“It’s a clue!”
Emma withered Stephanie with a look. “It’s an Easter egg hunt, it doesn’t have clues, it has chocolate.”
Stephanie remained annoyingly unwithered. “Maybe for you, my Mum likes to put a twist on things.”
Of course she did, Stephanie’s mum was one of those parents who did ‘enriching activities’ after school and packed her daughter’s lunchbox with wholesome, home-made but annoyingly yummy food every day.
Emma stopped poking about in the bushes to ask. “What does your mum do for work?”
“She runs online courses for people who want to make their lives better.”
That sounded weird, Stephanie squealed before Emma could comment.
“I knew it was one of Mum’s clues, look, there’s a note inside the egg.”
There was. Emma looked at it over Stephanie’s shoulder. “That’s just scribbles.”
“No, it’s Chinese, me and Mum are learning it.”
Stephanie frowned over the weird-looking symbols, then grinned. “I know! We have to go to the treehouse.”
That was the other thing about Stephanie. She lived in this huge, fancy house with a big back garden and a treehouse, and a tennis court. Everyone was really jealous when Stephanie chose Emma to be her best friend, but Emma wasn’t so sure it was a job she wanted. There was only so much of having someone else’s Barbie dream life being shoved in your face.
Emma sighed. “Okay, then what?”
Stephanie made a face. “We finish with the hunt and tell Mum how amazing it was, then … could we go to your house?”
Emma stared at Stephanie’s hopeful expression. “Why?”
“Because your Mum’s nice, and relaxed, and I don’t have to be always learning and enthusiastic.”
“You don’t like enriching activities?”
A guilty giggle. “Not all the time. Sometimes I’d just like the me I am right now to be enough.”
Emma put an arm around her best friend’s shoulders. “I think you’re good enough, and my mum thinks you’re lovely. Let’s finish this hunt and go and eat chocolate at my place.”
The DNA of Stories 