Snippet: I scratch the back of my head. "Well. That didn't last long." Flynn grins. "Best one minute of his life, though." "That's what all my sex partners say." Have a filter Hayden, god. Flynn lets out a snort, almost tripping over his own feet. "That was a joke," I clarify. I bite my lip to stop myself from continuing the bit. "One minute wonder, hey?" Flynn teases and I'm so thrown by him matching my energy that I take too long to respond. He reddens, looking like he regrets everything that came out of his mouth. "Nah," I say quickly, letting it hang in the air before I add, "More like two-minute wonder." Summary: Lou Young has always seemed quiet and studious with a bad case of perfectionism. In her final year of high school, she's determined to knuckle down and focus only on doing well, but when Hayden Ramona hurtles into her life, with bad jokes and a bad case of hair dye, she's forced to face what's she's been hiding from all these years. The last thing Hayden Ramona planned on was moving to a quiet rural town in the middle of butt-fuck nowhere, where people still wince at the word 'gay'. But now that he's here, he's going to make the most of it, ignore people with bad mullets and definitely not get distracted by a certain sandy-haired boy. Annie McLean has been teaching at Glendale Secondary School for over four years now and this year she's back...just a little different from the last. Annie was expecting that coming out as a trans woman would be rough, especially when you teach a bunch of hyper 15-year olds, but wasn't quite ready for the aftermath. Better than Sticks is set in rural Australia and is an original coming-of-age work exploring identity, sexuality and family.