The Secrets Club Read Online Free PDF

in fairy tales.
    ‘Actually,’ I concede, seeing the lack of conviction in her eyes,
‘I’m hoping to have a knock-about while I’m there.’
    ‘I knew it!’ she says
triumphantly. ‘I knew you’d played football last Saturday.’
    ‘Yeah, I did. But that’s not
the reason I couldn’t meet up with you,’ I add quickly. ‘Only
sometimes, when I’m at my gran’s, it gets a bit boring so I wander down
the park and see if there’s anyone I can have a quick game with.’
    ‘Why didn’t you say that
before?’
    ‘Because you made out I was lying
and I was mad at you!’ I say aloud.
    Because you made out I was lying and
I was
, I say inside my head
.
    ‘Sorry!’ She manages to look
contrite for one second flat, then grins. ‘Come on then, tell us! Who kicked
you in the shin?’
    ‘A guy called Marvyn. He’s
only my age but he wears size eights.’
    ‘I know a boy called
Marvyn,’ says Tash thoughtfully. ‘He’s brilliant at football. I
wonder if it’s the same guy?’
    My heart plummets.
    ‘What’s his
surname?’
    I shrug. ‘Dunno. I don’t know him that well.’
    ‘Find out if it’s Marvyn
Bailey. I bet it’s him.’
    ‘Bailey!’ Lissa’s eyes
light up. ‘That’s Ajay’s surname.’
    We all groan. Lissa was mad about Ajay,
a boy who lives on Tash’s estate, till she found out he was only interested in
Tash. She still fancies him though, it’s obvious.
    Lissa is really getting into boys, not
like the rest of us. Well, I’m into boys but only because I wish I
was
a boy. And, as far as I know, Ajay and Tash are just good friends,
like Ali and her mate, Austen.
    ‘He’s Ajay’s
cousin,’ explains Tash.
    ‘Ooh! Maybe we should come and
watch you play, Dan,’ says Lissa. ‘If this Marvyn is anything like Ajay
–’
    ‘He isn’t,’ I say
shortly, nipping this idea in the bud. ‘You don’t even know if he
is
Ajay’s cousin.’
    ‘Find out for me, will you?’
she asks, going all girly and giggly.
    Aargh! She can be sooooo annoying.
    Ever wish you’d kept your mouth
shut?

Chapter 10
    When Gran opens her front door and sees
Mum her face breaks into a huge smile.
    ‘Pam, darling!’ she says and
envelops her in a massive hug.
    Mum and Gran don’t see too much of
each other nowadays.
    By the time Dad officially left us, Jade
and I were sort of used to him not being around any more and I didn’t really
appreciate that he was never going to come back and live with us again. Mum kind of
protected us from all that.
    She got a new job at the surgery and
threw herself into full-time work, enrolling my sister and me in breakfast and
after-school clubs. We just got on with it. When Mum and Dad got divorced we hardly
noticed. But then this
summer holidays,
just before I started at Riverside Academy, he quietly got married again. He
didn’t even invite Jade or me to the wedding. I think Mum was cross about that
because I heard her having a go at him. He said it was better that way, he
didn’t want to upset us.
    He did though.
    Now we don’t see much of him and
increasingly we don’t really talk much about him either. It doesn’t mean
I miss him any the less though. Sometimes I just wish I could have a really good
conversation about the break-up and divorce with Mum or Dad and why it happened and
clear the air once and for all.
    The trouble is when Dad does come back
to see us he’s desperate to know that Jade and I are happy. It’s so
obvious he feels guilty about leaving us; I can’t add to it by bringing up the
whys and wherefores of what he did. And it’s sort of the same with Mum. I
constantly feel that I need to reassure them both that, OK, they’re divorced
and we hardly see my dad and he’s married again and he’s got two
stepsons who I’ve never met, but so what? That’s nothing out of the
ordinary nowadays and I’m fine with it.
    Only, the truth is, I’m not. I want my dad back.
    Anyway, like I said, Mum doesn’t
see much of Gran any more. Which is good for me