Catch a Falling Star by Eileen Merriman

Author:Eileen Merriman [Merriman, Eileen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781776956722
Publisher: Penguin Random House New Zealand
Published: 2013-04-08T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

‘So how did you break your arm exactly?’ Hattie asked me at lunchtime the following day. We were sitting at the bottom of a stairwell in the English block, playing a two-handed version of the card game Five Hundred.

I adjusted my sling. ‘I tripped over a tree root in the Domain. You know that big park where the war museum is?’

‘I think so. Did it hurt?’

‘Like a bastard.’ I loosened the top of my Coke bottle with my teeth. I’d been going through two Cokes a day, which was probably really bad for me, but I told myself it was a temporary measure while I was crippled. I needed all the help I could get.

‘And what’s going on with you and Frankie?’

‘Frankie?’ I gulped on my drink. ‘Nothing. Not at the moment anyway.’ Especially when I couldn’t see her yesterday because it was too late by the time we’d finished at the doctor’s. What a waste of time that was, not to mention money.

‘Really? She kissed you, broke up with Ari and …’ Hattie held her fingers up in inverted comma shapes ‘… nothing’s happening?’

I wasn’t sure how to answer that. Truth was, I was struggling to understand why Frankie wanted to keep our relationship a secret. Why did it matter when she wasn’t with Ari anymore, as Hattie said?

‘It was a spur-of-the-moment thing. Six clubs.’

‘Six diamonds,’ Hattie countered.

‘Hel-lo.’ Vaughan’s bag reached us before he did, having been lobbed from a few feet away.

I yelped. ‘Watch out, do you want me to break my other arm as well?’

Vaughan sat next to me with a thud. ‘Nah, think I’ll leave that to Ari.’

‘Thanks.’ I tried to ignore the ball of worms in my gut. Was Ari going to try and beat me up again — or worse, would his rugby mates do it for him?

‘Relax, Ari’s not the violent type.’ Vaughan took a monster sandwich out of his bag, which appeared to consist of six slices of bread and peanut butter.

‘No …’ I wondered what he was saying about me, though. Did I want to know?

‘But don’t think he’ll ever talk to you again,’ Vaughan said cheerfully, before biting into his bread tower.

‘Yeah, I got it.’

Hattie huffed through her nose. ‘It’s not as if it’s all Jamie’s fault. In fact, the person Ari should really be grumpy at is Frankie for two-timing him.’

‘She was going to dump him,’ I said, in Frankie’s defence.

‘Really?’ Hattie gave me a dubious look. ‘For you? So why aren’t you and Frankie going out now then?’

‘I — don’t know.’ I stared at my cards, irritation needling at me. Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut.

Vaughan shrugged. ‘Sure, but Jamie broke the guy code.’ He held up his free hand. ‘It’s OK, I’m sure you’ve learned your lesson. I’m neutral here.’

‘Well, I reckon it’s sixty–forty,’ Hattie said. ‘As in, forty per cent Jamie’s fault and sixty per cent Frankie’s.’

‘Can we stop talking about this now?’ I held up my cards. ‘Seven diamonds.’

‘Ah, have it,’ Hattie said in disgust, and I set my hand down so I could pick up the kitty.

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