Sleepover Club on Friday 13th. Louis Catt

Molly made an amazing spluttering noise and sat down on the bed with a flump. She looked so funny we all fell about laughing.

      It was a pity Mum was right behind her. We had really and truly meant to tidy up all the crisps and crumbs – and of course we were going to make the beds. It’s always the same though, I expect you’ve noticed – no one ever surprises you when your room is all neat and tidy and spotlessly clean. No, it’s only ever when it’s totally upside down. And upside down was exactly what my half of the room was – and Molly’s half wasn’t much better.

      We got it sorted out. Well, we had to. Mum stood in the doorway with her arms folded until it was back to normal. Molly tried to boss us about, too, but luckily the phone went and Mum sent her downstairs to answer it and she was gone ages.

      I didn’t ask Mum about having a sleepover straight away. It didn’t seem quite the right moment. Just then she seemed really keen on getting rid of everybody – not on having them around. Still, I wasn’t too worried, I was sure I could find a way round her somehow, even if it meant doing the washing-up or some other gruesome task for a week. It was going to be the best sleepover ever – and nothing was going to stand in our way – we just had to make sure Molly didn’t stick her nose in and spoil it!

      

      After the gang had gone I went back inside expecting to find Molly waiting to yell and scream and throw a fit or two – all in my direction. I was ready for it – but it never happened! She was in the kitchen talking to Mum, and as I went past she actually waved at me – if you’d been there you would have heard my jaw fall thunk on the floor. I leant against the wall to recover. Yes, OK I leant against the wall to recover and to see if I could listen in and find out what was going on. Wouldn’t you have done the same?

      “That’s fine,” I heard Mum say. “It’ll be nice for you to have a night away with a friend, and it’s not as if you have school the next day. You can collect your things when you get home from school, and I’ll give you your bus fare then.”

      My jaw thunked on the floor for the second time in minutes. Molly going away? With a friend? And then it clicked… Mum had said she wouldn’t have any school the next day – Molly was going to be away on Friday night!

      It took a ginormous effort not to dash to the phone that second and ring Frankie and Fliss and Lyndz and Rosie. But somehow I restrained myself. Somehow I managed to stay where I was until Mum and Molly had finished chatting, and Molly was back on the phone.

      “Zoe?” she said. “Mum says it’s OK. I’ll zoom home from school and get my stuff, and then I’ll catch the first bus over.”

      As soon as Molly was out of the way I wandered into the kitchen trying to look as if I didn’t really want anything. Mum was tidying up, so I thought it might be a good idea to hang up a few mugs. After all, it wasn’t that long since I’d been blasted for being messy, untidy, and a few other things that I couldn’t remember.

      Mum looked at me suspiciously. “Hmm,” she said. “Let me guess… you want to have a sleepover here on Friday night.” Then she nodded. “I don’t see why not. It’ll be much easier for you with Molly away – but I want your room spotless by the time she comes back again!”

      I gave her a huge hug. “I promise!” I said, and I meant it. Cross my heart and hope to die. Then I helped put away all the rest of the crockery.

      I had to wait until school the next day to tell the others. Mum said the phone bill was already staggering under the weight of all my calls, and I’d only said goodbye to my friends half an hour before. When I burst into the cloakroom and told them that the sleepover was all fixed and Molly was going to be away Frankie whooped, Lyndz cheered and Rosie grinned all over her face. Only Fliss shuffled a bit.

      “What’s the matter?” I asked. “You’re not chickening out after all, are you?”

      Frankie banged Fliss on the back. “You said you’d come!”

      Lyndz nodded. “It wouldn’t be the same without you,” she said.

      Fliss started to look really pleased. For a moment I felt bad, and I wondered if we were a bit hard on Fliss sometimes.

      Then she shuffled her feet again. “It’s the burglar,” she said. “My mum isn’t sure if I should spend the night away from home.”

      We all stared at her. “Burglar?” Rosie said. “What burglar?”

      “It was in The Mercury,” Fliss said. “Three houses were broken into last week, and another one this week. One of the houses was just round the corner from where I live!”

      Frankie gave a loud snort. “You’ll be just as safe at Kenny’s house as you are at home,” she said. “After all, it’s only a burglar – it’s not a murderer.”

      Fliss went even pinker. “My mum says it might not be safe. She says burglars often murder people if they get in their way.”