How to be . . . the New Person by Anna Branford

Author:Anna Branford [Branford, Anna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781760655853
Publisher: Walker Books Australia
Published: 2022-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

When I get home Mum and Dad look really cross. They are both in the living room and they say I have to sit down because we need to have a serious discussion.

“Where were you, Hazel?” asks Dad. He only ever calls me Hazel when I’m in trouble.

“I was next door like I said,” I tell him.

“What do you mean, ‘like I said’?” asks Dad. “We had no idea where you were. You really scared us!”

“I told you where I was going while you were on the phone and those people were here buying the desk.”

“Hazel, that is not okay!” says Mum. (Now she is Hazelling me too.) “Firstly, we need to know where you are at all times. And secondly, Veronica is a total stranger. In this family we have conversations about where we go. We don’t just disappear off into strangers’ houses!”

“I didn’t just disappear,” I say, feeling my voice getting louder because it is so, so unfair. “And I didn’t go into anyone’s house, only their garden. I tried to have a conversation with you about it last night and you just walked off into another room on your phone.”

I am not sitting down any more. I will not sit down when people are Hazelling me for no good reason.

“Then I tried to have a conversation about it with you on the way home from my first day at my new school,” I say to Dad, “and you were too busy rushing to even listen to me properly. And by the way, I did not have a good first day at school today,” I say to both of them, “and I am not made of tough stuff!”

By the time I get to the last bit I am nearly shouting. I stomp out of the living room and up to my bedroom, leaving Mum and Dad with funny looks on their faces. As far as I can remember I have never stomped out on them before. Not one single time in my whole life.

I sit on my bed and wait for them to come up and Hazel me about stomping. But when they come up I can see that they are not cross with me anymore. And when I see they’re not cross, I feel a bit less cross too.

“Hazy, I’m sorry I answered the phone when you were talking to me last night,” says Mum. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

“It’s all right,” I say. “I know it was about important stuff about Tess’s school.”

“Even so,” says Mum. “What you were saying was important too.”

“And I’m sorry for being in such a rush today,” says Dad. “I thought you said your first day was okay. I should have been listening harder.”

“I did say it was okay,” I admit. Since they are trying to be nice now, I want to try too. “But it takes a bit of time to talk about your first day. You can’t explain it quickly to someone who is in a rush.”

“That’s true,” says Dad.

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