to do, and then my meh turned to wow.
Ty is looking at me like that.
It takes my breath away, because forever and ever people have looked at me like you’d look at a car crash. You pretend you’re not looking, but you can’t stop looking, and it’s like, ‘oh Jesus!’ That’s how people look at me.
‘You have the most amazing face I’ve ever seen,’ he says. He doesn’t see a car crash. He’s getting a crush on me.
9
AMINA TAKES ME through the quad to the canteen at recess. When we arrive there is an altercation between two boys.
‘What’s going on here?’ Amina asks.
‘Damen pushed in!’ exclaims one red-faced, little boy.
‘Did not! Morgan held my place when I went for a wazz!’ Damen protests.
‘Right, Damen, go to the back.’ Amina points to the end of the queue.
‘But Morgan—’ he begins to complain.
Amina interrupts him. ‘No brabble!’
Brabble! I just love that.
‘Morgan is not a bookmark,’ she continues. ‘If you go to the toilet you forfeit your place in the line. Go.’
‘Aw,’ Damen whines, but he goes.
I stare at Amina.
‘Three younger brothers,’ she explains. ‘You?’
‘Only child.’
‘How sad for you!’ she says, genuinely sympathetic. ‘Why is that? Is there something wrong with your mother?’
‘So many things, it’s hard to know where to begin.’
Amina nods solemnly. Beautiful, but not much of a sense of humour.
I buy a bag of soy chips and a juice and we head back across the playground.
Amina’s friends meet at a bench under a big fig tree. There is a girl called Julia, except she pronounces it ‘Whoolia’. She is an exchange student from Brazil. And Sierra. The mountain. She has green eyes like a cat. I am with the exotic chicks, so I guess I’m in the right place.
Sierra bumps me with her elbow. ‘My mum wanted to make sure we were buddies.’
‘The lady in the front office,’ I clarify, and Sierra nods.
They ask me where I am from and what school I used to go to, and I wish I had thought about what I was going to say, because I don’t know how much to lie.
I tell them we just moved here from South Australia. Then I remember I told Ty that my house was the only house I’ve ever lived in, and I blush.
What are the chances of these girls talking to Ty about what houses I have ever lived in, really? Zero! Or maybe zero point zero, zero, zero one per cent. I hope.
I change the subject and ask Sierra what it’s like to have her mum at school.
‘It’s ok, I s’pose.’ She pulls a face. ‘She knows every single thing that is happening in my life every single second. She kind of stalks me.’
I ask Julia about Brazil and about her host family. She shrugs and answers, but then she asks about me again. I bite my lip, scuff my feet and mumble, which is what boys do when they don’t want to talk about stuff, but it just seems to make girls curiouser. I’m going to go home and write notes, to get it clear in my head, but right now I have to distract them.
You know what I did? I showed them my really fast clapping. At first they all looked at each other. My heart stopped for a moment, while it occurred to me that they must think I am a looney. It was a mistake. Now I will have to enrol again at a whole new school. But then Amina tries it. She’s not very good.
Sierra has a go. She’s got the action right, you need to do more brushing so that it’s all in the elbow instead of the wrist. Now they are all doing it, and then they start laughing.
‘Rihanna does it,’ Julia says. ‘In that film clip. Which one was it?’
Amina laughs so much tears are coming out, and she says, ‘Stop it, or I’ll pee!’
Even while I was clapping and laughing like I was possessed, I stored that away. Boys don’t say that.
(Please don’t stop the music.)
10
ON THE WAY home on the train I send a text to my mother.
I need steel cap boots 4 metalwork tmrw.
I’m not sure exactly how she will interpret this request as a personal attack,
Ty is looking at me like that.
It takes my breath away, because forever and ever people have looked at me like you’d look at a car crash. You pretend you’re not looking, but you can’t stop looking, and it’s like, ‘oh Jesus!’ That’s how people look at me.
‘You have the most amazing face I’ve ever seen,’ he says. He doesn’t see a car crash. He’s getting a crush on me.
9
AMINA TAKES ME through the quad to the canteen at recess. When we arrive there is an altercation between two boys.
‘What’s going on here?’ Amina asks.
‘Damen pushed in!’ exclaims one red-faced, little boy.
‘Did not! Morgan held my place when I went for a wazz!’ Damen protests.
‘Right, Damen, go to the back.’ Amina points to the end of the queue.
‘But Morgan—’ he begins to complain.
Amina interrupts him. ‘No brabble!’
Brabble! I just love that.
‘Morgan is not a bookmark,’ she continues. ‘If you go to the toilet you forfeit your place in the line. Go.’
‘Aw,’ Damen whines, but he goes.
I stare at Amina.
‘Three younger brothers,’ she explains. ‘You?’
‘Only child.’
‘How sad for you!’ she says, genuinely sympathetic. ‘Why is that? Is there something wrong with your mother?’
‘So many things, it’s hard to know where to begin.’
Amina nods solemnly. Beautiful, but not much of a sense of humour.
I buy a bag of soy chips and a juice and we head back across the playground.
Amina’s friends meet at a bench under a big fig tree. There is a girl called Julia, except she pronounces it ‘Whoolia’. She is an exchange student from Brazil. And Sierra. The mountain. She has green eyes like a cat. I am with the exotic chicks, so I guess I’m in the right place.
Sierra bumps me with her elbow. ‘My mum wanted to make sure we were buddies.’
‘The lady in the front office,’ I clarify, and Sierra nods.
They ask me where I am from and what school I used to go to, and I wish I had thought about what I was going to say, because I don’t know how much to lie.
I tell them we just moved here from South Australia. Then I remember I told Ty that my house was the only house I’ve ever lived in, and I blush.
What are the chances of these girls talking to Ty about what houses I have ever lived in, really? Zero! Or maybe zero point zero, zero, zero one per cent. I hope.
I change the subject and ask Sierra what it’s like to have her mum at school.
‘It’s ok, I s’pose.’ She pulls a face. ‘She knows every single thing that is happening in my life every single second. She kind of stalks me.’
I ask Julia about Brazil and about her host family. She shrugs and answers, but then she asks about me again. I bite my lip, scuff my feet and mumble, which is what boys do when they don’t want to talk about stuff, but it just seems to make girls curiouser. I’m going to go home and write notes, to get it clear in my head, but right now I have to distract them.
You know what I did? I showed them my really fast clapping. At first they all looked at each other. My heart stopped for a moment, while it occurred to me that they must think I am a looney. It was a mistake. Now I will have to enrol again at a whole new school. But then Amina tries it. She’s not very good.
Sierra has a go. She’s got the action right, you need to do more brushing so that it’s all in the elbow instead of the wrist. Now they are all doing it, and then they start laughing.
‘Rihanna does it,’ Julia says. ‘In that film clip. Which one was it?’
Amina laughs so much tears are coming out, and she says, ‘Stop it, or I’ll pee!’
Even while I was clapping and laughing like I was possessed, I stored that away. Boys don’t say that.
(Please don’t stop the music.)
10
ON THE WAY home on the train I send a text to my mother.
I need steel cap boots 4 metalwork tmrw.
I’m not sure exactly how she will interpret this request as a personal attack,
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