Cherry Blossom Dreams by Gwyneth Rees Page B

beforehand.’
    I took a deep breath. ‘I still want to ask him a couple of things. I want to make sure we won’t get caught.’
    ‘Well, you can speak to him tonight if you like. Normally I wouldn’t recommend it, but he’ll probably be quite civil since it’s you.’
    Since it’s you . Just hearing those three words put my head into a sudden crazy spin. But of course she probably didn’t mean that Raffy thought of me as special – just that he knew he needed to keep on my good side if he wanted to hold his party at Blossom House.

    I ended up being the last of Lily’s guests to arrive that evening – probably because I’d changed what I was wearing about six times before setting off. Even though it was just an evening at Lily’s place, I still didn’t feel comfortable with the others and I hated the thought that they might all be talking about how I looked.
    Clara, Hanna and Ellie were all sitting on Lily’s bedroom floor gossiping about boys when Lily took me upstairs. As they chatted they were trying out nail polish samples that Ellie had brought with her.
    ‘Sasha, do you think Sean likes Hanna?’ Clara asked me with a wicked grin the second I walked in.
    I looked at Hanna in surprise, noticing that she was flushing furiously as she told Clara to shut up.
    ‘Well …’ I answered, trying to adjust to the idea of anyone fancying my brother, who isn’t really into girls yet – at least not as far as I know. ‘I guess I could ask him for you …’
    ‘No way!’ Hanna screeched.
    ‘OK, I won’t!’ I had to admit I’d have died if Lily had ever asked Raffy if he liked me . ‘I didn’t know you even knew Sean that well, Hanna!’
    ‘She doesn’t. That’s probably why she fancies him!’ Clara quipped.
    I gave Clara a challenging look. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
    ‘Nothing! It was a joke. Can’t you take a joke?’
    I turned away from her feeling my blood boiling. I really didn’t like Clara.
    ‘I think he’d be flattered if he knew you liked him,’ Lily told Hanna. ‘Though he might be too embarrassed to admit it at first. You should try and hang out with him at the party.’
    ‘Oh, Sean’s not coming to the party,’ I told them, then wished I hadn’t as they all started asking why, and Hanna looked pretty gutted. ‘Oh … it’s just that we had a row about it. It’s no big deal. He might even change his mind and come in the end.’
    ‘Mum’s got drinks and cream cakes for us downstairs. I’ll go and fetch them,’ Lily said, moving towards the door.
    I quickly volunteered to go with her.
    As the two of us went downstairs, I asked her, ‘Why does Clara always have to be so bitchy?’
    ‘She’s not always bitchy,’ Lily replied matter-of-factly. ‘It’s mostly just when you’re around.’
    ‘Oh, well, that’s great,’ I murmured.
    ‘She won’t admit it but I think she’s jealous because she knows you’re still my best friend.’
    ‘Really?’ It hadn’t occurred to me that Lily would have told Clara that I was still her best friend. I must say, I’d sort of fudged the issue with Priti and told her that she and Lily were both my besties.
    In the kitchen we found Rafferty eating a chocolate éclair.
    ‘Hey!’ Lily exclaimed angrily. ‘Mum got those in for us !’ She went to the fridge and flung open the door to find a box of four pastries instead of five. ‘You greedy pig! You already had a donut!’
    ‘I know, but I was still hungry and I thought at least one of you was bound to be on a diet,’ he teased.
    ‘Lily, it’s OK. We can cut them all up and share out the pieces,’ I suggested hastily.
    ‘See,’ Rafferty said. ‘Sasha isn’t making a drama out of it – she’s staying cool and coming up with an intelligent solution. You could learn a lot from – ouch!’ He yelped as Lily hit him on the arm.
    ‘It’s no wonder you’re getting such a big fat bum,’ Lily hissed at him.
    ‘I am not.’
    ‘Yes, you are. Isn’t he,