Everything Left Unsaid by Jessica Davidson Page B

the door, so we can talk about it.’
    ‘No. You don’t want to talk about it; you want to tell me what to do.’
    ‘Okay, Juliet, if you want to act like a child and not do your schoolwork you don’t really give me another option. You’re grounded.’
    I stick my face in my pillow, and cry. It’s not fair. How can she possibly deny me time with Tai?

 
     
     
Tai
    I hate her , the message reads. I’m grounded again, for nothing. I hate her .
    I’m sorry, girl , I text back. But I’m kind of relieved that I won’t get to see her tomorrow. I’m still a bit embarrassed about crying on her at the beach.
    Wish I was still in your bed , her next text reads.
    Me too.
    You have no idea, Juliet. Lying together on the bed tonight . . . we didn’t even do anything and it was amazing. I close my eyes, and put my face in my pillow, breathe in the scent of her. But I’m distracted by the headache that’s still lingering, the one that’s constantly there – only it’s getting worse. Slowly, but definitely. This week is worse than last week, worse again from the week before that. Funny how I notice it more now. How before when I had headaches I just brushed them off or took a Panadol but now . . . now it’s The Tumour, The Thing That’s Going to Kill Me.
    • • •
    The next day I meet Sam and a few of the other guys down at the beach after school, the first time we’ve hung out since they’ve heard the news. They tease me about neglecting them for a girl, and we all know they’re lying, but act like it’s true. We pull off our shirts, throw them into the sand, and I pretend not to see the shock on their faces at the bruises, the ribs poking through, the hip bones starting to jut out.
    Sam, his face puckered with sadness, is the only one who can look me in the eye. ‘Sorry, mate,’ he says quietly, and at that Tom and Alex take off towards the water. I know they just don’t know what to say, but somehow that doesn’t make it any easier. I can handle strangers at school giving me that pitying look, but it’s a bit harder to swallow from my mates.
    In the water, things get closer to normal, and I start to breathe again. After a swim we all put in a couple of bucks and buy some fish and chips, and a big bottle of Coke, and sit at one of the tables outside. There’s a guy walking along with a screaming toddler and a baby in a sling. When his back is turned Tom goes to throw a chip to the kid, like you’d throw it to a seagull, and we crack up laughing.
    ‘What are you guys up to later?’ I ask.
    Tom’s got to write an assignment, he groans, sliding his banned-during-school-hours eyebrow ring back in, fingers effortlessly tightening the ball.
    Alex has to work, he says, pulling his Maccas uniform out of his bag with a sigh.
    Sam looks at me. ‘Want to come to my place?’
    ‘Yeah, okay.’
    We grab our gear and start walking towards his, sun on our backs. Sam’s house is further from the beach than mine, but his olds have a pool table and he’s got no little brothers to fight over the Xbox with. His dad is halfway through a game of pool with one of his friends when we get there, so we play one of those racing games. We’re at it for a couple of hours, lost in the game, and the first time I look up is when Sam’s mum comes into the room and says, ‘Hi, boys. Dinner’s in half an hour. Tai, you can stay if you like.’
    ‘Okay, thanks.’
    ‘Use the phone if you want to ring your mum.’
    ‘I will, thanks.’
    She’s almost out of the room when Sam yells out, ‘Hey, Mum, can Tai stay the night?’
    ‘Fine with me,’ she calls back.
    When I ring home, Hendrix answers. ‘You’re in trouble , Tai,’ he says gleefully.
    ‘Why, what did I do?’
    ‘You didn’t come home from the beach and Mum’s super freaked out. You’re so grounded.’
    ‘As if. Put Mum on, will you?’
    I hear a clunk, like he’s dropped the phone, and then yelling, and when Mum picks up the phone I can hear the