The Friends Forever Collection

The Friends Forever Collection
Jean Ure

Three of Jean Ure’s stories in one bumper volume of classic girly fiction with ‘Sugar and Spice’, ‘Secret Meeting’ and ‘Is Anybody There’?‘Sugar and Spice’: Geeky Ruth Spicer is shocked when super-cool Shayanne Sugar wants to be her friend.‘Secret Meeting’: Annie's arranged the coolest birthday present for her best friend, Megan.‘Is Anybody There?’: The friendship of three girls is tested when one of them accepts a lift with a stranger.These three classic girl’s stories combine vivid characters with real life problems and a touch of humour, making this essential reading for 10 – 12 year old girls.

Copyright (#u045e7a1e-7FFF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

HarperCollins Children’s Books An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd. 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/)

Secret Meeting first published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2004 Is Anybody There? first published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2004 Sugar and Spice first published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2005

First published in this three-in-one edition by HarperCollins Children’s Books 2007

Text © Jean Ure 2004, 2004, 2005

Illustrations © Karen Donnelly 2004, 2004, 2005

The author and illustrator assert the moral right to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication

Source ISBN: 9780007248209

Ebook Edition © 2005 ISBN: 9780007369591 Version: 2016-12-12

For Chris and Joan with love and respect

Table of Contents

Cover (#u045e7a1e-1FFF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

Title Page (#u045e7a1e-2FFF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

Copyright (#u045e7a1e-3FFF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

Dedication (#u045e7a1e-6FFF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

Secret Meeting (#u045e7a1e-8FFF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

Is Anybody There? (#litres_trial_promo)

Sugar and Spice (#litres_trial_promo)

Keep Reading (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

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For Chris and Joan with love and respect

Contents

Secret Meeting (#u045e7a1e-8FFF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

Dedication (#u045e7a1e-8FFF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

One (#u045e7a1e-10FF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

Two (#u045e7a1e-13FF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

Three (#u045e7a1e-17FF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

Four (#u045e7a1e-21FF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

Five (#u045e7a1e-24FF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

Six (#u045e7a1e-27FF-11e9-9e03-0cc47a520474)

Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

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My friend Annie is completely bonkers. Loopy, wacko. Seriously doolally, as my nan would say. She does the craziest things! Like in biology, one time, we were supposed to be dissecting plums, and when Miss Andrews said, “Annabel Watson, where is your plum?” Annie said, “Oops, sorry, miss! I ate it.”

“Ate it?” said Miss Andrews. “Ate your plum?”

She couldn’t believe it! I could, ’cos I know Annie. She drank some paint water once, when we were in juniors. She said it looked so pretty, like pink lemonade.

Some people think she does it to show off, but it’s not that at all. She just happens to be a very zany sort of person. I, on the other hand, am desperately sensible and boring. I would never do anything silly, if it weren’t for Annie. She is always getting us into hot water! The only times I ever have my name in the order mark book are when Annie’s told me to do something and I’ve gone and done it, even though I know it means trouble. Like, for instance, hiding ourselves in the stationery cupboard when we should have been outside playing hockey. I knew it would end in disaster. I only did it ’cos I hate hockey – well, and because Annie said it would be fun. What she didn’t realise was that Mrs Gibson, our head teacher, was due to take a special sixth form study group in our classroom. With us still in the cupboard!!!

Mrs Gibson was quite surprised when someone opened the cupboard door and we fell out. We were quite surprised, ourselves.

That was two order marks. One for missing hockey, and one for damaging school property (trampling on the stationery).

Then there was the time she decided – Annie, I mean – that we should go to school wearing birds’ nests in our hair. She’d found these old nests in her garden and she said, “Think how cool it would look! We could start a new fashion.”

She perched one on her head and it sat there like a little cap, really sweet, with tiny bits of twig and feather sticking out, so I did the same, and we went into assembly like it, and people kept looking at us and giggling, until all of a sudden this thing, this horrible maggoty thing, started to crawl out of Annie’s nest and slither down the side of her face, and the girl next to her screeched out, really loud, like she was being attacked by a herd of man-eating slugs. I screeched, too, but in a more strangulated way, and tore my nest off and threw it on the floor, which started a kind of mini stampede and brought the assembly to a standstill.

We didn’t actually get order marks for that, but Mrs Gibson told us that we were behaving childishly and irresponsibly, adding, “I’m surprised at you, Megan.” Later on, at Parents’ Evening, she told Mum that I was too easily influenced.