddialoguesareproductsoftheauthor’simagination

andarenottobeconstruedasreal.Any

resemblancetoactualeventsorpersons,livingordead,isentirelycoincidental.ACIPcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.

ePubISBN9781409566847

BatchNo.02789-03