Free Drama Queen by Susannah McFarlane Page B

evening, after a sulky dinner, things were calmer. Dad and Bob had gone out to a movie and it was just Emma and her mum at home, stretched out on the sofa together in front of the TV. Well, just Emma and Mum if you didn’t count the animals, which Emma always did. Emma was lying on the couch with her head on a cushion on her mum’s lap. Pip their husky puppy was tucked in behind her and Inky was sitting against her tummy, purring. So it was just the four girls. Emma liked that; no irritating, diary-dirtying brother and she had her mum all to herself. Her mum was playing withEmma’s hair while Emma munched on the warm popcorn they had just made together. Pip, who was looking intently at the bowl, seemed to be thinking she might like to eat some popcorn but Emma didn’t agree.
    This is nice, Emma thought to herself. The movie is about to begin and I still haven’t got into trouble for all that yelling.
    â€˜Em,’ her mum began.
    Uh oh, here it comes, Emma thought. She knew from the tone of her mum’s voice that ‘a talk’ was about to begin. Emma didn’t really want to have ‘a talk’. She wanted to eat popcorn and watch the movie while her mum stroked her hair. And, anyway, the whole thing was over now. She was sorry she had yelled at Bob, well she wasn’t actually but she was sorry she had yelled at her mum and dad. Was that a good start? She thought she would try it out.
    â€˜I’m sorry I yelled, Mum,’ said Emma, looking up at her mum with what was, she hoped, her most endearing expression.
    â€˜Thank you, Em,’ said her mum.
    Emma was rather hoping that would be the end of it but she doubted it.
    â€˜You did make rather a fuss...’
    â€˜But my diary...’ Emma began.
    â€˜That’s no excuse,’ replied Mum. ‘You really went over the top, shouting at everyone. The diary isn’t ruined and you don’t even know it was Bob who got it dirty.’
    â€˜Well, who else would it be?’ muttered Emma sulkily.
    â€˜I don’t know but things are not always how they look. I also don’t see how Bob could have done it if it happened before soccer but he only got dirty after soccer.’
    Hmmm, thought Emma. That was a good point. No wonder her mum had been such a good SHINE agent. Her mum’s code name was SJ45R. The R stood for ‘retired’: with her family and her work, Emma’s mum didn’t really have time for missions anymore. She did, however, have time tobe back-up for Emma, EJ12, if she needed it on missions. Mum was part of EJ12’s BEST network. SHINE knew that agents often needed support so they created the BEST agent assistance system. BEST stood for Brains, Expertise, Support and Tips and each agent had their own, security-cleared network of BESTies, as they were called, who could help them on missions. ‘Don’t get depressed, call a best!’ was one of SHINE’ s many mottoes. The BEST system was great but there was one rule—an agent could never discuss her spy work outside a mission. It was much too risky; you never knew who might be listening. Em might not be able to talk about her work, but it was still good to know her mum understood. She snuggled into her, hoping their talk was over.
    â€˜So, Em,’ continued Mum, ‘don’t sweat the small stuff, don’t get upset about things that don’t matter and...’
    â€˜Yes?’ asked Emma.
    â€˜You will need to apologise to Bob.’
    â€˜But...’
    â€˜No, no buts. You need to apologise to Bob in the morning.’
    â€˜Mum!’
    â€˜No, Emma. It is too silly to get so worked up about little things. You can do better than that,’ said Mum. ‘Okay, that’s the lecture over.’ Emma’s mum smiled down at her daughter. ‘Pass the popcorn. The movie is about to start.’
    They both looked at the TV screen as the studio logo came up. Then the screen went black