Read Online The Mag Hags by Lollie Barr - Free Book Online Page B

love him, she just wants his cash.’ Belle put her head in her hands. ‘What am I going to do?’
    Just at that moment Kylie Mannigan came strolling over. ‘Cat,’ she said, completely ignoring Wanda and Belle, ‘there’s a whole table of Us’s over there, wondering what you’re doing on a Saturday morning with a couple of Them’s.’
    Cat looked flustered – she’d been sprung! This was serious. But her loyalties were divided; she didn’t really want to leave Belle, but she felt like she had no choice. ‘As if,’ she said, getting up from the booth. ‘I’m not hanging out with Them’s, actually Kylie. We are forced to inhabit in a Them universe sometimes because of schoolwork, you know. I was just leaving.’
    She slid out of the booth and left without saying goodbye.
    â€˜Geez, I was beginning to think Cat was actually bearable,’ said Wanda. ‘But she really is a total bitch.’
    â€˜Us girls never change,’ said Belle. ‘They have to be in their exclusive little club because it makes them feel superior. If they’re excluded, it’s like their whole world crashes down around their ears. It’s sad.’
    â€˜Yeah, I know,’ said Wanda, but she secretly wished she was cool enough to be an Us rather than a Them. ‘So, are you going to tell your dad about what Reanne said?’
    â€˜He’d never believe me – whenever I complain about her, he says I need to sort it out with her myself. He’s got his lust goggles on. My dad thinks the sun shines out of her proverbial.’
    â€˜If there’s anything I can do to help, Belle,’ said Wanda, reaching over and touching Belle’s hand quickly, in a show of support.
    Belle felt as though she was suddenly going to burst into tears, something she hadn’t done since gettingexpelled from King Xavier’s. ‘Thanks. I really appreciate that.’
    â€˜Oh, I meant to tell you,’ said Wanda. ‘I’ve been working on the clothes for the shoot. Do you want to come over to my place and check them out?’
    â€˜I’d love to,’ said Belle. ‘I could do with a distraction. I really don’t want to go home in case she ’s there.’
    When the girls went to pay at the counter, Wanda was told the bill had already been paid. ‘Put your money away, sugar,’ said Hoolio. ‘Your blonde friend said it was on her.’ Well, that was a turn-up for the books. Maybe Cat felt bad about being such a cow, after all.
    Â 
    Mr Hong arrived at the house at the same time as the girls, after a Saturday-morning round of golf. ‘Hello, honey,’ he said, getting out of his car. ‘Not been shopping again, have you?’
    â€˜No, of course not,’ said Wanda who, like her mum, wasn’t prone to telling the truth about what she bought at the shopping mall. ‘Dad, this is Corabelle Askew, from my magazine group.’
    â€˜Hello Corabelle,’ said Mr Hong. ‘I know your dad. Say hi to him for me.’
    â€˜Sure,’ said Belle. ‘I will.’
    The girls headed off to the sanctity of Wanda’s bedroom, where Wanda put on Jason Jones’s album Buy this baby (You know you want it) , which encompassedhis Popstarz journey, so was mainly covers. His cute, almost girlie voice bounced off the walls, reverberating about the bedroom.
    â€˜So what have you made?’ said Belle.
    â€˜I’ve been trawling around all the op shops in town,’ said Wanda. ‘I thought we could style the shoot with a mixture of old and new.’
    Wanda pulled two black bin liners out of her wardrobe and emptied them on the bed. There was a pair of skin-tight silver leggings, a silver and purple A-line dress from the 1960s, a glittery sky-blue cardigan with bat-wing sleeves, a silver fake-leather jacket, and a silver glomesh boob-tube dress.
    â€˜Wow, these are so cool,’ said