*I can see that." Dobson walked into the family room. *Right, O"Brien, let"s go."
*But," said O"Brien.
*Now," said Dobson.
Mike followed them to the car.
*What a mess," said Taj.
Khaden wondered if Taj was just talking about the window.
*Why can"t you just do as he says?" said Khaden, the buzzing in his head growing to a roar. *If you"d just shut up-"
*So, what, this is my fault?"
*That"s not what I meant."
The police car reversed out the driveway.
Mike walked inside and picked up his car keys. *Clean up this mess."
From his bedroom, Khaden heard his father"s ute roar to life. He peered at his reflection in the mirror and winced. The red mark from where his cheek had hit the chair was already puffy.
No way could he front up to school tomorrow looking like this. He couldn"t face the questions. Not even from Sas.
Ruby.
Waves crashed and rolled onto the white sand, seagulls skimmed the water and palm trees swayed. As I rubbed sunscreen into my perfect, long legs and adjusted my floral bikini, the silver charm bracelet on my wrist jingled. It was a gift from Taylor, no, Luke, the incredibly hot, tanned guy lying beside me. We were the only people on the tropical bea- *Why do they make us turn up?"
Sas"s voice was a sledgehammer to my daydream, shattering my perfect beach and replacing it with the dark school gym. Horses galloped across a makeshift screen, and row after row of green plastic chairs were filled with slumped, fidgeting students. I"d almost been able to smell the coconut sunscreen.
*d.a.m.n it!"
*Yeah. d.a.m.n them for making us keep coming to school. I mean, what is the point of watching Phar Lap? Again. I recognise babysitting when I see it," said Sas, twisting in her seat to look around her. *Where"s Khaden?"
*Dunno. Could be sitting with Eli and Kurt."
Sas rolled her eyes. *He better not have blown us off for those geeks."
*You can"t blame him. Look where you made us sit." I nodded at Lyndal and Penny in front of us.
*All part of the plan." Sas winked.
The Fink stood and scanned the gym.
*Check her out," I whispered. *Part woman, part meerkat."
Sas shuddered. *She"s gross. Creepy gross."
We stared at the screen in silence until The Fink sat back down and continued her conversation with Bosworth. After a few minutes of horseracing and cheering, Sas slithered down in her seat, moaning.
Panic flooded through me. *What"s wrong?"
Sas writhed and gasped.
*Sas? What is it?"
She reached for me, her hand twisted like a claw. *Ruby. The boredom," she gasped. *It"s killing me."
Relief swallowed my panic. *You idiot. I thought you were really sick or something."
Lyndal and Penny spun around and glared at us.
*Will you two shut up?" snapped Lyndal in her clipped voice. *We"re enjoying this movie."
*The horse dies, Lyndal," said Sas.
Lyndal gasped. *Ruin it why don"t you, Sarah?"
I bit my bottom lip to stop myself from laughing.
*You two are so gay," sneered Penny.
It was like she"d jabbed Sas with a stick. Sas lurched forward. *What did you call us?"
Penny scoffed and turned back to watch the film. Lyndal shook her head before facing the screen.
Sas lifted her feet onto Lyndal"s seat and, when Lyndal didn"t react, tapped a rhythm on the seat with her toes. Lyndal dragged her chair forward. Sas"s feet crashed to the stadium floor.
*Everything all right, girls?" asked The Fink, looming over us.
*Ruby and I are busting," said Sas, bringing her knees together and pulling a desperate face.
The Fink sighed. *Then go to the toilet. But not together. Ruby, you can go when Sarah returns." The Fink glared then glided back to her seat.
Sas winked and trotted out of the gym.
I"d just about become lost in my beach daydream again when Sas returned, beaming.
*You took your time," I whispered.
*Stuff to do," she said. As she sat down, she slipped a mobile phone onto my lap. I gasped and shoved it in my dress pocket.
Our school has a full-on *mobile phones in lockers during school hours" rule, no excuses. Last term, when Shay Barrow"s mum was having a major operation, Shay kept her mobile in her pocket so her dad could call her, which seemed fair enough to me. But our English teacher didn"t see it that way when Shay"s phone rang in cla.s.s, and neither did our year coordinator, Mr Meyer, who gave Shay a weeklong detention. According to them, the school had *made it clear in such emergencies, calls are to go through the school office". Control freaks.
*If we get busted, it"s detention," I whispered.
Sas shrugged.
*We aren"t the ones about to get busted."
*Who is?"
Sas opened her pocket to show me another mobile. This one was pink. She pointed at Lyndal.
So who"s is this?" I nodded at the other phone I"d hidden.
Sas pointed to her chest.
*But, Sas-"
She cut me off with a wave of her hand. *Changed my settings so instead of my number showing up on Lyndal"s phone, it"ll just say "private number"."
Excitement bubbled under my skin. *How"d you get her phone?"
*Her locker"s under mine."
*So you broke-?"
*Shhhh," spluttered Penny, glaring.
*Keep your hair on," muttered Sas. She turned back to me and whispered. *Technically, I didn"t break in. I"ve had a year to memorise her combination while I waited for her to get her books." She shrugged. *Lyndal"s combination is Chris Holbrook"s football number-three-two-three-two."
*What if her phone has a pa.s.sword?"
*Sorted. Same as her locker."
*Figures," I said.
*And so to my prank."
Part of me was so excited I thought I"d explode; the rest of me was wringing my hands, terrified of being caught.
Sas"s eyes sparkled in the gloom. *I"ll stick Lyndal"s phone under her chair. You take mine to the toilet and call her."
I nodded, then frowned. *What"s her number?"
*I just put it in my phone. When you"re done, stick my phone in my locker and come back here. You know my pa.s.sword?"
I nodded. Sas"s excitement was flowing into me, almost. *And if we get caught?"
*Ruby-stop being a wuss!"
*I just..." I let my words trail off.
Lyndal turned around. Even in the gloom I could see the zits on her forehead and her pointy little teeth. *If you two don"t shut up, I"ll call Mrs Finkle."
*You"ll need your phone to do that," said Sas, her face deadpan.
I held my hand over my mouth.
Lyndal"s eyes narrowed. *You two are so immature." She huffed and turned back to the front.
Stuck-up weirdo. *She deserves this," I said.
*So, what are you waiting for?" asked Sas.
The Fink looked up and I motioned towards the door. She nodded. I leant down to Sas. *What"s the combo again?"
Sas sighed. *Three-two-three-two. And my locker is-"
*I know that!" I scurried from the gym, Sas"s phone in my pocket.
When I returned about five minutes later, the lights were on, the film had been paused and everyone, staff and students, faced the middle of the room where Lyndal slumped in her seat.
The Fink stood over her, more fire-breathing dragon than meerkat. *If you didn"t bring it in here, who did?" she raged, her neck as red as her shirt.
Lyndal slipped further down in her seat.
I glanced at Sas. Her face was set in a shocked expression so real that, for a second, I almost believed her. Then I noticed the gleam in her eye. I eased into the seat beside Sas, hoping I looked just as surprised and innocent.
Penny pointed at me. *She did it!"
I looked from Penny to The Fink. *Did what?"
The Fink glared at me. *Where have you been?"
*The toilet. You said I could."
*Are you sure?"
Sas stood. *Want her to tell you what she did in there?"
The red on The Fink"s neck spread to her face. *Well, no..." she bl.u.s.tered. She turned back to Lyndal. *Take yourself to Mr Meyer."
Lyndal"s eyes filled with tears.
*Now."
She huffed past The Fink.
*Right, Alistair, resume the film. Lights, Jesse."
The stadium plunged into gloom and the frozen horses galloped across the screen again.
The Fink leant towards us. *I"m watching you two," she hissed.
I dug my thumbs into my elbows to stop myself from laughing.