Hide & Seek - Alyssa Brugman [41]
'Ah!' said Dad, knowingly. 'The old switcheroo.'
Shelby waited for her dad to enquire about the 'troupe business', but he obviously missed it. Never mind. There would be opportunities to bring it up later.
'Keisha wasn't avoiding it; it was as if she didn't think it was worth talking about. I don't think she did it. Chad doesn't either.'
'And Chad is the elusive um friend?'
'He's just a friend, Dad.'
'Good.' They drove for a while in silence. 'Well, it seems to me that Lesley –'
'Lindsey,' corrected Shelby.
'Lindsey,' continued her father, 'is the one full of hate here, so the rest of you should just stop being friends with her and be your own troupe.'
'Lindsey's mum owns the stables.'
'Oh,' said her father, turning into their street. 'Well then, the sooner you find this Diablo beast the better!'
'No, Diablo is back already,' Shelby explained.
'He is? So the problem is . . .?'
Shelby stared at him as he pulled the car into the driveway.
'This is a girl thing, isn't it?' Dad observed.
Shelby nodded.
'Righto. Best talk to Marie, I'd say.'
'Thanks for trying,' she said.
He ruffled her hair, and then pinched her nose. He stuck his thumb between index and middle fingers. 'I got your nose!'
'Dad!' Shelby rolled her eyes.
26 Getting Serious
After having a bath and changing into her jammies, Shelby decided that now was as good a time as any to start her science assignment. She picked up the paper in front of her.
Design an experiment (or series of experiments) to solve a problem. For example – what is the ideal temperature to keep milk? With which household products can you make glue? It must be an original project designed and carried out by you personally. Note: this is an extended section of work, so pick a topic of personal interest.
She was about to phone Erin and ask what topic she had chosen, but then she remembered Erin's face when she called her 'traitor-potato'. Her eyes stung and she felt as though something was wedged in her throat. Erin, for all her thoughtlessness, would not have withheld infor-mation like that from her friends. It made Shelby feel ashamed. She should have found a different way.
Shelby blew her hair out of her eyes, dropped the paper back on her desk and wandered out into the lounge room. She could smell that dinner was almost ready. It was her mum's creamy mushroom pasta served with crusty garlic bread – one of Shelby's favourites.
Dad was at the computer with Blake and Connor on his lap.
'Wow! That's so awesome!' Connor said. 'Where is Kensington, anyway?'
'A Kensington is a type of house,' Shelby said. 'They just built one on top of Blue's old paddock. The Crooks live in a Kensington Regent.' There was a bowl of peanuts on the table and Shelby took a handful. Her brothers stared at her. 'What?' she asked with her mouth full.
'Kensington is also a suburb in London – a very central suburb,' Shelby's dad said. 'We're looking at pictures of the apartment Aunty Jenny has rented over Christmas. Do you want to see?'
'No thanks.' Shelby cracked open another nut.
'It's pretty good,' Dad added.
'It's awesome!' Connor repeated.
'I don't need to see it to know that it's going to ruin my life.' She sniffed.
A shadow of irritation crossed her father's face. 'Quite frankly, we're all tired of walking on eggshells around you, Shelby. The rest of us are inclined to go. Jenny has made us a very generous offer – and this is not the first time. Seems to me you have a short memory, but that's a side issue. I don't understand this belligerent attitude. You told me that your life is already ruined. What's the harm in trying some new place where nobody hates you yet?'
Shelby's lip trembled and then she ran out of the room.
'Honey! I didn't mean it like that!' her father's voice called after her.
Shelby sat on the floor in her room, hugging her knees with her back leaning against the bed. She could feel hot tears slip down her cheeks. She was trying to be