Diary of a Lottery Winner's Daughter by Penelope Bush Page A

being so judgemental about everyone today?
    ‘Isn’t that amazing?’ continued Lauren. ‘She moved in last week.’
    I took a couple of steps backwards so I could get a good look at Stacy. She’s way taller that me (but then isn’t everyone?) and nearly a head taller than Lauren, and far too skinny - all angles. She had the faintest touch of make-up on, just a bit of mascara and lip gloss. Not enough to get told off for. I reckoned she’d be in Year 9 or 10 so with any luck she’d disappear when the bell went. I don’t know why but she made me feel uncomfortable. Maybe it was the cool, assessing look she gave me.
    When the bell finally rang and we trooped inside for registration, I kept expecting Stacy to peel off and go her own way. When she followed us into our form room I realised, with a sinking, sick feeling, that she wasn’t going anywhere. As if that wasn’t bad enough, she plonked herself down in my seat, the one right next to Lauren. I waited about four heartbeats for Lauren to say something but she didn’t. I didn’t want to cause a scene by saying ‘Oi, that’s my seat,’ so I sat round the corner of the square table on the other side of Lauren. Lauren did all the talking. Stacy didn’t say anything and I had a strange lump somewhere between my heart and my mouth which was stopping me from speaking, so Lauren chatted away oblivious to her two silent friends.
    I learnt, before Mr Lawson came in, that Stacy had moved from London with her mum and older brother and younger sister. I wondered idly how they’d managed to jump the queue on the council housing list. I knew from what Mum had said that the Bristol waiting list for a council house was about as long as the Gloucester Road. It didn’t seem fair that someone from London should waltz in and grab one. I had to tell myself off again for being so judgemental.
    I did remember to keep a look out for the girl I’d seen at the bus stop. She was sitting in our form room and I’m slightly ashamed of myself for not really having noticed her before. When Mr Lawson read out the register I waited for her name to come up, even though Lauren was trying to whisper something to me at the time. I had to ignore her in order to catch the girl quietly saying yes to the name Annabel. Lauren immediately turned to Stacy to whisper to her instead so I wished I hadn’t ignored her; it wasn’t that important. When I turned back, Stacy and Lauren were giggling together. I felt unfairly cross with Annabel for having distracted me.
    Things got worse after registration because the first lesson was maths. I silently prayed that Stacy wasn’t some kind of maths whizz and would go off with Lauren to the top set. ‘Please let her be a bit rubbish and not in the top set,’ I chanted to myself.
    Lauren picked up her bag.’I’m off now. Make sure you look after Stacy for me, Charlotte. She’s in your group for maths. See you in English.’And she was gone.
    Stacy smiled at me. ‘Sorry to be such a pain,’ she said. ‘I hate being new and totally clueless.’
    Her sudden change to sweet and friendly took me totally off guard. Any thoughts of going off without her and leaving her stranded were dashed. After all, it wasn’t her fault she was new, and it must be really difficult coming into a school where everyone knows everyone else. But there are plenty of other people she could attach herself to. I made up my mind to introduce her to a few of them.
    Stacy chatted away about the house all the way to maths. ‘It’s so nice not to be living in a flat any more,’ she said. And the Ratcliffe estate is way nicer than the estate we lived on in London. I hardly dared leave the flat sometimes, it was so bad. Someone got stabbed once practically outside our front door.’
    I made an appropriately sympathetic noise, even though I wasn’t sure whether or not to believe her.
    By the time maths was over, I’d decided that Stacy wasn’t too bad after all. It was fun to have