Cherry Blossom Dreams Read Online Free PDF Page B

fitted bodice decorated with red sparkly beads and a very full floaty skirt.
    ‘Monty should be fine in here for a while,’ Zack told my brother as he came back with the water. ‘It’s nice and warm and he won’t need to be fed for another week. But watch you leave those air holes uncovered.’ He made a big thing of sliding the three dresses along the rail away from Monty’s box as if he was afraid they might slip off their hangers and cut off Monty’s air supply.
    As Zack came out of the cupboard I said anxiously, ‘Listen, Zack, you have to leave now. And you have to swear not to tell anyone you came here. Do you promise?’
    Zack gave me an exasperated look. ‘Sasha, just chill, OK? Of course I won’t tell anyone. It’s your friends you need to worry about. If Lily and her pals ever find out about this –’
    ‘They won’t,’ I snapped, practically pushing him ahead of me down the stairs to send him on his way. ‘Just go , will you?’
    After Zack had left – checking his watch and swearing when he saw the time because apparently his parents were really strict about him being home at whatever time they said – I turned and yelled my brother’s name. I was ready to murder him. How could he bring Zack here without even asking me? This was where we came when Mum was moody or we needed to escape. It was the only place where Sean and I really talked together like we used to. And to actually let Zack bring that snake …

Sean and I were walking back to our house in icy silence, when I spotted Lily in the distance.
    She was walking towards us with Clara and Hanna, two of the popular girls in our year who she hangs out with. Needless to say they are both super confident and good-looking. Clara is tall with short dark hair and she’s already pretty busty. After school she always hikes up her skirt to well above her knees to show off her super-long legs. Hanna is shorter and slimmer with a mop of bushy red hair, and the only reason she doesn’t do the same with her skirt is because she’s scared her mum will find out. I prefer Hanna to Clara, but to be honest both of them make me feel like some sort of social misfit.
    I knew Hanna had just spent her Easter holiday in Poland with her grandparents, leaving Clara and Lily to hang out together at home. Which was a pity because Clara is my least favourite of all Lily’s friends and now she had her arm around Lily’s shoulder as if she owned her.
    ‘There’s Leo’s car,’ Sean said as we approached our house. ‘Mum said he was bringing pizza. I hope he’s remembered extra pepperoni on mine.’
    Just then Lily saw us and waved. I waved back.
    ‘You’re honoured today, Sasha,’ Sean teased. ‘Looks like the A-list might be going to pay you a visit.’
    ‘Shut up, Sean.’
    I had a sudden horrible thought that maybe Lily had told the others about Mum and Leo getting engaged. But I told myself to stop being stupid. Lily likes a good gossip, so you have to make it clear when something you tell her is a secret, but if she promises not to tell, then she never does. At least she never has so far.
    I saw Lily glance at Leo’s car. I knew that she knew it was his. Did the other two? Mum was always reminding Sean and me that if anyone spotted Leo at our house I was to say that he and Mum were friends and that we knew Leo because he’d been Sean’s tutor.
    I stopped to readjust my flip-flop while I waited for them to reach me. If we had to have a chat, then I didn’t want it to be right outside my front door. Sean had already gone on ahead.
    I really hoped Lily wasn’t about to embarrass me in front of her friends. Not that she’d do that on purpose. It’s just that Lily isn’t always very subtle in the way she goes about things. I know she means well when she tries to demonstrate to her other friends that I’m not actually as dorky as they think, but she usually just makes things worse.
    ‘Hi,’ I said, standing up straight as the threesome approached.