Ready When You Are by Gary Lonesborough

Author:Gary Lonesborough [Lonesborough, Gary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2022-03-02T00:00:00+00:00

I stomp my way over to Ethan and land a punch on his chin. He grabs my collar and my shirt rips as he punches me back. I take more hits to the face as his mates join in and I’m swung around. Owen’s face appears in the blur. His punches land on the back of Ethan’s head, and Ethan releases me. I go for the bastard again, punch him in the chest. One of his mates tackles me to the ground. The grass burns my face when I land. I see Owen fighting the other one, then Ethan kicks me in the ribs and his friend lifts me to my feet.

Kalyn and Jarny and Tomas come from nowhere. Ethan goes for them. He punches Jarny in the mouth, then Kalyn hits him in the face. Tomas punches the guy holding me, and I wriggle from his grip and punch the guy in the face. While I’m whacking his face, Tomas punches his stomach, and the white boy goes down. Tomas kicks him once in the face, and he rolls away through the screams and the cheers I hadn’t heard until now.

“Oi!” I hear. It’s Constable Rogers and his partner racing for us.

I turn to Tomas. “Come on, you gotta go before the coppers get ya!”

I take his arm and pull him through the crowd. The dancers are still dancing. They knock my hand and I lose my grip on Tomas. I turn to see him jostling through the crowd for a moment, then he disappears.

I look for the fight. Constable Rogers is standing there with his partner. Everyone else is gone except for one of Ethan’s mates, who cradles his jaw. Jarny and Kalyn are gone from the crowd, although Tesha and Abby are returning to the dance floor.

I make it out of the crowd and pass by the bar, across the narrow street, and past the toilet block. Hordes of people crowd the main street. I head for the beach, past the drunken adults and teenagers, past the fish-and-chips shop, and down the wooden stairs to the beach.

I’m puffing as I walk. My hands are shaking and I’m wide-awake. I follow the sand and a freezing sea breeze rolls over me. Some drunken teens have made their way down to the shore, where they splash in the shallows.

I stop for a moment and let my muscles relax. I take off my shoes and socks, walk along the shore, and let the waves roll over my feet. The light of town is bright behind me. I glance over my shoulder, to the wooden stairs, find myself hoping to see Tomas standing there. Hoping he’ll see me and come down. But he’s not there.

I keep moving, farther up the beach, until my legs grow weak and I drop onto the ground, roll onto my back. I let myself sink into the cold sand; close my eyes so the darkness can calm my thoughts. The sound of the waves crashing to shore is like music to me, washing into my ears.

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