Leave it to Eva (14 page)
Authors: Judi Curtin
A
nd that was pretty much that.
As soon as I got home from Seacove I called over to Victoria’s place.
‘So how was California?’ I asked, as soon as we’d finished hugging. ‘Was it really as good as you said in all those texts?’
‘It was totally brilliant,’ she said. ‘And how was Seacove?’
I hesitated, and she looked a bit embarrassed. Then I grinned. ‘Funnily enough,’ I said, ‘Seacove was totally brilliant too.’
A few weeks later, I was settled back at school, and it was almost like all the crazy stuff with Ruby and Kate had never happened.
And then one day I got
two
letters.
The first was from Ruby:
Hi Eva,
I know this is the twenty-first century, but my ancient English teacher has insisted that we all write a letter today-so I’ve decided to write to you. This place is great. I’m sharing a room with a girl called Asmita – she’s really nice – and so are most of the other kids here. Mrs Armitage is still the scariest person I’ve ever met, but she’s ok underneath – I think.
She often asks me about you – which I think is totally weird!
We swim every single morning and evening. One weekend I was allowed to go and stay with Jenny. She says ‘hi’. (And Andrea says ‘ciao.’)Class is nearly over so I’d better finish.
Looking forward to seeing you at Christmas.
Your friend,
Ruby
Xxxx
PS If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be here. You’re amazing!!
The next letter was from Kate.
HEY, EVA!
HOW ARE THINGS?
I KNOW IT’S THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY, AND I HAVE A PHONE NOW, (JOAN AND DENIS LET ME KEEP IT) BUT I GOT USED TO WRITING TO YOU LAST YEAR, SO…
THINGS ARE GOOD HERE. ZOE IS TOTALLY GREAT. SHE DOESN’T TRY TO BE A MUM, WHICH IS A HUGE RELIEF – SHE’S
MORE LIKE A COOL BIG SISTER.
SIMON IS ACTUALLY THE SWEETEST BABY EVER. HE CALLS ME KAY-KAY WHICH IS ADORABLE.
DAD AND I ARE SLOWLY GETTING USED TO EACH OTHER. SOMETIMES WE HAVE THE WORST ROWS EVER. ZOE JUST LAUGHS AND SAYS IT’S BECAUSE I NEVER HAD A CHANCE TO BE A PROPER TEENAGER BEFORE.
MARTHA’S GETTING A LOT STRONGER AND THE DOCTORS SAY SHE’LL BE ABLE TO COME HOME AFTER CHRISTMAS. DAD’S SAVING UP TO BUILD AN EXTENSION SO THERE WILL BE ROOM FOR US ALL.
DAD AND ZOE AND SIMON HAD TO GO BACK TO LONDON FOR A FEW DAYS LAST WEEK. THEY ASKED ME TO GO WITH THEM BUT I SAID NO. I DIDN’T WANT TO MISS SCHOOL – SO I STAYED WITH JOAN AND DENIS. THEY’RE REALLY NICE – BUT I GUESS YOU’D FIGURED THAT OUT ALREADY.
ANYWAY, I’D BETTER GO. I PROMISED TO MIND SIMON FOR A WHILE SO DAD AND ZOE CAN GO FOR A WALK.
LOVE FROM KATE
PS DAD TOLD ME ABOUT YOU GOING TO SEE HIM IN LONDON.
THAT WAS TOTALLY CRAZY, BUT PROBABLY THE BEST THING YOU EVER DID IN YOUR WHOLE LIFE. THANK YOU SO MUCH, EVA – YOU’RE AMAZING.
And even though I don’t feel the slightest bit amazing, I do have a confession to make – that night I went to bed with a huge smile on my face!
But when her dad loses his job and she has to move house and change schools, she realises things have changed forever. A chance visit to a fortune teller gives her the idea that doing good may help her to turn things back the way they were. Eva (with the help of best friend Victoria) starts to help everyone she can â whether they want it or not! And maybe being nice is helping Eva herself just as much â¦
Eva Gordon likes fashion, fun and hanging out with friends, so she can't believe she has to spend the entire summer in a
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cottage in the countryside with her parents. Worse, it looks like she's going to be stuck with Kate, the girl next door who doesn't care about being cool ⦠But when the girls have to pull together to solve a problem, Eva finds out that there's more to life than having the right hair or clothes and sometimes âweird' girls can make the best friends.
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JUDI CURTIN grew up in Cork and now lives in Limerick where she is married with three children. Judi is the author of
Eva’s Journey & Eva’s Holiday
as well as the best-selling ‘Alice & Megan’ series. With Roisin Meaney, she is the author of
See If I Care
. She has also written three novels,
Sorry, Walter, From Claire to Here
and
Almost Perfect
. Her books have sold into Serbian, Portuguese, German, Russian, Lithuanian and most recently to Australia and New Zealand.
The ‘Alice & Megan’ series
Alice Next Door
Alice Again
Don’t Ask Alice
Alice in the Middle
Bonjour Alice
Alice & Megan Forever
Alice to the Rescue
Alice & Megan’s Cookbook
The ‘Eva’ Series
Eva’s Journey
Eva’s Holiday
Leave it to Eva
Other Books
See If I Care
(with Roisin Meaney)