âLife is so hardWhen you donât have that special someoneThatâs why I need youTo help me throughâ¦â
âKenny, youâre singing all the wrong words!â Fliss moaned.
âAnd why are you singing so much higher than the rest of us?â Lyndz wanted to know.
âYeah, Kenny, you sound like a cat with a sore throat!â I added, sticking my fingers in my ears.
âFlippinâ cheek!â Kenny grumbled. âIâll have you lot know Iâve got a fantastic voice â my gran said I ought to be on the stage!â
âYeah, sweeping it, maybe!â I joked, and ducked as Kenny flicked a choc chip cookie at me.
Hi there! So you found your way to Flissâs house OK, did you? Excellent! We were wondering where youâd got to. Come into the kitchen, and say hello to the rest of the Sleepover Club. Well, thereâs only me, Kenny, Fliss and Lyndz here at the moment because Rosieâs late. Weâre just practising the song we want to sing in assembly at school next week â if we can shut Kenny up, that is! Itâs the theme tune from one of our fave programmes, that Australian soap opera South Beach. The words are a bit dodgy, but the tuneâs all right!
Weâre sleeping over at Flissâs tonight (we take it in turns to have a sleepover every week at one of our houses, thatâs why weâre called the Sleepover Club â obviously). Anyway, you can see we were all pretty hyped up and being a bit loud and giggly. It was exciting stuff, what with Christmas coming up and our school panto (which youâll probably know about already!), but there was another reason why we were getting all over-excited. Iâll give you a clue â roll those drums please, here it comes â BRAD MARTIN!
What do you mean, you donât know what Iâm talking about? Oh, please! Where have you been all your life? You have to know who Brad Martin is! You watch South Beach, donât you? You donât? Oh. Well, Iâll just have to explain everything then!
Anyway, like I said, there we all were round Flissâs, sitting in the kitchen drinking Sunny Delight and waiting for Rosie, and talking about what we wanted for Christmas.
âI really want a lizard!â Kenny said, and we all fell about laughing. Weâre used to Kenny being crazy, but sometimes she can still surprise us!
âWhat, a real one?â Fliss asked, wrinkling up her nose in disgust.
âNo, a dead one!â Kenny retorted. âOf course I want a real one.â
âGross!â Fliss shuddered.
âThatâs what Molly the Monster says,â Kenny replied with an evil grin. Mollyâs her sister, although Kenny wishes she wasnât. Theyâre always trying to get one over on each other, and you know what Kennyâs like â she usually wins!
âYou only want a lizard to annoy Molly,â Lyndz pointed out.
âSo?â Kenny shrugged. âThatâs a good reason!â
âItâs not very nice for the lizard!â I said. âAnd anyway, Kenny, your pets never survive!â
Itâs true. Kennyâs got the killer touch where pets are concerned.
âMy mum says I can have loads of new clothes,â Fliss said, âand I want some boots and some make-up as well.â
Kenny groaned. âYouâre so girly, Felicity!â
Kenny thinks thatâs the worst insult she can give anyone. If someone called her âgirlyâ, sheâd thump them, but Fliss actually looked quite pleased!
âSo?â she said. âI am a girl!â
Just then Flissâs mum waddled in from the living room. It wasnât long before the babies were born, and Mrs Proudloveâs tummy was so big, I was surprised she could walk!
âMore biscuits, girls?â she enquired. âOr would you like some doughnuts?â
âBoth, please!â Kenny said.
âI bet you canât wait for the twins to be born, Fliss,â Lyndz remarked.
âYeah,â Kenny said wickedly. âTwo lots of smelly nappies to change!â
Fliss looked sick. I reckoned sheâd faint away dead on the spot if she had to change a dirty nappy! Mind you, she did change Rosieâs neighbourâs babyâs nappy once, but that was ages ago.
âWhereâs Rosie got to?â I wondered. âIf she doesnât hurry up, sheâs going to missâ¦â
âSOUTH BEACH!â the others yelled, and we all rushed into the living room to grab the best seat on the sofa.
I canât believe youâve never seen South Beach. It was one of our best programmes â we liked it just as much as Neighbours and Home and Away. Anyway, Kenny got the best seat by elbowing everyone else out of the way.
âOw!â Fliss said crossly, hopping round the living room holding her foot. âKenny, you trod on my toe, you idiot!â
âAnd you elbowed me in the ribs!â I grumbled, plonking myself down next to Kenny and elbowing her back.
âSsh, itâs starting!â Lyndz said, calming everyone down as usual.