Chapter 2
Chapter Two
L ayla and Evie became best friends on that first day at school. Luckily, they lived not too far away, which meant that Layla and her older sisters, Patrina and Emily, could wait for Evie on the corner of her street every morning to ride their bikes to school together. Layla’s mother’s name was Yvette, and she knew Mother through the tennis club. The arrangements made between the two mothers on that first morning of school stayed in place for the next seven years. Come rain, hail or shine, Evie and Layla rode together.
After Layla’s sisters left and started at the high school that was further away, requiring a bus trip, the two girls continued to meet every morning and make their way to school together. Some days they were early, so there was time to dawdle and stop at the horse paddock. An old piebald mare that loved the tuna sandwich Layla’s mother made for her lunch, waited each morning at the fence. The girls giggled as the mare stretched her neck over the barbed wire and nuzzled their school bags, until they gave her what she was looking for.
At first, Mother was surprised Evie needed two sandwiches each day, and queried that she wanted to have the same jam on both. After a while though, she stopped questioning. She was just glad that Evie appeared to have settled into school, made some friends and expected less and less of her precious time. Layla became used to the shared sandwiches and felt lucky to be rid of the tuna, instead enjoying the sticky sweet jam that covered thick butter on crusty brown bread.
During lunch break, Evie and Layla always sat in the same spot. A gentle sloping area under the shade of tall pine trees was a perfect place to observe others, share the jam sandwiches and tell their secrets.
It was where they were sitting on the last day of grade five when Evie had her first conversation with Chris McIntosh. There were always groups of boys playing football down on the flat grassed area in front of them, and a couple of times Evie had noticed the boy who had poked his tongue out at her on her first day of school. He was older than she was, so she had not had anything to do with him over the previous years, only noticing when he got an award or won a ribbon on sports day. Today, he jogged towards them. His football had landed nearby, and Layla snatched it up as it bounced close to her, hiding it under her jumper.
‘Give us the ball, please,’ he said, holding out his hand.
Layla giggled. ‘What ball?’
‘I’m not stupid. It’s under your jumper. ’
Evie was impressed with Layla’s certainty around older kids. Her self-confidence and larger, stronger build were good reasons, along with her fun personality, to have her as a friend. There was a feeling of safety in her presence. Today, however, perhaps she was pushing her luck. Layla wrapped her hands around her stomach. ‘You need to pay to get it back.’
‘It’s my ball. Give it back.’
‘Nope.’
Another boy appeared behind Chris, his glare showing that he was not happy. ‘Give us the ball back.’ This boy’s name was Adam and he was taller than Chris.
‘You gotta pay me,’ Layla said.
‘With what?’ Adam asked. ‘We’ve got no money.’
‘You have to kiss me then,’ Layla said.
Evie’s face must have mirrored the horror she felt at Layla’s suggestion, and she blinked hard when Chris replied, ‘I’m not kissing anyone. Now give the ball back.’
Layla clutched her stomach tighter. ‘No. Someone has to kiss me.’
By now Evie had heard enough. ‘Layla! Give them the ball back.’
No one spoke. It's a standoff, Evie thought. Suddenly, Adam bent down and kissed Layla on the cheek, wrestling the ball from her. She fell backwards laughing, kicking her legs in the air as the two boys ran off.
‘My first kiss!’ she shrieked. ‘And with Adam Pearson! A year seven boy! Wait ’til I tell my sisters!’