Girls Out Late Read online

  ‘Oh, Ellie, we’ve been ever so worried!’ Anna pushes past him and gives me a hug. She clings to me as if she’s really really glad I’m safe. But then she pushes me away again, almost as angry as Dad. ‘Why didn’t you phone? The shops close at nine.’

  ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry – it’s just we went to McDonald’s after, Nadine and Magda and me,’ I say.

  ‘And?’ says Dad.

  ‘And we just got talking, you know what we’re like.’

  ‘I don’t know what you’re like any more, Ellie,’ says Dad. ‘I never thought you’d start behaving like this. You’ve no idea what you put us through.’

  ‘I’m sorry. Look, I’m really tired now, can we all just go to bed?’

  ‘No we can’t. We’re going to have this out now.’

  ‘Look, maybe we should all go to bed and discuss it in the morning,’ says Anna.

  ‘For God’s sake, you’re the one who has been in tears for the last hour!’ says Dad.

  I stare at Anna. Her eyes are red.

  ‘Why were you crying?’ I say. ‘I mean, I can see why you’re cross, but there was no need to get upset.’

  ‘Our thirteen-year-old daughter out God knows where, nearly two hours late home. Come on, Ellie!’ says Dad. He goes into the kitchen and puts the kettle on. He reaches for the coffee mugs, slamming them hard down on the table – as if he’d like to slam me down hard too.

  ‘Look, I don’t know why you’re getting so shirty with me, Dad. OK, OK, I’m late home, but it’s not that heinous a crime, is it? You’re often ever so late home yourself.’

  ‘Don’t get smart with me, Ellie. Now, tell me, where have you been?’

  ‘You know where I’ve been, at Flowerfields – and then McDonald’s. You’re acting like I’ve been popping pills all night at some rave, for God’s sake.’

  ‘Where did you go after McDonalds?’

  ‘Well, we were there ages.’

  ‘Who’s we?’

  ‘Dad! Magda, Nadine and me, honestly.’

  ‘And then what did you do?’

  ‘Well, Magda went home, and I went back on the bus with Nadine – and I just popped in her house to see some stuff and she started showing me this really creepy video Girls Out Late and I suppose I stayed a bit late watching it, goodness knows why, because you know I hate horror movies and this one is really truly gross.’

  Dad and Anna are staring at me. I burble on and on, making stuff up about the movie. The kettle boils. Dad looks as if he should have steam spiralling out of his ears likewise. He makes the drinks, stirring so fiercely coffee slops all over the place.

  ‘So you were at Nadine’s?’ he says.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Oh, Ellie,’ Anna says.

  My heart is thumping. This is all going horribly wrong.

  ‘And then where did you go?’ Dad says.

  ‘Home.’

  ‘By yourself?’

  ‘Well, it’s only a few streets.’

  ‘You know you’re not allowed out after dark by yourself.’

  ‘Yes, well, I didn’t think it would really matter, just from Nadine’s home to here. I suppose I could have rung you.’

  Oh no! I suddenly remember. I told Anna I would ring from Nadine’s. I look at her and she shakes her head sadly.

  ‘We waited for you to ring. And then we rang Nadine’s – and Nadine’s mother said Nadine had come home on her own,’ Anna says.

  I swallow. ‘What did Nadine say?’ I whisper.

  ‘She came out with a whole load of stupid evasions and downright lies,’ says Dad. ‘She couldn’t seem to see how badly we needed to know where the hell you were.’

  ‘So you’ve been bullying Nadine too,’ I say.

  ‘Ellie, nowadays you can’t just have a thirteen-year-old out late by herself – not without going out of your mind with worry. Surely you can see that?’ says Anna.

  ‘And eventually Nadine tells us you’ve gone off with some boy you picked up in McDonald’s,’ says Dad.

  ‘I didn’t pick him up! He talked to me first,’ I say indignantly.

  ‘A complete stranger! And you went off on your own with him. Are you mad?’

  ‘He’s a Halmer’s boy,’ I say.

  ‘Well, they’re the worst. They’re famous for it. Picking up silly little girls and seeing how far they can go,’ Dad thunders.

  ‘Don’t, you’re making all this horrible. Russell isn’t a bit like that. He likes art, he was sketching and I was sketching, that’s how we got talking – and then he came on the bus with Nadine and me and then afterwards we just had this little walk. We were talking about all sorts of stuff, that’s all.’

  ‘That’s all?’ says Dad. ‘You’ve got your make-up smudged all over your face, Ellie. It’s obvious what you’ve been up to.’

  ‘I haven’t been up to anything! Stop it! I don’t know why you’re being like this, spoiling everything.’

  ‘Your dad doesn’t want to spoil anything, Ellie. He’s just been so worried wondering if you were all right. He’s over-reacting. I am, too. It’s just this is the first time this has happened and we’re obviously getting het up over nothing,’ says Anna. She takes a sip of coffee then tries to smile as if this is a normal conversation. ‘This Russell sounds really nice. Are you going to see him again?’

  ‘Tomorrow.’

  ‘No you’re not,’ says Dad.

  ‘Dad! Look, what is this? I thought you were really cool about any kind of boyfriend stuff.’

  ‘It’s not about boyfriends, it’s about you lying to us.’

  ‘I’m sorry, I just said the first thing that came into my head.’

  ‘It’s frightening, you seemed so plausible. I just can’t believe it of you, Ellie. And I hate the idea of you going off on your own with the first boy that beckons in your direction, letting him slobber all over you in the dark.’

  ‘Shut up, Dad. Who are you to talk anyway? You’ve done enough slobbering yourself, as you so charmingly put it. I remember all those girls you went out with after Mum died, before Anna. Maybe after Anna too.’

  ‘How dare you!’ says Dad.

  ‘I do dare. I’m sick of you. Why is there always one rule for adults and another for teenagers? What gives you the right to tell me how to behave?’

  ‘Stop it, Ellie,’ Anna says sharply.

  ‘Why should I? And why should I do what you say anyway? You’re not my mother.’

  I push past both of them and run upstairs. Eggs is standing in his pyjamas on the landing.

  ‘You’re in big trouble, Ellie,’ he hisses.

  ‘You shut up,’ I say and go into my bedroom and slam the door.

  I flop down on my bed and burst into tears. I hate them all. Why did they have to spoil what was the most magical evening of my life?

  Breakfast is terrible. Dad and I aren’t speaking. Anna talks enough for both of us, chit-chatting to try and pretend this is a perfectly normal morning. Eggs is intrigued and delighted by all of this, and asks endless idiotic questions about ‘Ellie’s Boyfriend’.

  ‘He is not my boyfriend. He is just a boy in Year Eleven I happened to meet yesterday and we had a good long chat about art.’

  ‘And a good long encounter in the park afterwards,’ says Dad bitterly, breaking his silence.

  ‘Please!’ says Anna, nearly in tears. ‘Don’t talk to Ellie like that.’

  ‘I’ll talk to her how I damn well please,’ says Dad, pushing his plate away and standing up. ‘She’s still a child, and she is going to have to learn to do as she’s told. She’s not staying out till all hours.’

  ‘Dad, I was home at twenty past eleven. Heaps of girls in my year stay out till way past midnight.’

  ‘I don’t care what anyone else does, although from my conversation with Nadine’s parents last night it was all too humiliatingly clear they were obviously appalled. It was evident that Nadine would never behave like that.’

  This is so infuriating! If only they knew! Last term when Na