Butterfly Beach Read online

  ‘OK, I promise, but that fair girl threw hers first!’

  ‘I know, I know. I’ve had a little word with her and her friend. They came back along the beach while I was packing up the barbecue. I told them how silly it was to throw stones too. Then I suggested we all be friends, and invited them to come to a barbecue with us tomorrow,’ he said.

  ‘Are they coming?’

  ‘I don’t think so – but I’m pretty sure we won’t have any more trouble with them.’

  I wasn’t so sure, but I didn’t feel like arguing with him now.

  Then we had this reading time. Phil and Maddie and Tina took it in turns to read aloud from a silly picture book about three little pigs. I wrinkled my nose and looked sideways at them.

  ‘OK, I know it’s babyish, but it’s our favourite,’ said Phil. ‘I do the voice for Peter Pig.’

  ‘We always read it. Have done for ages,’ said Maddie. ‘I do Percy Pig.’

  ‘And I’m the baby, Pompom Pig. He has this funny little squeaky voice. You can say it with me, Selma,’ said Tina.

  ‘No thanks,’ I said.

  ‘Oh, go on. You have to join in too. Please. I know it’s silly, but it’s fun,’ she pleaded.

  I had to join in because Tina is my best friend for ever and that’s what you have to do. But it wasn’t fun. It was very, very silly. Every time one of the pigs spoke, Phil or Maddie or Tina made these little snorty noises. Then they all laughed, each and every time. The first time I tried to laugh, just to be polite, but I couldn’t keep it up. Even my stupid brother Sam wouldn’t have found it funny.

  I couldn’t wait for the story to be over. But after that it got even worse. First of all Phil and Maddie started talking about all the things that had happened last summer. I tried talking to Tina about our butterfly garden – about the planting we could do next year – but I could tell she wasn’t really listening. When I was talking, she suddenly giggled and said, ‘Do you remember the time Mum fell asleep on the lilo while we were all swimming and the tide came in and her sandals floated away!’

  They all spluttered with laughter.

  ‘That’s not the slightest bit funny,’ I said.

  That only made them laugh harder. Nothing is more annoying than being with three girls who’ve got the giggles when you don’t feel remotely amused. I was glad when their mum called from the next room, ‘Lights out now, girls. Settle down.’

  They turned off the light, but they didn’t settle down. They had this whole mad routine, saying goodnight to each other.

  ‘Night-night, Phil. You are brill,’ Tina and Maddie chanted.

  ‘Night-night, Maddie. You’re a baddie,’ Tina and Phil chanted.

  ‘Night-night, Tina. You’re a runner bean-a,’ Phil and Maddie chanted.

  There was a pause.

  ‘Let’s make up a night-night for Selma,’ said Tina. ‘What rhymes with Selma?’

  They couldn’t think of anything. Tina kept trying, muttering, ‘Belma, Celma, Delma, Elma, Felma …’ without any luck.

  ‘I don’t want a silly name,’ I said.

  I was getting sick to death of all their little rituals. I wished Tina was an only child. It would be such fun with just the two of us in the caravan. I’d have the top bunk and Tina would be safe in the bottom bunk, and we’d tell our own stories and make up our own funny rhymes. I felt like the odd one out now, as if Tina wasn’t my best friend any more. She was a triplet, one of three. I was one all by myself.

  I put the pillow over my head and pretended to go to sleep. When Tina whispered my name, I didn’t answer. She tried again and then gave up. I felt she could have tried a bit harder. Soon I heard little snores coming from Phil’s bunk, and Maddie started rootling round in hers. They really were like little pigs.

  I started to wish I was back in my bed at home. My eyes felt hot, and then suddenly they were wet. I blotted them hard with my pillow. I never, ever cried. I was Selma, the girl who was too tough for tears. But I didn’t feel like big, tough Selma here, where they wouldn’t even let me chuck a stone at a girl who’d thrown one at me. They were all stupid, even Tina.

  I reached for my phone and started texting my mum under the covers.

  Can u come and fetch me? Don’t like it here.

  But what if they’d really gone to Disneyland? And even if they were still at home, how would they fetch me? Jason was banned from driving and the car was all smashed up anyway. And he’d go on and on about it, saying stuff about Tina and her family, making out they’d got fed up with me.

  He’d be right. They didn’t really want me here. Tina’s mum had said so. Phil and Maddie didn’t like me – any fool could tell that. Tina’s dad was nice to me, but then he was nice to everyone. And Tina? Of course she liked me because she was my best friend – so why didn’t she tell her stupid sisters to shut up? Why did we have to be stuck with them all the time? Why couldn’t we go off by ourselves and have fun?

  By the time I finally got to sleep my pillow was wetter than ever. But when I woke up early the next morning, Tina was gently tickling my neck.

  ‘Shh! The others are all asleep! I thought we could creep out and go to the beach all by ourselves,’ she whispered.

  ‘Oh, wow! Yes!’ I said.

  It took us two minutes to rush in and out of the toilet and shove on shorts and T-shirts. I put my phone in my pocket, of course. We crept about in an exaggerated manner, pointing to our lips and making shushing noises. It made us get the giggles, so then we had to put our hands over our mouths and noses, though we couldn’t stop a few snorty noises escaping.

  When we got safely out of the caravan without anyone waking up, it was such a relief we practically exploded. We ran down the path between the neat rows of caravans, shrieking with laughter. I think I shrieked much louder than Tina because I was so happy that she wanted to just be with me. Several curtains twitched as we ran past. One man actually put his head out of the door and hissed, ‘Pipe down, you two!’ That made us laugh even more, because he looked so funny in his pyjamas, with his hair sticking straight up. I badly wanted to take a photo of him, but I knew it wouldn’t be wise.

  Right at the end of the row, two girls peered sleepily out of the caravan window. They looked familiar. One was fair. One was dark.

  ‘It’s them!’ I told Tina.

  They didn’t look friendly, for all Tina’s dad’s peacemaking. One of them mouthed a very rude word at us.

  ‘Um!’ said Tina. ‘Come on, Selma, run! I don’t like those girls.’

  ‘Neither do I.’ I stayed just long enough to mouth the word back at them, and then shot off, pulling Tina along behind me.

  We ran out of the gate, down the zigzag path, all the way to the beach. Then we charged across the sand, waving our arms.

  ‘Look, I’m like a butterfly!’ said Tina. She peered down at her bright blue T-shirt and denim shorts. ‘Hey, I’m an Adonis blue!’

  I looked at my new green T-shirt. ‘And I’m a green hairstreak!’

  We laughed, proud of ourselves for knowing so much about butterflies now.

  ‘Maybe we could make a sand butterfly,’ I suggested. ‘Just the two of us.’

  ‘Great idea!’ said Tina. But then she wrinkled her nose. ‘We haven’t got any spades with us, though. Shall we go back to the caravan and fetch them?’

  ‘No, we might wake someone up,’ I said.

  ‘Mmm. Tell you what, I could draw a butterfly,’ she said.

  She searched around and found an ice-lolly stick, then ran back to the damp sand near the sea, where she crouched down and started drawing a big butterfly shape. I took a photo of her. Then I found a proper twiggy stick.

  ‘Here, draw with this instead, Tina – that way you won’t have to bend down so much,’ I suggested.

  ‘Thanks!’ she said gratefully.

  I went on searching for useful things. Then I found a black pebble with a streak of white down it, rather like an eye. ‘Hey, look,’ I said, holding it out. ‘What’s that bu