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if she isn’t interested in clothes, or make-up, or how she looks? If she does nothing but watch her
Star Trek
videos and mess around in cyberspace? She needs to get out there and get a life!
    Tash said, “Ali, it’s for your own good.”
    Well, it is! I know we’re partly thinking of ourselves, cos it is so utterly cringe-making when she turns up looking like she’s just crawled out of a compost heap; but mainly we are thinking of what is best for her. Surely even Ali must feel better when she’s dressed nicely?
    She does
have
decent stuff in her wardrobe; Mum makes sure of that. She just never wears it! It’s not what you would call ultra chic, cos Mum has no idea andneither does Ali, but at least it’s not cringe-making. The only problem is, she hasn’t brought very much with her. She said, “I didn’t think I’d need it.” Like we were going into hibernation for two months? Of course, if Ali had her way she probably would go into hibernation.
    We took out everything there was and laid it on the bed. Then we looked at each other.
    “Well! She can’t wear any of
this,”
said Tash. “Except, maybe …” She pulled out a pair of cord trousers. “These aren’t so bad. The colour’s a bit naff—”
    Pink.
That was Mum. She has this fixed idea that all young people should to go round looking like maypoles. She just hates it when me and Tash wear black!
    Tash said, “What d’you reckon?”
    I said the trousers would just about pass, but as for any of the tops – forget it! Saggy vests, droopy T-shirts … In the end, I very nobly sacrificed my wrap top. It’s the only thing I have that even remotely fits her. Even so, it’s a tidge on the small side, but not so’s you’d notice. I think she looks really good in it. Really sophisticated. I said this to her, and in doubtful tones she said, “You’re not just saying it?”

    I said, “No! I mean it.”
    Ali said, “You don’t think it’s too tight?”
    “It’s not too tight,” said Tash. “It’s a perfect fit! It shows off your boobs.”
    Well! That was
absolutely
the wrong thing to say. It took me a good ten minutes to calm her down and convince her that she looked ace. Which she does! Ali can be really pretty if she just takes a bit of trouble with herself. Tash wanted to style her hair, so we looked through
Glam Girl
until we found something we thought would suit her. It’s really cool! We’ve taken two long bits from the side and sort of twisted them into ropes and tied them in a knot on top of her head. It looks
so
much better than having it all hanging about like she usually does.

    Ali, needless to say, is in a dither and says it feels “peculiar”, but we have given her strict instructions
not to fiddle with it.
I told her to go and watch a
Star Trek
while we got dressed, so that is what she’s doing, shut away in her broom cupboard with Fat Man. I’m hoping that
Star Trek
will take her mind off her hair.
    Me and Tash, meanwhile, have prinked and preened and paraded in front of each other and are now ready and waiting. We have sorted out a load of CDs and we have a lava lamp which Auntie Jay has lent us. She said she’d rather we didn’t use candles as she’s scared of the house being set alight. In any case, it won’t really get dark enough, even with the curtains closed. I wish we could have started later and gone on till midnight, but I know that is too much to hope for. Mum would certainly not let us.
    Tash has just been so sweet! She said to me that I looked “mouth-wateringly” gorgeous. That was
such
a nice thing to say. I told her in return that she looked like a ravishing rock chick (a phrase I read in
Glam Girl).
I could see that she was pleased by this.
    “But he’ll still prefer you to me,” she moaned.
    Why does she think so??? I do believe I look a bit more romantic (floaty skirt) but Tash
definitely
looks more sexy. I told her this, and her face lit up. She said, “Do I? Do I really?”
    I said, “Yes,