Chapter 4

Lifty's aunt was even more exited about the party then Lifty first thought. "That big house up on the hill?" She asked, invitation in her hands. "Oh, that's wonderful! What a perfect place to meet new friends."

Lifty slid back into his chair, "I'd rather stay at home, but..." He was about to say "But my friends are going so i guess I will too." but his aunt interrupted, "Stay home? Lifty are you crazy? This is your chance to make a new start, to make the right kind of friends..."

This time Lifty interrupted, "I already have the right kind of friends."

Though he already knew what his aunt thought of the only friends he had managed to make. Flaky was a nervous wreck" Nutty "a walking sugar bomb" Toothy "too ordinary" and Handy "hasn't got an ounce of common sense."

It astonished Lifty that after everything that happened in Rosebush Town, his aunt still expected him to have a normal life. Couldn't she see that all Lifty wanted to do was hide under his bed forever? Only his friends (who his aunt disapproved of) stopped him from shutting himself off from the world.

It had been Toothy's bubbly friendliness that pulled Lifty back into the real world. Then Handy with his I can do it attitude on life. Then Nutty who was so sweet (even on his sugar highs). And then Flaky who didn't speak to him at first (It was hard to tell who was the most shy at times). Slowly Lifty has been absorbed into their little group, he had thought that he would never trust anyone ever again, but they had proved him wrong.

He didn't want to make any new friends. He wanted to the ones he already had.

"You have to put the past behind you." Liftys aunt had said. "What happened back in Rosebush Town is done. You made a mistake. No one here knows what happened. So you can become part of any group you want." She waved the invite into Lifty's face, "and this is a ticket into a very good group."

Lifty stood up. "I've already met the best group in this town" he walked towards the doorway, "Don't worry I'll go to the party. but the friends I'm going with are the only friends I will need."

He then walked upstairs into his bedroom, then flopped down onto his bed, shivering with a sudden chill. If his new friends knew the truth about him, would they still like him.

Or would they turn on him like everybody else in Rosebush Town had?

Lifty was suddenly very tired. Hoping that he wouldn't be woken up, by his own screams caused by the same nightmare again he closed his eyes, until sleep took over him.

A few streets away, in his own bedroom, Handy thought about whether he needed to tell Curls about the party. He knew exactly how the phone call would go. She'd say "Oh, great Handy! A party! What fun!"

Then he would have to say that he wasn't really supposed to bring a guest, and she would blow a fuse if he went without her. She may even suspect that it wasn't true, that, if he really wanted to, he could bring someone. Which he probably could, as Giggles' place was so huge that. she would never know that Curls was even there.

He could take her if he really wanted to. But then again, he didn't want to. If he took Curls,m he would ruin any chance of letting Petunia know how he felt, something he still really wasn't sure about. When he went away to go to the summer camp, the only face he could see before he went to sleep was Petunia's.

That had surprised him. Petunia? Giggle's best friend Petunia? Since when had he ever even considered talking to anyone in that group, let alone asking any of them out.

But then he had met Curls, at the camp. She appeared to be more remote, more sophisticated than anyone else. He had been flattered that she had been interested in him above all the other guys, who had two hands. She helped him forget all about Petunia.

Now, even though she lived half an hour away in the next town, a little one called Rosebush Curls still thought of them as a couple. However the truth was, Handy had hardly missed her at all.

Then the first time he saw Petunia again, Curls slid further back into his mind.

Now Handy had tried, many times, to break things of with Curls. However each time she had overreacted so much. That Handy thought it easier to "spend some time apart" . Then let the problem drop. He was glad that Curls accepted that, because in truth, Handy was scared (though he would never admit it) of how angry Curls had got.

"You idiot" Handy told his reflection. "You know that you are just going to this party to see Petunia. Not Curls. Go be a man and tell her the truth! And make her realise that you really mean it."

He was going to do it.

Saturday night. He had been invited over to her house for dinner. If he told her before he went in he wouldn't be eating her food and he could tell her straight to her face, without causing much embarrassment. It should be a win, win situation, shouldn't it?