My hands reassuringly tighten on his shoulders. “I will,” I reply.
“I don’t want to see you hurt,” he breathes.
A bittersweet nectarine with a rind taste fills my mouth. I imagine myself standing in front of Conner. Peeling off the layers hiding the hurt and pain, I show him my swollen stomach. Blister rings of purple, yellow, and blue blotch, spotting across my skin.
I imagine standing there, wearing only my underwear. My arms wrap around my chest, but also show him that someone got to me before Sarah Jane.
She’s nothing compared to the monster haunting my home.
22
SNEAKY SAMMY
Diagnosis:swollen ankle.
The nurse gives me an ice pack, then instructs me to go home to recover, but I don’t want to. So, the best I can do is convince her I’m fine. I even walk on my foot as I suppress the spark of pain that shudders across my ankle.
She lets me go without further prompting.
Conner left when the bell rang, and I know he left because he wanted to talk to Sarah Jane. Regardless of his leaving, I’m grateful because it would have been harder to convince him if he had stayed.
I make my way to Creative Arts, arriving before the others because the office is located beside Block A. I sit where I usually do, with my art book in front of me, recreating the drawing from last week. Mr Rogers tells us to work on them today, so I bring more life and colour into my project.
Andy comes through first and sits beside me. He asks what happened to me, and I give him the short answer about falling down the stairs and rolling my ankle.
“Ouch. Are you okay now?” Andy asks.
“Yes,” I answer.
“That’s good.” He pulls out notes for English, and when he notices me noticing, he laughs awkwardly and says, “It’s due this afternoon, and I haven’t made a dent. I’ve done a little more in class today.”
The grip on my pencil tightens. “You need to prioritise assignments more,” I murmur.
“Eh…” he responds, shrugging. “I don’t care.”
I breathe in and out as I close my eyes momentarily. My grip loosens, and I continue to shade in the lines of the tree.
Conner comes in last, noticing where I am before settling his focus on Andy. Andy gives off a hint of smugness when I look at him from the corner of my eye. His lips upturn, and his blue eyes crinkle with dark humour. However, Conner smiles. An innocent and more convincing display of friendliness as he walks past us. Ignoring them, I focus on my work when I hear the scrape of the chair nearing. Conner moves the chair across the room, slaps his art book beside mine, and sits at the corner of the table.
My Rogers grimaces, yet doesn’t complain. Instead, he returns to reading his book.
Andy leans over and hisses, “There’s only room for two at a table.”
“Then leave,” Conner responds, barely paying attention to Andy’s threatening form. He leans into me and says, “Why are you in class?”
I bite the inside of my cheek and glare at the paper, imagining teleporting myself inside it. The tension on either side of me palpitates, and I’m in the middle. So, I dream of being inside my art book, hiding behind the lightning tree, hoping they won’t find me. However, Conner’s presence makes it hard to maladaptive daydream away from the heat on either side of me.
“Don’t ignore me,” Andy spits at Conner.
Conner smirks when I don’t respond. Leaning away from me, he faces Andy and says, “If Mr Rogers cared, he’d have saidsomething. But if you wish to comply with the rules, feel free to take my table at the back.”
“Fucking arsehole,” Andy mutters into his hand. Andy leans towards me, his presence smelling of a mowed lawn, with a hint of muskiness that overwhelms my freshness. He must have smoked some of Wylan’s weed. “Oh, you drew the tree on the oval…but,”—Andy laughs—“I think you missed the point. Half the tree doesn’t look like it at all.”
“Oh…” I stop outlining the sketch and gaze at the flourishing leaves.
“I think it’s beautiful,” Conner defends. “It showcases how much fiction plays a part in our lives.” He points to the blooming flowers on the tree. “This is Noya’s reality.”
“Yeah?” Andy leans over to Conner’s work. “What did you draw, then?”