"This could work!" I said, pulling it out.

"What on earth is that?"

"You blow into it, and it makes a duck sound. A quack. You use it to make ducks come to you."

I decided to give him a demonstration, making a couple of loud quacks until Brendan held up his hand. I stopped.

"Why do you even have that on you?"

"Uh, as a self-defense weapon."

Brendan stared at me.

"Basically . . ."

But just as I was going to launch into a gabbled explanation about my crazy father and the duck call, we heard a rustle from the area where Dog had disappeared. Brendan looked at me hopefully. Dog victoriously emerged from the bushes and headed in our direction. I would have rejoiced, but it was difficult to once I realized what my Labrador was holding.

Dog was carrying a picnic basket.

Brendan and I looked at each other. "I don't think that's what I threw," Brendan said, confused.

Before I could answer, a man also emerged from the trees, his face bright red with anger and in pursuit of Dog, who was ignoring this stranger's calls for him to stop. Instead, Dog neatly dropped the basket at my feet.

"Your dog has ruined my picnic!" the man cried in outrage.

"I'm so sorry!" I began to bend down to pick up the basket and return it to him. I couldn't even look in Brendan's direction. This was mortifying.

But Dog was not going to give up that easily. Not when he had gone to so much effort to get his prize. Upset at the lack of enthusiasm for his presentation and, no doubt, taking it upon himself to punish me, Dog lifted up his back leg and proceeded to pee down the side of the basket.

I covered my mouth in horror, Brendan took a step back, and the owner of the picnic basket stopped in his tracks as we all watched Dog finish his business and look extremely pleased with himself.

Why me?

From: jess.delby@zingmail.co.uk To: anna_huntley@zingmail.co.uk Subject: Not that bad I'm sure Brendan found it funny?

J x From: anna_huntley@zingmail.co.uk To: jess.delby@zingmail.co.uk Subject: Re: Not that bad No.

Love, me xxx From: jess.delby@zingmail.co.uk To: anna_huntley@zingmail.co.uk Subject: Re: Not that bad Well, then he must have no sense of humor. It sounds hilarious.

J x From: anna_huntley@zingmail.co.uk To: jess.delby@zingmail.co.uk Subject: Ha ha Hilarious is not how I would describe the incident. It's definitely not how Dad would describe it either. Turns out the basket was from Fortnum & Mason. You can imagine that it's not a very cheap bill to have to pay.

Brendan is going to tell everyone, isn't he, and then they're all going to make fun of me. Even more than usual. What happens if the newspapers find out about this?? The basket man could sell his story!

I'm doomed.

Love, me xxx From: jess.delby@zingmail.co.uk To: anna_huntley@zingmail.co.uk Subject: Re: Ha ha You don't need to worry, you're an It Girl these days, remember? People won't be making fun of you.

Although Dog may have ruined your chances of Brendan Dakers realizing you're his one true love.

The newspapers won't care about a dog peeing on a basket. They'll be too busy reporting on real stuff like war zones and which celebrity baby dresses better.

J x From: anna_huntley@zingmail.co.uk To: jess.delby@zingmail.co.uk Subject: Re: Ha ha I hope you're right. Otherwise you and Danny will have to face up to being friends with the biggest embarrassment of all time.

I haven't even told you the part about the quacking.

Maybe I could try to talk to Brendan? And ask him not to tell anyone? Then I wouldn't have to worry about the newspapers or people like Sophie and Josie finding out!

I've got to speak to Brendan before school. I could try to win him over. I could offer him the chance to meet Marianne in exchange? Then he might consider keeping the whole thing to himself. Plus he might like me more if he gets to meet Marianne, right?

I'm sure Marianne wouldn't mind. The other day she gave Dog a pat on the head. Definitely a good sign I think.

Love, me xxx From: jess.delby@zingmail.co.uk To: anna_huntley@zingmail.co.uk Subject: Calm down Huh?

Look, I don't think Brendan telling people would be that much of a problem. Who cares what Sophie, Josie, or anyone at school thinks?

Secondly, you don't have to worry about me and Danny, Anna. We're not going to be fazed by something like your dog peeing on a basket.

What do you mean by "the part about the quacking"?

J x From: anna_huntley@zingmail.co.uk To: jess.delby@zingmail.co.uk Subject: Re: Calm down Um . . . nothing. Forget I said anything.

Love, me xxx From: jess.delby@zingmail.co.uk To: anna_huntley@zingmail.co.uk Subject: Re: Calm down What do you mean by the part about QUACKING?!

J x From: anna_huntley@zingmail.co.uk To: jess.delby@zingmail.co.uk Subject: NOTHING It's not very interesting.

Just, you know. I may have made quacking sounds using a duck call in front of Brendan.

That's all.

Love, me xxx From: jess.delby@zingmail.co.uk To: anna_huntley@zingmail.co.uk Subject: (no subject) There are no words.

J x From: anna_huntley@zingmail.co.uk To: jess.delby@zingmail.co.uk Subject: Re: (no subject) I hate my life.

Love, me xxx

I COULDN'T BE SURE IF Brendan had told anyone about the basket day. I kept waiting for someone at school to make a snide comment about it, and I was absolutely certain it was going to appear at some point in the tabloids. I could just imagine it: "IT GIRL'S DISORDERLY DOG PEES ON PICNIC"

But a few days later and there hadn't been a word of it in the papers. Perhaps the basket man hadn't realized who I was. Or perhaps the bigger basket plus large bottle of champagne sent to him from my father had done the trick. Either way, it looked like I was safe from national shame.

I was more worried about school. Earlier this year they would have been like, "Anastasia who? Isn't that a dead Russian princess? I don't think she goes to school here. Oh! The girl who set someone on fire . . . right." But now, thanks to Dad's impending marriage to the most famous actress in the whole world, the humiliation would be tenfold. I would have to be homeschooled. I would spend most of my days crying, remembering the two precious friends I used to have. And no one would be there to comfort me. Apart from Dog. Who really, if we think about it, would be the reason I no longer had any friends in the first place.

And so, I waited for someone to make fun of me at school, for the whispering and laughing to begin, or for everyone to completely ignore me.

But it didn't happen.

What did happen was very strange. No one said anything at all about it the entire week. Not even Brendan. Everyone was completely normal. I mean, he said hi to me when we passed in the hall, but not once did he ask me to stay at least five feet away from him or anything.

"What did you expect?" Jess laughed as I related how confused I was. "For Brendan to tell everyone that your dog peed on a basket in front of him and for no one to want to be friends with you anymore?"

Well. Yeah.

"It's not a big deal." Jess shrugged, digging in her bag. "It's not like you set someone on fire. HA."

Even more strange was Sophie cornering me by the water fountain at the end of the week. I wasn't particularly happy about this because I find water fountains very stressful, especially if the arc of water isn't pronounced enough. Sometimes it's a dribble, and you have to shove your head right down and purse your lips out weirdly like a fish. That was exactly what I was doing when the most popular girl in the grade decided to speak to me.

I was so surprised when I raised my head to see her standing right there that I dribbled a little water on myself. She witnessed this and paused as though thinking carefully about whether or not talking to me was worth it.

"Hey, Anna," she said brightly once I'd wiped myself down. "Why don't you sit with us at lunch today?"

I looked around me just in case there was another Anna in the line behind me. I didn't want another "awkward wave on the volleyball court" situation. "Me?"

"Yes." She laughed. "Would be nice to catch up."

I thought this was an odd thing to say considering Sophie and I have never really talked before, so "catching up" would mean catching up on our entire lives starting with the day of birth.

"Brendan told us that he saw you last week in the park with your dog," she continued. I immediately tensed, ready for an onslaught of mockery. "You have a Labrador right? I love dogs. I'd like to meet him. Brendan said he was cute."

I looked at her in confusion. "Oh. Yeah, well, he's great. You can definitely meet him."

"Nice. Well, see you at lunch then." She flicked her hair, twirled around, and sauntered back down the hall, her short skirt swishing from side to side in time to the clips of her shoes.

I couldn't work it out for a while, but then it hit me midway through French. Not only had Brendan been kind enough not to tell them what had gone down at the park, the mere fact that he had mentioned hanging out with me had prompted Sophie Parker to want to hang out with me.

This was a cause for note-passing with Jess.

Guess what?

I hate this game.

What game?

The Guess What game.

How can you hate the Guess What game?

Because it's annoying. Just tell me what you want to say.

It's technically not a game. It's more of a lead-up to a revelation.

But why not just lead with the revelation?

You're taking the fun out of guessing.

FINE. Start again.

Guess what?

I don't know, Anna. What?

Sophie Parker wants us to sit with her at lunch!

She what? That's so weird! Did she talk to you?

By the water fountain.

You must have hated that. Did you dribble? You always dribble afterward. You need to remember to close your mouth on that last sip.

I did not dribble.

I can tell you're lying. But tell me more about what happened.

She said that Brendan told her about hanging out with me at the park and he thought Dog was cute. And she said we should sit with them at lunch.

Wow, that's odd. Do you think we HAVE to sit with them?

It would be a bit rude not to. She purposefully found me to ask us to sit with them at lunch. Don't you think we should?

I think it's weird to formally ask someone at school to sit with them at lunch. Like she's royalty or something and she's granting permission.

She is sort of school royalty, wouldn't you say?

No, I would not say Sophie Parker is school royalty. Although she probably likes to think she is. I guess we can sit with them though-there are SOME nice people in that group. And I guess as it's Friday we can throw caution to the wind.

YAY!.

What have I told you about playing it cool?

Sorry. Yeah, sure, whatever, we'll sit with them, whatever. That's cool, yeah.

You'll get there one day. Keep practicing.

Everyone in the cafeteria was looking at us at lunch break. It's something I suppose people like Brendan get used to, being so popular and good-looking. I put my tray nervously down next to Sophie's, and Jess and Danny put theirs opposite. James Tyndale was in the middle of a story when we joined them. Brendan gave me a smile as I sat down, making me blush, and then he returned his attention to James.

"That was the funny thing though. It wasn't like I had ever been there before. Completely coincidental that-"

"Anna, what's Marianne Montaine like?" Josie loudly interrupted right in the middle of his sentence.

Everyone at our table turned to look at me.

"Uh, yeah, she's nice. I haven't seen her lots, but she seems cool." I tried to keep it vague, hoping no one would probe into the details of mine and Marianne's lack of similarities.