The Surprise Party

‘My parents don’t really like people smoking,’ said Hannah apologetically as Sadie, Tucker and Simon arrived at the back gate of her grandparents’ cottage.

Sadie pulled a face and then peered down at the cigarette she was holding between her fingers as if it had appeared by magic. ‘They are just so bloody straight, aren’t they, your parents?’ she grumbled, bending down to tap it out on the sole of her shoe. ‘I mean, you know, it’s not like I’m asking them to smoke it for me or anything.’

‘Yeah, like it’s a free country,’ said Tucker, making a meal of putting his out.

Hannah hesitated, hand on the gate. Taking the three of them in with her would be a recipe for potential disaster. She could almost hear her mum now, putting down whatever she was doing, putting on her cheery face and waving them over, while giving Hannah one of those sideways looks that she did. The one that said, ‘I’m not going to make a fuss now but we’ll talk about this later.’ And then Suzie would smile and say, ‘Come on in,’ to Sadie and Tucker and Simon. ‘Would you like some juice? I think we’ve got some Pepsi here somewhere. If you want to hang around that would be great, there’ll be food later on. Oh and maybe while you’re here you could give Hannah a hand? I know her dad needs some help with the fairy lights – you look nice and tall, Simon.’ And then Suzie would laugh and smile and be nice to Sadie even though she didn’t like her, and find them all a glass or a can and some crisps or something.

Hannah cringed; just how bad would that be? Sadie would never let her forget it. Sadie had told her how much she hated all that being treated like a baby stuff. Hannah could already picture Sadie pulling sarky faces, mouthing “Mummy’s little girl”, while rolling her eyes and making chatty mouth mimes with her fingers behind Suzie’s back, swearing under her breath while Suzie was nice to her. She knew it would happen because that was just what Sadie had done when Suzie had suggested Sadie come round for tea. God, what a mistake that had been.

And this would be worse, because however much trouble Hannah got into from her mum for hanging out with Sadie, it would be nothing compared to the stick she would get from Sadie for them being treated like they were babies. Hannah looked from face to face. Sadie was chewing gum; Tucker was fishing something out of his ear. Simon looked as if he was waiting to see what happened next.

‘Actually, you could stay out here if you liked. I mean, I could just nip in and get something. It would probably be easier that way, you know, in and out,’ Hannah said, making it sound all very casual. ‘Lot less chance of us getting caught, and way less hassle than us all going in together.’

Sadie let out a long theatrical sigh. ‘Great, so now you tell us. We could have stayed down the Rec and sent you all on your own,’ she said, retrieving the dog end from behind her ear. ‘All right then, we’ll wait out here, but don’t be too long, will you – or we might just have to come in and find you,’ she added with a sly knowing wink.

‘I’ll come with you if you like,’ volunteered Simon. ‘You know, give you a hand with stuff.’

Sadie raised her eyebrows and grinned at him. ‘How much booze are you thinking of getting?’ she asked. Simon ignored her and, catching hold of the gate, held it open for Hannah.

‘Oooooo, get you,’ said Sadie, grinning. ‘Real knight in shining armour, aren’t we?’

Tucker suppressed a snort of laughter while Hannah felt herself reddening furiously; she daren’t even look at Simon.

Sadie settled herself up against the garden wall, one leg cocked so that her foot sat flat against the old bricks; closing her eyes, she tipped her face towards the sun.

‘Go on then, don’t hang about,’ she said, waving them away. ‘We haven’t got all bloody day, you know. See if they’ve got any vodka, or if not vodka then get some gin or something. Not whisky though. I hate whisky.’ Reaching into her jacket she pulled out a lighter and relit her cigarette. ‘What about you, Tucker? Want to order anything from the bar, do you?’

‘If they’ve got any cider—’ he began.

Sadie snorted. ‘Yeah right, it looks like just the sort of do where they’d have laid on a shedload of White Lightning for head-bangers like you, doesn’t it? You can be so dense sometimes – they’re more likely to have champagne than cider, you pillock.’

Tucker looked hurt. ‘Yeah, all right in that case I’ll have a bottle of that then,’ he said self-consciously, stuffing his hands into his pockets. Hannah stared at him, thinking about how things were very slowly shifting, how she used to be really pleased that Sadie was her friend and how it was that now, all this time down the line, she had ended up being as intimidated and nervous of her as she had been of any of the cliques in school.

Hannah glanced up at Simon. He shrugged and then winked, which made her smile.

‘C’mon then,’ he said. ‘Let’s get this show on the road.’

They went through the gate, circling around the back of the summerhouse before stepping out onto the lawn. Hannah made a show of nonchalance. There was a buzz of activity behind the big marquee and nobody appeared to notice them as they wandered in among the hired help. There were girls dressed in black and white checked chef’s trousers with snowy white jackets carrying in trays of food, and boys dressed all in black, with waistcoats and slicked back hair chatting in a corner. A trail of older men were ferrying musical instruments, speakers and all sorts of other paraphernalia from the front of the house around into the big tent. Hannah looked left and right, wary as a feral cat. There was no sign of her mum and dad, or in fact of anyone else that Hannah recognised.

‘This way,’ she said to Simon. ‘We need to be quick, while there’s no one about. The bar’s in here.’

Without another word, Simon followed her into the marquee. Away from Tucker and Sadie, he looked more normal, the kind of boy her mum would think was fun and nice to have around and would smile at and mean it.

‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ he said, loping along beside her. ‘You know, getting the booze and stuff?’

Hannah sighed. ‘I can’t see I’ve got a lot of choice really. If I don’t Sadie’s going to come bowling in here causing trouble.’

‘So you’re okay with it?’

Hannah sighed. ‘Yeah, well, kind of . . . You know, yes and no. It’ll be all right as long as my mum and dad don’t catch us. They don’t like me hanging out with Sadie very much. But it’ll be cool.’

‘So what are you going to say?’ he said. ‘“Hello. I want some booze for my mates?”’

Hannah hesitated, considering her options. Lying really wasn’t her forte, better to tell the truth. ‘More or less. I was just going say someone sent me to get a bottle of vodka and a bottle of champagne,’ she said looking up at him with a grin.

He grinned right back at her, which made something tingle inside her. ‘And you think that’s going to work?’

‘Dunno,’ said Hannah with a shrug. ‘It’s worth a shot though I reckon.’

Inside the tent, despite the activity, the air was flat and hot and heavy, muffling the sounds from outside. A couple of waitresses were busy setting up the tables with cutlery and glasses. On a dais to the left of the door was a long table with a screen hanging behind it, and behind that was an area being used to organise the food for the party. To the right, in the corner, was the bar, while in the far corner the band were setting up their instruments. A large man with a beard and glasses was putting together a drum kit, and another was running wires out for the various guitars and amplifiers.

‘Looks like it’s going to be a good do,’ said Simon, nodding towards the group.

‘Yeah.’

‘Shame we can’t stay really,’ Simon said.

Hannah glanced at him. ‘Really?’

He nodded. ‘Yeah, food, drink and a band – it’d be great.’

Hannah tried to work out whether he was being serious or not. ‘We could maybe come back later if you like,’ she said, testing the waters.

‘Okay, sounds good,’ he said. ‘But not with Sadie. I mean – well, you know . . .’ Simon hesitated, as if waiting to see if Hannah was going to protest and then, when she didn’t, he smiled and added, ‘It’s not exactly her kind of thing, is it?’

‘No – I suppose not. Not enough thrash metal and swearing.’

Simon laughed and then shifted his weight. ‘You know my mum won’t let her and Tucker come round ours any more. Did I tell you that?’

Hannah shook her head and was about to ask why when she saw Megan hurrying across the marquee towards them.

‘Where on earth have you been? Mum’s looking all over for you,’ Megan said indignantly, casting a cool appraising eye over Simon. ‘Dad’s going leery because you said you were going to be here to help him with the lights and the photos and stuff. It’s not fair, I’m not going to cover for you – you’re in big trouble, they’re really annoyed that you cleared off.’

‘All right, all right, I know, I know,’ said Hannah, not wanting to be shown up by Megan in front of Simon. ‘Did you tell them where I was?’

‘No, of course I didn’t,’ snapped Megan. ‘But what if they ask me again?’

Hannah shot a sharp look at Simon who took the hint and wandered off.

‘It’s all cool, okay? I’ve just been hanging out with Sadie for a bit and now I’ve come back to pick up a couple of things,’ she hissed angrily.

Megan eyed her suspiciously before taking another look at Simon. ‘What do you mean, like running an errand or something?’

Hannah nodded. ‘Yeah, like running an errand or something.’

Megan didn’t look convinced. ‘Who for? I thought you just said that you were hanging out with Sadie—’

‘I was,’ said Hannah ignoring the question. ‘But I’ve come back to get this stuff sorted out. All right? So where did you say Mum and Dad are?’