peaceful. âThanks anyway.â
âWhatever,â Alex sighs. âRoxyâs coming, so at least Iâll have someone to talk to. Zac gets so serious before a game.â
Evie draws a square within a square, then joins the lines together, making it a cube. âHeâs psyching up, I guess.â
âYou should see him in his soccer shorts. He looks so hot. God, I want to run on the field and ⦠and rip his clothes off.â
âThatâd go down well.â Evie draws cube after cube, each one the same as the last. âIâm sure Zacâd appreciate it â not.â
âI think afterwards weâll go to that new gelato bar for coffee. Itâs just across from the Penis Abuser.â
Evie swallows. âReally?â
âLuckily itâs a Sunday. That means â¦â
Evie presses hard on the pencil as Alex prattles on.
â⦠the Penis College is closed so Zac canât be distracted by the babes walking in and out. Heâll only be able to look at me â¦â
Evie begins to slash vertical lines through each cube.
â⦠only that weird-looking skinny chick hangs out there on a Sunday; she is a complete case â¦â
Line after line after line, each one darker than the last. Evie canât stop it.
â⦠I mean sheâs hardly going to â¦â
âOuch!â Evie yelps.
âWhat?â
âNothing.â Evie shakes her hand. âI just broke my dadâs pencil.â
âIs that all?â Alex scoffs. âThe thing about Zac is that â¦â
Evie doesnât want this conversation. Usually itâd be fine. Usually sheâd be able to tell Alex what was going on in her other life. Now she canât. Alex is caught up in a different life. A new life. A life Evie hoped she could have. A life she has had to put on hold â again.
âRoxy,â Alex prattles on, âyou know how their family is really old friends with Zacâs. Well, Roxy was telling me the cutest story about Zac when he was little ââ
âAlex, my mum needs to use the phone.â Another lie. âIâve got to go. Iâll see you tomorrow.â
âHang on! Have we got art first? Iâm just too scrambled in the head at the moment. Blame it on love.â
Evie ignores her. âArtâs second period,â she replies.
âOkay. Hope your headache gets better.â
âOh? Yeah, yeah, thanks. Bye.â
Evie lies on the bed, staring at the ceiling, feeling horrible. Alex has been her lifeline. Alex has been the one Evie could tell anything too. Alex accepting her was something she had always been sure of. Once, theyâd been bound together â two misfits happy to have found one another. But now Alex wants more. Evie wants it too, but for her itâs not as simple.
âHowâs Alex?â Robin wanders in with a pile of clean washing. âHelp me fold this, will you?â
âAll right.â Evie sighs, searching for a sockâs other half.
âWhat is it?â
âOh, sheâs just, you know, got a boyfriend, all that stuff. And ⦠I guess I couldnât be further from that.â
âGive it time, love.â
âItâs more than that.â Evie picks up the undies and bras. âWhereâs this sockâs mate? I canât find it.â
âItâs hiding there somewhere,â her mum replies, stacking her husbandâs T-shirts onto a shelf. âI donât know what it is with socks. Where do they go?â
Evie gives up. She lies back on the pillows, wishing for what she canât have. A photo of her dad and grandma sits on the bedside table. She holds it up and studies her grandmotherâs face. How she wishes she was alive. Alive to guide her through the uncertainties and protect her from the things that frighten her. But the one person Evie longs to speak to is silent.
The paper she was scribbling on
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