WATTPAD FEATURED NOV 2020 AND OCT 2021 - FROM OUR STARS LIST
WATTPAD MULTICULTURAL FEATURED SEP 2022 - AUSTRALIAN WHISPERERS READING LIST
It's difficult to save someone who doesn't want saving, particularly when they're lying to you.
...
Claudia and...
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"You're going to Heather's tonight, right?"
I drag my attention from my maths textbook and frown at Emmy. She's sitting beside me, chewing on the end of her pencil and looking at her work.
It's Friday, and word that Heather is hosting another party because of her parent's abrupt decision to disappear on a cruise has spread around the schools like wildfire.
At first, the idea of another party with dancing and booze and backyard campfires makes me queasy. But Jake wanted to go, and so did Lewis and Aleisha. So, eventually, I agreed, praying that this time I wouldn't end up writhing on the ground and scaring my brother half to death.
"Yeah, I think so. Are you?"
My question is filled with genuine curiosity.
Emmy and Heather hadn't been on the friendliest terms these last few weeks, and everyone had noticed. During netball today, they'd ignored each other so aggressively that Coach Zion split them up, moving them onto different teams.
"Yeah, of course."
Her words are calm, breezing out quick, but she avoids looking at me.
"Emmy..."
"What?"
She rounds on me, a storm brewing in her eyes, and I grimace and look back down at my textbook, unwilling to provoke her into unleashing it on me.
"Nothing."
"Good. So, I'll see you tonight?"
"Yeah," I say. "Sure thing."
...
The minute I enter Heather's house that evening, Jake and Lewis trailing behind me, I feel heat and alcohol in the air.
It's 11pm, much later than we planned to arrive, and we stop and stare at the sweaty, liquored-up mass of almost-adults with fresh eyes.
"Do we look like this when we drink?" I ask, watching as a group of girls down tequila shots while giggling uncontrollably.
One of them loses her balance mid-swig, and she stumbles into an expensive looking bookshelf.
"I hope not," Jake says, and then he turns to Lewis. "I'm gonna go find Harper. Wanna come?"
Lewis glances at me, unsure, and I smile.
"Yeah, off you guys go. I need to find Emmy, anyway."
"Great," Jake says. "We'll catch up with you later, Claude."
And then they disappear, merging into the crowd.
Once they're gone, I'm unsure what to do with myself, but then I spot Aleisha hovering by the side of the dance floor and I weave towards her.
"How's it going?" I yell over the thump of the bass.
"Good!" She's holding a cruiser and swaying as she talks. "I'm not sure how Emmy's doing, though."
