Lottie
‘Come on, Sadie, help me think of an invention.’
Sadie was in the living room watching cartoons, so I flung myself down on the sofa next to her. I was annoyed with Jax, and annoyed with Mo for not seeing how annoying Jax was. I didn’t want them to beat me. I had to think up the best invention ever.
Sadie giggled at the TV, as the coyote tried to catch the roadrunner using some metal boots and a giant magnet. He ended up getting a kick in the boy bits and a magnet to the head. But it gave me an idea.
‘Sadie, I need your assistance in the kitchen!’
‘Merrrrrrow,’ said Sadie, following me out of the door.
Emma was a bit worried when she heard our idea, but she’s such a pushover, I soon got her to get out some ingredients and leave us to it.
I should probably tell you that I am an excellent baker. I prefer creating by myself to following a recipe, though. Recipes are for people who have no imagination.
And there would definitely be no recipe for what I had in mind.
Sadie and I worked tirelessly for a whole thirty minutes, creating something so new and exciting that people were going to pee their pants when they saw them.
‘Do you need any help, girls?’ Emma peered around the corner.
‘No, no, we have everything under control,’ I said while Sadie pushed her out of the room with floury hands.
‘Perow mew?’ Sadie said.
‘Yes, Sadie, definitely more glitter. All the colours.’
Edible glitter was one of our favourite ingredients. We tried to incorporate it into most of our bakes, usually for decorative purposes. But this time the glitter was functional as well as beautiful. It was the most important part of our creation.
Mo and Jax came into the kitchen just as we were taking them out of the oven.
‘What are they?’ Mo said, peering at them. ‘They smell quite nice.’
‘Of course they smell nice,’ I said, sprinkling the leftover glitter into my fishtail braid so that, firstly, I would look like a mermaid and, secondly, I would match my invention.
‘They look… interesting,’ said Jax, sneering at them. ‘What exactly are they?’
‘They’re our invention for the Discovery Competition,’ I said.
‘And how exactly are little biscuit balls an invention?’ Jax said, poking one.
‘For your information, they’re called Glitter Balls (™). And they are not only delicious, but also the perfect way to bring your missing pets back to you.’
‘How do they work?’ Mo said.
‘I’m glad you asked, Mo. Allow me to demonstrate, with the help of my awesome assistant, Sadie.’
Sadie put a Glitter Ball (™) into her mouth, chewed and swallowed.
‘You feed them to your sister?’ Jax said, rolling his eyes.
Sadie swallowed and gave me a thumbs-up. ‘Merow.’
‘What was that?’ Jax sneered. ‘Can’t she talk properly?’
‘She talks all the time!’ Jax was really annoying me. ‘Doesn’t she, Mo?’
‘Well, yes.’ Mo looked uncomfortable. ‘But Jax probably didn’t realise she was talking because she has her own, you know, special language.’
‘Do you mean that squeaking?’ Jax said.
‘Hsssssssss,’ said Sadie.
‘So, what happens now?’ Mo asked. ‘With the Glitter Ball (™) I mean?’
‘Sadie will now leave the room and, using this large magnet, I will pull her back into the kitchen.’
‘Really?’ Mo said. ‘How will that work?’
‘Inside the crunchy crust of the Glitter Balls (™), there is a surprise liquid centre filled with glitter. Glitter is metal. Magnets suck metal towards them. Simple.’
Jax snorted. ‘Go on, then, give it a try.’
I lifted the magnet and pointed it towards the open door.
Nothing happened.
‘Maybe the magnet is too small,’ I said. ‘I’ll go a bit nearer.’
‘I can’t believe it didn’t work!’ I said, feeling ever so disappointed. ‘You might as well come back, Sadie,’ I called out of the door.
‘I think, maybe, there isn’t enough metal,’ Mo said.
‘More glitter?’ I said. Sadie grabbed five more Glitter Balls (™) and started cramming them into her mouth.
‘I’m sorry, Lottie, I still don’t think it will be enough,’ Mo said. ‘It was a brilliant idea, though.’
‘Yeah, genius,’ Jax sniggered.
I picked up the tray and carried it over to the bin. All that hard work wasted.
‘Don’t throw them away – maybe they’ll be useful for something else,’ Mo said. ‘May I try one? They look yummy.’
‘Sure,’ I said. ‘Do you think at least that they might make your poo sparkly?’
‘That’s a definite possibility,’ Mo said. ‘I’ll have one and report back to you later.’
‘Thanks, Mo.’ I smiled and realised I was actually getting quite fond of him.
‘Oh, blimey,’ Emma said, walking into the kitchen and looking at the mess. ‘Are you finished, girls? I need to get the dinner on.’
‘Yes, we’re finished,’ I said. ‘Could I please have a tub to store my Glitter Balls (™) in?’
‘Sure, I’ll get one. They look amazing,’ Emma rummaged around in a cupboard as Dad walked through the door.
‘What have you made this time, girls?’ he said, looking around the kitchen. ‘I hope you’re planning to clean up this mess and not leave it for Emma.’
‘Actually, we’re quite tired from all our hard work,’ I said. ‘We might need a sit down.’
‘Meoooooooow,’ Sadie yawned.
‘Lottie, Sadie: get your butts over to the sink and start washing up. Right now.’ Dad was obviously cross.
‘It’s OK, Spencer! Look: the kids have a friend over,’ Emma nudged Dad and nodded at Jax. ‘This is Jax.’
‘Oh, right,’ Dad said. ‘Hi there, Jax.’
‘What are your plans for dinner, sweetheart?’ said Emma.
‘Oh, I guess I’d better go home.’
‘You can eat with us, if you like and if your parents don’t mind,’ Emma said.
‘My parents don’t really do much cooking,’ Jax said, ‘So I’m sure it would be OK with them.’
‘Lovely.’ Emma smiled at Dad. ‘Why don’t you kids go and watch some TV, and I’ll call you when it’s ready.’
‘Mrow,’ Sadie said, looking right at Jax.
‘Sadie, you shouldn’t really use that kind of language,’ Emma tried her best to look strict.
‘So even you can understand her now?’ Mo was annoyed.
‘Well, you know, Sadie and I spend a lot of time together while you two are at school,’ Emma said. ‘It really isn’t difficult, once you get used to it.’
Mo muttered to himself as we walked into the living room.
‘I’m just going to use the bathroom,’ Jax said, and he disappeared upstairs.
‘Jax has been acting a bit weird,’ Mo whispered to me as soon as he was gone.
‘Oh, really – do you think?’ I said, rolling my eyes.
‘Yes, he’s so set on doing the old idea for the Discovery Competition, when it obviously isn’t going to work. And he was asking some strange questions.’ He completely missed my sarcasm, as always.
‘Let’s wait until he’s gone and then discuss it in your room,’ I said, excited at the thought of doing some secret bad-mouthing. ‘In the meantime, keep a close eye on him.’
I watched Jax through dinner but he didn’t do anything out of the ordinary – in fact, he seemed to chill out a bit and was kind of nice. He ate like he hadn’t been fed in months, though. I wondered if maybe his parents didn’t look after him very well. It wasn’t a happy thought, and it almost made me not look forward to being mean about him as soon as he left.
He went home straight after dinner, saying his Mum was waiting for him around the corner in her car.
Mo and I stood at the window, watching him run down the road.
‘Where did he say he lived?’ I asked.
‘He didn’t.’
A movement across the street caught my eye. ‘Mo, look!’ I nudged him. Lorelai was standing at her downstairs window, watching Jax.
‘You don’t think she’s after Jax, too, do you?’ Mo said.
‘No, I don’t think so.’ Clearly Mo still needed persuading that Jax was not his friend.
Lorelai turned her face, suddenly, and saw us looking over at her.
‘Bum-biscuits!’ Mo said, and we ducked down, out of sight.
