Sugar Secrets…& Love Read online

  “Joe - um, since you’ve got the screwdriver out, you couldn’t tighten up the handle of the big frying pan too, could you? It was very wobbly when I was trying to do your fried egg this morning—”

  Joe, weighed down by the piles of papers and insurmountable amount of work he knew were waiting for him in his room, felt this was a request too far.

  “Mum,” he began, about to tell her that he didn’t have enough time in the day to tinker with the contents of the kitchen, or any other little odd jobs she had in mind, when there was the doorbell rang.

  “Ooh, I wonder who that could be? Of course it might be Mrs Andrews from next door,” said Susie Gladwin brightly as she scurried out into the hall. “I said you’d give her a hand if she decided to move that old sofa bed out of her spare room for the rubbish collection. You don’t mind, do you?”

  Joe closed his eyes and wilted. Getting through his mum’s sweet-natured shell was going to be harder than he thought.

  “Ah, hello! Come on in! Joey will be so pleased to see you!”

  Unless it’s Jennifer Aniston or someone from the Education Department who’s come to tell me personally that exams have been abolished, I doubt that I will be pleased—Joe grumbled silently.

  “Hiya!” bellowed Ollie, striding into the kitchen. “What’s up with your face? Did you think it was Meg come to visit, instead of your oldest, bestest friend?”

  “No,” Joe shook his head at the mention of his new girlfriend’s name. “Meg’s studying for her A levels - the same as I’m meant to be doing—”

  “Yeah, yeah,” said Ollie blithely. “I won’t stay long.”

  “Would you like a sandwich, Ollie? I could make you up a cheese and pickle,” smiled Joe’s mum hospitably.

  “Mmm! It’ll spoil my tea—But go on then, if it’s not too much trouble!” Ollie said chirpily.

  “But, Mum, I really need to get back to work…”

  “Oh, now. Joey dear, you need to have little breaks when you’re studying; it’s good for you. Isn’t that right. Ollie?” twittered Susie Gladwin, already grabbing a slab of cheddar out of the fridge.

  “Too right, Mrs G!” Ollie agreed.

  “Now, you boys pop upstairs and I’ll bring your sandwiches right up!”

  Joe found himself reluctantly treading his way up the stairs, followed by his best friend, who at any other time he’d have been delighted to see.

  “What a couple of days I’ve had, Joe, mate!” said Ollie, flopping back down on the bed and sending a pile of neatly stacked notes flying.

  “Why - what’s up?” asked Joe, suddenly too genuinely concerned to mind picking up the now jumbled A4 sheets off the floor.

  “Well, yesterday, this guy only nicked the radio out of the End and did a runner without paying when I was on my own in there. And today, incredible, the place was so dead I thought my head would explode with boredom!”

  “Hold up - never mind the stuff about being bored. What happened with this bloke who stole the radio yesterday?” Joe quizzed his friend.

  It shook him up to hear about things like that happening. Especially since it wasn’t that long ago that Anna had been caught up in an attempted robbery at the launderette across the road from the café.

  “Oh, wow - Nick totally flipped out at me for letting it happen. You should have seen him, Joe - his eyes were bulging out like this!”

  Ollie did a cartoon-style impersonation, then started to laugh at the ridiculousness of it. Joe gave a feeble, confused smile. He didn’t know what to think. One minute, Ollie had him all worried; the next he was mucking around.

  “Hey - and Nick’s only going on holiday to America for a couple of weeks,” Ollie continued, remembering his other snippet of news. “And get this - he said he’s leaving Anna in charge! Can you believe it? What a laugh - as if!”

  Joe gazed over at his friend, still lying - propped up on his elbows - on the bed.

  “But what made him decide something like that?” asked Joe, bemused.

  “Aw, just ‘cause he was well miffed about that guy making off with the radio and everything.”

  “What - Nick’s giving you that hard a time for something that wasn’t even your fault?” Joe reiterated Ollie’s words, full of righteous indignation on his mate’s behalf.

  “Wellll—” muttered Ollie, pushing himself up into a sitting position and looking sheepish. “I s’pose it was kind of my fault. Sort of—”

  “How do you mean?” frowned Joe. His brain was too cluttered with exam facts and figures to struggle to work out what Ollie was saying.

  “Em—” Ollie winced, ”—it’s just that I wasn’t quite on my own. Me and Kerry were through in the kitchen and—well, you know how you can get distracted.”

  Joe could only imagine; Meg - whom he’d met at his dad’s wedding - was his first proper girlfriend. Joe and she had kissed, of course, but he hadn’t been going out with her for long enough yet to know about being ‘distracted’ - not in the sense Ollie meant, anyway.

  But Joe certainly knew how it felt to be distracted by a so-called mate who was looking for sympathy for something that was his own fault.

  “Joe?” Ollie stared at him questioningly, waiting for him to say something. “What - you think I’m a bit of a dork for doing that, do you?”

  “Yep - I guess so,” shrugged Joe.

  “Well, no need to act like I murdered someone,” said Ollie, his face falling at the sight of Joe’s stern expression. “C’mon, what’s up with you?”

  “Exams.” said Joe bluntly. “Remember them? Those annoying things you have to study for?”

  “Yeah,” replied Ollie, stunned by his best mate’s snippy manner. “But what’s the big deal? You’re smart enough - you’ll get by!”

  “But that’s what I don’t want to do - I don’t want to ‘get by! I want to do pretty well and that’s not going to happen if people keep interrupting me all the time!”

  Ollie wasn’t to know that Joe’s head was fit to burst over a whole pile of worries caving in on him. It wasn’t just lack of sleep he was suffering from because of exam pressures, or the depressing realisation that the achy feeling he’d had all day meant he was coming down with something just at the wrong time. No, what was really weighing heavily on Joe’s mind was the news he was keeping from both his mum and from his best friend. The news that only he and Meg knew…

  All Ollie did know was that it was time to go.

  “Sorry to bug you, Joe,” he said flatly, getting to his feet and heading out through the bedroom door.

  Joe wanted to shout after him, but he couldn’t bring himself to. Sometimes it seemed to him like the whole world revolved around Ollie Stanton, while Joe watched from the sidelines.

  He hasn’t a clue what’s going on with me and he hasn’t even bothered to ask. Joe thought bitterly.

  Well, now Joe had to make a stand, even if it was just to earn himself the right to get back to his miserable revision.

  “I’m not just here at your convenience, Ollie Stanton!” Joe muttered under his breath as his friend’s feet pounded down the stairs.

  “Don’t you want your sandwich, Ollie dear?” he heard his mother’s voice drift up from the hall.

  Ollie felt strange - or rather, it felt as if the rest of the world had gone strange on him.

  Is it something in the stars? he wondered as he stomped over to The Swan pub where he lived. I’ll have to ask Anna - she knows about all this horoscope stuff…

  To have that unexpected upset with Nick yesterday was one thing; to fall out with Joe now was just too bizarre.

  “Hi, honey!” Ollie’s mum greeted him as he turned up behind the bar of The Swan to help out. “We weren’t expecting you down here till seven. Have you had your tea yet?”

  “I didn’t want anything - Mrs Gladwin made me a sandwich when I went round to Joe’s.”

  Ollie wasn’t one for lying to his parents, but this seemed harmless and it was only a half lie after all. And whether it was Joe’
s mum’s cheese and pickle effort or the lasagne that needed reheating upstairs in the kitchen. Ollie just wasn’t in the mood to face them.

  “You’re looking a little bit pale - you’re not ill, are you?” asked Sharon Stanton with concern, leaning across the bar top to feel her son’s forehead.

  “No, I’m fine,” he assured her, ducking away from her outstretched hand.

  “Good - with your Uncle Nick going away, the café would be in a real state if you were under the weather! You just missed him - he was in for a quick pint and a chat with your dad.”

  Ollie stood stock still and stared at his mum. Did she and his dad know about how he’d messed up the day before? How angry Nick had been with him? Ollie got a real buzz from being the keen son and nephew, ever ready to work, and always with a smile on his face. OK, so he didn’t have a batch of A levels to his name - as Joe had been so keen to rub in - but he was proud of his reputation for having bucketfuls of energy and enthusiasm.

  “He’s, uh, pretty excited, isn’t he?” Ollie ventured, testing the water. It was funny, he’d felt fine about the situation with Nick - had practically forgotten about it, he realised - till Sonja’s phone call that afternoon had placed a little niggle of anxiety in his head.

  “Excited? He’s like a kid let loose in a sweet shop!”

  From the way his mother was beaming. Ollie could see that Nick had said nothing about what had passed between them.

  That’s something, I suppose—he thought to himself with relief.

  “Yeah, it’s great, isn’t it?” he managed to smile, hoping it looked convincing.

  “Hi, Ol - hi, Mrs Stanton!” Matt Ryan’s voice suddenly interrupted them. “Can I steal Ollie for a minute? I’ve got something to show him—”

  “Course you can! What can I get you to drink?”

  “Just a Coke, please - I’ve got the car. If you can call it that—” Matt laughed.

  Matt had only just started to come to terms with having to swap his prized, sporty hatchback for an old rust-bucket, when he’d had to pay for the equipment that had been ruined at one of his parties that had got seriously out of hand.

  “What’ve you got to show me then?” said Ollie, glad to see a friendly face. After Joe’s unexpected outburst, it was good to see that his other best mate was as normal as usual.

  “Look at this!” said Matt excitedly, pulling a rumpled copy of a free paper out of his pocket. “See—?”

  Ollie leant over, his eyes scanning the feature Matt was pointing to.

  “‘Battle of the Bands—open to bands with members aged eighteen and under—” Ollie read aloud. ‘Wow! The prizes are all right, aren’t they?”

  “Yeah!” enthused Matt. “But read that bit, Ol - ‘The winning band get an exclusive recording contract’. What about that, eh? Eh? A recording contract!”

  Ollie’s mind was spinning too fast to reply.

  Maybe the stars were up to weird and wonderful things at the moment - and this particular ad might be just about the most wonderful thing that could happen to The Loud and to Ollie…

  ARE YOU LOOKING OUT FOR NUMBER ONE?

  There’s a strange atmosphere down at the End-of-the-Line café. Exams are making everyone edgy; there’s love-trouble brewing and a competitition that could be the start of something big for the band. Against a backdrop of all this, it’s not surprising there are disagreements and misunderstandings between Ollie and the rest of his mates. The question is, how will he deal with the tricky situations looming ahead?

  There’s a fine line between looking out for yourself, and being downright selfish. Which side of the line do you fall? Try our quiz and find out…

  1 You goof up at your Saturday job and charge someone the wrong amount/break something/get your shirt stuck in the till, whatever. You feel…

  a) Like crawling under a stone. You might as well hand your notice in before you get fired.

  b) Like a total plank. No wonder your boss is mad at you.

  c) Pretty bad - but, hey, it’s not the end of the world.

  2 You’re in line to be made captain of a team, but because you made one little mistake, once upon a time, a friend of yours lands the top job instead. You…

  a) Can’t believe that one mistake messed everything up, or that you were stupid enough to think everyone would have forgotten about it.

  b) Are hurt, but understand why it happened, and hope it doesn’t make things weird between you and your mate.

  c) Don’t get it. You did something stupid and said you were sorry - so why are you still being punished?

  3 You’ve got a duty-call this weekend - like visiting your gran - but your mates are all doing something far more interesting. You try and wriggle out of it, but your parents say no way. You…

  a) Are miserable and moany at the thought of your friends having a knees-up without you.

  b) Feel miffed - but what can you do apart from give in gracefully?

  c) Don’t see what the big deal is: you’d be more than happy to go, only not this weekend.

  4 You sense that a friend is having a bad day - and funnily enough, yours hasn’t exactly been a great either. You…

  a) Ask her what’s wrong, then once she’s told you, make her feel she’s not alone by reeling off your own list of whinges.

  b) Put your own hassles to one side and prepare to listen to her woes.

  c) Offload all your troubles. Once they’re off your chest, you’ll be more in the mood to concentrate on her troubles.

  5 You’re desperate to see a movie but your friend doesn’t fancy the same flick. You pester her till she finally gives in. You…

  a) Are well-pleased to get your own way, but a weeny bit guilty too.

  b) Feel bad and promise her faithfully that it’s her choice next time.

  c) Are happy enough, and think no more about it.

  6 There’s a competition you’re dead excited about it - you think you’ve got a great chance at winning. It’s all you can talk about, until a friend turns round and tells you that everyone’s fed up with you harping on. You…

  a) Feel like you’ve been slapped in the face. But even though you’re hurt, you kind of know what they mean, even if you wouldn’t admit it out loud.

  b) Are embarrassed that you’ve been so thoughtless and decide to change your ways at once.

  c) Are puzzled. Why don’t they understand how important it is to you?

  7 You get caught out telling a big, fat, white lie. You…

  a) Try and compensate by spinning an elaborate story by way of explanation, and then wish you’d kept your mouth shut in the first place.

  b) Wish you could turn back time and un-say the stupid thing.

  c) Make a joke of it; people will be less annoyed with you if you laugh it off.

  8 What’s your favourite tactic for getting your own way?

  a) Going on and on and on and on. If that doesn’t work; you turn on the tears.

  b) Putting forward a valid argument. If that doesn’t work, you give up.

  c) Turning on the charm. And that nearly always works.

  NOW CHECK OUT HOW YOU SCORED…

  SO, ARE YOU LOOKING OUT FOR NUMBER ONE?

  Mostly a

  Do you look out for number one? Oh, yes; you give yourself top billing all the time. But while it’s good to be self-confident, the flip side of that is being selfish. It’s not because you mean to be; it’s just that you act before you think - a lot like Cat. But, like Cat, your saving grace is that the moment you realise you’re being selfish (possibly because someone’s pointed it out!) you feel mighty guilty and try to make amends.

  Mostly b

  Looking out for number one? No, that’s not really what you’re all about. You’re more into empathy - the ability to sense and understand someone else’s feelings - and you’ve got empathy in bucketloads. That sensitivity for others means you’re very like Kerry, who always sees other people’s points of view. Good on yer!

  Mostly c

 
Are you looking out for number one? You’d say no way; you love your friends and are always there for them - except when you get caught up in something exciting. That’s when all your energy and all your focus goes into your life, and before you know it, you’re officially being selfish. All it takes not to fall into this trap is to stop and remember everyone else’s feelings once in a while - which is a lesson Ollie could take on board right now.

  Coming in June 2000

  Sugar

  SECRETS…

  … & Conflict

  BIG BREAK!

  An opportunity for The Loud causes panic for Ollie.

  CLASH!

  But all play and no work makes Anna really mad!

  CONFLICT!

  Divided loyalties test friendships to the limit…

  Some secrets are just too good to keep to yourself!

  An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers

  www.fireandwater.com

  Coming in July 2000

  Sugar SECRETS…

  …& Confessions

  DIRTY WEEKEND?

  Not if the weather’s good for the music festival!

  BAD TIMING!

  But something’s troubling Sonja - Kerry’s sure of it.

  CONFESSIONS!

  Kerry’s in for a shock when both Cat and Sonja spill the beans…

  Some secrets are just too good to keep to yourself!

  An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers

  www.fireandwater.com

  Coming in August 2000

  Sugar SECRETS…

  …& Sunburn

  HOLIDAY!

  Ollie and Kerry can’t wait to get away on their romantic trip for two…

  RANKIN’ RYAN!

  But a hot gig for Matt could be a fly in the Factor 15!

  SUNBURN!

  When temperatures soar, does it all get too hot to handle…?

  Some secrets are just too good to keep to yourself!