Strawberry Sisters by Candy Harper Page A

summer holidays when I was too tired to do things. You kept expecting me to have got over it.’
    I felt my face getting warm. I remembered dragging her to the lido when she’d said she didn’t have the energy.
    ‘And it’s boring,’ she went on. ‘It’s really boring always having to tell people you can’t do things, or that you need to stop and rest, or that you
can’t even walk home from school. I just didn’t want to talk about it any more.’ She wiped away more tears. ‘And it’s scary. I don’t know what’s happening.
I try not to think about it.’
    ‘Have you been to the doctor?’
    Lauren rolled her eyes. ‘I’m practically living at the doctor’s.’
    My mouth was dry. ‘What do they say is the matter with you?’
    ‘First, they said it was the after-effects of the glandular fever, then they said I was anaemic and then they said I was depressed.’ She slumped back on to her pillows.
‘Basically, they haven’t got a clue.’
    We were quiet for a moment. I was relieved that she wasn’t dying, but I could see how horrible it must be not knowing exactly what the problem was.
    ‘I wish you’d talked to me about it,’ I said.
    ‘We’ve got better things to talk about.’
    ‘Lauren, I’m your friend. I’m not just your friend when we’re having a laugh and talking about Cute Josh. I’m your friend when bad things happen too. I’m kind
of hurt that you didn’t tell me about any of this.’
    ‘I’m sorry.’ Her voice wobbled. ‘I just kept hoping it would go away and it’s not very . . . nice.’
    ‘I’m always here. For the not-nice stuff too. Especially for the not-nice stuff.’
    She gave me a watery smile. ‘Thanks, Amelia.’
    I gave her a hug. ‘So what happens now? Is there something the doctors can do?’
    ‘I’m having tests. Mostly they just say I need to take it easy. My mum’s been talking to Iron Hair about me going part time at school.’
    My heart plummeted, but I pulled my mouth into a smile. ‘Well, that’s something. The best way to attend school is not very often.’
    She couldn’t return the smile. It’s funny how, even though we both say that we hate school, not being able to go is kind of a big deal. I squeezed her hand. ‘Don’t
worry,’ I said. ‘It’s not forever. You’ll be better soon and then you’ll be back in the madhouse full time with the rest of us.’
    She nodded, but I could tell that she didn’t believe it.
    We only got to chat for a few minutes more before Lauren’s mum appeared at the door and said, ‘I think Lauren needs to rest now, Amelia.’
    Lauren really did look shattered so I gave her a hug and said goodbye.
    Mrs Anderson closed Lauren’s door behind us and I followed her down the stairs in silence. At the bottom, she turned round to face me.
    ‘Lauren tells me that she hasn’t been entirely honest about her illness with you.’
    Even though I wouldn’t have said anything myself, I was glad that Lauren had because I didn’t want her mum thinking I was a horrible friend.
    ‘I didn’t know she was so ill,’ I said. ‘And I honestly never meant to upset her.’
    ‘I’m sorry if I was a bit short with you the other day. I thought that Lauren had explained things to you.’
    ‘That’s OK,’ I said, even though it wasn’t a particularly warm apology.
    ‘Lauren
is
ill,’ she said as if she needed to keep repeating it in case I was too stupid to understand. ‘She has very limited reserves of energy, which means she tires
easily. I’d be grateful if you could do your utmost to avoid wearing Lauren out.’
    ‘Of course,’ I said. ‘I’ll keep an eye on her.’
    And she opened the door for me to leave.
    I couldn’t help feeling that she still wasn’t that keen on me.

I was looking forward to Mum getting home from work on Monday night so that I could talk to her about Lauren. But, as usual, my house was complete madness until we’d all
got in from school and sorted out tea. So I waited until after