Jack shook his head, focusing on winding another forkful of pasta.
‘No? No trips or… anything I should know about?’
‘Nope.’
‘I heard it’s Bo’s birthday on Saturday. Is she… doing anything?’
‘She’s having a party,’ Jack said dully, and Lou’s heart sank.
‘Well, we should get her a present, then. What do you think she’d like?’
Jack looked up then, distress evident on his face. ‘No, we don’t have to get her a present. I’m not going.’ Tears welled in his eyes, and Lou’s heart wrenched.
She pulled out a chair and sat beside him. ‘Vicky told me the whole class was invited,’ she said gently. ‘Are you sure you didn’t get an invitation?’
He shook his head, his face a picture of misery. ‘No. So we don’t have to get her a present.’
Bloody right, kid, Lou thought as rage consumed her. She wanted nothing more than to march over to Aidan’s right now and smash his stupid face in. But she had to put her fury aside for now and concentrate on trying to console Jack. She didn’t want to make him feel any more humiliated than he already did.
‘Well, never mind. We’ll do something nice on Saturday ourselves instead. Something even more fun than a party – anything you want. What would you like to do?’
Jack shrugged listlessly, his head bent, and Lou saw a fat tear drop onto his plate. Well, screw Aidan and screw etiquette! She wasn’t having this. She’d never humiliate herself by begging to be included by someone who didn’t want her, but she’d do it for Jack. There was no way she’d let Aidan get away with this.
‘Don’t worry,’ she said, rubbing Jack’s shoulder. ‘I’m sure it’s just a mistake. I bet what happened was they wrote the invitations ages ago, before we even got here, and then they just forgot to do an extra one.’
‘No, I’m not going, Mum.’
‘But everyone else is going. And Bo’s your best friend, isn’t she?’
Jack nodded miserably.
‘I know she’d want you to be at her party. She’ll probably give you your invitation tomorrow.’She will if I have anything to do with it, Lou thought furiously.
