I breathed a sigh of relief, maybe a little forced. “Thanks, Dad. That’d really help.”
“Okay. That’s good then. Hey, since you’re finally using that phone I got you, why don't you call your pal in Australia? I know he’s—“
“Dad. No.”
“Ara, he’s been calling every day.”
“Yeah, but he stopped now, right? You said he hadn't called for a week.”
He went quiet. “That’s not necessarily a good thing, honey.”
I sighed heavily, resting my head on my hand. It wouldn’t be easy to talk to my best friend again. I wasn't even sure I had the right to after evading his calls so often.
“Ara-Rose, he cares about you. He’s just worried—just wanted to make sure you’re doing okay.”
“I know, Dad.”
“Why not give him a call then? Maybe after, you can sit back and read a book for a while?”
“I just…what if he doesn’t want to speak to me?”
Dad laughed. “Just call him.”
I jammed my fingers between my teeth again. “Okay. Maybe I’ll think about it.”
“That’s great. Now, go rest up and don't stress over homework, okay? I promised you we’d ease you back into this slowly, so that’s what we’ll do.”
“Thank you, Dad.”
“Anytime, honey. Bye.”
“Bye.” I hung up and, before placing the handset down again, flipped it over and stared at the numbers. I’d dialled Mike’s number so many times I could do it with my toes if I wanted, but it took me a minute, as I stared at the phone, to remember the first digit. And in that moment, a pocket of fear crept in, asking me what I was going to talk to him about. I mean, what did I say? “Hi, Mike. I haven’t called to see if you’re coping in the last two months, but I just wanted to let you know that I'm not. That I feel tired and sad all the time. That I went to school today and fell in love with a boy at first sight, and I'm pretty sure I might be going insane, because that’s just not normal, but I thought I’d just tell you that because you have no reason to care how I feel anymore after I’ve ignored you the way I have.”
With a sigh, I looked at the phone again.
“Go on,” it teased.
I pinned the number in, my hand shaking, and it only rang twice before the husky voice on the other end made my heart jump. “Hello?”
“Hey, Mike.”
“Ara?”
“Yeah. It’s me.”
“Hey, kid. How you doin’?” His voice pitched high on the end.
“Um—” I scratched the wood grain on my desk. “I’m good.”
“How’d your first day go?”
“How did you know I was starting school today?”
“I spoke to your dad on Saturday.”
“Oh.”
“So…?” he said leadingly. “How was it?”
“Um, well, it was good, actually.”
“Really?” He exhaled. “That’s great. I’ve been worried ‘bout ya all night. I haven't even slept.”
“Oh crud, the time difference thing.” I slapped my forehead. “I'm sorry, Mike. Should I go?”
“No. No, of course not.” I heard a ruffling sound on his end and imagined him sitting up in bed, his black cotton sheets looking blue in the moonlight under him. “So, did you make any friends yet?”
“I did.” I grinned, then Mike got the run down on all the happenings of the day; Emily, Alana, how cool Ryan was—a tiny bit about David—and a massively overdramatised recap on music class with Mr Grant.
“No joke? What an arse.” Mike laughed. “I wish I’d been there. I would’ve played Chopsticks and deliberately done a bad job of it.”
“I know you would. I was thinking about that while I was playing.” I chuckled.
“You were thinking about me?”
I nodded, even though he couldn’t see it. “I really missed you today.”
Mike went quiet. “I…I'm actually really glad to hear that.”
“Really?”
“Yeah,” he said quietly. “I just. Ara, about that night…”
“Can we not talk about the past?” I said quickly. “Can we just talk about…normal stuff, please?
“Sure thing, kid.”
“Thanks. So, what’ve you been up to the last few months?”
He sighed heavily, probably running a hand through his sandy hair. “Well, you know how I applied to Tactical last year?”
“Yeah?” I said, getting excited at the excitement in his voice.
“I’ve got one more interview to go, and I’m pretty much in.”
“You’re kidding me? Mike, that’s so awesome. I can’t believe you’ve finally done it.”
“Well, don’t jinx it. I haven’t made it yet.”
“Yeah right. You’re, like, super fit and super smart. You were in when you were born and you know it.”
“Yeah. I know. Hey, listen, I was thinking…once I make it in, I’ve got a few weeks before training begins. Can I come see you?”
“Are you kidding?” I stood up, practically squealing. “Of course you can. I’d love that. There’s so much I wanna show you, and I really want to talk to you about this guy, and—” I paused.
“What guy?” Mike’s voice peaked. I pictured his face, the way the corners of his lips would turn up under his rough, sandy-brown stubble.
“I really need your advice, actually.” I slumped back down in my chair.
“Sure, I’m good for it. What’s the deal, kid?”
“Well, his name’s David.”
“The one who showed you around today?”
Does he not miss anything? I barely even mentioned David. “Yeah, except I left everything out. He didn’t just show me around, Mike, he, like, I don’t know, he stayed with me all day, and didn’t really make a secret of the fact that he likes me.” My brows rose. “He’s, um, well. I really like him.”
“That’s great, right?”
“No.”
“What’s the problem then?”
“After one day?” I looked out at the corner of the school’s front parking lot, just visible from my window. “Does that make me creepy?”
“How long did it take you to fall completely in love with Leopold?” he asked, referring to my favourite movie.