Mollie Cinnamon Is Not a Cupcake Read Online Free PDF

Shannon. What are you up to? It’s really quiet here and I’m soooo bored. Are you going to basketball this morning? Mollie
    There’s a knock on the door and Nan appears again. “How’s the unpacking going?”
    “I’ve finished.”
    “Good for you.” I notice she’s carrying another photo album. “When she was little, Ellen loved playing with paper dolls. She used to spend hours cutting them out and dressing them in different outfits. I kept her favourite ones. I thought you might like to take a look.”
    She hands me the album and I flick through the pages. Each plastic pocket holds a different cut-out doll: Audrey Hepburn in her black
Breakfast at Tiffany’s
cocktail dress, Marilyn Monroe in a pink satin evening dress. I remember playing with paper dolls with Granny Ellen when I was little. They were quite fiddly − some of the tabs were tiny and I used to accidentally cut them off − but we loved doing them together. She also found dolly-dressing sticker books in a local bookshop, but I didn’t like them as much. There’s something very satisfying about cutting out the dresses yourself.
    “I see you’ve got some of her movie-star photographs on your desk,” Nan adds. “I’m glad they found a good home. They’re very special, those photos. And I thought you might like to keep that too.” She nods at the album.
    “Thanks,” I say, thinking of Flora. I’m so glad I stopped her selling them. And now I have something else to remind me of Granny Ellen. Maybe this morning won’t be so bad after all.
    “Mollie, this is Lauren,” Nan says. I look at the girl sitting in the middle of the sofa at the Songbird Cafe. She’s very pretty with a button nose and glossy chestnut-brown hair. She’s flanked by two other girls, one dark-haired, the other blonde.
    “And this is Chloe and Bonny,” Nan adds. All three of them are wearing practically the same outfit: tracksuit bottoms low on their hips, tight sports tops with the collars turned up, unzipped hoodies and expensive trainers, like some sort of “sporty-cool” uniform. I feel self-conscious standing there in my jeans and stripy top.
    The blonde girl, Bonny, gives me a friendly smile and says, “Hi, Mollie.”
    The other two are staring at me suspiciously as if I’m some sort of dangerous animal that should be in the zoo − a poisonous tree frog or a tarantula.
    “Hi,” Lauren says after a few seconds.
    “Yeah, hi,” Chloe adds.
    “Why don’t you join the girls, Mollie?” Nan gestures to the armchair opposite them and I sit down reluctantly.
    “What are you all having?” she asks. “My treat.”
    “Cool, three skinny cappuccinos,” Lauren says immediately. There’s a long pause before she adds, “Please.”
    “And you, Mollie?” Nan says.
    “Hot chocolate, please. With marshmallows and cream.”
    “Oh, can I have one of those instead?” Bonny says. “Sounds delicious. With extra marshmallows, please.”
    Lauren and Chloe roll their eyes at each other.
    “Of course,” Nan says. “Is Sunny here yet?”
    “She’s at her usual table,” Bonny says, tilting her head towards the far side of the cafe, her curls bouncing like tiny springs.
    I look in the direction Bonny indicated. There’s a girl with long dark plaits sitting in the conservatory, watching us. As soon as I catch her eye she dips her head and starts scribbling in her notebook.
    “Did you ask her to join you?” Nan asks.
    Bonny opens her mouth to say something, but Lauren jumps in before she can speak.
    “Of course we did,” she says. “But I think she’s cool over there.”
    “OK, as long as you asked,” Nan says. “You can go over and say hello to Sunny later, Mollie. I’ll just pop into the kitchen and give Alanna the order. Back in a minute.”
    As soon as Nan has gone, Chloe gives a snort. “So much for the diet, Bonny,” she says. “Extra marshmallows? Really?”
    Bonny goes red and starts playing with one of her curls. I feel sorry for her. She’s