Free Gemini Rising by Eleanor Wood

to keep this change of heart to myself – although it must be obvious just from looking at me that something is up. As I knew it would be a non-starter, I haven’t even mentioned the possibility of going to the twins’ house to my mum, so there’s no point in making her feel bad about it. She’s already asked me if I’m planning on getting changed, but I can’t be bothered. I kind of want Josh to realise that I don’t care – not that he’d notice.
    Anyway, this is supposed to be my night. Everyone’s made an effort to give me a lovely evening, and it’s not their fault that I wish it weren’t happening – what kind of a spoiled bitch am I to be so ungrateful all of a sudden? The irony is that usually I really like hanging out at home with my family – tragic, I know.
    ‘Right,’ my mum says as I slope into the kitchen, ‘since we’re making your favourite spaghetti and meatballs tonight, do you fancy giving me a hand?’
    ‘Yeah, cool – if I can be in charge of the music.’
    ‘You’re on. Oh, and by the way…’ She lowers her voice like she’s divulging some great secret. ‘…Pete’s invented a new peanut-butter cheesecake for pudding – don’t tell him I told you!’
    Even though I never want to feel as if I’m missing out, and half of me really wishes I could have gone to Elyse and Melanie’s tonight because it probably would have been great, I have to admit that staying at home isn’t exactly the worst thing ever. I start chopping tomatoes, mushrooms and peppers while Mum rolls up her sleeves and makes the meatballs. It’s always noisy in our house – the kitchen radio’s on, I can hear Pete watching the news headlines on TV in the living room, and Daisy’s lame Disney Channel boy-band-type music from upstairs – but it’s kind of reassuring. I sneak up behind Mum and give her a quick hug while she stands at the cooker.
    ‘God, when did you get so much taller than me, child?’ she grumbles good-naturedly as I let her go.
    ‘Ooh, can I join in?’ comes a decidedly mocking male voice from behind us.
    I turn scarlet before I even turn around to see Josh’s face, but my mum just laughs and swipes him round the head with her tea towel.
    ‘Of course you can, darling,’ she says, wrapping an arm around his waist on the way to the fridge. ‘I didn’t hear the troops arriving over all this racket.’
    ‘Pete had better watch out,’ I mutter, trying to deflect from the fact that I have been caught so unawares. ‘Hi, Josh.’
    The rest of his family come crashing into the kitchen behind him, and Josh’s eyes meet mine for a second. We survey each other from a distance, before his mum descends on me with effusive praise for my ‘interesting, scruffy-chic’ outfit and hands me an excitingly fancy-looking wrapped present. If there ever was a moment, it passes.
    ‘Sorana, my love,’ she proclaims. ‘You didn’t think I’d miss your actual birthday and then turn up empty-handed, did you?’
    As I scrabble into the wrapping paper, even my mum gasps as she sees the Tiffany blue underneath. I open the little box to find a beautiful silver chain, holding a pendant engraved with an ‘S’ on it. Tina bats off my stammered tidal wave of thanks.
    ‘Well, if I can’t spoil my lovely god-daughter on her seventeenth birthday, then when can I?’
    She’s not officially my godmother, but I’m not going to be the one to point that out. As I fasten the chain around my neck, I kind of wish I were wearing something a bit nicer to go with it – Elyse would say this was typical of my fickle Gemini nature.
    Whatever the reason – and I’m not saying that Josh is it – as we’re all toasting my belated birthday celebration with glasses of Prosecco that’s already making my nose tingle, I start to feel pretty happy to have been forced to stay in for the night. Then the doorbell rings like somebody’s leaning on it. Pete puts down his drink to go and answer.
    ‘Good evening, you must be