Read Online The Strawberry Sisters by Candy Harper - Free Book Online
Authors: Candy Harper
Ads: Link
the ‘everyone’, that’s how not fussy they were.
‘That sounds good,’ Kayleigh said.
‘Ash will be good at that,’ I said. ‘She’s a fast runner.’
‘You’re going to ask Ashandra too?’
‘I think she’ll like hockey, don’t you?’
Kayleigh’s face looked like she didn’t care at all whether Ashandra would be good at hockey, which was disappointing, but she managed to say, ‘I suppose.’
But, when we got to registration and I asked her, Ashandra didn’t seem sure either.
‘I already go to karate and choir; even someone as brilliant as me needs to sleep now and again.’
She was joking, but Kayleigh pulled a face.
‘And I need to make sure I’ve got enough time to do homework.’
‘It’s at lunchtime; it won’t interfere with your homework,’ I promised.
‘What about when there are matches?’
Kayleigh pursed her lips. ‘What makes you think you’d get on the team?’
‘I normally get into teams.’
Ash was only telling the truth, but I supposed that if you don’t know someone well enough to know that they’ve been on lots of teams then you might think they’re being a
big-headed boaster. And that might make you mouth ‘show off’.
‘Please join,’ I said quickly before Kayleigh could say anything out loud. ‘Just try it for a few weeks.’
Ashandra let out her breath. ‘Oh, all right.’
‘Brilliant, I’ll put our names down at breaktime.’
They didn’t look very brilliantish about it, but once we started playing together I knew it would help them get on.
When Miss Espinoza arrived, I went to my own desk. The tight plait girl, who I now knew was called Alenka, looked up when I sat next to her and then down again.
‘Hi,’ I said. ‘Did you have a nice weekend?’
She thought about it. ‘Some of it was nice. My sister, she took me out for a milkshake.’
‘Wow. My big sister would never do that. I mean, if she took me, she would have to take my other sisters and Chloe can drink a lot of milkshake. It would cost loads.’
‘My sister is in Year Nine. She’s really nice. When I have a bad day, she always takes me for a milkshake.’
She didn’t say why she’d needed cheering up.
‘Me and Ash and Kayleigh are going to do hockey on Thursday lunchtimes. Do you want to come too?’
I thought she was going to say no. I think she thought she was going to say no too because when she said, ‘OK,’ she seemed as surprised as I was.
We had chips from the chip shop for tea. I love chips, but the smell of them always makes me a bit worried. When it’s beans on toast for tea, that means Mum has had a bad
day and is very tired, but chips mean a terrible day. So terrible that Mum doesn’t even have the energy to open a tin of beans.
‘Are you OK?’ I asked her. I was clearing up the chip papers, Lucy was pretending to help and Mum was surrounded by her class’s writing journals.
‘I’m fine, Ella. I’ve just got a lot of marking to do.’
‘Again?’ Lucy asked. ‘You did marking last week.’
Actually, Mum didn’t do very much marking last week because she spent so much time on Lucy’s Harvest Festival costume and making sure she knew her lines.
Mum looked down at the journals. ‘I’m afraid there’s marking every week. It just keeps coming! Every day the little horrors produce more writing. Even the really fidgety ones
squeeze out a few lines that I’m supposed to read and comment on. The head expects me to have written something on every single piece of writing.’
‘So why haven’t you?’ Lucy asked.
‘Because there are thirty children in my class and they do a piece of writing every single day. Even if I only spend five minutes marking each piece that’s still two and a half hours
of marking.’
Lucy put her head on one side. ‘You could do that. You could do it when I’m in bed and I don’t need you.’
When Lucy is in bed, Mum does the washing and makes packed lunches and helps me and Chloe with our homework and
‘That sounds good,’ Kayleigh said.
‘Ash will be good at that,’ I said. ‘She’s a fast runner.’
‘You’re going to ask Ashandra too?’
‘I think she’ll like hockey, don’t you?’
Kayleigh’s face looked like she didn’t care at all whether Ashandra would be good at hockey, which was disappointing, but she managed to say, ‘I suppose.’
But, when we got to registration and I asked her, Ashandra didn’t seem sure either.
‘I already go to karate and choir; even someone as brilliant as me needs to sleep now and again.’
She was joking, but Kayleigh pulled a face.
‘And I need to make sure I’ve got enough time to do homework.’
‘It’s at lunchtime; it won’t interfere with your homework,’ I promised.
‘What about when there are matches?’
Kayleigh pursed her lips. ‘What makes you think you’d get on the team?’
‘I normally get into teams.’
Ash was only telling the truth, but I supposed that if you don’t know someone well enough to know that they’ve been on lots of teams then you might think they’re being a
big-headed boaster. And that might make you mouth ‘show off’.
‘Please join,’ I said quickly before Kayleigh could say anything out loud. ‘Just try it for a few weeks.’
Ashandra let out her breath. ‘Oh, all right.’
‘Brilliant, I’ll put our names down at breaktime.’
They didn’t look very brilliantish about it, but once we started playing together I knew it would help them get on.
When Miss Espinoza arrived, I went to my own desk. The tight plait girl, who I now knew was called Alenka, looked up when I sat next to her and then down again.
‘Hi,’ I said. ‘Did you have a nice weekend?’
She thought about it. ‘Some of it was nice. My sister, she took me out for a milkshake.’
‘Wow. My big sister would never do that. I mean, if she took me, she would have to take my other sisters and Chloe can drink a lot of milkshake. It would cost loads.’
‘My sister is in Year Nine. She’s really nice. When I have a bad day, she always takes me for a milkshake.’
She didn’t say why she’d needed cheering up.
‘Me and Ash and Kayleigh are going to do hockey on Thursday lunchtimes. Do you want to come too?’
I thought she was going to say no. I think she thought she was going to say no too because when she said, ‘OK,’ she seemed as surprised as I was.
We had chips from the chip shop for tea. I love chips, but the smell of them always makes me a bit worried. When it’s beans on toast for tea, that means Mum has had a bad
day and is very tired, but chips mean a terrible day. So terrible that Mum doesn’t even have the energy to open a tin of beans.
‘Are you OK?’ I asked her. I was clearing up the chip papers, Lucy was pretending to help and Mum was surrounded by her class’s writing journals.
‘I’m fine, Ella. I’ve just got a lot of marking to do.’
‘Again?’ Lucy asked. ‘You did marking last week.’
Actually, Mum didn’t do very much marking last week because she spent so much time on Lucy’s Harvest Festival costume and making sure she knew her lines.
Mum looked down at the journals. ‘I’m afraid there’s marking every week. It just keeps coming! Every day the little horrors produce more writing. Even the really fidgety ones
squeeze out a few lines that I’m supposed to read and comment on. The head expects me to have written something on every single piece of writing.’
‘So why haven’t you?’ Lucy asked.
‘Because there are thirty children in my class and they do a piece of writing every single day. Even if I only spend five minutes marking each piece that’s still two and a half hours
of marking.’
Lucy put her head on one side. ‘You could do that. You could do it when I’m in bed and I don’t need you.’
When Lucy is in bed, Mum does the washing and makes packed lunches and helps me and Chloe with our homework and
Similar Books
