Hidden messages

Chapter 1

It had been a week since Laura Thomas had any contact with her brother or his teammate who she'd been seeing.

After what Alex Fasolo had done to her, going off and getting engaged to another girl, she never wanted to see him again. She still couldn't believe it. One day, she'd just been scrolling instagram and saw the post announcing their engagement.

The day after she'd given everything to Alex.

She'd tried to appeal to her brother but Josh didn't want to be a part of it. "It was between her and Alex" he'd said. Well, nothing was between them any more.

Laura opened up the newspaper and focused on the cryptic crossword. It'd been awhile since she'd done one of these and was glad to have a distraction.

"Do you stop paying attention when you disengage device? (6,3)" Laura read out the first clue and tapped the pen a few times.

An idea sparked. "Switch off!" she cried, her eyes flicking to her mobile next to her, screen blank, dead to the world. She'd switched it off a week ago. Didn't need it. Didn't want to know if Alex tried to call her. There was nothing to explain. All her friends used Messenger anyway and she could access that through the desktop.

Pencilling in the answer happily, Laura felt good. It was 2-across which meant she'd just got a bunch of starting letters. Things were looking up.

The next clue made her stop in her tracks. She read over it again and again.

8 across "Linney or Ashley had aural surgery - tell her I love her" (5)

It couldn't be.

She thought about the song her mum had sung to her as a child when she was upset. Tell Laura I love her. Tell Laura not to cry.

It had to be, right?

Laura pencilled in her own name for 8 across in disbelief. She knew her brother was a big fan of crosswords (he was the one who taught her how to do cryptics). Could Josh have helped Alex submit a personalised crossword to the Herald Sun as a way of getting a message to her?

And what message would Alex be trying to get to her? That he was sorry?

Puzzled, she filled in a few more answers and sat back to piece things together.

A few answers stood out.

Soulmate - that's what Alex had whispered in her ear that night she'd lost her virginity.

Chicken, what they'd eaten on their first date. And also his nickname for her after they went to Luna Park, she remembered bitterly.

Chianti. Laura smiled, remembering when Alex had ordered Chianti on their first date and let her have a sip. She'd enjoyed it so much that they decided to share a bottle.

Her hand hovered over her phone, she so desperately wanted to turn it on. No! Stay strong, Laura! Remember that he'd obviously lied to you!

"Just one little peek," Laura whispered to herself, turning the phone on.

She waited for it to boot up, pencilling in a few more crossword answers. She was more and more convinced that this was a message from Alex.

The phone opened to the lockscreen and Laura watched, heart in mouth, as voicemails and missed calls flooded the screen. It had been a week after all.

Unfortunately, after a quick scroll of the missed calls from the past week, there was nothing from Alex. Her heart sank. Surely he'd have called before pouring his heart out to her in a crossword.

Her fingers hovered over his name in the messages and she clicked it. Her last message - how could you???? - was still there. Should she send something else? After a few minutes of thought, Laura closed out of messages and opened a browser for today's Wordle.

Boys weren't worth her time.