His Aunt Nicole

[Simonssister]

Chapter 75.

MĂ©lisande had also retired to her room.  She lay on her bed, propped up on two pillows.  On the bedside table was a can of drink and a plate of sandwiches.  She ate and drank slowly.  It wasn’t quite how she’d planned it, but the result was better than she could have hoped.  There were loads of witnesses, the deputy head had been involved, and she’d been injured with lots of blood.  Perfect!  Now Bobby would have to apologise, and more than that, he have to treat her – and her friends, she’d make sure of that – and there would be the completely legitimate and justifiable excuse for a relationship between them.  Nothing romantic, but a firm friendship in which she’d be the boss and he’d have to be loyal to her.  Once that was established, and the whole school could see how an unfortunate accident had brought them together, she could dictate his actions and his behaviour.  She would own him, no less.  She had to admit it to herself, she was a genius.  She would have him under her thumb in every aspect of his life, not merely as her pony.  She could use the information she had gleaned from Diana Murchison to consolidate her position.  She knew he had some sort of relationship with that annoying groom – what was her name…?  Phoebe, that was it.  Yes.  She’d make sure to put an end to that.  Maybe she’d give him to Charlotte.  Why not?  Charlotte fancied him all right.  She could fall in love with him.  Till eventually she found out all his little secrets!  She’d blab to everyone then.  But that would be a long way down the line, and in the meantime there was lots of harmless fun to be had…

There was a soft knock at the door.
“Darling?  Are you awake?”
“Yes.  Come in, mummy.”
“How are you feeling, sweetie?”
“Fine, mummy.  Much better.”
“Thank goodness.  Robert Tucker’s aunt rang me to apologise…”
“Oh?  That was nice of her.”
“Yes.  That boy….”
“Yes?”
“Is he someone you know?”
“Well, I know of him.  I think he’s in year eleven.  Charlotte thinks he’s dishy.”   
“But you don’t know him personally?”
“Of course not.  We’re nothing to the seniors.”
“Okay.  Just wondered.  You were very quick to forgive him.”
“Yeah.  I felt sorry for him,  Everyone was blaming him and calling him names, and just because he tripped.  But he looks like a good guy.  I bet he’ll come and apologise tomorrow.  I’ll see if I can get him to buy me and my friends an ice-cream.  That would be better than being resentful and making an enemy of him.”
Clarissa looked at her daughter closely, but her eyes were wide and innocent.
“That’s a very grown-up reaction, darling.  When you behave like that you make me feel so proud of you…”

[Simonssister]

Chapter 76.

Clarissa wandered out into the field that constituted her back garden and rang Nicole.
“Hi.  Me again.  I’ve spoken to MĂ©lisande and she seems to have no idea who Robert Tucker really is.  It must have been a pure coincidence.  Weird, though, isn’t it?”
Nicole had no intention of disabusing her.  Anyway, it would have involved implying her daughter wasn’t telling the truth. 
“It is, Clarissa.  Anyway he seems genuinely contrite.  I’m sure he’ll apologise properly tomorrow.  Let’s keep an eye on them, shall we?”
After she got off the phone Nicole made herself a coffee and sat down quietly in the kitchen.  That MĂ©lisande was something, all right.  If it was her idea, it was a rather clever one for a young kid.  She thought it through, murmuring to herself.
“So…somehow she finds out Bobby is Bobby the pony…she confronts him…he would be terrified in case she told her friends….  But if she told her friends it would make life difficult for him, to say the least…and it would spoil her summer’s fun.  But if she simply lets it go, she loses a golden opportunity to take charge of him, to ride him at school just like she rides him at the Centre, to use him to her advantage.  But they have no connection at school, so how to create one?  It has to be by accident – by an accident, in fact.  She dreams up a plan…  He has no choice but to go along with it.  And when he gets blamed, of course he can’t spill the beans or the whole story will come out.  But equally she needs to contain things…so she’s propitiatory.  Maybe she feels sorry for him?  No, having seen her using that whip, I don’t think that’s it.  No.  She needs to smooth the path for some sort of relationship, which might be prejudiced if she showed resentment…  That girl…  I’m full of admiration.  If I have any say, I’m going to help her achieve her ends…”

At school assembly the following morning, the head teacher, as head teachers do, found reason to cite the incident as a parable illustrating the dangers of unnecessary haste.  Heads turned towards MĂ©lisande, with a rather dramatic dressing on one side of her head, and Bobby, with nothing more than a cut and swollen lip.  He had already received a text from her.  “Meet in playground at break.  You need to apologise – convincingly”  And a laughing emoji.
She was waiting by the basketball post, with her friends, both of whom were looking daggers at him.  He presented himself in front of them.
“M-MĂ©lisande…  Look, I’m really sorry about…”
“About cutting my head open.  Oh, that’s comforting…”
“No, you know I didn’t mean to…  It was a complete accident…”
“Yeah,” cut in Charlotte, “we saw.  You just meant to shove her aside so you could get on first, but you tripped – cos you’re a clumsy idiot – and pushed her over that way!”
“That’s right,” added Amelia.  “And even after you smashed her head against the bus, you didn’t even try to see how she was!”
“I couldn’t!  She had people all round her, and those that weren’t were blaming me for everything!”
“That’s cos you were to blame for everything!” returned Charlotte.
MĂ©lisande was grimacing, but her eyes were smiling.  Her friends were doing it all for her.
“Look, I was stupid – I admit it – but I can’t do much else than apologise, can I?”
“You could have brought her some flowers,” suggested Amelia, “if you’d been a gentleman…”
Bobby sighed.  “I did, actually.  They're in the classroom.  I was going to give them to you after school, MĂ©lisande.”
Amelia softened slightly.  “Really?  Bring them now then.”
“All right.  I’ll be right back.”
“I didn’t really think he do something like that,” she said.  “In fact, I thought he definitely wouldn’t!”
“He did, though,” whispered Charlotte.  “Look.”
Bobby had reappeared holding an enormous bunch of flowers – including, Amelia noticed, and never tired of mentioning to her friends for a week thereafter, quite a few red roses!
“I’m sincerely sorry for causing the accident and for you getting hurt,” said Bobby, quietly,  “Please accept these flowers, and if there’s anything else I can do…”
MĂ©lisande took the flowers graciously.  “There is something else.”
“Yes?”
Her eyes sparkled.  “You could take us all for ice-creams after school.”
“All r-right.  If you’re all free...”
“We are.  Thank you for the flowers.  I’ll ask my teacher to put them in a vase.  So we’ll see you later then, Mr Robert Tucker,” she added mischievously, just to remind him of the moment she told him she knew who he was.  “Come on girls…”
As they turned and went, he became aware that the meeting had attracted quite a crowd.  There were whistles and cheers and “ooohs”.  One of his mates shouted out something about “you got a girlfriend at last then”, and a random female voice cried, “it’s lurv!” and broke into a peal of raucous laughter.  Blushing, he hurried away and sat quietly in the toilets for the rest of break.  Where was all this headed?

[Simonssister]

Chapter 77.

They were waiting for him when he emerged from the school building.  And so were half the years sevens, and quite a few of the upper school.  But he braved it out, walking side by side with MĂ©lisande towards the gate, the other two following behind – “like bridesmaids” suggested a girl from year eight.  On the street a retinue of year sevens still clung to them, possibly intending to follow them and see what transpired, so Bobby did something which elevated Charlotte and Amelia’s growing respect for him into something like adoration: he hailed a cab, bundled them in, and ordered the driver to drive to Maria’s, the best ice-cream parlour in town.  Even MĂ©lisande was impressed, and began to think she wouldn’t give him away quite so easily as she had intended.

They arrived, a waiter held the door open for them, conducted them to a corner table, bowed slightly, and left them to peruse the menu.  Charlotte and Amelia sat on the window side, Bobby and MĂ©lisande on the restaurant side.
“Well girls, have anything you want,” said Bobby.  Unaccustomed to being taken out for treats by handsome sixteen-year-old guy, Charlotte and Amelia were rendered temporarily inarticulate by recurrent giggling fits.  They opted to withdraw to the ladies room to recover, leaving Bobby and MĂ©lisande facing each other across the table.
“This is what you wanted all along, isn’t it?  What happens now?”
“We have a nice relaxing ice-cream.  Then you’ll offer to take us all to the cinema – the film starts at six, and maybe we can go for supper somewhere.”
“Very funny.”
“I’m not joking, ponyboy.  I mean every word.  Get used to it.”
“But…”
“You should know now you can’t mess with me.  I do what I say I'll do.  So suggest it as if it’s your idea.  We can have a nice evening, and we can get to know each other a bit better.  Remember…”
She took out her phone and showed him the picture.  He panicked.
“Please put that away.  I meant to talk to you about that,  You can’t leave it on your phone.  If someone sees it…”
“I know.  But I like the risk.”
“Please, MĂ©lisande…  Look, okay, I’ll do what you want…  Just be careful with that…”
“If you’re going to do what I want, then do it with confidence.  Charlotte and Amelia are already pretty blown away by you.  You have a modest sort of way of showing off…”
“What?  How old are you?  I heard someone call you “precocious”.  They were right.”
“Shh.  Here they come.”
They got up to let them in.  As she sat down, MĂ©lisande said in a surprised tone, “Bobby’s just offered to take us to the cinema, and then later to have some supper somewhere?  Can you guys make it?”
The girls stared at him in astonishment.
“Really?” cried Charlotte.  “I’ll have to ring my mum, but…wow!”
“Me too,” said Amelia.  “Gosh, thanks, Bobby!”

Permission was obtained, and the three of them had a very enjoyable evening – though for Bobby, rather expensive.  But he admitted to himself he was enjoying the adulation, even if it was from a couple of little girls.  It made a change to be treated with admiration and respect, rather than being forced into one humiliation after another.  While they were in the Italian restaurant which they went to after the cinema,  MĂ©lisande’s mother rang her and offered to pick them all up and take them to their various homes.  It was a squeeze in the Porsche, and Bobby found himself being held tight by both Charlotte and Amelia, which seemed to have reinfected them with the giggling bug.  But they were soon dropped off – he managed to escape with nothing more than a kiss on the cheek from Charlotte and a hug from Amelia – and then they headed for his home.
“I think you’ve quite made up for the little accident yesterday,” remarked Clarissa.   Mellie sent me a picture of the flowers – beautiful!  Did you choose them yourself?”
“Yes – I bought them on the way to school.”
“Well, I think you’re a great guy, Bobby.  And you’ve been so kind to the girls tonight.”
I didn’t have much option, he thought, glancing at Mélisande’s smug face.
They arrived at the house, and all got out.  “I’m going to say hello to your aunt quickly.  She knocked and Nicole invited her in.  MĂ©lisande lingered in the garden, and he sat on the front step.
“Was that good enough for you?”
“I think you behaved quite well.  You see, when you learn to do what I tell you, things work out nicely.  My mummy says you can come round any time.  So you're going to ask your aunt if you can stay over at mine this Friday.”
“Am I?” 
“Yes.  Do it now.”
The ladies were having a whispered conversation in the kitchen.  “I think she likes him, actually, though I wish she wouldn’t use the whip so freely,” Clarissa was saying, apologetically.
“Oh, don’t worry.  He’s quite lazy, actually.  The discipline is good for him.  Let her do what she needs to.  Just look at the results.”
“That’s true, Nicole.  They are well-matched.  He’s a strong little pony, and she’s a strong rider.”
“Quite.  I’m so glad she didn’t hold a grudge for what happened yesterday.  It’ll be so nice if they become good friends.”
“I agree.  I’ve told Mellie he can come round any time.  You know, I can’t believe she hasn’t realised….”
“Aunt?”
“Hello Bobby.  I hear you had quite an evening.”
“Yes, it was fun.  Auntie, can I stay over at Mellie’s Friday night?”
“Oh, we were just saying…  Yes, of course, if her mother…”
“You’re very welcome, Bobby.  Any time.”
“Thank you. Mrs Burlington.”
“Thank you, Bobby’s aunt,” said Mélisande, appearing at the door.
“Well, we’d better get going.  Talk soon, Nicole.”
“Let’s get together soon, too.”
“Absolutely.”
“Goodbye,” said MĂ©lisande.  Then she went up to Bobby and gave him a hug.  “Thank you for this evening,” she said.  “I’m looking forward to Friday.”
Clarissa and Nicole simpered sentimentally at this affecting scene.  But they may not have had the same reaction if they had heard what she whispered in his ear before she released him.
“And bring your boot boy outfit – all of it.  Understand?  Or else…”
Bobby turned white.  “How…” he croaked.
But she was already following her mother out of the front door.

[Simonssister]

Chapter 78

He racked his brains to think how she could have found out.  Did someone spill the beans?  Then who?  Who could possibly have told her that?  It clearly didn’t come via her mother.  Even if she had found out somehow, he was sure she wouldn’t have cooly gone and told her daughter. 
After stewing on in for a couple of hours, he gave in and texted her.
“How did you know about that?”
“I know everything about you.”
That just made it worse.  Everything?  Now he was in a panic.  He needed to find the answer at any cost.  He sought out Nicole.  She was in the kitchen talking on the phone.
“Auntie.  I need to speak to you – urgently.”
“Lavvy…  Sorry, I need to see to something.  I’ll call you back.”  She looked at him enquiringly.  He looked in a bit of a state.  “What’s the matter?”
“Did you…did you tell Mélisande about my boot boy stuff?”
“What?”
“Did you?”
“Of course not.  She’s a little kid.  I wouldn’t tell her anything about you.”
“Well, someone did.  Cos she knows.”
“No-one I know would do that…  There’s only us three…  Clare and Wendy…oh, and Wendy’s friends, I suppose.  But they have no connection with her…  Miss Poole certainly wouldn’t.  Who else is there?  Those three ladies at the meeting….  Wait a minute.  Didn’t that – what’s her name – Murchison – didn’t she say something about seeing MĂ©lisande after the meeting finished?”
“Did she?”
“Yes.  You couldn’t hear, but she said something about giving her a heavier whip…”
“What?”
“When did Mélisande find this out?”
“She only mentioned it tonight…”
“That must be it, then.  What a stupid b…  She must be one of those women who can’t keep their mouths shut – even with a kid!  You wait…”
“She must be the one who gave her the photo, too!”
“Photo?  What photo?”
“She has a photo of me in my pony gear with my hood off.  It must have been taken at the meeting!”
“I’m going to kill that stupid cow.”  She picked up the phone.
“Violet?”  She suppressed her anger and spoke sweetly.  “You don’t by any chance have Miss Murchison’s number, do you?  I wanted to ask her something about, er…  ah, yes, she mentioned a restaurant I should try, but I’ve forgotten the name…  You do?  Could you..?  Yes, text it to me.  Great.  Thanks!”
“Auntie?  Don’t ring her now, will you?”
“Why not?”
“You always tell me if I’m angry to sleep on it.  Otherwise, you say, you’ll make a fool of yourself.”
Nicole took a deep breath.  “You’re right, darling.  You’re quite right.  I’m fuming.  I’ll say something stupid, and then I’ll be in the wrong.  Okay.  Thanks.  Tomorrow, then.”
“Yes.  Cool down and discuss it with Aunt Lavinia first.”
“Good thinking.”  She relaxed a little, and grinned.  “So what did that little minx say?”
“She told me to bring my uniform with me when I go round to hers on Friday.”
“She did?  Well, you’ll have to do it, won’t you, or she’ll never let you rest.  She wants to see you in it – or maybe she just wants a boot-shine!”
“But I can’t…  She’s gonna laugh at me…”
“Oh, diddums.  Let her laugh.  You look great in it.  You can wear the new one I got you.”
“New one?”
“Make a change from the pinks and reds.  I’ll show you.  Wait there.”
She went up to her room and returned with a Fantastex box.  She took his uniform out piece by piece.
“So…the cap…yellow with a blue peak and “Boot Boy” in blue lettering…gloves…yellow with blue frilling…close-fitting yellow spandex T-shirt with “Boot Boy Bobby” in blue across the front – you can tuck that into your pants -  yellow socks – short ones for the summer.  New blue trainers with yellow laces.  Now they’re cool – are they not?”
Bobby looked at them appreciatively.  “I guess they are pretty cool – it’s the other stuff that I have to wear with them…”
“I also got you a cute little jacket.”
She produced a short, lightweight zip-up jacket with elasticated waistband and hood, both with drawstrings and acorn-shaped moulded rubber pulls, blue for the hood and yellow for the waist, all in fine translucent latex, the jacket yellow, the hood blue.  Bobby sighed.
“Don’t you like it?  It’s perfect for rainy days.  I was going to get you a regular one, but Cynthia insisted, so all the colours match.”
“So I’m going to be perfectly colour-coordinated.  And look like a total…”
Nicole ignored the remark.  “And last but not least….”
She held up a pair of little latex hot pants - you couldn’t really call them shorts – in yellow and blue.  The tight little leg frills were azure blue, the waistband fitted with belt loops and a (quite superfluous) blue rubber belt, while the pants themselves were in halved colours: yellow, blue, yellow, blue.  The left-hand yellow front pane had a little yellow letter “B” inside a blue heart positioned just above the leg band on the outside of  the thigh.
“Cute, don’t you think?  The halving was Cynthia’s idea.”
Yes, that was exactly what they were…
Bobby’s forehead puckered up.  “Auntie…”
“What?  Don’t you like them?  I discussed it with Cynthia.  She had all sorts of ideas, some involving natural, semi-transparent latex with coloured hearts or balloons in strategic places.  Would you have preferred that?”
“No!  Don’t be silly!”
“Sorry.  I’m not sure she was serious.  But I thought these would be great for Pitt’s Wood.  Pink always has girlie connotations.  These are much more suitable for a boy.”
“I don’t even know if I’m going to work there, aunt.”
“Oh, you must!  They’re relying on you.  And you’re going to be well paid, I know that for a fact.”
“Am I…?”  he felt his resolve weakening.
“Oh, and look.  They threw in pretty little blue choker edged with tiny, tiny yellow frills.  It even had your name printed in yellow letters.”
Bobby put his hand to his head in despair.
“So I’ll pack this all back up – there’s a sachet of lovely rose-scented talc in there too – and you can take it with you on Friday.”
“Auntie…”
“If I were you I would just go along with it.  What’s done is done, and it seems to be she has you in the palm of her hand.  If you try to thwart her, you might regret it.  Don’t you think?”
Bobby gave in to a little tantrum.  “It’s not fair!” he cried, doing a little impotent jump. “I can’t disobey her, now she has all this stuff on me!”
“And you’re her pony, too…” Nicole reminded him, with a faint smile.  “And I understand she has a new whip…  I think you’d better be nice to her, dear, and go along with what she wants…
“I don’t have much choice, do I?” said Boby, dismally.
“I’m afraid not.  But you usually don’t mind being ordered about.  Clare says…”
“Clare’s a grown-up!  MĂ©lisande’s a twelve-year-old!”
“Yes, that must be quite irksome…” replied Nicole, coolly.  “So I’ll pack this in a bag, and pop it in your rucksack Friday morning, okay?”

[Simonssister]

Chapter 79. 

As he made his way to school the next day, he determined to avoid her at all costs. 
“I’ll stay in at break,” he said to himself, “and stay in the canteen as long as I can at lunch.”
But MĂ©lisande seemed to have anticipated his strategy, because even before his classroom had emptied for first break, she was at the door, calling “Bobby!  Bobby!  Hurry up.  We need to talk about Friday!  I’ve got so much to show you!”
He wanted the ground to swallow him up.
“You two dating, mate?”
“Bobby?  Hurry up mate  - your little girlfriend’s waiting!”
The rather attractive girl who sat behind him in class, Imelda, who had agreed to go for a coffee after school that very day, was not at all impressed.
“Let’s forget that coffee, Bobby.  I can see now I’m simply too old for you.”
“Imelda….”
But she left in a huff.
“Shit!”
He got up and went to the door.  Several of his classmates hung back, smirking, eager to listen in on their conversation.
“Mellie, what do you want?  Please don’t come to my classroom unannounced.”
“Ooh, she’s “Mellie” now…”
“Sweet little Mellie…”
“Shut up, you lot.  Mind your own business!  She was badly hurt!”
The majority retired, sniggering.  Bobby was big enough that no-one was prepared to cross the line.
“Mellie…please…”
MĂ©lisande assumed a hurt expression.  “I just came to see you…  I was excited about Friday…”
She made the sort of face kids made immediately prior to bursting into tears.  She was destined to be a great actress one day.  Bobby immediately felt concerned.
“I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to snap.  I’ve had a difficult morning, that’s all.”
“Have they been teasing you?”
“A bit, yes.”
“I hate them!  I hate them all!”
“Mellie…  Shh.  Let’s go outside where we can talk in private.”

They repaired to the basketball post.  MĂ©lisande seemed to have made a quick recovery.  She was almost dancing with excitement.
“Have you got your uniform ready to bring?”
Bobby sighed.  “Yes.  My aunt’s bought me a new one…”
“A new one?  Not the pink one?”
“Was it that woman told you about it?”
“What woman?”
“You know who I mean.”
“Well…  I mean, I didn’t ask her.  She just thought I already knew.”
“She a blabbermouth.”
“Maybe…”
“Okay.  I’ll bring it over.  But I haven’t agreed to wear it, understand?”
“Bobby!  You have to.”
“I don’t have to…”
“Please…”
This was promising.  Now she was actually asking, not ordering.  He could see a chink of light ahead.
“We’ll see.  Look, I have to go.  Your friends are here.”
Charlotte and Amelia were approaching, waving at them.  “Bobby!” they cried in unison.
“Your friends too,” remarked Mélisande, with a meaningful smile.

[Simonssister]

Chapter 80.

Friday arrived, and Bobby went off to school with a heavier bag than usual.  MĂ©lisande was waiting for him just inside the school gate.  No-one remarked about it any more; it was by now a standing joke that the hunky guy in year eleven had fallen for a tiny girl in year seven, but of course the pair were still watched intently to see what transpired.
“Did you bring it?”
“Yes – I brought it,” replied Bobby irritably – and then, remembering his precarious position, he mollified her with a “yes, Mellie – everything.  It’s all in here.”  He tapped his rucksack.  “And I brought my jeans and a T-shirt.”
“Good.  I can’t wait till this evening.”

Mrs Burlington had offered to collect them from school, but MĂ©lisande insisted they go home by bus, so that everyone could see them leave and travel together.  Charlotte and Amelia were disappointed they couldn’t come too, especially Charlotte, whom Bobby had to comfort with a little hug, but  MĂ©lisande promised them they’d all get together at the weekend.
Mrs Burlington was in the kitchen cooking when they arrived, with a spatula in one hand and a glass of white wine in the other,
“Hello, guys.  How was school?”
“Fine, thanks, mummy.  Some of Bobby’s flowers are still fresh, though we had to throw some away.  But the red roses are fine!”
Bobby smiled weakly.
“By the way, Bobby,” Mrs Burlington continued, confidentially, “Mellie tells me you’re going to put on your new uniform for us this evening.”
He was taken aback.  He didn’t think she would have mentioned it to her mother.  But not only had she done so, but she’d told her he was very proud of it, and only shyness made him reticent about showing it off.
“D-did she…?
“No need to be shy.  If you’re aunt had it made for you, I’m sure it’s very smart.  So…  You’ll be wearing it for your new job, then.  I bet you can’t wait to start.  You’re going to very busy…  But I know you like that.  You should make oodles of cash…”
“I-it’s not confirmed…”
“Oh, Miss Poole wouldn’t let an opportunity like that pass by.  I’m sure you’re in.  Let’s have supper first, shall we, and then Mellie and I will sit in the lounge and we can have a little fashion show!”
“Ooh, yes, mummy!  That would be so cool!  He loves showing off, don’t you, Bobby?”
Mrs Burlington put his blushes down to sheer modesty.
“And I’ll wear my best boots, Bobby – so if you feel like practising, be my guest.  I’ll pay you for your services, of course!”
“Oh, yes, mummy!  Let him do your new boots!  The long ones.”
“I’ll put them on after supper.  Okay, Bobby?”
“I-I’m not sure…” he began, then, seeing a dangerous expression on Mélisande’s face, added, “sure, if you want…”

Up in Mélisande’s room, Bobby vented his anger.
“You told her!  Why did you do that?”
He knew why – to make it more difficult for him to get out of it.
“Well, mummy would like to see it too.  She invited you.  It would be rude not to show her.”
“Well I’m not going to wear it, and that’s final!”
“All right.  Suit yourself.”
He looked at her, but she was arranging one of her doll’s dresses.  Maybe she wouldn’t insist, after all…”

[Simonssister]

Chapter 81.

After supper, during which MĂ©lisande for the most part preserved a sulky silence, she left the table and went straight upstairs.
“What’s up with Mellie?” asked Clarissa.  “She won’t tell me.  Never mind, the fashion show should cheer her up.”
Bobby didn’t respond, but followed her up to her room.  He felt slightly guilty, but sulking meant she had been defeated, so relief trumped any other feelings.
Her door was open.
“What’s up, Mellie?”
“You know what’s up.  Anyway, leave me alone.  I’m going to play with my dolls.”  And she knelt down by a big dolls’ house in the corner.
“Okay.  I’ll play games on my phone, then.”  And he sat on the bed.
And for a while they ignored each other.    MĂ©lisande eventually broke the silence.
“Bobby?  This door in my dolls’ house won’t open.  It’s stuck, I think.”
“Here, I’ll do it.”  He put his phone down and came over.  MĂ©lisande stood up so he could kneel down to attend to it.  He pushed at it with his finger.
“This one?  It’s fine.  It’s not stuck…  Mellie?”
He looked round, but she had disappeared.  He rose to his feet.  “Mellie?  Where are you?”
Then he noticed his phone was gone.
“Mellie?”
He ran out of the room.
“I’m in here,” said a voice from the adjacent bathroom.
“Did you take my phone?”
“Yes.  I’m just writing a text to Charlotte.”
“What?  On my phone?”
“Yes.  It’s from you.  Shall I read it?”
“You…”
“Hi Charlotte.  I’m writing this in Mellie’s bathroom.  It was really nice to go out with you the other day.  I’m sorry you weren’t allowed to come tonight.  Would you like to meet up?  Maybe Sunday?  We could go skating or something.  But please don’t tell Mellie in case she gets jealous.”
“Don’t you dare!”
“How many kisses shall I put?  I was thinking three would be enough…”
“Don’t you dare mess with my phone!  Open the door and come out at once!”
“I’ve put three.  Now I’m going to send it.  And then I’m going to wait for the reply.”
“Don’t, please!  Mellie!  Please…!”
“Go put your uniform on then, and wait for me downstairs.  You have five minutes and then I’m sending this.  Everything.  Gloves, choker, everything.  And carry your jacket.  Mummy will want to see that too.”
“But…”
“Better hurry…”

Five minutes was up when he returned to the bathroom door in a panic. 
“I’ve got it all on but I can’t fasten the choker in these gloves!  Please give me a few more seconds!”
The door opened and she came out holding his phone.  He was trembling and flushed.  The sight of him in his taut little hot pants was almost too much, but by clenching her teeth as hard as she could she somehow contained the desire to collapse in a fit of giggles.
“All right.  Remember, I only have to touch this and that text gets sent.  So you have a short extension.”
After a lot of fumbling he got it fastened.
“Good straighten your socks and your cap.  Do up that shoe!  And tuck your shirt in neatly, please.  Right.  Now get your coat and go downstairs.  Wait outside the lounge door.  Remember I’ll have your phone with me the whole time.  If you don’t do exactly what I or mummy tell you to, my finger might slip, and then…”
“I will, though!  I promise!”
“Right,  When I say “enter”, walk in with you jacket slung over your shoulder, smile, and do a slow twirl, so mummy can get a proper look.  Okay?”
“Yes, MĂ©lisande.  I understand.  Please be careful with my phone.”
She slipped in and closed the door behind her.
“Mummy?  Bobby’s ready.”
“I’m just making myself a coffee.  I’ll be right there.  Ooh, this is so exciting.  Would you like something too?” 
“Please.  Raspberry juice box.”
“Coming up!”