Free Phoebe Finds Her Voice by Anne-Marie Conway Page A

blushing. “No one fancies me.”
    â€œNo, I’m dead serious,” she said. “It must be your new hairstyle – the sleeked-back look . I noticed him staring at you today, like all the time. Okay, I’ll give you a clue. His name begins with M and he’s quite fit, in a weird sort of way, but don’t worry it’s not The Mad McDermott. Come on, take a guess.”
    â€œIt’s not Monty B, is it?” said Ellie.
    â€œShut up,” I said, trying to run my hands through my hair. It wouldn’t surprise me if Monty B was staring at me. He was probably wondering why I had a massive lump of cement instead of a head.
    â€œI can’t bear Monty B,” I said. “He’s such an idiot. He burped right in my ear at break time.”
    â€œBut that’s because he loves you!” shrieked Sam. And they both collapsed back on the bed, clutching hold of each other in hysterics.
    As soon as I got home I locked myself in the bathroom and washed all the gel and tissue out of my hair. If I was going to transform myself it was pretty clear I was going to have to do it without Donny’s help. He might be able to work his magic with a flashy smile and a load of hair gel, but it obviously wasn’t going to work for me.

“So come on then, who are you?” Mum said, the next morning at breakfast. “I meant to ask you yesterday when you got back from Ellie’s.”
    â€œI’m just Lolly – one of the Sweet-Dreamers. I told you I would be. Ellie’s a Sweet-Dreamer as well, she’s Fizz-Wiz, but Sam got one of the biggest parts, she’s Ice Bomb.”
    â€œWhat exactly is a Sweet-Dreamer?”
    â€œOh, they make everyone’s sweet dreams,” said Sara, butting in. “But then there are the Jelly-Skulls, yeah? They turn the sweet dreams into—”
    I put my hand over her mouth. Whose show was it, for goodness’ sake? “Anyway I’ve got to sing a solo, which is like the biggest joke, so I don’t even know if I’m going to carry on.”
    â€œTalking about big jokes,” mumbled Sara, sinking her teeth into my hand. “The biggest joke is you putting gel on your hair to impress your boyfriend. And don’t deny it because you know it’s true.”
    She was going to have to go, my little sister – and quick!
    I spent most of the day up in my room trying to learn my lines, but it was really difficult to concentrate. Every time I thought about singing my solo, my palms got sweaty, and the words on the script started to swim about in front of my eyes. It’s like part of me was thinking I would be able to do it and everything would be fine, but part of me was convinced I’d collapse in a heap or die if I even tried to sing in front of the others.
    If only I was more like my character, Lolly, I’d have the guts to sing my solo and stand up to Polly Carter. Lolly’s easily the bravest Sweet-Dreamer in the whole show. Even though she’s dead scared of Gobstopper, she finds out what he’s up to, reports him to the dream-police and helps Sabine escape from the factory. Just imagine if there really was such a thing as the dream-police, it would be brilliant. I’d be able to phone them up, report Polly for bullying, and get rid of her for good.
    On Wednesday when I came out of school, Dad was there to meet me. He was wearing a white T-shirt with Life written across the front, the oldest, scruffiest pair of jeans I’ve ever seen and his awful brown sandals. He looked as if he’d just come back from a music festival or something. I tried to get him away as fast as I could before anyone else came out and saw him.
    â€œI’m pleased I caught you, Phoebe,” he said. “I missed you on Saturday and there was something I wanted to talk to you about.”
    I turned round to make sure no one was coming up behind us, but the coast was clear.
    â€œHow was