Lottie
As we walked up to the house, the woman from across the road was coming out of our front door, buttoning up her jacket. She was smiling fakely, showing rows of teeth, which looked too bright and too straight to be real. They practically glinted in the sun. When she spotted Mo and I, just for a second, her smile turned into more of a silent snarl, which was surprising since all we were doing was walking up the steps to our own front door.

‘Did I do something?’ Mo whispered. ‘Is my face offensive?’

‘No more than usual,’ I said. ‘I don’t know what her problem is.’

‘Mo-Bear! Lottie! How was your day?’ Emma said from the doorway. ‘You remember Mrs… Oh, I’m so sorry – I can’t remember your last name?’

‘Lorelai is fine,’ the woman beamed back at Emma.

‘Why are your curtains always closed?’ Mo said.

Lorelai laughed and flicked her glossy hair behind her shoulder.

‘Did I say something funny?’ Poor Mo looked very confused. His freckly cheeks had turned bright pink.

‘Oh, bless you, lovely observant little boy!’ Lorelai reached out as though she was going to pat him on the head or something, but pulled her hand back at the last moment, as though she found him too disgusting.

‘She must know about the mouse brains,’ I said.

Mo nodded.

‘So why do you keep the curtains closed, Rapunz… I mean, Lorelai?’ I asked.

She ran her tongue across her top teeth, ‘There’s a very good reason, actually. Don’t worry, I’m not a vampire,’ she laughed.

Mo looked uncomfortable.

‘I’ve just decorated and bought new furniture.’

‘Really?’ I said. ‘That was quick.’

‘Thank you, angel,’ she said, though I don’t know what she was thanking me for. I didn’t mean it as a compliment. ‘The sun is so bright at the front of the house, and you know it makes colours fade if it shines on something too much. So I keep the curtains closed to protect my lovely things. Having a beautiful home is so important to me.’

‘Mewl perowt err,’ Sadie said, which meant ‘it would be more believable if she told us she really was a vampire – what a bunch of …’

‘Absolutely,’ I nodded.

Mo just squinted at her and wrinkled his nose.

‘Come on in then, you two – I want to hear all about your day,’ Emma gave us both a squeeze as Lorelai walked down the steps waving goodbye.

‘So wonderful to see you again, darling Emma,’ she half sang, as though she was a Disney princess, ‘And thank you for the cookies – I’ll be sure to pay you back.’

‘Yes, you too, and no problem at all – do let me know if you need anything else – it must be tough to manage alone when you’ve just moved in and don’t know the area.’

‘Yes, very tough, but I know I have a friend close-by now. I’ll pop over after dinner, shall I? Thank you so much! So long!’

‘Let me take your bags, my lovelies. I’ll get some snacks and then we can catch up.’ Emma walked through to the kitchen.

‘Why is she so obsessed with my mum?’ Mo said, closing the front door.

‘Meeeeeoooow,’ said Sadie.

‘Ooh, burn,’ I laughed and high-fived Sadie.

Mo spun around. ‘What did she say? If she said something bad about my mum, I swear, I’ll…’

‘You’ll do what, exactly?’ I said, standing between him and Sadie. ‘And anyway, you’re too stupid to understand Sadie, so you’ll never know.’

 

Mo
I really wanted to be alone, but whatever room I went into, someone walked in and started talking to me. It wasn’t cold out, even though it was October, so I snuck into the back garden for a relaxing bounce on my trampoline. Although I’m not a very sporty person, I have always loved my trampoline. I can block everything else out and think about stuff that makes me happy. I get my best ideas on the trampoline.

I closed my eyes and started thinking about the science competition. I loved science – it made me feel close to my dad and, when I did well, I could tell my mum was really proud. So I was desperate to win. I felt in my heart that inventing was what I was meant to do with my life. I smiled as the breeze tickled my neck and the birds chirped in the trees behind me. I breathed in the smell of grass and let the creak of the springs soothe me as I bounced. For the first time since moving, I felt calm.

Until I heard the back door crash and Lottie and Sadie came running and yelling up the garden towards me.

‘Can we play with you, Mo? Let’s invent a new game which involves the trampoline, a football, the rhododendron bush and this broken flowerpot.’ Lottie said.

Sadie prodded her with a twig.

‘And this magic twig,’ Lottie added.

I cursed the day these impossible girls had come into my life. They spoke in ways I didn’t understand. They did random things for no apparent reason. They made me feel stupid and stressed. Everything was hard and uncomfortable while they were around.

For example, Sadie suddenly put her hand under her T-shirt at the back and pulled something out of the back of her pants. Why? Why would someone keep something down there?

‘Oh, Sadie – you haven’t been at it again, have you? Dad will go mad,’ Lottie said, as she took the something, which was a folded-up piece of paper, out of Sadie’s hand.

‘At what again?’ I asked, even though I knew I wouldn’t like the answer.

‘Sadie has a bit of a problem with taking things that don’t belong to her,’ Lottie said, looking at the piece of paper.

‘You mean stealing?’ I said.

‘She collects things, like you do,’ said Lottie.

‘No, I pick up things that have been lost so I can try to get them back to their owners. That is not the same as being a thief. It’s like the opposite of being a thief.’

‘Don’t call Sadie a thief.’ Lottie turned to Sadie. ‘Where did you get this, Sades?’

‘Prew mew purowt.’ Sadie looked down at the grass as though she felt bad, but I was pretty sure she was smiling.

‘So?’ I said.

‘She slid it out of Lorelai’s pocket while she was chatting to Emma.’

‘That’s really not good – we should probably give it back.’

‘Do you want to knock on her door, Mo? Because I know I don’t,’ said Lottie. ‘Besides, it’s just a piece of paper. It’s worthless.’

‘Let me see what’s on it.’ I snatched it out of her hand.

‘Rude,’ she said, while Sadie looked as though she was going to cry.

‘It’s a list of dates, times and numbers,’ I said. ‘The title is “Class X Occurrences Over the Past Century.’

‘Sounds boring,’ Lottie said. ‘She probably won’t even notice it’s gone.’

‘It’s weird, though… The dates start from fifty years ago, and they go up to the year 2068.’

‘So?’

‘So, how can there be a list of things that have happened, when the dates are in the future? You see–’ I pointed at an entry, ‘3rd May 2026 – peak at 22:54 hrs – X 5.39.’

‘It’s probably just a page from a novel set in an apocalyptic future,’ Lottie said, grabbing it back. ‘But, just in case, you’d better get rid of it, Sades – you don’t want any evidence linking you to its disappearance. Make sure you throw it away.’

Sadie nodded, folded it up and put it back down her pants.

‘Hold on a sec,’ I said, glaring at Sadie. ‘Was it you who stole my diamond armour out of my chest in my Minecraft world?’

‘Prrrrerr,’ Sadie giggled.

‘You horrid brat! I bet you’re the one who blew up my base, too!’

‘Don’t shout at her like that,’ Lottie shoved me. ‘She took your armour and I blew up your base. Who. Even. Cares?’

‘I spent three weeks building that base,’ I shouted. I was so mad, I felt like I was going to explode.

‘It was rubbish anyway,’ Lottie rolled her eyes, ‘Probably a good thing we destroyed it.’

I looked at them: the two most evil, insane and bossy girls in the whole world, and suddenly felt like I was going to cry.

‘I hate you!’ I said, and I ran back into the house.