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said Mum, annoyed that her loving gesture had been rejected. ‘When is this weekend?’
    ‘Uhhh, I think Flo said the weekend after next.’
    Mum’s brow clouded with an entirely new and perhaps more realistic anxiety. ‘But, Jess, that’s the weekend before your dinner dance!’ Jess’s heart missed a beat.
    ‘I know,’ she said, feeling the blood drain from her face but determined to hold steady at this slightly frightening thought.
    ‘Have you organised everything?’ demanded Mum.
    ‘Yeah, yeah, don’t worry!’ Jess had steadfastly refused to let Mum help with the organising – she was determined to prove that she could do it on her own, and though her mum had offered several times to help in any way, Jess felt that having her mother on board would make her look like a loser. Besides, she wanted to prove to her family that she really was organised and capable.
     
    At break Jess nervously shared a chocolate bar with Flora. Already, only three weeks into the new year, she’d violated her new year’s resolution several times. But she desperately needed comfort food, because she was beginning to feel horribly uneasy about the chaos of Chaos. She hadn’t managed to see Fred yet today, as he’d been late for school and for the first double period they were in different subject groups. And now Fred had gone off to ask Mr Dickson something about chess club.
    ‘Oh no!’ whispered Flora. ‘Here comes Jodie! Listen, don’t mention the beach trip! Jack’s parents say there’s only room for two girls because they’ve only got one spare bedroom and that’s for you and me. The boys are going to be up in the attic dorm, but girls aren’t allowed up there – his parents are really strict. But let’s talk about something else . . . her latest music video is amazing, isn’t it?’
    ‘I think it’s a bit gross actually,’ said Jess quickly. ‘I so hate those pants she’s wearing.’
    ‘What pants? Who’s wearing them?’ demanded Jodie in her usual barging way. ‘Who are we talking about?’
    ‘I forget her name,’ said Jess. ‘The lead singer of the Whossnames.’
    ‘Who?’
    ‘The, um, the Part-Time Phantoms,’ said Flora, a funny little smile rippling around her mouth. You could see she was longing to laugh.
    ‘Never heard of them,’ said Jodie.
    ‘We’ve got to stop eating chocolate, Jess. Remember our resolution!’
    ‘Got any left?’ asked Jodie greedily. Mentioning chocolate had been a stroke of genius, distracting her from the fictional singer with the awful pants. ‘Remember I shared my pancake with you last Saturday.’
    ‘Sorry,’ said Jess, waving the wrapper about. ‘All gone!’
    ‘You two are so tight!’ moaned Jodie.
    If she was like this about the chocolate, how furious would she be if she realised she was going to miss out on Dorset?
    ‘Oh great!’ Jodie went on. ‘Here comes Fred. I could do with a laugh.’
    Jess and Flora exchanged a desperate glance. Fred was indeed approaching, but he didn’t know that nobody was supposed to mention the beach weekend to Jodie. In seconds, they would be in even hotter water than before – it would be positively boiling.

Chapter 8
     
     
     
    ‘Fred! Fred!’ called Jodie unnecessarily, as Fred was coming towards them already. ‘Have you worked out your stand-up routine for the dinner dance yet?’
    ‘Not quite.’ Fred went slightly pale. ‘We can’t agree on anything.’
    Jess was annoyed that Jodie always seemed to think that Fred would be hosting the event on his own. But she couldn’t afford to alienate Jodie now with a stressy jealous aside. She needed her help.
    ‘Jodie,’ she said in a friendly, coaxing voice, ‘you remember you offered to help with the buffet? That was so, so nice of you.’
    ‘What?’ asked Jodie sharply. ‘I never said that!’
    ‘It was a few weeks ago,’ Jess went on, smiling her most charming smile and secretly praying for divine help. ‘You said you’d probably be able to help .