‘To the ball. Not just any date either but with –’
‘You’ll have to cancel. Now –’ she folded her arms – ‘I’m done. You can go to your room.’
Only I didn’t go to my room. I was so upset by everything, I went to the lift and went down to Audrey’s office, where she was sitting behind her desk shuffling through some papers. She stood up when she saw me in her doorway.
‘Flick?’
I ran into her arms and burst into tears. She stroked my hair while I sobbed all over her dress.
‘It’s OK,’ she repeated gently. ‘Come on, sit down. Tell me what happened.’
She passed me a tissue as I sat in her big chair and then perched on the desk to listen to me. I filled her in on everything that Mum had said and burst into fresh tears when I got to the bit about the Christmas Ball, highlighting how bad it was because Ethan Duke had asked to go with me and I’d never fancied anyone before because all the boys at school were gross and this was a really big deal and now Mum was ruining my life.
‘I see.’ She nodded, listening to me patiently. ‘But your mum has already told you what to do.’
‘Yeah, stay in my room, shrivel up and die.’
‘No, Flick,’ she said, suppressing a smile. ‘Make a compromise.’
I blew my nose. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Your mum is very reasonable. Right now she’s only angry because she cares.’
‘That old chestnut,’ I said, rolling my eyes.
‘Yes, that absolutely true old chestnut.’ She passed me another tissue as I threw my scrunched up one at her bin and missed. ‘You know your mum better than anyone. You can’t just throw a tantrum and demand that you’re allowed to go to the Christmas Ball; that’s not the way to go about things.’
‘Huh,’ I said thoughtfully, ‘that’s how I usually go about things.’
‘I’m very well aware of that.’ Audrey laughed. ‘And how has that been working out for you recently?’
I considered her question. ‘Not the best.’
‘I thought as much. You’ve got to prove to her that youdeserveto go to the ball.’
‘How am I going to do that?’ I whined. ‘Buy her flowers and stuff??’
‘No, show her that you’re truly sorry, you’ve learned your lesson and that you can be responsible.’
‘That sounds like hard work.’
Audrey smiled. ‘Depends how you do it.’
‘Any suggestions?’
‘Oh, I have a suggestion, all right. A good one. One that, if you pull it off, will win your mum over, no doubt about it.’
‘What is it?’
‘You’re not going to like it.’
‘I’ll do anything,’ I pleaded. ‘I have to go to the Christmas Ball. It’s Ethan Duke! This is a matter of life and death. What do I have to do to prove to Mum that I deserve to go?’
She took a deep breath and told me.
You have GOT to be kidding.
I was so preoccupied with what Audrey had said that I completely forgot to think about how people at school would react to the whole Skylar Chase thing.
