Read Online How to Get the Friends You Want by Jenny Alexander - Free Book Online Page A

life.’
    They suddenly stopped arguing and laughed, remembering.
    â€˜So you didn’t go round each other’s houses after school?’ I said.
    â€˜I couldn’t,’ Jane said. ‘We didn’t have a car, and anyway, there’s only so much of your gran’s good ideas a person can take!’
    â€˜And I didn’t really want to,’ said Gran. ‘I was never that sociable as a girl. I liked messing around on my own.’
    â€˜I’m like that,’ I said, without even thinking about it.
    As soon as the words came out, I saw that it was true. I liked seeing Becky at the kennels and doing outdoors things with Toby; I liked talking about interesting stuff with Jess. But I also liked lying around reading, or watching David Attenborough, or finding new dogs for my wall. I liked talking to Sam and playing with Dennis.
    That’s when I saw my great mistake. I had thought I wanted to be friends with Sasha, Tammyand Abina because everyone did. They were the coolest girls in class; they were clever and nice. But they wanted to do everything together – and they were wearing me out!
    The thing was, everybody was different, and that meant they wanted different kinds of friends. Matching-set friends were great for sociable people like Sasha, Tammy and Abina. But interesting friends who weren’t too demanding, like Becky, Toby and Jess... they were the perfect friends for me.
    Except I’d really upset them.
    â€˜Are you alright, Peony?’ Gran said. ‘You look like you’ve seen a ghost.’
    â€˜It was probably the ghost of this dead bonfire,’ said Jane.
    â€˜All it needs is some firelighters.’
    I walked down to the shop to get some firelighters for Gran. Things were a mess, friends-wise, but at least I knew what I wanted now. Mr Kaminski says knowing what you want is the first step to getting it. He says you have to know exactly what you want, and write it down – that’s the golden rule.
    When you’ve written it down, you think about it and think about until ideas start to come. Then you try one idea and another and another, until you find one that works.
    So when I got home I found some paper and wrote it down:
    I want to be friends again with Toby, Jess and Becky, and I want to stop being part of Sasha’s set.

Chapter 12
Four Facts about Friends and Making Amends

    I slept with my wish list under my pillow and when I woke up in the morning I had some good ideas about what to do. That’s the magic of Mr Kaminski’s method.
    When it came to Becky, Toby and Jess, I had to say sorry and make amends. That’s what Mum told Primrose to do when she dumped Matt because someone showed her a pic of him giving another girl a hug, and it turned out she was his cousin. I wasn’t sure how to do the amendsbit, but I could certainly start straight away with saying sorry.
    When it came to Sasha, Tammy and Abina, the best thing would be to ease myself out gradually, making excuses for not going round their houses until they stopped inviting me.
    But when I tried to say sorry to Jess and Toby they kept avoiding me, and when I finally caught up with them at break time, Jess cut me off in the middle of my sentence.
    â€˜Shall I tell you Five Fascinating Facts about Friends? One – they stick together. Two – they aren’t embarrassed about each other...’
    I felt my face go hot. I didn’t think anyone else knew how I secretly felt about Toby’s shorts, Jess’s unusual ideas and Becky’s charity-shop clothes.
    â€˜Three – they don’t let each other down. Four – if they do mess up, they’re sorry...’
    â€˜But that’s what I’m trying to say,’ I butted in. ‘I am sorry.’
    â€˜If you’re sorry it’s just because you aren’t in Sasha’s team any more and therefore you aren’t going to win.’
    She turned and walked off. I felt confused.