slot where the mail gets pushed through each day and I pull out a letter. I could just pocket it and take it with me, it would be easier than trying to photograph it with my phone and not get caught, but Iâve taken so much already that stealing a letter seems like a step too far.
So I pull out my phone, snap off a quick shot and slide the letter back into the slot. I just want to know the address so I donât have to follow her next time. I expect someone to yell at me, come after me or something but I start moving away from her house and nobody does. There are no people around. No one walking the streets. No bikes out riding. No cars out cruising. And I make it to the corner without seeing a soul.
I want to see Alex. I need to see Alex. So while my phoneâs out, I start to press the number Iâve rung so many times that my fingers find it without help. But before I can hit the call button, my phone rings.
âAlex? I was just about to call you. Weird, huh?â
âYeah. Can we meet?â
I can hear laughing behind him in the background, around him, like heâs circled.
âYeah. Sure,â I say, secretly pleased heâs phoned me for once.
âAll right. Maccaâs. Hawthorn. In an hour. That long enough?â
âMake it twenty minutes â¦â
I hang up without waiting for him to say anything. How would he know Iâm already here? In his new world. Just down the road from his fancy new school. Still, Iâm strangely pleased he wanted to check if it was enough time for me to make it. If he didnât care at all, he wouldnât say things like that.
I think Mum believes the reason Iâve stopped talking much is because Alex left, because I miss him. She even tried to suggest maybe I could go to his new school too. I remember laughing when she mentioned it. As if we could afford that. I do want to tell her why Iâm different than I was. But itâs sort of easier for her to just blame it on me missing my old friend. And anyway, maybe that is a big part of it.
I run down the street to where the tram goes.
Thereâs no tram coming. So I leg it. Fast.
I make it to the bottom of the hill and Iâm so out of breath that I can barely stand straight. Itâs been a while since I ran anywhere. That night. Thatâs the last time I ran with any speed or urgency.
I hit the button at the lights with my foot, and wait for the green. A lady about Mumâs age gives me a dirty look and I smile at her, as broadly as I can until she looks away. The cars slow and the green man flashes up and I jog across the road to the Maccaâs. Itâs such a strange place to meet. I didnât think Alex even ate junk food. He never used to. He was always so smug about it and Tien, Lucas and I would wind him up, saving him the leftover pickles from the burgers and sticking them to his folder in class.
Maccaâs smells like cheap oil and cleaning products when I get there. Thereâs some fat guy sitting in a stool at the window surrounded by fries and sundaes. A couple of girls my age are giggling at a table in the corner, not really eating anything but just checking everyone out. Alexâs not here yet. I donât want to be in here, sitting in the only place Alex trusts to meet me. Itâs like he thinks Iâm only as good as the fast food I sometimes binge on after school.
So I lean in the doorway, not quite in and not quite out. Waiting.
Then I hear someone say, âJakeâ. I turn just as a fist slams into my face. I fall back and hit the wall. A woman grabs her little boy and pulls him away. I can feel people watching. I cover my face with my hands waiting for another attack but it doesnât come. I look up and Alex is red-faced and pacing, and I can barely open one of my eyes.
âYou told Ellie,â he says, staring at me with the steeliest look Iâve ever seen.
âI didnât tell her anything. She kept asking me why
So I pull out my phone, snap off a quick shot and slide the letter back into the slot. I just want to know the address so I donât have to follow her next time. I expect someone to yell at me, come after me or something but I start moving away from her house and nobody does. There are no people around. No one walking the streets. No bikes out riding. No cars out cruising. And I make it to the corner without seeing a soul.
I want to see Alex. I need to see Alex. So while my phoneâs out, I start to press the number Iâve rung so many times that my fingers find it without help. But before I can hit the call button, my phone rings.
âAlex? I was just about to call you. Weird, huh?â
âYeah. Can we meet?â
I can hear laughing behind him in the background, around him, like heâs circled.
âYeah. Sure,â I say, secretly pleased heâs phoned me for once.
âAll right. Maccaâs. Hawthorn. In an hour. That long enough?â
âMake it twenty minutes â¦â
I hang up without waiting for him to say anything. How would he know Iâm already here? In his new world. Just down the road from his fancy new school. Still, Iâm strangely pleased he wanted to check if it was enough time for me to make it. If he didnât care at all, he wouldnât say things like that.
I think Mum believes the reason Iâve stopped talking much is because Alex left, because I miss him. She even tried to suggest maybe I could go to his new school too. I remember laughing when she mentioned it. As if we could afford that. I do want to tell her why Iâm different than I was. But itâs sort of easier for her to just blame it on me missing my old friend. And anyway, maybe that is a big part of it.
I run down the street to where the tram goes.
Thereâs no tram coming. So I leg it. Fast.
I make it to the bottom of the hill and Iâm so out of breath that I can barely stand straight. Itâs been a while since I ran anywhere. That night. Thatâs the last time I ran with any speed or urgency.
I hit the button at the lights with my foot, and wait for the green. A lady about Mumâs age gives me a dirty look and I smile at her, as broadly as I can until she looks away. The cars slow and the green man flashes up and I jog across the road to the Maccaâs. Itâs such a strange place to meet. I didnât think Alex even ate junk food. He never used to. He was always so smug about it and Tien, Lucas and I would wind him up, saving him the leftover pickles from the burgers and sticking them to his folder in class.
Maccaâs smells like cheap oil and cleaning products when I get there. Thereâs some fat guy sitting in a stool at the window surrounded by fries and sundaes. A couple of girls my age are giggling at a table in the corner, not really eating anything but just checking everyone out. Alexâs not here yet. I donât want to be in here, sitting in the only place Alex trusts to meet me. Itâs like he thinks Iâm only as good as the fast food I sometimes binge on after school.
So I lean in the doorway, not quite in and not quite out. Waiting.
Then I hear someone say, âJakeâ. I turn just as a fist slams into my face. I fall back and hit the wall. A woman grabs her little boy and pulls him away. I can feel people watching. I cover my face with my hands waiting for another attack but it doesnât come. I look up and Alex is red-faced and pacing, and I can barely open one of my eyes.
âYou told Ellie,â he says, staring at me with the steeliest look Iâve ever seen.
âI didnât tell her anything. She kept asking me why
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