Louis Catt – Sleepover Club on Friday 13th (страница 1)
Sleepover on
Friday 13th
by Louis Catt
Contents
Have you been Invited to all these Sleepovers?
It’s odd, isn’t it? I mean, Thursday the 7th, or Monday the 24th – I bet you never even notice those days! Well, not unless it’s your birthday or something like that. I mean, have you ever forgotten your own birthday? No! Of course not – and I’d never forget mine – it’s June 9th, the best ever time of year to have a birthday because it’s exactly half way between Christmas.
And I’d never forget the birthdays of the rest of the Sleepover Club either. Not that they’d let me! Just imagine if I forgot Frankie’s birthday! She’s my best mate, but she’d still kill me if I forgot. Actually, I suppose I’d kill
Lyndz has four brothers so it always seems to be someone’s birthday in her house. Her mum makes just the coolest birthday cakes! She used to be a domestic science teacher, and she’s a whizz at cooking. When Lyndz’s little brother, Ben, was four her mum made him a chocolate cake in the shape of a gorilla, and it was the scrummiest thing you’ve ever eaten. Lyndz’s birthday is in October. Frankie says she’s a typical Libran – easy going and always trying to keep the peace. She even seems to like her brothers.
I don’t know how I’d feel about four brothers. Lyndz says it’s OK, so maybe it is. I’ve got two older sisters, Emma and Molly. And believe you me, two sisters is the worst thing that could ever happen to anybody, especially when one of them is like my sister Molly.
Fliss has her birthday soon after the summer holidays and she starts planning her cake the second term starts… not to mention all her presents! One year she had a cake covered with little pink roses and purple ribbons. Frankie said she just
Rosie’s the fifth member of the Sleepover Club. Her birthday’s July 15th. The last one after mine. Rosie’s mum makes a huge thing about her birthday. I think it’s because she worries that Rosie doesn’t get as much attention as her brother and sister, so she makes it up to her then. Frankie and I were talking about it the other day, and we both think Rosie deserves a special birthday.
But hang on, I’m sidetracking. Why was I talking about birthdays? Oh yes! I was saying that mostly people don’t notice what day and date it is… but Friday 13th.
I don’t know if you’re superstitious. I’m not, not really – but Friday 13th
It’s also a great day for telling horror stories and, as you know, I
Does that give you chills up and down your spine? It did when Dad told me – but I’m going to be a doctor when I grow up, so I’ve got to get used to all that kind of stuff. I practise by watching TV programmes like
I told the Sleepover Club about the bucket full of legs and Frankie said it was the best story she’d heard in ages. Fliss said it was disgusting – she’s a bit squeamish about things like that – but she still went and told her younger brother. And then her mum told me off because he woke up in the night screaming.
I think it might have been the leg story that started Frankie and me thinking about Friday 13th. Frankie had the idea to have a sleepover on that night, but it was my idea to make it a really really special one… well, I’m sure you’ll agree, it was much too good an opportunity to miss. We were going to make sure we had the creepiest, scariest Friday 13th ever!
Lyndz and Rosie thought it was a brilliant idea. Only Fliss didn’t, which wasn’t a great surprise. She said she couldn’t come because she goes to tea with her dad and his new baby on Fridays.
Frankie stared at her. “But you’re always home by about half-past six,” she said.
Fliss wriggled, and went pink. “I might have to stay later,” she said.
Frankie shook her head. “Felicity Sidebotham,” she said, “are you scared?”
Fliss went even pinker. “Of course I’m not,” she said, but her voice was a little bit wobbly.
Lyndz patted her arm. “It’ll be OK,” she said. “We’ll just have a lot of fun.”
“Yes,” Frankie said. “Lots of
“I’m not scared!” Fliss said, but she still sounded squeakier than usual.
“So does that mean you’ll come?” I asked.
“Of course I will,” she said. “Just as long as you don’t go too far.”
That made me laugh. I told Fliss she sounded just like her mum. Fliss tossed her head and said she didn’t, but we all knew that that was exactly what her mum would have said. Looking back on it now, maybe we should have taken more notice… but of course, we didn’t!
Everyone came round to my house after school the next day so we could sort out a plan. A Friday 13th
“We need to make a list,” Frankie said. “Where’s a pen?”
I found a stubby old pencil under my bed. It’s always exciting, looking under my bed. The weirdest things pop out sometimes, and I know I haven’t put them there.
I mean, there was the time when Emma lost her best trainers. Anyone would have thought she’d lost the crown jewels, the way she went on about it. She kept looking at me, too, and she knows I don’t have the same size feet as her. Well, not quite. I have to stuff loads of extra socks on if I want to wear Em’s shoes.
Anyway, even Dad got involved and he ordered a
The problem was, in the hunt Mum found Molly’s homework diary under my bed, and Monster Features said it was
Then Dad went on about the other things… two pairs of jeans (dirty), one sweatshirt (crumpled), one bag of rat food (just a little bit open), last week’s maths test (scrumpled), half a bar of chocolate (melted), lots of bits of paper, an empty coke can, one clean blue sock, one smelly green sock, one bedroom slipper, three pens, an old rubber… and some very interesting fluffy bits.
Mum had a go at me, too, and Molly moaned and groaned. It went on for ages. Personally I don’t know what they were fussing about.