The Friends Forever Collection

“It would’ve hurt me!” I said.

Annie looked at me and shook her head. “You’re weird,” she said. “You know that? You’re really weird!”

“Now she probably won’t ever want to talk to me!” I wailed. “She’ll think you were just trying to get a book out of her!”

“No, she won’t,” said Annie. “I’ve got it all arranged.”

“Got what all arranged?”

Annie bounced upright, on the bed. She hugged her knees to her chest and grinned this big triumphant grin, almost splitting her face in two. “Your birthday present. I’m arranging it. Lori’s arranging it. With her mum.”

“With Harriet?”

Annie nodded, happily. “She’s really nice! Really friendly. Not a bit stuck up. She asked me if you’d ever met her mum, and I said no, but you would absolutely love to. I said if you could meet her it would be the most exciting thing that had ever happened to you – ’cos it would, wouldn’t it?” said Annie.

I gulped. “Yes, it would!”

“So Lori said, being as you’re such a huge great fan and you’re doing this project and everything, she’d ask her mum if it could be arranged. She’s almost sure her mum’ll say yes. So there you are!”

Annie flung her legs in the air and exultantly rolled backwards on the bed. “You’re going to meet Harriet Chance!”

“B-but … h-how?” I said.

“What d’you mean, how?”

“Well, I mean … she’s in London!”

“No, she’s not.”

“She used to be.”

“So people move! We can get to her easy as anything on the bus. I didn’t give her your address,” said Annie, “’cos I know you’re not supposed to—”

“She’s got it anyway,” I said. “I mean, Harriet has.” When I was ten I wrote her this creepy crawly fan letter, all decorated with hearts and flowers, and she wrote back, saying Love from Harriet, XXX, and I was so thrilled! I put the letter in a special frame and hung it on the wall. It’s still there, even now.

“Yes, well, this is it,” said Annie. “I probably would have given it to her if she’d offered to send you a book, but all she did was just ask what part of the country we lived, and when I said Wiltshire she said was it anywhere near Salisbury, so I said yes, and she said in that case there was no problem. She’s going to ask her mum and see when to do it. It will be your birthday treat,” said Annie, all self-important. “A special present from me to you! You might try to look a bit happy about it.”

I said, “I am happy! It would be the most brilliant birthday present I’ve ever had!”

“So why are you looking worried?”

“I’m just scared in case it doesn’t happen!”

“It will happen. Lori’s promised.”

“But why should someone important like Harriet want to see me?”

“Because you’re her number-one fan! Because you’re doing this thing about her! Because it’s your birthday. I told you I was going to give you a really good present! You didn’t believe me, did you? You thought I was going to give you something stupid, like last year.”

I bleated a protest. “I didn’t!” The reason I bleated was that I was in such a tremor my voice had gone. I’d swallowed my voice! “I didn’t,” I said, “honestly!”

“Bet you did,” said Annie.

“I did not. You always give me good presents!”

“Not as good as this. I’m your fairy godmother!” Annie sprang off the bed and did a little twirl. “I’m the one that makes your dreams come true!”

I thought that meeting Harriet really would be a dream come true. I’d read once where she’d visited a school to talk about her books, and I had just been so jealous of the people at that school. Annie couldn’t understand, as her dream would be to meet someone from her favourite band, which at that moment was Dead Freaks.

I thought Dead Freaks were really creepy! But Annie had all their albums, just like I have all of Harriet’s books, so sometimes I would listen to Dead Freaks and sometimes Annie would read Harriet Chance. That is what friendship is all about, sharing each other’s interests even if you don’t really understand them.

“When do you think we’ll know?” I said.

“Soon as Lori’s spoken to Harriet. Tomorrow, maybe? I said it would be best if it was in the afternoon, ’cos then we could go while old Bossyboots is out, so she wouldn’t be able to stop us.”

“How d’you know she’ll be out?”

“’cos she’s got this thing about one of the boys in Savemore. Tyrone.” Annie pulled a face. “He’s really gross! But she’s got the hots for him. So she has to keep going there every day to check her friend Jem hasn’t pinched him. See, they’re stacking shelves and she’s stuck here babysitting, which is why she’s in such a tetch. But it means we can go and meet Harriet and she won’t know anything about it! Well, not until we get back, and she won’t be able to say anything ’cos she’s not meant to leave us on our own. And I don’t think, probably, that we ought to say anything, either. Not even to your mum, ’cos I know what you’re like.”

I said, “What am I like?”

“You tell her everything,” said Annie.

“I don’t tell her everything.” I’d never told her about hiding in the stationery cupboard. I’d never told her about the birds’ nests.

“Well, you’d better not tell her about this,” said Annie. “Not unless you want her coming with us! She’s already going to listen in on Saturday. You don’t want her sitting there while you talk to Harriet, do you?”

I had to admit, I didn’t. I definitely didn’t! If I was going to meet Harriet I wanted it to be private. Just the two of us. Well, and Annie, of course. But I didn’t mind Annie. She’s my best friend and we don’t have any secrets. But it would be really offputting if Mum was there!

“Let’s listen to music,” said Annie; and she snatched up this one CD that is my least, least favourite of Dead Freaks as it is quite scary, well I think it is, but Annie just loves it. She doesn’t usually play it when I am around, but this time she said that I “owed her”, and I couldn’t deny it, so we were sitting there listening when the door crashed open and it was Rachel, shouting at us to “Turn that music down! They’ll complain next door, and I’ll be the one that gets into trouble!” She then added that she was going out and would be back in a couple of hours and we were to just behave ourselves or else.

“Else what?” said Annie.

“Else you’ll be in deep ****!”

The reason I have put **** is so as not to write what she actually said, as what she actually said was quite rude and I don’t think really she ought to have said it; but as she was in this strop on account of having to baby-sit for me and Annie instead of stacking shelves with Tyrone, I forgave her. The minute she’d gone, Annie turned the music up again.

“Now we can have fun!” she said.

I was in a state of jitters again next morning, desperate to get round to Annie’s and discover if she’d managed to speak to Lori again, but I did my best to contain myself as I didn’t want Mum growing suspicious, thinking I was up to something. The minute she dropped me off, we raced upstairs to Annie’s bedroom. I could see that Annie was bursting with news.

I said, “Well? Did you speak to her?”

Annie’s face broke into a big beam. “Yes! It’s all arranged. We’re going to have tea with her!”

I said, “Tea … ” I could hear my voice, all hushed and breathy, like it was going to be tea with the Queen. Only this was far more exciting! I wouldn’t have anything very much to say to the Queen. I’d got simply loads to say to Harriet!

“We’re going on Thursday,” said Annie. “I thought Friday would have been better, ’cos of being nearer to your birthday, but Lori said her mum couldn’t manage Friday. And I said we couldn’t manage Saturday ’cos of your birthday party, so she said what about Thursday, and I said Thursday would be OK, so—”