Free Eva and the Hidden Diary by Judi Curtin Page A

offered her her old job back.’
    ‘OMG!’ I said. ‘That’s awful. What did Zoe say?’
    ‘She said she’s going to think about it for a few weeks. And that’s really, really bad news. That means she’s seriously considering going back.’
    ‘Oh, you poor thing.’
    I wriggled closer to her. It’s not easy to hug someone when you’re clinging to a branch, halfway up a huge tree, but I did my best.
    After a minute Kate pulled away. I could see the beginnings of tears in her eyes.
    ‘What will I do?’ she asked. ‘What will I do if they all go away and leave me here?’
    ‘That’s not going to happen,’ I said. ‘I’ve got ages left before I have to go back home. We’ll work something out, I promise.’
    ‘Eva, you’re the best,’ she said, and I tried to smile as I wondered what on earth I was going to do to help her.

    The next few days were really weird. The weather changed, and it was too cold for the beach. Most days Kate and I just put on our fleeces and wandered around Seacove, bored.
    Kate was in a constant bad mood, and nothing I could say or do would make her give more than a small, sad smile. She was turning into the sullen girl I had first known, and, even though this drove me crazy, I couldn’t really blame her.
    I was in kind of a bad mood myself. I like helping people, and in the past I’ve always managed to do that, but now everything seemed to be going wrong. I’d failed miserably in my efforts to help Daisy, and now that Kate needed me, I couldn’t do anything for her either.
    I was a failure. A big useless failure.
    I began to wish that the holidays were over, so I could get back to my real life in town.

    One day Kate and I walked in to the village toget some shopping for my mum.
    ‘It’s Simon’s second birthday soon,’ said Kate. ‘And Zoe’s going to make a special cake for him. She said you can come for tea that evening if you like.’
    I was glad to have something to look forward to, but kind of sad that a two-year-old’s birthday was looking like it was going to be the highlight of my week. ‘That’ll be nice,’ I said.
    ‘I suppose,’ said Kate, not looking convinced.
    Suddenly I got angry at her. ‘Come on, Kate,’ I said. ‘You have to snap out of it. Why do you always have to expect the worst?’
    ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘Maybe Zoe won’t want to go back to London. Maybe she’ll turn the job down and decide she wants to stay here.’
    ‘Maybe she will,’ said Kate. ‘But then again maybe she won’t. And then what will I do? I love having Dad and Zoe and Simon around. I’ve got used to having a proper family, Eva.I’ve got used to being like everyone else. I don’t want to go back to being a loser.’
    ‘But that’s pathetic,’ I said. ‘You’ve never been a loser, and you’re not going to become one now – no matter what happens.’
    She ignored me. ‘And how am I expected to enjoy Simon’s second birthday party, when there’s a real chance I won’t be around for his third or his fourth or his fifth? Oh, Eva, what if my little brother has to grow up without me there to teach him important stuff? What if he forgets me?’
    And then she started to cry.
    I stopped walking and hugged her for a long time. Then, while she was still sobbing loudly, I looked over her shoulder, and saw something terrible. It was Cathy and Andrea, walking towards us with big false smiles on their faces.
    I pulled away from Kate, ‘Quick,’ I said. ‘Wipe your eyes. Don’t let them see that you’re crying – they’ll only use that to pick on youeven more than usual.’
    As they got closer, I could see that Cathy and Andrea were both wearing shiny green lip-gloss. Knowing them, it was probably the latest fashion, but it looked totally weird.
    Kate was still wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her hoodie by the time the girls were next to us.
    ‘Oh dear, Kate, you’re crying!’ said Cathy, in a sweet voice, almost like she cared. ‘Is it because the