Free Rebecca is Always Right by Anna Carey Page B

for my dad’s birthday this evening. I’d better get home and change.’
    ‘Is it a fancy dinner?’ I said.
    ‘Ah, not really,’ said Sam. ‘But my mum will kill me if I turn up covered in ink yet again.’ He gestured to his t-shirt, which had a splash of blue ink on it. ‘It should be good fun, really. They do really good fancy burgers in the restaurant, and my aunt and uncle and my cousin Jim are coming too – they’re always a good laugh.’
    John Kowalski used to act like having to go out for a family dinner was the worst thing in the world. It’s quite refreshing to see some boys don’t think having to eat nice food is a terrible torture. Anyway, we walked out to the bus stops together (his is just down the road from mine) and said we’d probably see each other next week. He didn’t mention Gemma and I didn’t really want to ask. I wouldn’t want him to get the wrong idea and think I cared who he went out with. Or didn’t. Whatever the case may be.
    When I got home my parents were out (at the garden centre yet again – what can they be buying there? It’s not like we have spacious grounds to put loads of plants and things in. Our garden is only about ten metres long). Rachel was slumpedon the couch watching one of the music channels and looking pretty miserable (which is kind of her default state at the moment. In fact, unless I actually say otherwise, you should probably assume that she looks miserable all the time).
    ‘Are you okay?’ I said.
    ‘This time last week Tom was telling me it was all over,’ she said. ‘And now this is my life. Sitting on the couch watching telly on a Saturday night. Well, evening.’
    Sitting on the couch watching telly on a Saturday night has basically been my life for ages and it’s not that bad, but she was so miserable I couldn’t feel too insulted. In fact, she looked so sorry for herself I went all the way to the shops and got her a can of Coke. Sometimes I think I am more like a saint than a sister.

    I decided I would have to try cheering Rachel up today. She spent all morning lying on the couch reading Mum’s old poetry books from college. It was a piteous sight. She can’t go on like this forever, but she hasn’t shown any signs of doing anything else so I knew I had to do something to help heralong the way. But what? If I had loads of money, I could, like, take her out and have lots of exciting adventures and buy her loads of cool stuff, but sadly all I had in my purse today was a five euro note and that wouldn’t go far. I couldn’t even take her to the cinema with it, and my parents had gone to visit my annoying aunt (luckily they hadn’t insisted on taking us with them) so I couldn’t get any money out of them.
    Anyway, out of desperation, I decided to take Rachel for a walk. After all, fresh air is meant to be good for you, isn’t it? Of course, it wasn’t easy to persuade her.
    ‘I don’t want to go for a walk!’ she said.
    ‘It’ll be nice!’ I said. ‘The autumn leaves! The beauties of nature!’
    ‘What beauties of nature?’ she said. ‘There isn’t any nature round here.’
    She had a point. The nearest park just looks like a big flat playing field. But then I thought of something.
    ‘The teacher-training college!’ I said. ‘That’s got lots of nature – well, it’s got trees and squirrels and things – and it’s only round the corner.’
    ‘I am not getting off this nice cosy couch to go out and walk around the grounds of a bloody teacher-training college,’ said Rachel.
    ‘But it will stop you thinking about Tom,’ I said. ‘I mean,you don’t want him to think that you’re just …’ I nearly said ‘moping’ for a second, but then I stopped myself. ‘That you’re just staying at home all the time?’
    I didn’t remind her that she had definitely not stayed at home on Friday night. Anyway, for some reason it worked.
    ‘Oh God, I’ll come for a stupid walk if it’ll shut you up,’ she said.
    A few