IM Chat.

Sas: Lost-one tall, skinny guitar hero. Last seen after school Khaden: Found-one tall, rippling rock G.o.d. Recovering from spew-fest. C u 2morrow Ruby: Don"t give it to us!

Sas.

I figured Dad had gone as low as he could, but no, now he"s trying to bribe me. Wonder what I"m worth to him? Mum refused to tell me how much money he sent; just that he"d sent cash for me to buy new clothes. If I"d been spending summer with him, like he promised, I"d need new boardies and tops, maybe even a dress or two. But now-meh.

And as if Dad trying to bribe me wasn"t bad enough, Mum has turned it into a mother-daughter shopping trip for *just the two of us". Oh, joy!

Guess it beats another night babysitting, which I am doing again tonight because Mum is working.

Grrrrr! I"m so over myself, over the ma.s.sive weight pressing down on my shoulders, I could scream. I need to break free, to quote that Queen song Khaden loves. If only I could escape from all the ha.s.sles and lies, sc.r.a.pe off all the sludge and gunk and wash it down the drain with the shower water. Maybe then I"d feel like me again-excited, happy, like I did today when The Fink sent pig-faced Lyndal to Meyer. The look on Lyndal"s face was the funniest thing ever. That"ll teach her and Penny to carry on as if their poo doesn"t smell.

It even loosened Ruby up, too. She actually laughed-sure, it wasn"t until the end of the day while we were walking home, but she still cracked up for the first time in ages.

The only thing that would have made the whole thing better was if Khaden had been there too.

Hope he"s okay. He said he had gastro, but yesterday he hinted that his dad and Taj were fighting heaps. Instead of asking if everything was okay, I just nodded. Maybe I should have tried to talk to him about it, but I didn"t want to upset him, and I didn"t want him to think I was being like Lyndal-a gossip.

If I was being honest, I"d also admit that I didn"t want to push Khaden away. Something has changed between us, but not in a bad way. We"re better friends than ever, only there"s more to it than that. He"s easy to talk to and he doesn"t whinge, not like Ruby. Khaden gets me.

Great, Maddie and Eliza are fighting in the kitchen, and it sounds like a good one. Something shattered, probably a gla.s.s or plate. Now Eliza is wailing. Looks like it"s a job for super-slave...

ARRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!.

As if my life wasn"t bad enough, now it"s completely down the toilet. Maddie and Eliza were fighting over milk-yes, milk-so I did the only sisterly thing I could. I cracked it with both of them. After they"d stormed off to their rooms, Grace and I walked up to the convenience store to buy more milk. Problem solved, or so I thought.

When Grace and I returned with two litres of milk and a lollypop each, Maddie and Eliza were best buddies again, sitting on Eliza"s bed, laughing. At first I thought, cool-they"re over it, but then I saw what they were reading.

Notice the fingerprints, the creased pages, the VIOLATION oozing off these pages?

They were reading and laughing at MY JOURNAL, and that"s not the worst of it. They were laughing at the stuff I"d just written about Khaden.

Guess who walked in the front door when I was going off my head? Yep, Mum. And would she listen to my explanation? No. She yelled at ME.

*Sarah, I expect you to be more mature ... It"s not like they broke anything ... Blah, blah, blah."

Of all the sucky, awful things to happen, this is the suckiest. And it"s all Dad"s fault. If he hadn"t lied and stuffed everything up, I"d have told him about Khaden instead of writing it down.

Since I chucked my own mental at Mum about privacy and violation of my rights, I"ve been out in the cubby, writing by torchlight. I"ve been out here for an hour and I"m still furious.

No way am I going back in there until Eliza is asleep, though dead would be better.

Just my luck I"ll get frostbite and my toes will drop off.

IM Chat.

Sas: Want to hang out 2morrow?

Ruby: What? No babysitting?

Sas: Nah! Mum home today. FREE!

Khaden: Gonna be hot. Pool?

Ruby: Have to work til noon Sas: So, come after work Khaden: Yeah, suck it up, Ruby;) Come by yr place at 10, Sas?

Sas: Cool!

Ruby: K. C u after work.

Ruby.

After work I grabbed a roll at the bakery and rode to the pool. As I walked out of the change room and into the sunshine, the smell of chlorine and wet cement filled my nostrils. The aqua water rippled against the tiles and the orange lane-ropes running the length of the pool separating lap swimmers from squealing and splashing people.

Sas was lying on her towel under an elm tree, laughing. Khaden lay on his side facing her, his back to me.

*Hey guys," I said when I reached them. *Cool boardies, Sas."

For the first time in ages, she looked happy to see me. *Ruby-red! Do you like them? Mum and I went to Chadstone last night and bought these, two new tops, a strapless dress and shorts. Actually, I"m not sure if they are long shorts or short pants. Anyway, they"re cool."

*No way would my mum take me clothes shopping this close to Christmas." I dumped my bag, shook out my towel and laid it on the gra.s.s beside her.

*Dad sent money." Something about the way she spoke warned me not to ask about him.

*So how was work, Ruby?" asked Khaden.

*Borrrrinnng. Jessie, "yes-Mr-Wu-no-Mr-Wu" Hyland worked the registers, so I had to polish and stack apples all morning. As fast as I stacked, some idiot would buy them and Mr Wu would do his restock-dance, stamping and flicking his hand. Makes me feel like a slave." I sighed. *I blame my idiot father." I slipped on my sungla.s.ses and checked my tankini top was covering what it was meant to. Last year"s boardies looked dull compared to Sas"s new pair.

*So it"s your dad"s fault people bought apples?" asked Khaden.

*No, stupid," said Sas, play-slapping Khaden"s arm. *Remember? He made Ruby take the job."

*And insisted I turn down the one at the cinema. Grrrr."

*Oh yeah, I forgot," said Khaden.

*That would have been the best job. All those hot guys." Sweat trickled down my spine. *I"m boiling after the ride over. Why isn"t there an outdoor pool closer to home?"

*I blame the economy," said Khaden, in a newsreader voice. That"s when I noticed the purple bruise on his cheek.

*Khaden ... what happened?"

*Make a fuss why don"t you," said Sas, scowling.

*It"s okay, Sas." Khaden shrugged. *You know how I had gastro, Rube, well, I bolted to the toilet to spew, and I slipped. I landed face-first on the toilet."

*What part?" I asked.

*Does it matter?" asked Sas.

Khaden ignored her. *Bowl."

I pulled a face. *Ouch! Did you break anything? I mean, your cheek, not the toilet."

*Nah."

Sas stared at Khaden. *I thought you said your face hit the tank thing?"

Khaden"s face turned pink. *Did I? I"m not sure, I might be concussed. Does it matter?"

I felt bad for asking. *I just meant it looked sore."

*I"m fine," said Khaden.

Sas studied his face. Khaden closed his eyes.

To break the silence, I slipped my sunnies down my nose and scanned the crowd. *Anything hot?"

*Other side of the pool, near the palm tree."

*That guy with the towel over his shoulders looks okay from the back," I said.

Sas made a choking sound.

*Keep watching," said Khaden.

The guy turned and dropped his towel.

*Gross!" I squealed. *Man, he"s hairier than ... anything." I pushed my sunnies back up my nose.

*Not so loud," hissed Sas.

*Yeah, gorillas have excellent hearing and are easily spooked," said Khaden.

Sas and Khaden laughed.

I shuddered. *That"s put me off men for life."

*Yeah, right! For the next two minutes, maybe," said Khaden.

*You make me sound desperate."

*Hey," said Sas, sitting up. *Speaking of desperates, Mum has a new boyfriend."

*Who is he?" My voice caught in my throat.

Sas frowned. *What"s wrong, Ruby?"

*Nothing." I crossed my legs.

*Soooo..." Khaden drew out the word. *Who is he?"

*Don"t know." Sas pulled a face. *She just said it was serious, and that he had things to deal with before we met him."

I fiddled with the cord on my boardies.

*Anyway, because she"s all happy-and weak-I"m increasing the pressure. Operation Own Room is on, in a big way. Sharing sucks."

*It can"t be that bad," said Khaden.

*No, it"s worse. Last night..."

I could hear them, but their voices were m.u.f.fled, as though they were under water, not next to me. The air around me became thick and the world seemed to sway and shrink away from me.

*Ruby?" Sas grabbed my shoulder. *Ewww-you"re sweaty."

*I told you, I"m boiling after the ride over. Let"s talk in the pool."

I leapt to my feet and ran across the gra.s.s. After a quick scan of the water to make sure I didn"t land on a little kid, I dived in. The icy water took my breath away, but the distorted sounds and the blue were calming. I"d have stayed there forever, cushioned from the world, but my lungs were about to explode. I pushed up to the surface and burst back into reality, popping up by the lane-ropes. Squealing, splashing and laughing mingled with the sound of the radio piped across the pool. The rhythmic strokes of the swimmers in the lap-lane were soothing. The air, the world, was normal again.

*Better?" asked Khaden, surfacing beside me.

*Yeah." I stretched my arms along the ropes.

Sas swam towards us, her stroke smooth and easy.

*She should have kept going to squad," I said watching her.

Khaden shrugged. *She had to look after her sisters."

For a second I felt sorry for Sas. She duck-dived and surfaced between us, sleek and smooth, her blonde hair as dark as mine. *So, as I was saying, I"m hatching a plan so I can have my own room, a plan so good Mum won"t be able to say no."

Seemed to me Sas had overlooked one thing-their house only had three bedrooms. What was Eliza supposed to do? Share with Grace and Madison or bunk in with her mum? But I didn"t say that. I let my toes float up to bob below the pool surface. *What"s the plan?"

*Not sure yet." Sas splashed water into my face. The lifeguard pacing on the other side of the pool set his evil sungla.s.ses-stare on us. He motioned for me to move away from the lane rope.

I floated towards Sas, wiping my eyes.

*Good splash," said Khaden. *Can you bomb as well?"

*Of course." Sas beamed. *My bombs are legendary. Want to see?"

*Ummm." I nodded at the lifeguard, still watching us. Behind him, in serious black print, the sign read *No Running. No Pushing. No Bombing."

*You"re a chicken, Ruby."

Even though the water was cool, I could feel my skin flush. *Am not."