Secret's Out Read online

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Copyright Page

  The hallway was noisy and busy, like it always was on Friday afternoons. It looked like a crazy jumble of arms and legs. Everyone seemed to be in a big rush to start the weekend.

  Casey ducked in next to Tamsin and tugged her schoolbag down from its peg.

  ‘Have you got everything?’ Casey asked.

  Tamsin nodded happily. Her parents were going away for the weekend, and so she was staying with Casey.

  ‘I’ve got my pyjamas, my toothbrush … and my dookie,’ Tamsin giggled.

  Casey smiled back. Tamsin was funny about her dookie. At Nina’s birthday sleepover, Tamsin had taken a piece of red velvet to bed with her and rubbed it against her nose as she fell asleep.

  It was one of those things Casey would have been embarrassed about. But the good thing about Tamsin was that she totally didn’t care if her friends knew.

  ‘Look what else I’ve got,’ Tamsin whispered. ‘A midnight snack.’

  Out of her bag, from underneath the pyjamas, came a giant bag of mixed lollies.

  ‘Oh, not fair!’ Ivy exclaimed from across the hall. She screwed up her nose. ‘I wish I could come!’

  Casey smiled at her apologetically. ‘Sorry, Ives,’ she said. ‘I really did try, but Mum said that one extra person for two nights was enough.’

  Casey and Tamsin quickly ducked as a very mouldy apple flew past them.

  ‘It’s a goal!’ yelled Dylan Moltby, throwing his arms in the air as the apple landed in the rubbish bin.

  ‘Ewww!’ Tamsin groaned. ‘How long was that in your bag?’

  Dylan grinned. ‘Months, I think. Maybe years,’ he said proudly.

  Casey hid her grin as Dylan ran off.

  ‘So, are you guys going to eat all of those lollies by yourselves?’ asked Nina, who was now standing beside the girls, looking at the lolly packet. ‘Or would you be kind enough to save some red snakes for me?’

  ‘And will you save me some yellows?’ Ivy added. ‘Pretty please?’

  ‘Red and yellow snakes will be totally untouched and ready for you guys,’ Tamsin declared with a smile.

  Casey waved goodbye as Ivy and Nina walked off. As she looked across at Tamsin, Casey felt a little shiver of excitement.

  Casey wouldn’t have said anything, but she was sort of glad she wasn’t allowed to have Ivy and Nina over as well.

  Even though Tamsin wasn’t really new at their school anymore, it was still exciting to be around her.

  At the beginning, everybody had wanted to hang out with Tamsin – except for Casey. It had been kind of hard watching a new girl march right into her group of friends, so Casey hadn’t been very nice to Tamsin.

  Maybe she would have handled it better if things had been OK at home. But Tamsin had arrived at school when Casey’s parents were fighting a lot.

  Casey had felt like everything in her life was changing, and all she wanted was for things to stay the same.

  Casey felt a bit bad as she remembered how she had totally ignored Tamsin. Ivy and Nina were friendlier, and had got to know Tamsin really quickly.

  After a while, Casey had realised that Tamsin was funny and nice. But there were still lots of things she didn’t know about her, even though now they were in a club together with Nina and Ivy. The club was called the Secret Sisters.

  It was completely different with Ivy and Nina. Casey had known those girls since they were all little. She knew them inside out. She knew their favourite colours and their favourite food, their favourite books and their favourite music.

  ‘Oh, I brought my Taylor Swift CD,’ Tamsin said, interrupting Casey’s thoughts.

  She was fishing around in her schoolbag again. ‘Do you like her, Case?’

  Casey nodded. She’d just been thinking about music, and it was almost like Tamsin had read her mind. And Taylor Swift was, like, her second-favourite singer ever!

  Casey grinned to herself as she and Tamsin walked down the corridor together and out into the warm afternoon sunshine. She giggled as Tamsin tossed the lolly bag into the air and caught it behind her back.

  This weekend is going to be so fun, Casey thought happily. By Sunday, she and Tamsin would know everything about each other.

  Then Casey’s tummy did a funny little flip. Maybe, she thought, just maybe, I’ll even tell Tamsin my special secret.

  ‘Let’s turn it up again,’ Casey said, reaching for the volume on the CD player.

  Tamsin put her hands over her ears. Between the girls’ music and the thumping rock tunes coming from Aaron’s bedroom, the noise was pretty full-on.

  ‘Turn it down!’ The door to Casey’s bedroom swung open, and her brother stomped inside.

  ‘Hey, you can’t do that!’ Casey yelled. But Aaron had already pushed the pause button.

  ‘You are such a dweeb!’ Casey said. ‘You get to play your music all the time.’

  ‘Yeah, but my music is good!’ Aaron said. He stood between Casey and the CD player, his arms folded.

  ‘Hang on, so is ours,’ Tamsin piped up. ‘How about we get half an hour of our music, and then you can have half an hour of yours?’

  Casey looked from Tamsin to Aaron. To Casey’s surprise, Aaron seemed to be considering the deal.

  ‘Ummm … nup,’ he said finally.

  ‘Then how about we get a whole hour, and we do something for you?’ Tamsin went on. ‘One of your jobs, maybe?’

  ‘Yeah, like we’ll set the table for you tonight,’ Casey said.

  Aaron looked as though he was weakening. ‘And I get to choose what TV we watch after dinner,’ he bargained.

  ‘OK,’ Casey and Tamsin chimed in together.

  Aaron walked out, looking very smug and satisfied.

  ‘Hey, good work!’ Casey whispered. ‘Especially since it was my turn to set the table tonight!’

  Tamsin burst out laughing. ‘Brothers!’

  Casey shook her head as she turned the CD player back on. It was great fun to dance around her bedroom with Tamsin. It was even better to find someone who knew what it was like to have a big brother. Ivy had a sister and Nina was an only child. They didn’t know anything about brothers. But Tamsin totally understood.

  It looked like she and Tamsin had even more in common than Casey had hoped.

  ‘Can you believe the noise Aaron made with his pappadums?’ Casey said in bed that night, pulling her doona up under her chin.

  ‘He was truly disgusting,’ Tamsin giggled. ‘But not quite as disgusting as Julian. My brother actually drinks his peas! He puts them on his tongue, gets a glass of water and swallows them down whole. It’s gross.’

  Casey turned onto her tummy and looked down at Tamsin, who was lying on the trundle bed.

  It’s so nice having a friend sleep over, thought Casey. Especially a friend who understood her life so well.

  ‘Would you swap Aaron for a big sister?’ Tamsin asked, stifling a big yawn.

  Casey thought for a moment. It was a good question. Aaron could be a real pain. But then again, when she was having trouble with her maths homework, Aaron was the one who always helped her work out the problems.

  And they had the best fun doing Warrior Wrestling matches. They made up silly names like Buster Strong-Heart and Lady Muck … and Lady Muck was getting pretty good at getting Buster into a headlock!

  ‘No,’ Casey said finally. ‘I actually wouldn’t swap.’

  Tamsin sighed sleepily. ‘Me neither,’ she said softly.


  Casey put her arms behind her head and stared up at the ceiling. She felt really close to Tamsin at the moment. She felt like she could really talk to her.

  Casey took a deep breath. Tamsin was definitely the right person to tell her special secret to.

  It was something she hadn’t told a single person, and it had been sitting inside her for at least two weeks!

  ‘Tam?’ she whispered, leaning over the side of the bed.

  But Tamsin didn’t say anything. Casey smiled to herself when she caught sight of the dookie lying on the pillow beside Tamsin’s head.

  Oh well, she thought, snuggling back under her doona. Luckily we’ve got the whole weekend together. I can tell her tomorrow.

  Casey normally got dragged to watch Aaron’s soccer games on Saturday mornings. She would sit in the car for a while doing the kids’ crossword in the newspaper. Then she would get a hot dog. Then she would wait a bit longer before getting a lemonade.

  The idea was to stretch out everything good about going to soccer for as long as she could. But even with this plan, Saturday mornings were usually pretty boring.

  Today was different, though. Casey and Tamsin were having the best fun in the playground next to the soccer field, mucking around in the old boat.

  ‘OK, let’s make it that I’ve got the treasure and you have to try and tap my shoulder three times before I hand it over,’ Casey suggested.

  ‘Yeah,’ Tamsin agreed. ‘And let’s …’ she trailed off, looking over Casey’s shoulder at something. ‘Hey!’ called Tamsin, giving a little wave.

  Casey looked in the direction of the wave. Ben Maddison, who went to their school, was walking over to them. He was staring at his feet as though his runners were the most interesting thing in the world. In fact, he hardly glanced up until he arrived at the boat.

  ‘Hey, Ben. Are you watching someone play?’ Tamsin asked.

  Ben nodded, inspecting the boat’s flaking paint. ‘My brother,’ he mumbled.

  ‘Oh, which one is he?’ said Tamsin.

  Ben pointed awkwardly at a tall, lanky boy on the field.

  Casey sat back in the boat and watched as Tamsin chatted to Ben. Tamsin was good at it, and she didn’t seem to get shy. After a minute, Ben seemed less shy, too.

  In fact, Casey noticed with a smile, soon Ben and Tamsin were laughing at one of the soccer players who’d taken a major dive in the dirt.

  Eventually, Ben said goodbye and jogged back to the soccer field.

  ‘He’s cute, don’t you think?’ Tamsin asked thoughtfully. ‘I think I might like him a bit, you know?’

  ‘Really?’ Casey asked.

  Suddenly, her heart was thumping. Tamsin had told her something pretty special. And even though Casey had planned on telling Tamsin her own secret later on that night, before they went to sleep, it felt like now was the right time.

  ‘Ah, Tamsin?’ she said, but she sounded a bit croaky. She cleared her throat. ‘Ah, Tamsin?’ she repeated.

  ‘Yeah?’

  ‘I, er … I like Dylan Moltby.’

  It felt strange to say it out loud. That secret had been stuck inside her for ages.

  Casey had kept it totally to herself while Dylan stood around at lunchtime, telling jokes that made everyone laugh. And she kept it to herself when she sat behind Dylan in assembly.

  Casey hadn’t told anyone. Not Ivy. Not Nina. Not anyone.

  So Casey had imagined Tamsin’s jaw dropping in surprise when she told her. But it wasn’t quite like that.

  ‘Oh, yeah,’ Tamsin said, nodding. ‘Dylan Moltby is really nice. I mean, he’s funny and stuff.’

  Suddenly, Tamsin got a sneaky look on her face. She reached over and swatted Casey’s shoulder three times.

  ‘Hand over the treasure!’ she demanded with a giggle.

  Casey tried to duck, but it was too late. ‘Hey,’ she laughed. ‘I wasn’t ready!’

  Tamsin had already scrambled away with the imaginary treasure.

  ‘All right,’ Casey yelled. ‘I am so going to get you!’

  The rest of the day was just as much fun as the start. But it went way too quickly, not like an ordinary weekend at all.

  That night, the girls turned the lights off and climbed into bed. It was kind of naughty to clean your teeth, and then go to bed with a giant packet of lollies!

  ‘Don’t rustle the packet too much or Mum will come in,’ Casey warned.

  Tamsin grinned at her. ‘Turn on the torch so I can see what I’m doing,’ Tamsin whispered, popping another lolly in her mouth.

  Casey turned the torch on, and Tamsin tipped all the lollies out of the bag. She carefully separated the red and yellow snakes, and put them into a little plastic bag they’d pinched out of the kitchen drawers.

  ‘Do you think Ivy and Nina would know if we just ate one each?’ Tamsin asked cheekily.

  Casey shook her head. ‘Not if we don’t tell them,’ she whispered.

  After they’d eaten lots of lollies, Casey’s teeth felt all sugary. She thought about getting up and brushing them, but her eyelids felt heavy and tired.

  Casey looked down at Tamsin in the torchlight, and saw her nicking another red snake. There weren’t that many left in the bag, actually. If Casey had the energy, she would have told Tamsin to stop.

  But another part of her didn’t mind. Casey could keep a secret.

  And so could Tamsin. Couldn’t she?

  Going to school on a Monday could be hard. But coming back on a Monday to an Italian-themed lunch was excellent! Casey loved it when school was like this.

  Mrs Massola, their Italian teacher, had done a really good job. There was a big trestle table set up in the playground. Steam rose up into the air from huge pots filled with pasta and bolognaise sauce.

  Casey waved at her friends from behind the trestle table. She’d been chosen to help serve the food.

  ‘OK, guys,’ said Mrs Massola, ‘when everybody lines up, you put a serve of pasta like this, and then a scoop of sauce.’

  The first kids in line were Holly and Olivia from Mr Mack’s class. Casey grinned and chatted as she scooped pasta into their bowls. She was having fun serving up. Even though her mouth was watering and she would have to wait until the end to eat!

  Soon, the line was really long. It seemed to Casey that there were a gazillion mouths to feed. She had to speed up. After a while, she barely noticed who she was serving.

  Until Dylan Moltby was standing in front of her. Suddenly, Casey’s hands felt a little bit shaky. She got the pasta in the bowl, but only half of the sauce made it onto the pasta. The rest landed on the ground.

  Casey grabbed a fresh bowl, her face burning, and started all over again.

  Casey was sort of glad when Dylan took his bowl of pasta and walked off. She felt like her face was as red as the pasta sauce!

  Next in line were her besties. Casey grinned at them.

  ‘Hey, can I have heaps of pasta and just a little bit of sauce?’ Nina asked.

  ‘And I’ll just have a giant helping of everything,’ Ivy added. ‘Like the serve you gave Dylan.’

  Casey froze. Then she stared at her friends. She saw Tamsin give Ivy a little nudge in the ribs.

  It was so obvious. Casey dropped the ladle into the pot, and glared at Tamsin.

  Tamsin had told. Casey’s secret was out!

  After Casey had finished serving up the pasta, she took her bowl and marched over to the courtyard, away from everybody. She was furious.

  She sat down, watching the cloud of steam as it drifted up from her bowl. For a moment, Casey imagined that the steam was coming from her ears, like it does in cartoons when someone is cross.

  Everyone else had finished eating, but suddenly Casey didn’t feel hungry at all.

  She could hear the little kids squealing from the playground. She could hear a ball thumping along the court. They were the sounds of a regular lunchtime. But it didn’t feel regular to Casey.

  ‘Hey, Casey. Are you OK?’ said a voice.
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  Casey looked up as Tamsin sat down beside her.

  Nina and Ivy stood in front of them.

  ‘I can’t believe you told my secret,’ Casey said, looking at her shoes.

  ‘That you like Dylan?’ asked Tamsin.

  ‘Um, yeah.’

  Casey turned and glared at Tamsin.

  Tamsin shrugged. ‘Oops,’ she said, like it was no big deal. ‘I didn’t mean to do anything wrong. It’s just that we were all talking about boys we like, and … well …’ she trailed off.

  ‘Hey, you guys,’ called Ching Ching from across the courtyard. ‘The littlies want us to play chasey with them. Who’s in?’

  She pointed to a bunch of little kids who had their hands together, begging the older girls to join their game.

  ‘That could be fun,’ Tamsin said softly, looking at Casey.

  Casey crossed her arms tightly. It was so annoying the way Tamsin just expected everything to go back to normal.

  Casey felt a wave of anger rushing through her. Before she had a chance to think, she opened her mouth and let it all pour out.

  ‘Yeah, you should play with the babies,’ she said furiously. ‘Since you’re a baby yourself with that stupid dookie you have to rub against your nose to get to sleep.’

  Suddenly, everything went quiet.

  ‘That,’ said Ivy, with her hands on her hips, ‘was really, really mean, Casey!’

  Casey stared down at her bowl of cold spaghetti bolognaise. She pushed it around with her plastic fork.

  She could hear Ching Ching and Holly chasing the little kids. She could hear lots of giggling as they caught a little girl with long plaits. And she could hear Tamsin clearing her throat, as though she was trying not to cry.

  Now that those terrible words had come out of her mouth, Casey had absolutely nothing left to say.

  ‘Hang on,’ said Nina, ‘maybe Casey was a bit mean there. But Tamsin was pretty mean, too. If someone tells you a secret, you’re not supposed to tell other people.’