Merry Christmas, Sleepover Club: Christmas Special

“Oh, let’s stick together!” Lyndz said. “It’ll be much more fun if we’re all acting in it!”

“Yeah, Lyndz is right,” I said. “Why don’t we all go in for the auditions? It would be a right laugh!”

“What do you think, Fliss?” Kenny asked. “Don’t you fancy having a go on the lighting or carpentry?”

Fliss shuddered, and the rest of us laughed. Not likely! Fliss thinks anything technical is “man’s work” – and anyway, she might break a nail doing something like that.

“No, thanks!” she said, feelingly. Then she smiled serenely. “Anyway, I’m going to be Cinderella. I just know I’m going to get the part!”

“Ooh, very modest of you to say so, Fliss,” Frankie joked. “Should I ask for your autograph now, or when you’re REALLY famous?!”

“Fliss, EVERYONE‘S going to be going for Cinderella,” Lyndz said tactfully. “You don’t know for sure you’ll get the part, do you?”

Fliss tossed her hair back, looking a bit peeved. “Don’t tell me you’re going for the part as well, then?” she asked.

Lyndz shook her head. “Nah,” she admitted. “Actually, there’s another part I’d rather play…”

“What?” I asked in interest. I hadn’t had Lyndz down as the dramatic type before.

She went a bit pink. “Well… you know that bit where the fairy godmother magicks everything so Cinderella can go to the ball?” she said.

“Ye-e-e-e-es,” we said.

“Ahh, you want to be the fairy godmother?” Kenny asked.

“No,” Lyndz said.

“The pumpkin?” Fliss said – rather cattily, actually, as Lyndz is a teeny bit plump.

“No, one of the horses!” Lyndz said, looking a bit embarrassed. “Oh, don’t laugh, it’s what I want to be!”

Too late – we all started roaring with laughter! Of all the things to wish to be in the pantomime!

“Don’t worry, I’m sure there won’t be much competition to be a horse,” I spluttered.

“No, it’s not like it’s the MANE part or anything!” Kenny giggled.

Luckily for Lyndz, Miss Middleton clapped her hands for quiet just then and we all had to bite our lips to stop ourselves laughing any more.

There were still a lot of people left in the hall, even when Mr Nicholls and Mrs Somersby had taken their volunteers off to different rooms. It looked like everyone wanted to be treading the boards this Christmas.

“First of all, I’m going to tell you the cast list of the pantomime, so you can start thinking about what you’d like to go for,” Miss Middleton said, when everyone was listening. “Here goes – Cinderella, her stepmother Wicked Wilma, the two Ugly Sisters Grizzle and Moana, Buttons, Prince Charming, Angelica the fairy godmother, and a narrator. They’re the main characters, and auditions will be held for those parts on Monday lunchtime in my classroom.”

Emma Hughes smirked at Fliss. “Ever thought about trying out for one of the Ugly Sisters?” she said. “I reckon you’d get it easily!”

Fliss looked as if she was about to burst into tears, but Kenny, as ever, was straight in there.

“Shame there aren’t any DOGS in Cinderella,” she said, eyes glittering. “You and your poochy mate might actually get picked to do something then!”

“Girls, please!” called Miss Middleton. “We’ve a lot to get through today. Right, so those are the main parts. We’ll also need dancers for the ball scene, a chorus, Prince Charming’s butler, and some people to be Cinderella’s horses and coachman. And there’ll be an open audition for those parts on Tuesday lunchtime, in my classroom.”

Fliss stuck her hand in the air. “Please, Miss, what will we have to do at the auditions?” she asked.

“Good question,” said Miss Middleton. “I’ll give you a page from the script and we’ll practise acting it out in pairs. Anyone who wants to be Cinderella or the fairy godmother must have a good singing voice as there will be a couple of songs for you in the show. I think that’s it for now. See you all next week, I hope!”

The hall broke out into an excited chatter. It all sounded like it was going to be excellent fun!

“I can’t wait for next Monday!” said Fliss, with her serene smile again. Honestly, I’d never known Fliss to be so confident about anything before!

“First things first,” I said. “We’ve got to have a Cinderella sleepover to practise for the audition, and talk about what parts we all want to do.”

“Deffo!” Kenny said. “How about at mine? We haven’t been there for ages.”

“Agreed!” said Frankie. “I’ll bring my greasepaint along so we can look the part!”

“And I’ll bring some of the dressing-up clothes!” Lyndz promised.

“Cool!” Kenny said. “It’s a date!”

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There’s nothing like a good sleepover to start the weekend with a bang! Everyone was really looking forward to this one, too. I mean, sleepovers are always excellent, but when we’ve got something really special coming up, like the pantomime, it makes it even more fun.

By the end of Friday afternoon, none of us could think about doing any work – we were all too excited about the evening ahead. Luckily, on Friday afternoons, Mrs Weaver always reads to us, so you don’t have to concentrate too hard. This time she took out a copy of Matilda by Roald Dahl, so we all got to sit and listen to that. It was such a good story, I actually managed to STOP thinking about Cinderella and sleepovers for a while – but only just!

Then all of a sudden it was three-thirty and time to go. Yippeeee! Me and Fliss were going straight back to Kenny’s house with her, while Lyndz and Frankie were going to go home and pick up their bags of goodies first, then come over a bit later. Kenny doesn’t live far from the school, so we all walked back – stopping at the sweet shop first, of course.

We don’t seem to have that many sleepovers at Kenny’s, partly because of her horrid older sister, Molly Moany-guts, who Kenny shares a room with. Whenever we have a sleepover, Molly has to move in with Emma, their oldest sister, for the night. And boy, does Molly kick up a stink about it! She makes a real fuss if we so much as TOUCH any of her stuff, so I’m always a bit worried about breaking something of hers, especially when Kenny sets up one of her famous assault courses round the bedroom.

This time, we’d just left the sweet shop when we heard a familiar horrible voice.

“Ahh, look! It’s the Bedtime Club for little girly-wirlies!”

You guessed it – Molly and her equally horrible friend, Carli, sniggering so hard they looked as if they were about to wet their pants.

Fliss looked a bit rattled. She hates scenes, especially in public, where someone might see her. “Ignore them, Kenny,” she hissed. “Come on, let’s go.”

Ignore them? Fat chance! Kenny doesn’t know the meaning of the word “ignore” when it comes to miserable Molly. She turned round at once, eyes sparkling, ready for battle.

“Ahh, look! Battersea Dogs’ Home have let some strays loose because they were so hideous, nobody wanted them!” she said sweetly. “Here, doggies! Come here!”

Molly took a step forward. BIG mistake!

“Oh, look, they’re so obedient, they even come when I call them!” Kenny cooed in delight. “Good doggy!”

Molly glared at her younger sister and folded her arms across her chest. “You think you’re so clever, don’t you, LAURA?” she said, using Kenny’s real (hated) name, the name that only teachers and parents are allowed to use.

“I think, therefore I am,” Kenny shot back. “Shame YOU haven’t learned how to think yet, big mouth!”