He isn’t wrong.
What is he going to do? There’s no time to think now, his dad’s voice is discernible, chatting away to someone. Zac considers taking the photograph as evidence, then imagines Georgia searching frantically for it and decides not to. Still, he needs to act fast. He pulls his phone from his pocket and takes a picture, before pushing the photograph back inside the book.
He is just replacing the diary when he hears a bark. He looks out of the window to see Arthur trotting down the path, and there’s a familiar figure striding behind him.
Maddie is here.
Zac becomes aware of every nerve ending – his rapid heartbeat – the sweat on his forehead – his unsteady hands. He does a frantic scan of Georgia’s room, double-checks that the diary is completely hidden down the side of the bed, and then hurries to his own bedroom, taking care to close the door slowly to lessen the creak.
Once back in familiar surroundings, his jitters begin to subside. He sits on his bed debating his next move. He’s supposed to be at school – no one knows he is here – and he doesn’t really want to see Maddie after her friends’ comments this morning. Perhaps he could hide upstairs until she has gone? But when will that be? And seriously, since she’s family, how long can he avoid her?
Arthur makes the decision for him, by bounding up the stairs, nudging Zac’s door open with his nose, then leaping into the room and straight onto Zac’s bed, pinning him against the covers. Zac squirms around, trying to avoid the dog’s stinking hot breath as Arthur attempts to lick his face. By the time he wriggles free, his dad is standing in the doorway.
‘Hey, Zac, what are you doing here?’
‘I had a headache.’ Zac sits up, holding Arthur at bay, avoiding his father’s eyes. ‘I’ve been sleeping it off.’
His dad frowns. ‘Does your mum know you’re here?’
Zac doesn’t answer. He doesn’t need to. He watches his dad sigh, but then his expression changes to one of understanding. ‘Okay, well, it’s been a stressful twenty-four hours. Maddie has come back from the hospital to spend some time with us . . . And we’ve brought Arthur with us too, in case you hadn’t noticed.’ He laughs, since Arthur has settled himself next to Zac on the bed, his head resting on his paws.
‘Hey, Zac.’
As Maddie appears beside his father, Zac can feel the blood rushing to his face. It happens so often now that he can only hope she thinks his cheeks are permanently red. ‘Hey, Maddie.’ He clocks the black smudges under her eyes. ‘So, how’s Sophia?’ he asks, glancing between the two of them.
His dad breathes deeply. ‘Well, she’s broken her leg and she’s got some bruising on her head. It’ll take her a while to recover, but she’ll be all right. She’s still asleep, but the doctors expect her to wake up soon.’ His father checks his watch. ‘Are you two okay if I make some calls? I’ll go into the front room – I need some quiet to phone the office.’
Zac doesn’t want to be alone with Maddie, but there is no reason to say anything other than, ‘Sure.’ He strokes Arthur as his dad disappears, and before long they hear a door shut downstairs.
‘How come you weren’t answering your phone?’ Maddie hasn’t moved from the doorway.
He stares at her. ‘Sorry.’
She doesn’t say anything and he can only bear the tension for a few seconds. ‘Are you hungry?’
She shrugs. ‘Maybe – I’m not sure.’
‘Come to the kitchen, let’s see what’s there.’ He follows her back down the stairs, Arthur pushing past them to take the lead.
Once in the kitchen, Arthur scratches at the back door until he’s let out. Zac searches around for something they might eat, since he polished off all the bread earlier. He opens and closes cupboard doors, aware that Maddie has pulled herself up to sit on the counter and is watching him. ‘Crisps?’ he asks, but she shakes her head.
‘I’m not that hungry, after all,’ she says quietly.
He grabs an apple and bites into it, leaning back against the counter. When he looks across, Maddie’s head is bent low, and to his alarm he sees a few tears falling from her cheeks onto the backs of her hands.
Zac is flummoxed. He puts his apple down and pulls himself up to sit next to her on the countertop, but beyond that he doesn’t know what to do. The left side of him is pressed against her, and this closeness is unbearably pleasurable. He thinks about putting his arm around her, but he can picture Jacinta and Zoe smirking at him, and is stuck in indecision.
‘What can I do?’ he asks eventually.
She sniffs. ‘Can I have one of those?’ She gestures to his half-eaten apple. He jumps down and selects one from the fruit bowl, rinses it, then tosses it to her.