Spiralling Out of the Shadow (The Spiralling Trilogy) by Michelle Dennis Evans Page B

distract her too much from her school work.’ Mum cut me off before I could think.
    ‘ Yeah, me too.’
    I dried the last pan as I heard Stephanie say goodbye. 
    I darted towards her. ‘Well? Spill.’
    Her smile told me before she spoke. ‘He’s coming to Sydney.’
    ‘ When?’
    ‘ Next week. He chose Sydney. He had other uni offers, but he chose Sydney to be near me. Did you hear that, Tabbie? He’s coming to be near me.’
    ‘ I was wrong?’
    ‘ I think you were.’
    ‘ I’m sorry.’ Maybe now was a good time to stop hoping they’d never see each other again and just accept that my best friend had a boyfriend. ‘Wow, that’s exciting.’
    Stephanie beamed with a wide smile, nodding.
    I tried to stay in the moment as long as I could but r eality hit. We had work to do. ‘How are you going with that ancient history essay?’
    ‘ No go. Can’t get focused. How about you?’
    ‘ I can’t find enough information. Maybe we should work on it together?’
    ‘ Great idea. Let’s get to it,’ Stephanie said, pulling her ponytail tighter.
    We laughed like we did before she ’d met Jason, the way we had before she’d moved away. Could this be the beginning of rebuilding our friendship?
     
    *~*~*~*
     
    I set my alarm to go off twenty minutes earlier than usual so I could shower without rushing. I wanted to keep things sweet between Steph and me. But when the alarm clock sounded, my eyes stung and I felt far from sweet. I shuffled to the bathroom squinting and let the hot water steam my eyes open.
    ‘ Happy Monday,’ I said after my shower as I passed Stephanie in the hallway. ‘Shower is all yours. Thought I’d get up a little earlier so we weren’t fighting over it.’
    ‘ Thanks, Tabbie. You’re one in a million.’
    Yeah, sometimes. ‘This year really is going to be great.’
    ‘ I think so too.’ Stephanie leant against the wall.
    ‘I’ ve decided not to get back into dance. Do you think you will?’
    ‘ No. But you were going really well. Why would you stop?’ Stephanie pulled her lip between her teeth.
    ‘Because I stuffed my ankle.’
    ‘ It’s healed now isn’t it?’
    ‘ Yeah, but I think it’s weakened.’
    ‘ So what’s stopping you from strengthening it again?’
    ‘Dancing was always your dream, not mine.’
    Stephanie didn’ t reply. I didn’t understand why she would completely drop her dream to become a professional dancer, but, that’s exactly what had happened.
    On Friday night Steph and I went our separate ways. She headed to work and I went to youth group. I arrived home with blood still rushing through my body and cleaned up our rooms. First mine then Steph’s.
    Stephanie trudged in a couple of hours later, and fell into bed without noticing. The next morning Shelly arrived at nine.
    ‘ Who else is coming?’
    ‘ Mostly the music team. I’m just tagging along on Priscilla’s invitation.’
    ‘ Oh, you mean like the whole music team from church?’
    ‘I don’ t know who’ll actually turn up.’
    T he hairs on my neck prickled. I’d got used to seeing Danny on the stage playing his bass and admiring his biceps and good looks from a distance. Other than that crazy incident at the pool, which I’d squished into a dark hole in my mind, I hadn’t come face to face with him again.
    I reminded myself that he was a complete nerd. In all seriousness, looks were a very small part of a complete attraction.
    We arrived to perfect weather and crystal clear waves crashing on the sand. There were a bunch of familiar faces, some playing beach volleyball and others lying on their towel s. After a quick scan, I couldn’t see Danny anywhere. That was probably a good thing.
    ‘ Come on, let’s play some volleyball.’ Shelly dumped her towel and headed towards the others.
    ‘ Thanks, but I don’t want to risk stuffing up my ankle again.’
    ‘ Why don’t you strap it?’ Priscilla jogged over to her bag.
    ‘ Do you have some tape?’ I raised my