longer.
‘I haven’t really thought about it.’
‘Well, I was thinking that if you were going to have a look on the computer then maybe I could help you?’
Ryan was taken aback. Daisy hadn’t been into his bedroom since their primary school days. It would be weird having a girl in there now.
‘You know, I’m not sure that’s such a good idea. My mum didn’t react quite as well as you did to that photo. She’s taken away all the wires to my electrical stuff so I can’t use any of it, although I did find where she was hiding them and nicked back the ones for my computer.’
‘So it is working then? Great!’
‘Well, yes. But I can’t let mum know it’s working or there’ll be double the grief for me. I don’t really want to use it unless I absolutely have to.’
In fact, the first thing Ryan planned to do when he got in was fire up his PC and play through a few levels of his latest shooter. The idea of Daisy coming over and entering his fortress of boy-dom set a precedent that he wasn’t entirely comfortable with. But he was fighting a losing battle.
‘It will be fine. I’m sure your mum isn’t that mad with you. She’s lovely. Anyway, she’s probably round at my house already. I think she’s a little lonely at the moment. Go on, you promised to show me some of those game things that you play.’
‘All right, all right. But only if Mum’s out. I’m not risking it if she’s lurking around.’
‘Great! I’ll pop home and check with Daddy and see if she’s there.’
As it turned out, they caught Ryan’s mum heading round to the Roses’ house as they reached the front gate. At first she only saw Ryan and looked like she was about to tear a strip off him, but then she caught sight of Daisy and her demeanour swiftly changed.
‘Hello you two!’ she smiled cheerily, hurriedly concealing the bottle of wine she was carrying.
‘Hello Mrs Butler,’ replied Daisy, with an even bigger smile. ‘How are you today?’
‘Oh I’m just fine darling. I was just popping round to see your father.’
For more than a few minutes, by the look of things, thought Ryan.
‘Mrs Butler, is it okay if I pop home with Ryan and help him with some homework? Actually we’re both struggling with this one assignment and were hoping to knock our heads together to see if we can come up with a solution.’
‘Of course, my dear. That will be fine,’ she replied, trying a little too hard to appear charming. ‘Ryan’s in need of someone to keep him on the straight and narrow and I couldn’t think of anyone better. There’s food in the freezer and cold drinks in the fridge. Have fun!’
And with that, she went through the Roses’ gate and made her way up their drive. Ryan and Daisy watched her go.
‘That was easy,’ smiled Daisy. ‘I told you she’d be fine about it.’
‘Did you just lie to my mum?’ asked Ryan, a mild look of disbelief on his face.
‘Yes. Well, maybe. Actually, no, not really. We’re going to find out more about the Academy, which is like doing homework, except it’s just not for school.’
‘Ah, I like your thinking. I’ve just never heard you fib before.’
‘Well, I try not to. It’s bad, isn’t it?’
‘Dunno, I do it all the time. I tend to get more hassle for stuff that's nothing to do with me.’
‘Well, I won’t tell anyone you stole your wires back. You don’t need to get into any more trouble.’
‘No. Two weeks of detention is quite enough.’
They walked on a few yards further and opened the gate leading to Ryan’s house.
‘Did you notice the bottle of wine?’ asked Ryan as they strolled up the driveway.
‘Yes, she always seems to have a glass in her hand when she’s over. One time she definitely appeared to be a bit tipsy.’
‘Probably why she was so miserable the other morning,’ said Ryan.
They reached the door and Ryan fumbled in his pocket for his house key.
‘Oh I’m so excited!’ said Daisy, clapping her hands, almost unable to contain herself. ‘It’s so long since I’ve been round here.’
‘You came over at Christmas,’ said Ryan.
‘That was different; it was a family thing. And besides, you kept to yourself for most of it.’
Ryan flushed.
‘Yeah… err… sorry about that,’ he said. ‘I don’t really like those family get-togethers. They just seem a bit forced.’
‘It’s okay. I’m just happy to be here now. It’s just like old times.’
Ryan wondered whether she expected him to still have the old cabin bed that they used to make dens under, or whether she would want to play hide and seek with him. When she mentioned ‘old times’ it gave him the impression that she really was exactly the same girl she had been back then; fun-loving, carefree and eternally happy.
He opened the door and showed her inside.
‘Oh wow! Your parents have been decorating,’ Daisy exclaimed as she stepped over the threshold.
Ryan looked around the hallway in puzzlement.
‘Err… I don’t think so. It’s been like this for ages. And they still haven’t got round to changing the carpet on the stairs.’
‘It’s lovely, all of it,’ said Daisy, peering through the archway that led into the living room. ‘I can see why you like spending so much time indoors.’
‘What are you talking about? Your house is just as nice, if not nicer. Anyway, I don’t spend much time down here. I’m normally in my room.’
‘I can’t wait to see it!’
‘Do you want a drink first?’
A few shades of doubt were colouring Ryan’s thoughts. Daisy’s enthusiasm was full-on, almost to the point of being insincere. He began to wonder whether it was such a good idea to show her his stronghold of solidarity.
‘Okay!’ she smiled, and he led her through to the kitchen. He poured her a glass of his mum’s elderflower cordial and himself a Coke.
‘You know, I had a dream about this room the other night,’ he said, leaning back against the work-top and taking a sip.
‘Really? What happened?’
‘Well, it was last night actually, when I first returned to the Dream Isle. I was alone next to one of the rivers so I began watching all the dreams floating past. Suddenly I saw an image of the landing upstairs, and before I knew it, I was there. I came down to the kitchen and there was a spider that kept on multiplying into more and more spiders every time I tried to catch it, until the entire room was filled with them. Somehow I managed to dream up a web with some bait in the centre and, when they were all in the one place, I caught them and set them free.’
‘Oh wow!’ said Daisy. ‘So you were Dreamweaving again? That’s amazing! You really seem to have a talent for it.’
‘I don’t know about that,’ replied Ryan, though some of the pride he had felt the previous night was returning.
‘I can’t wait to go to bed and find out what happens next,’ said Daisy excitedly. ‘But first we should find out more about the Academy.’
Ryan knew that he couldn’t delay things any longer, so he led her upstairs and into his sanctum.
‘It’s… it’s so different,’ Daisy gasped as she caught sight of the posters on the wall, the large TV and the computer in the corner. It really was a new room to her. The model aircraft that used to hang from the ceiling were gone, as were the steam engine curtains. It was still resoundingly boyish, but it had just progressed on a few years. Ryan couldn’t tell whether Daisy was impressed, disappointed, or a mixture of the two. It was certainly a few minutes before she managed to digest it all. Eventually she perched herself on the edge of the bed while Ryan fumbled behind the computer to plug all the wires in.
‘That should be it,’ he declared, taking up his usual position in his command chair. He switched the computer on. Lights flashed and fans whirred softly as the machine sprang into life. A soft, red glow emanated from somewhere deep within.
‘
Wow,’ cooed Daisy. ‘Was it expensive?’
‘My parents got it for me for Christmas. They said it was to help with my studies, so that’s why I’ve got a printer and scanner and everything. They don’t know much about computers though, so I just told them what I needed and they got it for me.’
‘So have you done much school work on it?’
‘As if! That’s the last thing I’d want to use this for. Besides, there are too many distractions. As soon as I fire it up there are so many games just begging to be played.’
‘You really like your games, don’t you?’
‘Yeah, I love them. They keep my mind and my reactions razor sharp. A bit like a ninja’s really.’
‘Oh Ryan!’ exclaimed Daisy, suddenly bursting into a fit of giggles.
The desktop had just loaded up and Ryan had completely forgotten that, in a moment of stout defiance, he had saved the picture of Miss Ward as his background. His face went scarlet.
‘Yes, well, I guess one of the boys must have done that the other night when they were round,’ he blustered, trying to open any application he could to conceal the image.
‘How very naughty of them,’ said Daisy.
Ryan didn’t think that she did sarcasm, but the tone of the comment sounded an awful lot like it.
‘What sort of music do you like?’ he asked, trying to change tack as quickly as possible.
‘Oh all sorts. Bach, Mendelssohn, Vivaldi; anything with a good melody and a bit of drama.’
‘Right,’ said Ryan slowly, looking at her as if she was from another planet. ‘Anything from this century?’
‘Well, there are some good modern composers out there, but I'm more into the classics right