‘I was joking about the diary. I got Scarlett a voucher from The Beauty Bar. Enough to get herself a mani-pedi and a facial. Do you want the lip gloss or not?’
Holly looks at me like I’ve grown another head. ‘So why didn’t you say so?’
‘It was a joke. I was trying to make you laugh.’
She shakes her head. ‘It wasn’t funny.’ She takes the lip gloss and flicks the cap off. ‘Is it new?’
‘Yes. Do you like it?’
She adjusts the rearview mirror and dabs it on her lips. ‘I love it.’ She tucks it into her pocket. ‘Thank you.’
‘You’re welcome.’ I put my things away. ‘You look great,’ I say, starting the car. And for once, she doesn’t roll her eyes.
A few minutes later, we turn onto Scarlett’s street, and I am shocked to see how many cars are parked up and down the road, half of them on the verge.
‘Big party,’ I say, crawling past groups of teenagers. I don’t need to look at the house numbers. I can hear the music thumping from here, not to mention the house is lit up like it’s running for the Brookford Christmas Lights Competition. I can’t imagine what the neighbours will think. This is a very posh, very secluded road in a very posh, very secluded neighbourhood. Thank God it’s me dropping her off and not Max. He would have had a heart attack.
I catch sight of Amelia, one of Holly’s classmates, and her mother, Sophie. Sophie waves and laughs as if to say,‘Take a load of this!’I wave back, grinning, and keep crawling until I find a parking spot further down the road.
I retrieve a large red envelope from the backseat and hand it to Holly. ‘Here you are. It’s the voucher.’
She takes it, shoves it into her backpack and opens her door. The sound from the party goes up by ten decibels.
We get out of the car. I smooth her hair. ‘Don’t forget to take off your makeup before your dad picks you up.’
She rolls her eyes. ‘God, trust me, I won’t.’
‘And he’ll pick you up at eight thirty.’
She looks at me like I’ve just asked her to shave her head. ‘Eight thirty? No, Kate! Come on!’
‘Hey, you, come on. You know the rules.’
‘I just got here! Say nine thirty, at least. Say ten! Please!’
I let out a breath. ‘Holly…it’s not up to me, you know that.’
‘Please?’ She looks so pleading, so wanting. She never goes out, and she has no friends, thanks to her crazy father.
I sigh. ‘All right. Nine thirty.’ Max will be okay with nine thirty, won’t he? It’s only an hour.
‘Ten? Please, Kate.’
I nod. I mean, she’s right, she’s only just got here. She’s sixteen years old, not a baby. ‘Fine. Ten.’
She throws her arms around my neck, almost knocking me over. I laugh.
‘Hey! Holly!’
We both turn at the sound of her name towards a group of girls waving at us with arms like windmills.
Holly waves back, grinning. ‘I love you,’ she says to me. ‘You’re the best. See you later.’
‘I love you, too. Have fun, okay?’
‘I will!’ She blows me a kiss as she runs across the road to her friends, and I don’t know why, but I have a bad feeling in my stomach. Like something terrible is about to happen.
I shake my head and turn back to my car.
