Invisibly Breathing by Eileen Merriman

Author:Eileen Merriman
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780143772866
Publisher: Penguin Random House New Zealand
Published: 2013-04-07T16:00:00+00:00

On Tuesday morning I walk out of our house at eight a.m. exactly. I’m surprised to see Bailey sitting on our front lawn, his feet in the creek. His scuffed shoes are next to him, stuffed with his grey school socks. I sit beside him, crossing my legs.

‘How long have you been here?’

‘Only a couple of minutes.’ There are dark shadows under his eyes. ‘How are you?’

‘I’m good. Heaps better.’ I want to touch him, but Alfie will be bounding out of the house any moment now. ‘How are you?’ For once, it’s not an empty greeting. I really do want to know how he is.

Bailey rubs at his eye with the palm of his hand. ‘Yeah, I’m — OK.’

‘Where’s your bike?’

He pulls his feet out of the creek and reaches for his shoes.

‘I had time to kill, so I walked. It’s just easier not to hang around home at the moment. I can’t wait until I can head away to uni.’

‘That’s two years away,’ I say, watching him yank his socks over his dripping feet.

‘Do you have to keep reminding me?’ He ties his laces, using a funny knot on the left lace, because it’s broken.

I frown. ‘Sorry.’ Is he in a bad mood? If he is, then I wish he’d just tell me.

Bailey shakes his head. ‘Well, anyway. I’m not sure I’ll last that long. We’ll see.’

‘What do you mean, last that long?’ This conversation is giving me a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach.

‘Nothing. It’s just a f-figure of speech.’ We’ve barely walked ten metres before there’s a slap of feet behind us and the whump-whump of a basketball hitting the pavement.

‘Yo, Hunter.’ Wiremu Wright bounds up to us. ‘Didn’t know you lived ’round here. Hi Felix,’ he adds, almost as an afterthought.

‘I don’t.’ Bailey drifts away from me, towards the edge of the pavement. ‘What’s up?’

Wiremu tosses him the ball. ‘We’re short a player for our game after school. Want to step in?’

‘Sure.’ Bailey lobs the ball back. ‘Where are you p-playing?’

‘Home game.’ Wiremu starts pounding the ball into the concrete again. ‘Thanks man.’ He jogs off, dribbling the ball ahead of him.

I shove my hands in the pockets of my shorts and scuff my feet through the grass. ‘I thought we were going to hang out this afternoon.’

Bailey runs a hand through his hair. ‘Yeah, sorry. I just — I’m still making friends, you know? But we can hang out another day.’

I want to ask him how he needs more friends when he’s got me, but I don’t want to sound jealous and possessive.

‘Another day,’ I say, swallowing back my disappointment. ‘Sure.’

Bailey moves closer, his elbow bumping against mine. ‘Hey, maybe I could have a sleepover at your house?’

‘What about your caravan?’

He sighs. ‘Like I said, it’s not such a great place to hang out right now.’

‘Oh yeah.’ I accidentally-on-purpose bump my arm against his. ‘All right, a sleepover at my place. Friday night — is that OK?’

‘It’s a date,’ he says. Then we cross the road, and there are school kids all over the place, so we stop talking about us.

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