Sleepovers (11 page)

“Nothing. We're just having fun,” I said.

And we
did
have fun. Dad showed us how to play all these weird old-fashioned party games like Squeak Piggy Squeak. When Chloe was the pig she sat on my lap so hard I squeaked for real but I didn't care.

Then we played Stations and I was Clapham Junction and Emily was Vauxhall and we had to keep swapping and once we bumped into each other and got the giggles. Chloe was Waterloo and she bumped into me on purpose and stamped on my toe but I didn't care.

Then we played Murder in the Dark and I got a bit worried Chloe would be the murderer and if she pretended to murder me it might hurt rather a lot. Luckily Bella was the murderer and she just gave me a tiny poke in the tummy and whispered, “Ever so sorry but you're dead now, Daisy.” Chloe kept pretending to trip over me all the time I was the Dead Body and each time she tripped she kicked. I tried hard not to care.

Dad saw one time and said, “Hey, Chloe, don't kick Daisy like that!”

Chloe went red as she's not used to being told off.

“I'm sick of playing this silly game. Let's do something else,” she said.

So we played Musical Bumps. It was great fun. Even Chloe cheered up and started jumping to the music, even if it
was
ancient. I wondered if it might start Lily off again but Mum came down at last and muttered to Dad that she was fast asleep.

“So I'll fix tea,” said Mum.

Everyone loved my beautiful Daisy cake. Mum even cut the sandwiches with a special cutter so they were daisy-shaped too. We drank our lemonade out of green glasses and had little white iced buns and white chocolate clusters and green grape jelly and vanilla ice-cream.

“I love the way it all matches,” said Amy.

“It looks almost too lovely to eat,” said Emily.

“
Almost
,” said Bella, tucking in straight away.

We all tucked in. We ate and ate until we were very nearly full. Then I had to cut my birthday cake ever so carefully. As the knife sliced through the thick icing and soft sponge and gooey jam I made my birthday wish.

“I wish Emily could be my best friend,” I whispered to myself.

Then everyone sang
Happy Birthday To You
. When they got to “
Happy
Birth
day, dear Daisy
,” Chloe sang “
Diddums Daisy
” but I didn't care.

The birthday cake was delicious. I hoped Mum might make cakes more often! She washed all the daisy hairslides for us because some had got a bit sticky with icing and then she handed them out.

“There are four left over. Can I have them seeing as I've got the longest curliest hair?” said Chloe.

“No, dear, Those slides are for Lily,” said Mum.

“Daisy's sister? Babies don't wear hairslides!” said Chloe.

I held my breath. But Bella asked if it would be terribly piggy if she had just one more slice of birthday cake. Dad laughed and offered her the whole plateful.

“I wouldn't do that! She'll eat it all!” said Amy.

“And she doesn't
ever
feel sick,” said Emily.

“You're just a greedy-guts, Bella, said Chloe. You'll grow into a great big whale and never be able to wear decent clothes.”

“Whales don't need clothes. They swim around and spout at silly little tadpoles like you,” said Bella.

She pretended to spout at Chloe, but she still had a large mouthful of cake. Chloe's
Bestest
Little Girl in the Whole World
T-shirt got sprayed with crumbs. We all fell about laughing. Chloe didn't find it funny at all.

“You disgusting pig, Bella,” she said, and she pushed her off her chair.

“Hey, hey, that's enough!” said Mum. “I think it's time you all got down from the table. Daisy, run and find one of your T-shirts, poppet, so Chloe can wear it while I put her own in the washing machine.”

Chloe followed me up the stairs. Amy and Bella and Emily came too. I tiptoed past Lily's door.

“Why are you walking like that?” Chloe asked.

“Sh! Lily's asleep,” I whispered.

Emily and Amy and Bella all started walking on tiptoe too. Chloe went
STOMP STOMP CLACKETY CLUMP
in her heeled shoes . . . but thank goodness Lily didn't stir in her room.

Everyone squashed into my room.

“Goodness, isn't it weeny?” said Chloe.

“No, it's not,” said Bella.

“It's a lovely room,” said Amy.

“It's the nicest room I've ever seen,” said Emily.

It's not. It
is
weeny. Lily has a proper size bedroom because she's got so much stuff and Mum sometimes sleeps on a campbed beside her if she's having a bad spell. I have to make do with the tiny bedroom – but Dad's put up special shelves on my
wall with a roof on top, like a big open dolls' house so all my books and paints and stuff have different “rooms”. Mum's made me a duvet cover and curtains patterned with dolls' houses and on my window sill I have my
real
dolls' house. A very tiny family of teddy bears live inside. Midnight is too big but he sometimes likes to squeeze up really small and visit them.

“Dolls' houses are for babies!” said Chloe.

“No, they're not. My gran collects dolls' houses and she's an old lady,” said Emily. “I'm not really allowed to play with her dolls' houses though.”

“You can play with mine,” I said.

“We're not playing baby doll games,” said Chloe. “Come on then, Daisy, show me all your T-shirts.”

I showed her my blue T-shirt with the dolphin and my pink T-shirt with little flowers and my black T-shirt with the silver mermaid (only the silver comes off so she hasn't got a tail any more).

“Is this all you've
got
?” said Chloe.

She chose the dolphin T-shirt though she sneered at it and said it was stupid. She had a good look through all my clothes and didn't think much of any of them and she was mean about my shoes too because they came from the wrong shop.

“I wouldn't be seen dead in shoes like that,” she said, throwing herself onto my bed and waggling her wonderful pink strappy heels in the air.

“Can I try your shoes on, Chloe?” said Amy.

Bella tried them on too.

And even Emily.

“Can
I
try them on, Chloe?” I asked.

“No fear. I don't want your smelly old feet in my shoes,” said Chloe.

I wished the dolphin on her T-shirt would swim off with her to the bottom of the sea – and then leave her there, with her head in the sand and her legs in their pink strappy shoes waving in the air.

WHEN WE WENT
downstairs – Emily, Bella, Amy and me tip-toeing, Chloe clackety-stomping – Mum and Dad were in the kitchen having
their
tea.

“Are we going to play some more Musical Bumps?” said Amy.

“Boring,” said Chloe.

“Are we going to have some more tea?” said Bella.

“Boring,” said Chloe.

“Are we going to go in the tent now?” said Emily.

“Boring,” said Chloe. “What would you like to do then, Chloe?” said Mum.