Read Online Chocolate Box Girls: Sweet Honey by Cathy Cassidy - Free Book Online Page B

says
     helplessly.
    I bite my lip. ‘I was supposed to
     tell you, but I went to the beach with Tara and Bennie. I didn’t know you were
     making something special. I’m sorry!’
    ‘It’s not your fault,’
     Emma says. ‘He should have called me himself. He promised he’d make an
     effort, spend more time at home.’
    I jump to defend Dad. ‘It was an
     emergency,’ I assure Emma. ‘He’d never have let us down if he
     could help it. He works so hard!’
    ‘Too hard sometimes,’ Emma
     sighs, but then she wipes the frown from her face and fixes on a smile.
     ‘You’re right, Honey, it’s a high-pressure job with a lot of
     responsibilities. It does mean late nights sometimes. Greg works hard so we get to
     enjoy a certain kind of lifestyle – a house with a pool, luxury holidays, meals out;
     of course, he has to support you and your sisters too …’
    It’s my turn to frown. Before
     Paddy was on the scene I remember times when we were scarily short of cash, and even
     now, it’s not like we could afford half the mod cons in this place.
    ‘Oh, well – we’ll make the
     best of it. Let’s have a girls’ night in!’ Emma says.
    We watch a DVD called
10 Things I
     Hate About You
, a teen movie from Emma’s youth that is actually quite
     cute, curled up on the sofa, eating as we watch. The meat is charred on the outside
     and raw on the inside, and the carefully prepared sauce cold and lumpy, but neither
     of us comment, and the pudding, ice cream with chocolate sauce, is much better. We
     watch the screen and laugh and say ‘awww’ at the slushy bits.
    ‘Bring your new friends over any
     time,’ Emma says. ‘This is your home too – you could have a sleepover or
     a pool party or a movie night.’ She looks childishly excited at the idea, and
     it strikes me that for all her gorgeous house and privileged lifestyle, she is
     actually a little lonely.
    When the film is over I help to wash up
     and tidy the kitchen, then head to my room. When I go to check SpiderWeb, to my
     surprise there’s a message from Surfie16, posted just a few minutes ago.
Hey, gorgeous … just
     wanted you to know you’re on my mind.
    I grin and a moment later another message
     flashes up.
So, how’s school? Bet
     you’re popular with the boys!
    I laugh then type.
It’s an all-girls’
     school. Besides, I don’t have time for boys … I’m way too
     busy with my studies. I am a model pupil!
    xxx
    A reply pops up almost at once.
Yeah, that’ll be right! I bet
     they don’t know what’s hit them!
    I frown. I was on my best behaviour that
     day at the beach, so why is it so hard for Riley to believe I could be a model
     pupil? Sometimes I think I may as well have
bad girl
tattooed across my
     forehead because no matter how hard I try, people label me that way. It’s kind
     of depressing. I type, a little huffily.
It’s true. I’m fitting
     in just fine.
    There’s a pause, and then an answer
     appears.
Just teasing, OK? Gotta go, but
     we’ll talk again. I’m always here.
    I click away from SpiderWeb, relieved
     that Riley didn’t mean anything by the comment – the fact is, he’s out
     there, and he’s thinking of me. I open up a school book and try to focus on
     homework, but my mind keeps drifting back to last Sunday at the beach. What if
     I’d said yes to Riley’s invitation? Would that have been so very
     bad?
    It’s late when I hear Dad come in.
     My homework is long finished and I’m curled up in bed in the dark, balanced on
     the edge of sleep. I hear Emma’s voice, a rising howl of anguish.
     ‘Can’t you at least tell me when you’re going to be this late?
     It’s past midnight, Greg. It’s not fair, you know it’s
     not!’
    ‘It was unavoidable,
     sweetheart,’ Dad says soothingly. ‘Shhh, now. We don’t want to
     wake Honey.’
    I let go, sliding helplessly into a
     world of dreams.
     

     

 
    Skye Tanberry
    
to me
    Just to let you know we