Once the girls had started laughing it seemed stupid not to talk to each other.

‘That was the funniest thing I’ve seen for ages,’ said Sophie.

‘Me too,’ said Alice, holding her stomach. ‘I’ve got a stitch.’

She looked at Sophie. ‘Are you still mad?’ Alice asked.

‘Nope,’ said Sophie, shaking her head.

‘I’m sorry about yelling,’ Alice said to Megan. Then she kicked at the ground. ‘I suppose I get jealous sometimes because you’re Sophie’s oldest friend.’

Megan shrugged. ‘Well, I get jealous because you’re her newest friend!’

Sophie stared at her friends in surprise. It had never crossed her mind that this might be the cause of all the problems.

Mrs Tran came over. ‘Make sure you have some dinner too,’ she said. ‘But be quick! The disco starts soon. Don’t forget the theme is Outer Space.’

The disco!

Sophie had forgotten all about it.

Once Mrs Tran had gone the three girls examined the leftover food. It didn’t look very nice. The sausages were cold. The peas had gone all wrinkly and the mashed pumpkin was really runny.

Then Sophie had an idea. ‘I’ve got chips,’ she said. ‘Let’s have those instead.’

Megan nodded. ‘Cool. I’ve got biscuits and chocolate. What about you, Alice?’

Alice shook her head. ‘I haven’t got anything.’

‘Nothing at all?’ asked Megan.

Alice looked embarrassed. ‘Just sultanas. My mum doesn’t buy junk food.’

‘That’s OK,’ said Megan. ‘I love sultanas!’

Alice looked surprised. ‘Really?’ she asked.

Megan nodded. ‘Really. They’ll be perfect for our feast.’

Sophie kept quiet. She knew Megan was lying about liking sultanas but she was glad. It was a good lie.

In the tent the girls spread out their food and started to eat. They were all really hungry. Megan even ate a couple of sultanas, but Sophie noticed that she quickly had a chip afterwards.

‘Now,’ said Megan, once they had finished. ‘What should we wear to the disco?’

Sophie thought about the stuff she had packed. There was nothing that was right.

‘Can’t we just go as we are?’ asked Alice.

Megan looked shocked. ‘Of course not! You have to dress up,’ she said.

‘But I didn’t bring anything,’ said Sophie.

‘Me either,’ said Alice.

Megan reached over and opened up her backpack. Clothes of all shapes and colours came spilling out.

‘Lucky I did then!’ she laughed.

Megan picked out a shimmery silver top and matching silver skirt for Alice to wear.

Alice looked at them doubtfully. ‘I don’t think these will even fit me,’ she said.

‘Yes, they will,’ said Megan.

Alice tried them on and they fitted perfectly.

‘How do I look?’ Alice asked shyly.

‘Great!’ Sophie and Megan said at the same time. It was true. The top looked amazing on Alice. It made her eyes sparkle.

Megan found Sophie a black top covered in tiny gold stars and a pair of black pants with gold thread. Sophie had never worn anything like this before.

Once they were both dressed, Megan said, ‘Now for some make-up.’

She pulled a big pink bag out of her backpack. Inside were hundreds of makeup samples from her mum’s work.

‘Try this,’ said Megan, holding out a little silver pot to Sophie and Alice.

It was pink, sparkly lip gloss that smelled like peaches. Alice and Sophie stuck their fingers in and put some on their lips.

‘This one is for your eyelids,’ said Megan, handing over another little pot. It was filled with silver eye shadow. She got the girls to shut their eyes while she put it on for them.

‘You start from the inside of the lid and work across to the outside,’ she explained.

When she had finished, Sophie and Alice looked at each other.

‘You look so much older!’ Sophie said to Alice.

‘So do you!’ said Alice. ‘You look totally different.’

Sophie wished she could see herself. She had never worn much make-up before. In the distance, they could hear music playing.

‘It’s started!’ said Megan, jumping up. ‘Let’s go.’

‘But you’re not ready,’ said Sophie.

Megan’s top was still covered in dried-up pumpkin.

‘Oh yeah, I forgot,’ said Megan.

She picked up the lip gloss and quickly dabbed some on her lips. Then she gave her clothes a quick brush-down with her hands. Some of the pumpkin came off but lots of it stayed stuck on.

‘OK, I’m ready,’ she said, and climbed out of the tent.

Alice and Sophie followed behind.

‘You know,’ Alice said to Sophie, ‘normally I hate all that make-up and dressing-up stuff. But that was fun.’

‘Yeah,’ nodded Sophie. ‘It really was, wasn’t it?’