‘Whatever.’
‘Flick,’ she snapped, ‘I would have listened to you. I am aware that it was quite the invitation. But you do not lie and sneak out. Next time you have a dilemma, you come to me and we talk it through, and come to a compromise.’
‘Right.’ I snorted. ‘Like you would have let me go.’
‘I would have considered it. I would have given you boundaries and rules, but I would have considered letting you go.’
‘Even though I was grounded?’
‘Yes.’
‘Sure.’ I put the cushion back in the corner and sat up. ‘Can I go to my room now? I expect that’s the order coming next. I’m tired anyway.’
She ran a hand through her hair and then stood up to gain the advantage of looking down at me as she delivered her final verdict. I knew the score.
‘You’ve taken it too far this time,’ she said, shaking her head.
‘Really? Further than the Prince-Gustav thing?’
‘I am innomood for jokes, Flick. Don’t try it.’
I crossed my arms stubbornly.
‘From now, you are grounded for a month.’
No surprises there, then.
‘And you are not allowed to attend the Christmas Ball.’
Wait. WAIT.
My jaw dropped. ‘What?’
‘You’re not going to the Christmas Ball.’
‘Mum, you can’t –’
‘I don’t think you understand, Flick,’ she barked.
It wasn’t a shout, but it was definitely a raised voice, and that had never happened. I froze in my seat, my stomach tightening and my eyes welling with tears. She’d never spoken to me like this before.
‘This wasn’t just you mucking around, as usual,’ she continued through gritted teeth, ‘this was you worrying me sick because you didn’t know anyone you were with and anything could have happened.’
‘I know Sky,’ I whispered, a tear rolling down my cheek.
‘For hardlytwo weeks!’ she cried. ‘You are my daughter, and for all I know, she could have left you stranded. Gone off without you. Left you to get home on your own, in the middle of nowhere. Anything.’
‘She wouldn’t do that.’
‘How. Do. You. Know?’
I sniffed and looked down at my feet.
‘Grounded for another month, no parties, no dinners in the restaurant with celebrity guests – yes, I know all about that, I’m not stupid – no weekends out with your friends, no going to Skylar Chase’s concerts, certainly no vlogging and no Christmas Ball.’
‘But I have a date!’
‘No dates.’
