Chapter 1
Paloma Santos was furious. Her parents had just told her that the family was leaving their
home in Spain and they were moving to England! Sixteen-years-old Paloma couldn’t believe
what she was hearing. How could her parents do this to her? How could she leave her best
friend, Eva? She imagined Eva’s face when she heard the news. Paloma knew Eva would be
really upset too.
This was a bad year for Paloma to move. She was enjoying school, and everything was starting
to go well.
“We’ll move to England during the summer holidays. You can finish your ESO 4 year here,” said
her mother, trying to be practical. “You can write to your friends and keep in contact by e-mail.
We’ll only be in London for two or three years.”
“What?” shouted Paloma. “Two or three years! That’s forever, I won’t go! How can you be so
selfish? What about us? We’ve got to school, friend and a life here in Spain. I don’t want to go
to a new school. I don’t want to make new friends. What will we do in England? We can’t even
speak the language!”
Mr. and Mrs Santos looked sad and Paloma almost felt sorry for them. It was all because of her
dad and his stupid job! Her dad was always having problems with jobs.
“Come on, Paloma, it’s not the end of the world,” said her father. “David wasn’t upset when
we told him the news. He’s happy to go to England and Marta too.”
“Marta never complains about anything, she’s such a goody-goody,” thought Paloma. Marta
was a year older than Paloma, and she was much more mature than her. The sisters were very
different, and had very different friends.
Paloma loved her younger brother but he often irritated her. She couldn’t understand his
obsession with their dog, Rex. “David’s only nine. He doesn’t care which country he lives in if
Rex is with him,” thought Paloma.
Paloma couldn’t stay in the flat. She ran down the stairs of their building, crying. She wanted to
get ouf of the place, to be in the fresh air. Paloma walked around the streets, without knowing
where she was going. She walked into the local park and sat down on a green bench. She was
happy to be alone.
Everything had been going well at school. She was in the same class as Eva, because they had
chosen the same subjects. She was now sitting next to Daniel in class and they talked a lot
after their lessons. Paloma had liked Daniel for years. Now, he had finally asked her to work
with him on their science project, this meant they had to spend time together and they often
met after school. They laughed a lot when they worked together. Eva was sure Daniel would
ask Paloma out soon.
Daniel was very handsome and all the girls liked him. He was tall and blond and he had lovely
brown eyes. Eva said he made a lot of jokes because he was probably a little shy with girls.
Marta found Paloma in the park nearly an hour later. “Paloma! I thought I’d find you here, “
she said. “Come home, you can’t stay here all night!”
“I’m not going to England, Marta,” said Paloma. “Don’t try to convince me to go. I don’t want
to leave Eva and things are going really well with Daniel. I like him and I think he’s interested in
me. But nothing will happen between us if I move away from here! Three years is too long for
anyone to wait.”
“Oh come on, Paloma! It isn’t so bad to move to a new country,” said Marta. “It might even be
fun!” Marta was always so positive; she was just like Mum! But she wasn’t a bad sister, she
never told Mum about the bad things Paloma did. “London will be great because interesting
things happen there,” continued Marta. As usual, her sister was trying to look on the positive
side. But it was much easier for her. Marta wasn’t interested in any boys and her friends were
so boring. It would not be difficult to leave them.
Eva said that Marta was pretty and it was strange she didn’t have a boyfriend. Eva had
opinions on everything.
“We should go home now,” said Marta. “Dad is really worried about you and Mum is upset
too. It’s nod Dad’s fault. The problem is his job. You know we can’t change things. We must
accept it!”
“But Marta, I’m going to miss Eva,” Paloma tried to explain. “She’s my best friend and…”
“Oh, Paloma!” said Marta. “You’ll make other friends in England. Eva’s very arrogant and she
tries to control you! I think it will be good for you to separate from her… she’s a bad influence
on you”.
“You don’t understand anything,” said Paloma. But she stood up and followed her sister home.
Chapter 2
Paloma had done everything she could think of to stop the move. She had complained,
shouted and cried, but that hadn't helped. They were going to England in August and she could
not change it! Her father was upset and her mum was angry with her. Even Marta was losing
patience with Paloma.
In May, her parent and David went to find a house with a garden in London. A house with a
garden made the idea of living in England a little better for Paloma. She didn't have a garden in
Spain.
Paloma stayed at Eva's house while her parents were away. The two girls spent hours talking
about Paloma's move to London. Eva said the she would miss her. "You're my best friend," he
said. "It will be terrible without you".
Paloma also talked to Eva about her relationship with Daniel. It was going well, and Paloma
believed that they were getting closer every day. Daniel had come to her house a few times to
work on their project. Every time Daniel's arm touched hers, his face became red. When he
locked at her, she felt she was going to melt! But he hadn't asked her out yet and Paloma was
getting impatient. Eva had said Daniel would ask her soon and Eva was usually right.
“Maybe you should ask him out now!” Eva said, suddenly. “If you don’t, Laia will try to go out
with him. Don’t let that happen, she’s a horrible girl!”
Laia was a pretty girl in their class. She was small, dark and attractive and she was crazy about
Daniel. Suddenly, the phone rang in the bedroom and Eva answered it. It was Laia!
Paloma listened to Eva’s side of the conversation. “Eva’s being very friendly to Laia,” she
thought. She was surprised. “That’s strange. I thought she didn’t like her. She just said she’s a
horrible girl.” After five minutes, Eva finished the conversation and put the phone down.
“Why were you so friendly to Laia?” asked Paloma.
“I thought you didn’t like her.”
“I don’t like her,” Eva explained, “but she’s getting me tickets to see the Amazons in concert in
August. I really like the Amazons – they’re one of my favourite bands.”
This made Paloma feel very sad because she wouldn’t be able to so the Amazons with her
friends. Eva saw Paloma’s face and quickly changed the conversation. She started giving
Paloma advice on how to ask Daniel out. Eva made Paloma laugh again.
It wasn’t easy for Paloma to sleep at Eva’s house. She never slept well in a strange bed. She
realised that soon she would be sleeping in a strange bed in a strange country. She would have
to speak English all day and she wasn’t very good at it.
“I’m terrible at English,” she thought. “How will anyone understand me here?”
Her parents came home on Sunday evening. They were very happy with the lovely house they
had found for the family in London. “It’s got a beautiful garden with lots of fruit trees,” said
Paloma’s mother. “The house is big and you can each have your own bedroom.”
“Hello! My name is David,” said David in his best “English” voice. Paloma thought he sounded
stupid. Her parents told her about the school she and Marta would go to. It was called Forest
Hill and they said it was a marvelous school with a big swimming pool. Paloma didn’t want to
hear about her new school! She didn’t want to go!
Time passed, and the family started putting their things into suitcases and boxes. Paloma’s
room looked very different with all her books and CDs packed.
Then one evening, Daniel came round to work on their science project. Paloma was feeling
quite nervous after all of Eva’s suggestions. She usually took Eva’s advice, although it wasn’t
always good advice.
“But Eva’s wrong this time,” she thought. “I won’t ask Daniel out because I’m going away so
soon. But I want to know if he likes me or not.”
Daniel looked really handsome when he arrived. Paloma wanted a photo of him to take
England with her, but she was certainly not going to ask him to smile for a picture! Paloma was
surprised to see that Daniel looked nervous, too. They sat down at the computer table and
started to work. But it seemed as if something was different – there was a new tension
between them. Then Daniel tried to take Paloma’s hand. It was supposed to be a romantic
moment, but it wasn’t. Paloma had a chocolate biscuit in her hand and Daniel’s hand was
suddenly full of chocolate! They both started laughing, feeling very embarrassed, and the
tension between them disappeared immediately!
Paloma talked to Daniel about England. He was very understanding, and much more positive
than Eva. “You’re very lucky. It’s a great opportunity,” he said. “You’ll learn to like London. And
I’m sure the English boys will be very interested in you!” Then he went quiet and looked
embarrassed.
Suddenly Daniel looked directly at her and Paloma’s stomach started to dance. Then he kissed
her, and it was wonderful. “I’m sorry you’re leaving,” he said to her in a quiet voice. “We were
getting on very well. Let’s keep in contact.”
“Of course,” said Paloma. “I’ll e-mail you and tell you what’s happening in England.”
Soon it was time for Daniel to go. “Paloma, please don’t tell Eva that I kissed you,” he said.
“She’ll tell everybody. She isn’t very discreet.”
Paloma agreed to keep it a secret and Daniel gave her another kiss before he left. Paloma
stood at the door watching him walk away. She felt both happy and sad. “I’m so happy he likes
me,” he thought, “but nothing can happen between us now. I’ll just have to accept that. My
life is moving on.”
Chapter 3
That night Paloma dreamed she was in England writing and e-mail to Daniel. When she woke,
she remembered she didn’t even know his e-mail address. “I must ask him for it before I go,”
she thought. “Or maybe I can get it from Eva.”
But Paloma didn’t want to ask Eva for Daniel’s e-mail address. She knew that Daniel didn’t
really like Eva. But why not? Eva was popular with everyone! She was so lively, pretty and
funny.
June passed quickly and finally, it was her last day of school. Eva gave a new diary and a card,
“Dear Paloma, You can write down all you feelings and sad thoughts about you new home in
these pages,” she wrote. The diary was great but the card was a little depressing. Paloma
received other cards and small presents from some of the other girls and she started to feel
very sad about leaving everybody.
Finally, Paloma stood in front of the school with Marta, waiting for their mum to arrive and
take them home. Paloma turned and looked back at the school. She had lots of good memories
to take with her. She looked at Eva and saw her laughing with some of the students. It seemed
that she had already forgotten Paloma.
She didn’t notice that someone was standing beside her until a hand gently touched her arm.
It was Daniel! He put a small packet and card into her schoolbag. “Open in later,” he said. Then
he kissed her. “Take care, Paloma, I’ll miss you,” he said quietly. “Enjoy England!” and then he
disappeared!
Paloma was surprised that he’d kissed her at school! She turned round and saw Eva looking at
her with a strange look on her face. Had she seen them kiss?
Soon her mother arrived and she had to put her schoolbag and presents in the car quickly. She
said goodbye to everyone before they disappeared. She felt very sad.
When she got home, she opened the present from Daniel and read his card. He’d given her a
small leather address book and a lovely pen. The card was short, but cute.
“Dear Paloma,” he had written. “Fill this address book with the names of all the new friends
I’m sure you’ll make in England but don’t forget your special friends in Spain, too! They’ll
remember you!”
Paloma turned the pages of the address book and saw Daniel’s name and e-mail address
written there! Now she wouldn’t have to ask Eva for Daniel’s address. He’d made sure that she
had it!
July was a busy month for the family. Now that school had finished, Paloma could finish
packing her things for England.
The house was full of boxes and suitcases and Paloma couldn’t find anything. It was all very
irritating and there was a lot of tension at home. David didn’t see all the tension and continued
in his silly nine-year-old way, running after the dog around the boxes.
Rex was a cute dog and David adored him. David made his dad laugh when he chased Rex
around the boxes. Paloma hadn’t seen her dad laugh like that for a long time. Lately, he always
seemed to be tense and worried when he was at home, which wasn’t very often.
The night before they left of London, Marta came into her bedroom and sat down on Paloma’s
bed. The two sisters had never really been close friends. They didn’t argue, buy they didn’t tell
each other secrets either. Marta seemed uncomfortable. She wanted to say something to
Paloma, but didn’t know how.
“What do you want, Marta? Asked Paloma, finally. “You’re looking very strange. What’s
wrong?”
“I want to tell you that you are the most selfish person I know,” said Marta, suddenly.
“What?” asked Paloma. She was shocked by Marta’s words.
“Yes, it’s true!” said Marta. “You don’t think about anybody else but yourself. It’s all about how
life affects you. Only you are having a hard time right now. The rest of us are all fine.”
Paloma was horrified and very surprised by Marta’s attack.
“But it does affect me!” she exclaimed. “Mum and Dad chose to move and I didn’t. They didn’t
ask us, they just told we were moving. Eva says that’s not fair!”
Marta looked very irritated. Paloma had never seen her sister behave like this before and she
started to feel a little frightened.
“Since when does your darling Eva know everything about our family?” she asked angrily.
Paloma didn’t understand he sister’s attitude towards her friend. Didn’t she know Eva was her
best friend? Paloma asked Marta to explain.
“Mum and Dad don’t want to move to England any more than you do, you stupid girl,” said
Marta. “But there’s no other option. They have to move and it’s causing problems in their
marriage. If you weren’t so obsessed with yourself, you might even get divorced if things don’t
go well in London.”
“You’re just imagining things, Marta. You’re stupid, not me!” said Paloma. “Get divorced?
Mum and Dad? That’s impossible!”
“You think it’s impossible,” said Marta. “But you’re wrong! Now just stop behaving like an
egotistical baby, Paloma, and forget that stupid friend of yours. Learn to think for yourself. Or
even better, learn to think of others instead!”
Paloma couldn’t sleep that night. Was she egotistical? She had made it very clear to everybody
how sad and angry she was about leaving in Spain. Hadn’t she seen everybody else’s suffering?
Life was very confusing. Her parents had problems and might get divorced! This was terrible!
Paloma envied David because he was only nine and didn’t have problems like these. It was just
too hard to be 16!
Paloma had planned to make a big scene at the airport. But after the conversation with Marta
the night before, she tried to be strong and positive as they checked in their luggage. She felt
tears in her eyes when the plane took off and she saw Spain becoming smaller and smaller.
However, at the end of the flight she got an unexpected feeling of excitement when she heard
the pilot say, “Welcome to Gatwick Airport, London…”
It wasn’t even raining!
Chapter 4
The first few weeks in London were busy for the family. They had to unpack and organize the
house.
Paloma’s new house was in a nice area of North London. It was a pretty area with lots of shops
and parks. London was very busy and there were lots of tourists in the capital that summer.
Rex was very happy with his new home in England. There was lots of open space in London,
and he could run freely in the local park … it was a dog’s dream! He made lots of friends, but
his best friend was Dotty, the friendly Dalmatian that lived next door. Rex was not suffering
from culture shock – that was clear!
He was adapting to England quicker than the Santos family were.
Paloma was trying hard to be less selfish and more positive towards her family. After her
conversation with Marta, she was conscious of the tension between her parents. Things were
different between the two sisters now. She talked to her sister more often, which was really
nice, Paloma even tried to be more patient with David and to pay no attention to his stupid
sense of humor. She tried to be tolerant of his conversations about dogs, and his dog
imitations at dinner time. Paloma had only spoken to Eva twice since they’d arrive in England.
Both times she had thought Eva sounded very distant.
On the phone, Eva told Paloma she didn’t have to be such a goody-goody, and she mustn’t be
afraid to express her discontent. But Eva didn’t know her parents situation, and Paloma didn’t
want to tell her about it.
The night before school started, her dad came into her bedroom and closed the door behind
him. He smelled of whisky. He’d been drinking more often recently. He thanked Paloma for
being “so mature and accepting their new life so well”. This made Paloma feel very guilty. Her
father was upset, and Paloma thought he’d been crying. He tried to explain why he had
brought them to London. “I was going to lose my job in the company,” he explained. “But my
good English saved me. They offered me a new job here in England and I accepted it
immediately.”
Dad then explained that Mum hadn’t wanted to leave Spain. She had been offered a
promotion in the school where she taught and couldn’t accept it. This was a big sacrifice for
her to make. Paloma hadn’t known that!
“If I don’t succeed here in London, your mum might leave me and go back to Spain.” Dad said,
sadly. “She can’t work here, because her English isn’t good.”
So it was true! Mum might leave him! Paloma was very shocked and didn’t know what to say.
It was terrible that her father had been crying. He really couldn’t solve his problems.
Life was much more complicated than when she was a kid! Paloma hated being a young adult.
After her father left the room, Paloma sat on her bed, thinking about her parents’ situation. If
her parents got divorced, where would she live? Who would she live with? Would her mum
really go back to Spain?
She knew that she had to prepare for the next day. Her schoolbag was nearly empty, although
she knew it would soon be full of books. Her school finished at half past three, so she would
probably have a lot of homework in the evenings. It was an international school, with students
from all over the world and some English kids whose parents travelled a lot. Fortunately she
could study some subjects in Spanish, but most of her subjects were in English. “What will the
other students at school think of me?” Paloma thought, nervously. “Will they laugh at my
English?”
At least a technician was coming to install internet service on their computer, so she’d soon be
able to send e-mails to Eva and Daniel and tell about her new life. That would be good.
Rex woke Paloma up early on Monday morning because he was barking so loudly. He wanted
to go outside with his new friend, Dotty. Paloma checked her watch and saw it was time to get
up. She opened the kitchen door for Rex to go into the garden, and went to get dressed for
school.
In the kitchen, Mum was listening carefully to the news, trying to understand the English.
David was repeating some of the few words he understood, but Marta told him to be quiet,
because she was trying to listen too. She had learnt a lot of English at school and was
determined to improve quickly. Paloma could hardly understand a word of the news. “English
is so difficult,” she thought. “I’ll never learn it.”
“Where’s Dad?” Paloma asked. “Is he coming down for breakfast?”
“No,” said Mum. “He left the house early. It’s just us. I’ll drive you to school.”
Paloma was very nervous that first morning. She went with Marta and David to the secretary’s
office to meet the headmistress. “Well, being early has its advantages,” thought Paloma. “At
least the other students won’t see me with my stupid little brother!”
The secretary was very nice to them, and she spoke a bit of Spanish. They had to wait for
someone to come and take them to their classrooms. They waited for ten minutes, but it
seemed like ten hours to Paloma, as David was checking his list of English words, and imitating
Rex and Dotty.
At last, David’s teacher came to take him to the classroom. He was very nice and friendly.
“Come one, David,” he said.
“Let’s go to your next classroom. You can meet the headmistress later.”
After a few minutes, a serious-looking lady came to meet Paloma and Marta. She was the
headmistress, Mrs Shocket. As she accompanied the girls to their classrooms, Paloma was
imagining Eva’s silly comments about her awful clothes and her old-fashioned shoes.
Chapter 5
Mrs Shocket introduced Paloma to a girl and a boy from her class who spoke a Little Spanish.
The girl’s name was Susan and the boy’s name was Gary. They promised to introduce Paloma
to the other students. Then the headmistress left with Marta.
Susan and Gary asked Paloma a few questions in Spanish before speaking to each other in
English again. Paloma stood there, feeling stupid. The girl looked OK, a bit of a swot, but
pleasant enough. But she didn’t stop talking! Gary had an irritated look on his face and Paloma
had the feeling that they were talking about her.
Soon, more students arrived and joined them. Each one was introduced to Paloma although
she couldn’t remember all their names. It was a little frustrating. She really missed Eva and her
other friends from school.
Then a handsome new boy arrived and said something to Gary, who walked away from the
group. Most of the other kids were laughing. Paloma didn’t understand why they were
laughing.
“I must start learning more English!” she thought. “I’ve got no idea what’s happening here.”
At 9.00 am, the bell rang and Susan took Paloma to their classroom. She felt everyone’s eyes
on her. The teacher welcomed her to the class. Paloma felt embarrassed when a few boys said
something and laughed. Were they laughing at her?
Fortunately, the first lesson was Spanish. The students were quiet during the lesson and
worked quiet hard. They were in the 11th year, studying for their A levels, which they would
take the following year. These exams were difficult and the students knew they must
concentrate on their work if they wanted to get good marks. No one could get into a British
university without good A level marks.
A bell rang at the end of the lesson and the students got up to leave the classroom, Susan took
Paloma to the next class, which was French. Paloma didn’t like French. Eva said it was because
Paloma wasn’t any good at languages. Paloma thought about it and realized that Eva wasn’t
any better than her either!
It seemed a long time until the end of the lesson, and Paloma was getting very tired. It was
hard to concentrate on the English all the time and to guess what was happening around her.
Susan had forgotten her, so followed the others students out into the busy corridor, feeling
totally lost. A tall girl approached her. Paloma couldn’t remember her name but the girl spoke
to her in Spanish. She said her name was Alexa, and she had lived in Valencia. Paloma was
happy to be able to speak Spanish again. Could this girl become a friend? Not a best friend of
course, Eva was her best friend!
Alexa had long brown hair and she was very pretty. She showed Paloma the lockers and then
they went to the sweet shop. They had to wait in a long queue to buy something to eat.
Paloma bought a delicious chocolate bar but noticed that Alexa bought a healthy energy bar.
Although Alexa spoke Spanish really well, Paloma found out that she was Dutch.
Very soon, the bell rang again and Alexa took her to the next lesson, so Paloma didn’t feel so
alone. Susan was waiting for her at the door and apologized for forgetting her after the French
lesson. Paloma sat next to Alexa when the teacher arrived.
She didn’t know what lesson this was so she looked nervously around the walls to see if she
could guess. There was a picture of a snow scene, which reminded Paloma of a Christmas card.
Paloma started to dream. She wondered what Eva was doing at the moment. She would e-mail
her tonight to tell her about her first day at school, as she had promised. But was would she
tell her? Suddenly, Alexa passed her a textbook with lots of maps. It was geography, how
boring!
The lesson was very long and Paloma didn’t understand much of it. She was happy when the
bell rang for lunch. When she looked at her watch she saw it was only 12.00 pm! Why did they
have lunch so early in England?
Paloma didn’t expect to like the lunch; the school lunches at her old school were awful. But the
food smelled quite nice. She asked Alexa about the school lunches and had to listen to her for
ten minutes! Food was clearly Alexa’s favourite topic. She talked about calories and healthy
food and gave Paloma instructions about what to choose in the school canteen. There was a
big variety of food and that was new for Paloma. In her old school, you just ate what you were
given! Paloma took a big plate of fish, chips and onion rings, but Alexa chose a big salad.
Paloma had the feeling that Alexa didn’t approve of her food because in had so many calories!
The girls sat at the table with the liveliest boys in their class. During lunch, Alexa told Paloma
she had arrived home late the night before from a visit to Valencia. Alexa had lived there for
three years and she still had friends there. So that explained her brilliant Spanish!
As Paloma ate, she looked around her table and tried to remember the names of the boys.
There was a handsome boy – she thought his name was Steve. There was also Gary, who had
talked a lot in class. He had tried to make conversation with her a few times, but he spoke
quickly and she didn’t understand his English. He was quite sweet, though!
“They’re not so bad, my new classmates,” thought Paloma. “It’ll be nice to know them better. I
think this school is going to be OK.”
Chapter 6
At 3.30 pm Paloma’s mum came to take her children home from school. Mrs Santos asked
them about their first day at Forest Hill. David liked his new school and was happy with his
teacher. He wanted to tell them all this new English words. Marta was also quite positive
about her first day. She told her mother what Paloma wasn’t listening to Marta. She was
feeling ignored. She was angry because nobody was paying any attention to her.
“Why is Mum always so interested in Marta and David?” she thought. “What about me? She
hasn’t asked me a thing. It’s always like this, she just doesn’t care about me or how I survived
my first day.”
“What about you, Paloma?” Mum asked, suddenly, as if she had read her daughter’s thoughts.
“How was your day?”
“OK,” said Paloma. She didn’t want to talk to anyone about Forest Hill now. It was too late!
Mum wasn’t really interested in her. Marta had been getting her attention all the way home!
“It’s not fair,” thought Paloma as they arrived home. She went up to her bedroom to be alone.
It was nice in her spacious new bedroom, with her new computer and new sofabed. She lay on
her bed and reviewed the events of the day.
“It wasn’t too bad, apart from the boring geography lesson and the English,” she thought. “The
teachers are OK and the students seem quite friendly. It’ll be much easier when my English
improves.”
Paloma decided to send Eva an e-mail. “I’ll call it first impressions,” she thought. She switched
on her computer, opened up her e-mails and wrote to Eva.
Paloma’s e-mail:
Hi Eva,
Well, I survived the first day of school it wasn’t too bad really. The classes aren’t as big
as you thought – there are only 20 in each class! There are about 40 kids in my year and just
over half are boys! ☺ Some of the boys are really cute, too! ☺☺
Our headmistress is old-fashioned and very serious.
You were right; everyone speaks English a lot! Some of the kids can speak Spanish quite well
though! ☺
I met a nice girl called Alexa. She used to live in Valencia and she speaks Spanish like a native.
☺ The school lunches are great!
☺☺☺ I can’t remember the names of the other students in my class! I’ve got a lot of
homework but I finished school at 3.30 pm! ☺
How are things in sunny Spain? Do you miss me as much as I miss you? Have you seen Daniel?
I’m going to write to him next.
Please write soon and give me lots of news!
Lots of love.
Your best friend,
Paloma
Paloma re-read the e-mail. Was it all right? She didn’t want to Eva to think she was a total
loser, but she didn’t want her to think she was having too much fun without her!
Too much fun? Why dad she thought that? To be honest, she was starting to enjoy the
adventure a little. School wasn’t that bad, and she had made a friend already!
She counted how many smiling faces she had put in her e-mail. Nine!
Should she delete one for the boys? No, they were really cute, she remembered. How many
sad faces had she included? Four, that seemed fair. She had also told Eva that she missed her.
The e-mail was fine. She decided to send it without thinking any more about it. She pressed
“send” and then started thinking about what she should write to Daniel.
Suddenly, her sister knocked on her door and came into the room. Paloma liked the way her
sister knocked before she came into the room. It showed her a kind of adult respect. Marta
was coming in to talk more often these days. Surprisingly, Paloma liked that too!
The two sisters sat together and discussed their first impressions of Forest Hill. Marta didn’t
mention the serious things like chosen subjects or exams now. She talked about the other
students and even the boys in her class!
Paloma told Marta about Alexa and her obsession with healthy food and calories. “I think she
was upset that I chose food with lots of calories for lunch,” Paloma said. “Why should she care
what I eat?”
“Be careful, Paloma,” said Marta, with a worried look on her face. “Your new friend, Alexa,
sounds a little like Eva.”
This confused Paloma, because the two girls weren’t similar at all! She asked Marta to explain
what she meant.
“Eva likes to control her friends too much, especially you,” said Marta. “I think she’s false and
she manipulates people.”
Paloma thought about that carefully. Was it true? Did Eva manipulate her? Paloma wasn’t sure
any more about their friendship. She hadn’t studied English after school, like Marta did,
because Eva had told her not to. She had said the boys would think was a swot. “Maybe that
was only because Eva wasn’t intelligent enough to study anything after school!” thought
Paloma. “She didn’t want me to work hard and get better marks than her.”
“Daniel didn’t think I was a swot because I got good marks at science!” said Paloma. “He liked
working with me. We did a great science project together.”
“Of course,” said her sister. “He’s a nice boy” I’m sure he sees what type of person Eva is.”
“Maybe you’re right, Marta,” said Paloma. “I’m not sure. I’ll have to think about what you just
said.”
Finally, Mum called them for dinner. “We’ve been talking for over two hours!” Paloma said.
“We never did that in Spain.”
“Yes, why didn’t we?” laughed Marta. “Maybe because you were always talking to Eva.”
The girls ran downstairs together, still laughing. Their mother saw this and smiled to herself.
Chapter 7
The second day of school was fine. Many students said hello to Paloma in the canteen and
asked her about her impressions of the school. They laughed when she told them that she
liked their school lunches. “It’s OK to think that,” they told her, “but you must never say it! It’s
not “cool” to like school lunches!”
A few minutes before the first class, the handsome boy, Steve, and his friend, Gary, came and
talked to Paloma’s group. “My little brother’s got a new friend in his class,” Gary told them.
“He does great imitations of the teachers and he’s very funny.”
“That’s my brother, David. He imitates me too!” confessed Paloma, and everybody laughed.
When the bell rang, Paloma went with Susan, Steve and Gary to the first lesson, which was
biology. Paloma was good at biology and she enjoyed the lesson. Everyone participated and
answered questions, including Paloma. Nobody thought she was a swot. Eva was wrong again.
At the break, Paloma met Alexa again and they went to their lockers to get their things for the
next lesson, which was sport. Alexa and Paloma were both good at sport and the class was fun.
“School in England isn’t so bad after all,” thought Paloma. “Maybe I’ll like it here.”
After school she met Marta at the entrance and the two girls compared their impressions of
the day until their mum arrived. They talked and laughed happily together as their mum drove
home. David didn’t come with them because he had been invited to Gary’s brother’s house.
Their father was at home that night for dinner. Although everything appeared to be normal,
Paloma felt that something was wrong. Her parents were being too polite to each other and
Paloma could feel the tension in the air.
After dinner, Paloma went up to her room and checked her e-mails. She wanted news from
Spain and hoped that Eva had answered her. She had an e-mail but to her surprise it wasn’t
from Eva, it was from Daniel.
Daniel’s e-mail
Hi Paloma,
How are you? How’s your new life in England? Are you having fun?
You “friend”, Eva, gave me your e-mail address. She told me that you were enjoying your new
life and that everything was OK. I’m happy to hear that.
I wrote “friend” the way I did because I don’t really think she is your friend. She told me that
you’re already found a new boyfriend, that you like him very much and because of that you’ve
been too busy to write to me. She thought I should stop all contact with you and gave me your
e-mail address so that I could tell you this.
I’m sorry but I never really liked Eva although I know she’s your best friend. If you’ve got a new
boyfriend, I’ll understand, but I would still like to keep in contact with you. I’d like to know
what’s happening to you and about your new life in England. OK?
Your friend,
Daniel
Paloma read the e-mail again. She couldn’t believe it! How could Eva be so horrible? When
Marta into the room a few minutes later, she found Paloma crying.
“How could Eva say something like that?” she said. “I’m beginning to understand that she’s
bad, but I didn’t know how badly!”
Marta put her arm around her sister. “I’m happy that you’re finally beginning to see the truth
about Eva,” she said. “But be careful, Paloma, don’t let Alexa dominate you the way Eva did.
Learn from your mistakes.”
When Marta left, Paloma wrote to Daniel and told him that although she was making new
friends, she certainly didn’t have a special boyfriend and that she would be very happy if they
wrote to each other. Then she went to bed and thought about Marta’s words. She liked Susan
and her friend, Karin. The four of them were often together at school, but Susan and the other
girls in her class didn’t seem to like Alexa very much. Paloma didn’t know why.
On Saturday morning, Paloma got an e-mail from Eva, in which she accused Paloma of already
forgetting her. She talked a lot about Laia and what a fantastic friend she was. To her surprise,
Paloma didn’t fell upset or envious at all! She also got an e-mail from Daniel, telling her he was
happy she had sent him an e-mail.
That morning, Paloma and Marta went shopping for new clothes. A friend of Marta’s went
with them to show them the best shops and the girls enjoyed themselves. Paloma had invited
Alexa but she couldn’t come. So went with Marta instead. This was a new experience for
Paloma and she enjoyed it. “We should do things together more often,” she thought. “Marta
can be good fun.”
Before they went to bed that night, Marta came into Paloma’s room. She looked very serious.
“It’s Saturday, it’s 11.30 pm and Dad isn’t home yet,” she said. “Where is he? I’m worried.”
The girls couldn’t find any reason why their father wasn’t at home. It was strange, but they
were beginning to get used to his frequent absences.
Chapter 8
The days began to pass more quickly. Paloma got used to her new routine and her new school.
Everybody thought that Gary “fancied” Paloma. Paloma was happy about this because Gary
was very popular, but although she liked him, she wasn’t sure that she wanted him for a
boyfriend, she still missed Daniel.
Alexa and Paloma were becoming much friendlier. Several times Paloma invited Alexa to her
house or suggested that they do something together at the weekend, but Alexa always said no.
Paloma didn’t understand why. It was clear that Alexa wanted to be her friend. She also didn’t
understand why Alexa never invited her to her house.
One day, Paloma and Gary were walking to school together.
“Gary, can I ask you something about Alexa?” Paloma asked. “But please promise me that you
won’t tell her.”
“I promise,” said Gary. “What do you want to know?”
“Alexa seems a nice girl, so why hasn’t she got any friends at school?” Paloma asked. “And why
does she never want to come to my house, or to invite me to hers?”
“Alexa used to be friendly with a girl called Helen who left the school last year,” Gary replied.
“Helen said some horrible things about Alexa. She said that Alexa never invited anybody there
and wouldn’t go to their houses either. Helen also said that Alexa was obsessed with food and
was in danger of becoming anorexic.”
“That’s terrible!” Paloma exclaimed. “That Helen was an awful friend!”
“Helen also told the other girls things that Alexa said about them,” continued Gary. “She told
them that Alexa had said that they were swots, or that they were fat. That’s why the other
students weren’t very friendly with Alexa. In fact, the term before you came she was often
alone.”
Paloma was very confused, Alexa seemed nice, and she never said bad things about the other
students to Paloma. But it was true that she never accepted invitations. She talked a lot about
calories, but that didn’t mean she was becoming anorexic, did it?
That evening, Paloma had a lot of homework to do. She had a biology test the next day and
she wanted to do well. But David was playing his CDs as loud as possible and making a lot of
noise. Paloma couldn’t concentrate.
“Mum, please tell David to stop playing his music so loudly,” she shouted to her mother who
was downstairs in the kitchen. “I can’t do my homework with all that noise.”
Mum went upstairs to David’s bedroom and told him to stop playing his CDs. When David
protested, Mum got really angry and told him to go to bed immediately.
“What’s wrong with Mum?” Paloma thought. “She never gets so angry. Is she worried about
Dad? I didn’t see him last night or this morning and he isn’t at home now.”
Paloma finished studying for the test, read a book for a short time and then went to bed. She
lay in bed and thought about her parents and about Alexa. She didn’t fall asleep for a long
time.
In the car on the way to school the next morning, David was very quiet. Mum and Marta were
talking about a programme they’d seen on TV the night before, so Paloma sat and thought
about Alexa again. She decided that she would write to Daniel and ask him his opinion about
what she should do. She felt better now that she had decided to ask Daniel for help.
In the first lesson, their teacher opened a special book called the register and checked the
names of the students who were in class that day. Then she closed the register, looked at the
students and said, “I’ve got some news for you, I’m planning to take you all on a field trip at
the beginning of the half-term holiday in October. We’ll leave after school on Friday and come
back on Monday morning. I’ll give you more details later.”
Everyone was very excited and left the lesson talking about where they might go and what
activities they might do. “The trip sounds great fun,” Paloma said to her friends, “But perhaps
it isn’t “cool” to be enthusiastic about school trips – just like school lunches!” she joked.
The next lesson was biology and Paloma’s test went really well. She came out of the lesson
with Gary and Steve, talking and laughing. She was really happy with her new group of friends.
When she got home that afternoon, she sent an e-mail to Daniel and told him of her worries
about Alexa. When she had explained all that, she ten found herself writing about her worries
about her parents, too. She hadn’t intended to, but she felt good that she was discussing her
problems with Daniel. “I don’t need to try to solve everything by myself,” she thought. “I’ve
got friends and friends help you in difficult times.” She read the e-mail once more to check
that she was satisfied with it and then clicked “send”.
Chapter 9
When Paloma got home from school the next afternoon, a reply from Daniel was waiting for
her. While she was reading it, Marta knocked at the door and came into the room. She was
brilliant; he made her see the Alexa problem so clearly. He compared Alexa’s friend Helen to
Eva; she was the same kind of person. “They’re both people who like talking about their friend
behind their backs … they’re not true friends and you can’t trust them,” he wrote. “If you want
to know something about someone, the best thing to do is to ask that person instead of talking
to others.”
Then he talked about the problem with her parents. At first, Paloma was a little embarrassed
that Marta would see that she had been discussing family problems with Daniel, but Marta
didn’t seem to mind. “It was a good idea to write to Daniel,” she said. “Very often a person
outside a situation can see things more clearly. Daniel is very intelligent. I’m sure he’ll give you
good advice.”
In Daniel’s opinion, they shouldn’t start asking their parents difficult questions yet. They
should wait for a short time and see how things developed now that they were living in a new
place. Marta and Paloma decided to do as he suggested.
At the break the next morning, Paloma decided to take Daniel’s advice about Alexa.
“Alexa, I want to discuss something with you,” she said. “I’m happy that I met you and I like
being your friend, but there’s something I don’t understand: Why do you never want to see me
after school or at the weekends? I want you to meet my family and to see my room. I’d also
like to meet your family and come to your house.”
To Paloma’s surprise, Alexa started to cry. “Oh, no! Not again!” she said.
Finally, Alexa stopped crying. “My other friend, Helen, asked me the same questions,” she
explained. “I told her it was impossible for me to take her home and she told everyone that I
was a snob and I thought that I was better that everybody else. I knew what she was saying
about me and it wasn’t true. I was just frightened to invite anybody home.”
“But why, Alexa?” Paloma said. “You can tell me the truth. If you’re got a problem, I’d like to
help you.”
“I’m not sure, let me think about it,” Alexa replied. “Anyway, there’s no time to discuss
anything now. It’s time for our next lesson and we must go.” Paloma wasn’t happy, but there
was nothing she could do.
At the lunch break the next day, Alexa said to Paloma, “OK, Paloma. Let’s have lunch together,
just the two of us. I’d like to tell you the truth.”
The two girls found a table in the corner of the canteen and sat down. “The truth is this: I’ve
got a sister, called Katie, and she’s severely mentally handicapped,” Alexa began. “She’s two
years older than me, but she acts very strangely sometimes. She’s also got a weight problem
because she’s always in wheelchair, and she never exercises. She also eats lots of sweets and
chocolate. That’s why I’m so careful about my diet and calories. I don’t want to be fat, like
Katie.”
Alexa was silent for a moment and then she continued. “Once, when I lived in Valencia, I
invited a friend called Sandra to my house. Sara was very frightened when she saw Katie and
told everyone terrible stories about my family. After that, I decided not to take people home
any more – nobody wanted to be my friend anyway. I was too frightened to explain all this to
Helen last year. I just said I couldn’t take her home because of my family. She used her
imagination and invented the rest.”
“That’s a terrible story,” Paloma said when Alexa had finished. “But you don’t need to worry
about me. I’m not going to stop being your friend because of your sister. It’s nor her fault, or
yours. Please come to my house tomorrow after school and we can do our homework
together.”
“OK, why not!” said Alexa happily. “Thanks for understanding.” The two girls finished their
lunch and then they went to their lesson together.
Alexa had a very nice time at Paloma’s house the next day and enjoyed meeting her family. Of
course she didn’t meet Paloma’s dad because he wasn’t there for dinner. “I had a great time,
Paloma,” Alexa said as she was leaving. “I’ll come again. I really like your family.”
The following weekend, Alexa invited Paloma to her house. Paloma was a little worried as
she’d never met a mentally handicapped person before and she didn’t know how she would
react.
“Just behave normally,” said her mum. “Don’t worry, I’m sure it’ll be OK.”
Chapter 10
Alexa’s mum met them at the school entrance and took them home in her car. She told them
that Katie was very happy to finally meet her sister’s new friend.
Alexa’s house was enormous. There was a beautiful big garden, a swimming pool and a tennis
court. As they walked into the house, Paloma felt very nervous, but then she saw that Alexa
was even more nervous. “Let’s go and meet Katie immediately,” Alexa said. “I know she’ll be
excited to see you.”
The two girls walked into the living room. Katie was sitting in a wheelchair. She was smiling
and making strange noises. She had a pretty face but she was very fat. She hugged Alexa and
then gave Paloma a big hug too. Paloma listened to the sisters’ conversation. Alexa obviously
loved her sister and understood her very well. Soon Paloma was participating in the
conversation too. Katie laughed a lot and got very excited about everything, but she was
basically like a sweet six-year-old girl.
Before Paloma knew it, it was time to go home. “Thanks for inviting me, Alexa,” she said. “I
really enjoyed my visit and I hope I’ll be able to come and see you and Katie again soon.”
At break the next morning, Paloma and Alexa had a talk. “You don’t need to be embarrassed
about Katie, Alexa,” Paloma said. “She’s a very sweet, affectionate girl and I really enjoyed
meeting her.”
“Yes I know she is, but I just find it difficult to tell other people about her,” Alexa replied sadly.
“Well, you just had a bad experience in Valencia,” Paloma said. “Why don’t you tell the other
students in the class the truth? I’m sure they’ll understand.”
“OK, I’ll think about it,” Alexa said.
Paloma was silent for a moment, then she said, “You know, Alexa, if it makes you feel better,
you’re not the only family with problems. My family has got problems too.”
“Oh, Paloma, I’m sorry,” Alexa exclaimed. “But you know, it really helped me talking to you
about Katie. Maybe if you tell me about your problem, I can help you too.”
“Well, I don’t know what’s happening exactly, but my father is often not at home and we think
there’s a possibility that my parents might get divorced,” said Paloma. She felt better as soon
as she had spoken.
At that moment, Susan and Karin approached the girls. “What are you two talking about?”
Susan asked. “Exchanging secrets?”
Alexa and Paloma looked at each other, then Alexa said quietly, “I’ve got something to tell you.
I hope you’ll understand.” And she told them all about Katie and Paloma’s visit the day before.
“Oh, Alexa, why didn’t you tell us all this before?” Karin said when Alexa was finished. “Now
we understand everything. We thought you didn’t want us to come to your house because we
weren’t rich like you. We were wrong, and very stupid.”
Soon all the students knew that they had been wrong about Alexa and they all became much
friendlier to her. This was very important for Paloma. Her new friends, Susan and Karin, were
very special to her and she was happy that they now accepted Alexa into all their activities.
The four girls soon became a little group with Gary and Steve and often did thing together.
Paloma liked the boys’ sense of humour; they were fun to be with.
As September passed, Paloma couldn’t believe that when she was in Spain she hadn’t wanted
to go to London. She was so happy in her new school with her new friends. She still missed
Daniel, however, and was still worried about the situation with her parents.
Soon it was time to prepare for the field trip, which would be in a week. They were staying in a
field school, which was an hour’s journey from her school. They could do all kinds of activities
there. There would be a midnight hike on Saturday and a disco on Sunday evening. The
students had to choose their groups for the rooms they would sleep in and Paloma, Alexa,
Susan and Karin asked to be together in the same room. Everyone was very excited and they
couldn’t talk about anything else!
Paloma had no idea that things were soon going to change for her in a big way.
Chapter 11
It happened on Tuesday afternoon. Paloma was talking happily to Mata as they walked to their
mum’s car after school. But their mother’s face told them that something was drastically
wrong. She had obviously been crying. The drive home was terrible. Mum didn’t say a word,
the girls sat in silence and even David was unusually quiet.
When they got home, their mother told them to go into the living room and sit down. Then she
made her announcement.
“You’re going to Spain for the half-term holiday,” she said. “You’ll stay with your grandparents
in Madrid for ten days. You’ll leave on Friday night and come back the following Sunday.”
David was the first to speak. He loved going to his grandparents as they had two dogs. “Oh
great!” he said. “That’s really good news. And I thought there was a problem!” He gave his
mother a hug and went to take Rex for a walk.
Marta and Paloma looked at their mother, frightened. They wanted to ask why they had to go
to their grandparents but weren’t sure that they wanted to know the answer. Suddenly,
Paloma had a terrible thought; if she went to Madrid, she would miss the school trip! She
really wanted to go, but didn’t know what to say. She had a horrible feeling that this was going
to be the end of her world, the new world she knew and liked.
“Aren’t you and Dad coming too?” Marta asked, finally.
“No, we’re staying in London,” her mother answered. “I don’t want to worry you, so I don’t
want to tell you anymore.”
“Mum, we’re already worried,” Marta said. “I don’t think you can worry us much more.”
Her mother was silent for a few moments. “Your father is having problems. His job isn’t going
so well,” she said. Her voice was very quiet. “It’s not his fault; he’s got too much pressure. We
want to be alone during the holidays to try and solve our problems. Please don’t ask me any
more questions.”
The two girls went up to Paloma’s bedroom where they talked for a long time and tried to
comfort each other. Finally, Paloma told Marta that she would have to miss the field trip. “I
know it’s not important compared to our other problems, but I’m really sad that I’ll have to
miss it,” she said.
“It’s too late to talk about it now,” Marta replied. “Let’s discuss it in the morning. Maybe we
can think of something. Do you want something to eat now?”
“No, I’m not hungry,” said Paloma. “I think I’ll go to bed.”
The two girls said goodnight and Marta went to her room, but neither of them slept very well
that night.
The next morning, Paloma explained to her friends that her parents were having problems,
that she had to go to Madrid and would miss the field trip. Everyone was very sad, especially
Alexa. “Paloma helped with my problem,” she thought. “I’d like to help her now, but I don’t
know what to do.”
“I’ve suggestion,” Gary said. “Perhaps you could go on the field trip and then go to Madrid on
Tuesday morning.”
“Oh Gary, that’s a great idea. I’ll ask my mother,” exclaimed Paloma. Impulsively, she gave him
a kiss on the cheek. Gary looked embarrassed at first but then he looked quite happy!
Paloma’s mother agreed to Gary’s suggestion. Marta and David would go to Madrid as planned
and Paloma would go four days later. Paloma went to bed that night feeling better. “I’ve got
real friends now,” she thought. “I don’t think Eva would do something like that for me.”
Chapter 12
Finally, the day of the field trip arrived. The students were very excited as they got on the bus
that was going to take them to the field school. A lot of parents had come to say goodbye to
their children. Paloma was sad, but not surprised, that her father hadn’t come; only her
mother was there, alone as usual.
Paloma sat at the back of the bus between Steve and Gary. Susan, Karin and Alexa sat in front
of them. They laughed and joked the entire journey and Paloma couldn’t stop laughing at the
boys’ comments. The boys were really funny and she even understood most of their jokes in
English now. She didn’t see that a girl called Julia and one or two other girls were looking at
her in a malicious way.
When they arrived, they went to their room and organized their things. After dinner, there was
a meeting to explain the programme for the next three days and the activities they could
choose. Before the midnight hike the following evening there would be a delicious meal in the
big dining room, followed by the opportunity to get together and talk. The disco on the Sunday
evening would begin immediately after dinner and would continue till late.
After the meeting, the girls went back to their room and had fun dancing to the music they’d
brought with them. Suddenly, Paloma began to feel sad and she became very quiet. “You look
worried, Paloma,” Alexa said. “Is something wrong?”
“No, everything’s OK …” Paloma began but suddenly, she started to cry. The girls looked at
each other in surprise and Alexa put her arm around Paloma. When she had stopped crying,
Paloma told them that she was worried about her parents. She had no idea what their problem
was and didn’t know how to help them. The girls tried to console her. “Try to forget about it
and enjoy the field trip,” Susan said. “And remember, we’ll help you as much as we can. That’s
what friends are for.”
Paloma smiled at her friends. “Thanks, girls,” she said. “I feel better now. I’m going to have a
long shower and then I’m going to get some sleep. We’ve got a busy day tomorrow.”
The next day was full of activities and Paloma didn’t have time to think about her problems. In
the morning, they went sailing on the lake near the field school and everyone had a good time.
In the afternoon, they went on a jeep trip and then had a choice of an hour’s cycling or horse-
riding. Paloma chose the horse-riding, although it wasn’t easy. She was happy that she did it
very well.
At 12.00 am, they all went on the midnight hike, which continued till 2.00 am. Sometimes they
had to climb small hills and it was difficult because the paths weren’t very good and they
couldn’t see well in the dark, although they had torches with them. Once or twice Paloma
nearly fell, but fortunately she was walking with Gary and Steve, who held her hand and made
sure that she was OK. Paloma was secretly very happy that they were being so attentive to her,
especially Gary, who she was beginning to like more and more. And it was quite good for her
ego that a handsome, popular boy like Steve was also paying her so much attention!
Sunday was another busy day followed by the disco in the evening. Paloma danced a bit with
Gary but most of the time she danced with Steve. Paloma loved dancing and Steve was a
fantastic dancer! The disco was great and everybody went to bed very late that night. In spite
of her worries, Paloma enjoyed herself.
When she came down for breakfast on Monday morning, Paloma was conscious of some
tension in the air. She and Alexa got their food and went to sit at the table with Susan and
Karin, but were surprised to see that Julia and some other girls were sitting there, so that there
was no room for them. Julia didn’t even say good morning to Paloma, and Susan and Karin
looked very embarrassed. Paloma and Alexa walked to another table and Paloma could fell the
student’s eyes on her.
She couldn’t understand what was wrong. “What’s happening, Alexa?” she asked.
But before Alexa could reply, Gary and Steve decided to change tables and sit with them.
Paloma was happy to see that the boys weren’t angry with her and laughed and joked with
them, until she saw that Alexa wasn’t joining in. She looked round the dining room and was
horrified to see the looks on the faces of some of the others students.
Gary saw Paloma’s face. “Don’t worry, Paloma, it’s nothing,” he said. “I’ll explain to you later.
Just try to smile.”
But it wasn’t easy for Paloma to smile. She ate her breakfast in silence without paying
attention to the food. “Why are they so angry with me?” she thought. “What did I do?”
Chapter 13
After breakfast, Paloma left the dining room with her head down, followed by Alexa, who was
very quiet.
Paloma stayed in Gary and Steve’s group all that day. People came and spoke to the group but
paid no attention to Paloma and she was conscious that the girls were talking about her
behind her back. As the day continued, Paloma became more and more unhappy, even though
Alexa and Gary stayed with her. She couldn’t wait for the field trip to finish.
Finally, it was time to take the bus back to London. Gary came and sat beside her on the bus. “I
know the girls are being horrible to you, Paloma, and I think that Julia is responsible for the
whole situation,” he said. “She’s fancied Steve for a long time – he’s very popular you know,
and all the girls want to ‘catch’ him. She’s envious that he was so attentive to you on the hike,
and that he danced with you all the time at the disco.”
“But that’s ridiculous!” Paloma exclaimed. “I’m not interested in Steve; I just liked dancing with
him. That’s all.”
“Well, Julia isn’t a nice person and she’s been telling everybody terrible stories about you,”
Gary continued. “I think the best thing is not to pay any attention to it. When we come back to
school after the half-term break, nobody will remember anything about it.”
Paloma thanked him for being honest with her, but didn’t really agree with him. That night she
went to bed and cried. It was bad enough having problems in the family, but now this. Paloma
couldn’t imagine how life would become normal again.
The next morning, Alexa phoned as Paloma was leaving for the airport. “I just phoned to say
goodbye,” she said, “and to see how you’re feeling this morning.”
“Well, Gary explained to me about Julia and the stories she’s been telling about me,” Paloma
said, “but he thinks everyone will forget about it during the holiday. I hope he’s right.”
“Don’t worry,” Alexa said. “I’m going to speak to the girls. They’re just being stupid. You’re a
good friend and I’ll make sure everything will be OK. Goodbye and have a good trip.”
“Alexa’s great,” Paloma thought as she put the phone down. “I really hope she’ll be able to
solve this problem for me.”
Five hours later, Paloma was in her grandparents’ house in Madrid. She was happy to see
Marta again – and even quite happy to see her brother, who was having a great holiday with
his grandparents’ two dogs. After lunch, she and Marta went for a walk and Paloma told her
sister about her problems during the field trip. Marta was very understanding and also very
practical, as usual. “Don’t worry, Paloma,” she said, putting her arm round her sister. “I’m sure
Gary’s right. Alexa will explain the truth to the girls. When you go back to school, everything
will be OK.”
But Paloma wasn’t convinced.
After dinner, David watched TV in the living room, and Marta and Paloma sat in the kitchen
with their grandparents. Grandma came and sat at the table with them. There was silence for a
few moments, and then Grandpa said, “We need to talk to you about something, girls.”
“Yes,” said Grandma. “You know your parents have got problems at the moment, but your
mother finds it too difficult to talk about, so she asked me to explain the situation to you.”
She was silent for a moment, looking at Marta’s and Paloma’s worried faces. “Your father has
got a drinking problem,” she said slowly. “He’s an alcoholic and has been for a long time now.
That’s what’s causing the problems in your parent’s marriage.”
“But that’s terrible!” exclaimed Paloma. “How can he be an alcoholic?”
“There’s a lot of pressure in life today and some people can’t take so much pressure,” said her
grandmother. “Your father is one of them but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t a good person or
that he doesn’t love his family. He wants to get better and has been going to meetings of
Alcoholics Anonymous and also to special clinics to try to learn to control his alcoholism.”
“We couldn’t understand why he was never at home,” Marta said. “But that explains it.”
“Yes, and if you want him to get better, you’ll have to show him a lot of compassion and
understanding,” Grandma continued. “That’s why your mother sent you here. She thought it
might be good to have some time alone with your father to see if they could find a way of
solving their problems.”
“Do you think they will find a solution?” asked Marta in a quiet voice.
“I hope so,” said Grandma.
Soon afterwards, their grandparents went to bed but Paloma and Marta sat in the living room
for a long time after that talking about the situation. Marta found it easier to accept than
Paloma.
“It’s not like being a common drunk,” Marta explained, “and Dad’s never violent. We must give
him all the love and support we can and hope that things will improve.”
“Marta is so mature,” Paloma thought. “It’s so complicated being an adult. How can I learn to
be more like Marta?”
It was very late when the girls went to bed. They didn’t sleep very well that night because they
had too many difficult things to think about.
Chapter 14
While they were having breakfast the next morning, the phone rang. It was Daniel. Paloma had
e-mailed him that she would be in Madrid and that it would be nice if they could meet. Daniel
was going to stay with his aunt and uncle in Madrid the next day and so they decided to have
lunch together a little restaurant in the centre of the city.
When she had finished her conversation with Daniel, Paloma stood for a moment, holding the
phone. “Should I phone Eva?” she thought. “It’s not very nice if I’m here and don’t call her.”
She started to dial Eva’s number and then stopped. “No,” she thought. “I know that Eva was
never a good friend to me. I don’t want to see her again.”
But it was good to see Daniel again. While they were having lunch, Paloma told him all her
problems. Daniel was a good listener and he also gave her excellent advice. By the end of the
lunch, Paloma felt a lot better.
After lunch, they walked though the centre of the town, looking at the shops, talking and
laughing. “Everything is the same as it was before I went to England,” Paloma thought. “It’s so
easy to be with Daniel.”
When it was time for Daniel to leave, he took Paloma’s hand and gave her a kiss. “It was good
to see you again, Paloma” he said, smiling. “Maybe I’ll come and visit you in London one day.
Write to me and tell me what happens when you get home. And remember: there’s always
somebody who’s got worse problems than you. Enjoy the rest of your time in Madrid.
Goodbye and good luck.”
“Goodbye, Daniel,” said Paloma. “Stay in contact.”
The next day, Paloma got a phone call from Eva. “Hi Paloma, how are you?” she said. “Daniel
told me he’d seen you. Why didn’t you phone me?”
“I’ve been busy,” Paloma answered. She felt a little guilty. Eva always knew how to make her
feel that way.
“You know, Daniel’s got a really nice girlfriend now,” Eva continued. “Did he tell you about
her?”
“She hasn’t changed!” Paloma thought. “I’m happy that I can see now what she’s trying to do.”
But she didn’t say anything except. “I’m sorry, Eva, I can’t talk now. My grandparents are
waiting for me. Goodbye.” Paloma put down the phone, feeling happy. “I’m finally free to her,”
she thought. “Nobody needs friends like her! It took me time to understand that. Maybe I’m
finally becoming more mature, like Marta!”
The rest of the holiday passed quickly and soon it was time for the girls to return to London.
Paloma felt quiet nervous when she got on the plane.
Paloma’s mum was waiting for them at the airport. She wasn’t sure what her daughter’s
reaction would be to their grandmother’s explanations and she was feeling a bit nervous.
David ran to his mother and said, “How’s Rex? Is he OK?”
Marta gave her mother a kiss. “It’s OK, Mum,” she said. “Grandma told us everything and now
we understand. We’ll help you as much as we can.”
Her mother smiled. “Thank you, Marta,” she said and then turned to Paloma. “How do you
feel, Paloma?” she asked.
Paloma wanted to be positive like Marta, but it was difficult for her. Her mother saw her
indecision and said, “You’ve had so many problems this year, Paloma - a new country and a
new school; you had to leave Eva. You’ve done so well. I know you helped Alexa a lot with you
to be unhappy. I’m sorry you’ve now got another problem, but maybe we can help each other
solve it together.”
Paloma looked at her mother for a moment before replying. “Yes, Mum, maybe we can,” she
said.
Chapter 15
On the way home in the car, Marta sat in the front beside her mother and told her all about
their time in Madrid. Paloma sat in the back with David. She didn’t talk much. She was
thinking. “Mum doesn’t prefer Marta to me,” she thought. “I understand now that I was just
envious of Marta, but I was wrong. I was so obsessed with Eva that I never tried to talk to Mum
about things. But I’m going to change now.”
When they got home, David took Rex for a walk and the girls sat and talked with their mother,
who gave them more details about the situation. “It was because of Dad’s alcoholism that he
was always changing jobs,” she explained. “We didn’t want to come to London but this was his
last opportunity. He thought it might help if he was in a different country, but it was still
difficult for him. But now he’s trying very hard to overcome his problem and I think this time
he might succeed.”
“But are you going to get divorced?” Paloma asked.
“No, I hope that won’t happen,” Mother said. “The week alone helped us. We talked a lot and
we understood that we still love each other. It’s going to be a long, difficult process for Dad
and it won’t be easy for us either, but if we work together as a family, I’m sure everything will
be OK.”
That night, Paloma went to bed feeling much better. But she was nervous about going back to
school the next day. “Will the girls still be so unfriendly?” she thought. “I don’t think I could
accept that. I don’t want any more problems.”
The next day, when she woke up, she was so nervous that her stomach hurt. She didn’t eat
breakfast and she was very quiet in the car on the way to school. As they walked towards the
school entrance, Marta put her arm round Paloma and said, “Don’t worry, Paloma, the girls at
school will be OK.” But Paloma wasn’t so sure.
As Paloma walked through the school entrance, the first person she saw was Julia, who was
standing there, alone. Paloma felt even more nervous. She saw Alexa and Gary standing under
a big tree and for a moment felt happy at seeing them again. Then she was that Steve was also
standing with them. “Oh, no!” Paloma thought. “That’s going to cause more problems with the
girls!”
Near the door, she saw Susan and Karin. Everybody seemed to see Paloma at the same
moment and to her surprise, came running towards her and gave her the best welcome she
could imagine!
“Alexa explained everything to us,” Susan said. “We’re really sorry we were so horrible to you.
Can you forgive us?”
“We were envious,” Julia explained. “We all like Steve and we thought that he preferred you.”
“You like Steve, you mean!” Susan said. “Julia’s fancied Steve for a long time, so she was very
envious when he danced with you all the time at the disco, Paloma. It was very difficult for me.
Julia’s my friend but you are too and I didn’t know who to support. But I behaved very badly
and sorry.”
“And Steve asked me to go to the cinema with him, so everything’s OK now!” Julia said,
laughing.
The group went to their lessons talking and laughing happily together. “Well, that problem is
solved,” thought Paloma. “But I’ve got another problem now. Should I tell them the truth
about Dad? Will they understand? I don’t know what to do.”
At lunchtime, the six friends sat together and told each other what they had done during the
holiday. Everyone had really enjoyed themselves.
“How was your trip, Paloma?” Gary finally asked. “Did you meet up with all your old friends?”
“No,” Paloma answered. “Only one good friend.” She was silent for a moment and then
suddenly found herself telling them all about her father and his problems.
“That must be very difficult for you, Paloma,” Gary said when she had finished. “But I’m sure
everything will be OK.”
“And don’t forget that we’re your friends,” Alexa said. “We’ll do everything we can to help
you.”
“That’s right,” said Susan and Karin together. “That’s what friends are for.”
At that moment, the bell rang and they all went to their lessons. As they left the canteen, Gary
said to Paloma, “I’ve got tickets for the Amazons’ concert on Saturday night. I love their music,
they’re my favourite group. Would you like to come with me?”
Paloma’s heart jumped. “Thanks, Gary, I’d love to come,” she said. “I also think they’re great. I
missed their concert when they came to Madrid, so it’s fantastic that I’ll have the opportunity
to see them now.”
When their mother was taking them home from school that day, she said, “I’ve got good news.
The therapists think that Dad is finally beginning to make process. He’s still got a long way to
go, but at least it’s a beginning.”
That evening, as she sat doing her homework, Paloma thought about everything that had
happened that day. She felt much more positive about everything now and she was sure that
her father would succeed in overcoming his alcoholism.
“I’ve only got one big problem now,” she thought. “What I wear for the concert on Saturday
night?”
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