SHIFTED.✔

9

Things got better. Katie had opened my door. Not fully, but I started to feel like I could breathe easier. The first day I went to sit with Katie and her friends was so... scary. She saw me hovering near the corner of the building because I didn't know how to approach them. I realised how kind she was because she didn't say anything, just got up and walked past me until we were out of sight.

"What's up, Chuck?" It was the first time she ever called me that and she has done ever since. Especially when she senses something's bothering me.

She frowned. "You don't mind if I call you that do you?"

It made me feel special. Wanted and welcome. Those words washed over me and sent a tingling feeling through my body and up into my head. "No, I guess not," I whispered and tried to hide my euphoria.

"So come on. Come and sit with us," she took me by the hand. I pulled it free as we went around the corner. Katie sat down on the ground. Everyone stared up at me. I sat as quickly as I could and almost toppled on top of her. They all laughed. I hung my head and bit on my lip. My stomach lurched from nerves.

"So Beach Ball. You've come to sit with the cool kids," a boy named Nicholas Harrison said. I wanted to get up and run away. Katie must have felt my leg move because she put her hand on my knee.

"Shut up, Harrison. I've invited Charlie to sit with us. If you don't like it fuck off." The rest of the kids laughed.

"Yeah fuck off, Nick. There's nothing wrong with Bouncy. She's a bit weird but hey, she's got a pretty face."

I looked up to see it was a boy named Peter Ember who said this. He caught my eye and winked at me. Katie glared at him. He shrugged, had an innocent look on his face and held his hands up in surrender. "What? I get called gorilla."

Suddenly everyone was laughing. I even smiled. They all slung shit at each other for a while, called each other names until another question was directed at me.

"So...why are you so weird?"

The awkward feeling which engulfed me made it hard to breathe. "How am I weird?"

They laughed again and someone said, "Weirdo doesn't know she's weird."

The awkward feeling turned to panic. I looked at the ground. Could feel myself taking short, fast breaths. Katie put her hand on my arm.

"Hey cut it out! You pricks have no idea! You're just a bunch of losers who get everything you want. You have no idea what the real worlds about with your fucking rich parents and fancy stuff," she stared at Nick and Peter. Then she directed the rest of her words at the others. "And you fucking arseholes know. You know what's gone on with Charlie. You live in the same suburb. How's she any weirder? Just because someone handles stuff different to you doesn't make them weird. They just handle it different. The most pain you've ever felt is when your drunken old man beats the shit out of you," she grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet.

"Ah, Katie we were just joking," one of the girls pleaded.

"You all owe Charlie an apology."

Katie led me into the toilets. I felt numb and was surprised I hadn't started to cry. We sat down on the bench and leaned our heads on the wall.

I rolled mine towards her.

"What do I do that makes them think I'm weird?"

"You're just quiet," she smiled, "And you look at people but it's like you don't see them. Sometimes that's a bit freaky...like your eyes are empty."

"Do I do that a lot?"

She sat forward on the bench and looked back at me, "Yeah. But not since I started to talk to you. Not since the other day. Not to me anyway after I asked you about your brother." She fiddled with her fingers then added, "I think it's got something to do with the way you handled his death. Terry says when you were in primary school you used to be real popular. You were funny."

I tried to remember Terry in primary school. It seemed so long ago even though it had only been two years.

"Why did you talk to me?"

Katie shrugged, "You always look sad and...I kind of understand. My mum left us last year." She hung her head so I touched her arm. When she looked up at me she had tears in her eyes.

"I kind of understand how you feel. How it feels to lose someone. Even though she's not dead, it hurts a lot. After Terry told me how you use to be I figured...I don't know I wanted to know you...to be your friend."

All I could think was how things happened to bring people together. Like Jed's death and her mother leaving. If neither of those things had happened, that shift in our lives, then maybe we wouldn't be sitting in the toilet right at that moment.

The five-minute bell rang. We both sat there. "You want to come to my house this afternoon?" Katie asked, wiping her tears away.

I cocked my head and grinned, "You got Milo?"

"You betcha," she chuckled.

Her house looked almost identical to mine except it was white and ours was blue. The layout of the rooms was the same except there were only two bedrooms and not three. Her toilet was outside the back door where ours was in the bathroom. The biggest difference was the furnishings. My mother was very particular. She liked things to match. Curtains to bedspreads. Floor coverings to lampshades. Bedside cupboards to wardrobes. Katie's house was a mismatch of colours. The furniture in each room didn't seem to fill them. They were an assortment of odd bits and pieces. I understood how she could think we were rich. I realised then the reason why my mother worked. If she wanted nice things working was the sacrifice she had to make.

"It's not as nice as yours. Mum took most of our stuff when she left."

I nodded looking around. "Oh...! Why did she leave?"

Katie shrugged and headed into the kitchen, she pulled out the milk and Milo.

"It was another man?" She handed me the drink. We sat down on odd matching chairs. "Mum and Dad fought a lot. They never slept in the same room together. Mum slept in with me and my brother shared my father's room," she grimaced and tilted her head to one side. "Pretty fucked hey? If you're married you're supposed to sleep in the same bed."

I swallowed a spoonful of Milo. "You have a brother?"

"His names Graham...he went with Mum."

"Is he older than you?"

"No," she shook her head and put down her glass. "There's only a year and a half between us."

"Like me and Kerry," I said then added. "Why did you stay with your Dad?"

"I didn't want to leave my friends," Katie got a sad look on her face. She whispered, "I didn't want him to be alone. Mum had Graham. I thought Dad can have me."

"Who does the cooking and stuff?" I asked then drained my glass.

"I do mostly," she laughed. It was nice to see her face brighten. "I'm not very good at cleaning."

I guess I could see what she meant but I wasn't going to judge her. I figured I wouldn't have been able to do any better. I grinned, "We can't be good at everything."

Copyright © 2017 by Donna Fieldhouse. All rights reserved.

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