“Aw,” I said. “That’s cute.”
“We’re going to be tycoons,” said Lucy happily.
“I don’t doubt it,” said Duck.
When we got to the end of the street, Lucy stopped suddenly and licked at the air.
“Mmmm . . .” she said. “Freedom.”
“Weirdo,” said Freddy.
“Where did you park, anyway, babe?”
“About two streets down, over by the corner store.”
Lucy pouted. “But that’s miles away!”
“Do you want a piggyback?”
“Uh-huh.”
He hoisted her onto his back, and she wrapped her arms around his neck.
“So Candela didn’t turn up today,” said Duck.
“Nope,” said Lucy, a trace of annoyance in her voice. “So much for sticking to her word.”
“I didn’t think she’d come,” I said.
“Honestly, I’ve washed my hands of her,” said Lucy. “I’m sick of working so damn hard for crumbs.”
“Don’t say that, Lucy,” I said quietly. “It’s been the three of us forever. She’s just going through stuff at the moment.”
I knew Candela didn’t mean to alienate us. She was just sad about losing Ana, and even though she would never say it out loud, she blamed me for what happened. Maybe she sensed it was my fault, that I was responsible for Ana’s death. And the awful thing was she was right. I took a deep breath and pulled my hand free from Duck’s, reaching quickly for my rubber band.
“That doesn’t give her the right to treat us like shit,” said Lucy. “And I don’t like the crowd she’s hanging out with.” She swung her head back to face me. “I don’t mean to sound like your mum, Audrey, but I think it’s best you keep your distance.”
Eleven
After school broke, each day seemed to blur into the next. I had no structure or purpose, no reason to get up in the morning. I was going to bed late every night, and I spent the hours reading penny dreadfuls, surfing the web, or watching reruns of Doctor Who. My mind kept ricocheting between Ana, Rad, and Candela. Like an unofficial tally of the lives I had inadvertently wrecked when I told that lie.
One morning, my phone buzzed loudly, waking me from a restless sleep. I reached for it blindly, knocking it from the nightstand. It fell to the floor with a clatter.
“Shit,” I swore, hanging over the edge of my bed and grabbing it at lightning speed.
“Hello?”
“Is this Audrey?” spoke a woman’s voice that I didn’t recognize.
“Yes.”
“Hi, it’s Sam, Angie’s aunt. I’m the editor at See! Sydney.”
“Hi,” I said, suddenly feeling wide awake. “I’ve been expecting your call.”
“Great! Angie mentioned that you were interested in taking the intern position here. Are you free to come at ten tomorrow morning for an interview?”
“Absolutely! I’ll see you then.”
I arrived at a gray nondescript building half an hour before my meeting time. I sat downstairs at a coffee shop and grabbed a copy of the latest paper. I was absorbed in a story about taxi drivers claiming to have picked up ghost passengers when my phone began buzzing. I peered at the screen. It was Lucy.
“Hey, Lucy. What’s up?”
“Guess what?”
“What?”
“Guess!” Lucy always got a perverse joy from holding back exciting news and making you work for it.
I sighed. “Lucy, I have, like, fifteen minutes before my meeting starts, so let’s not do the guessing game today.”
“Fine then, you killjoy. You know my uncle Harry? The one who works in advertising?”
“Mr. Fancy Pants?” I said, with a smile. Lucy’s uncle Harry was a flamboyant man who had a ruddy nose and perpetually flushed cheeks. He had no children of his own and had always doted on Lucy. I remember him at their family gatherings when we were kids—often performing magic tricks and taking great delight in our astonished faces.
“Yes, Mr. Fancy Pants. He just got a job offer to work in Paris for a couple of years. Anyway, he asked me to housesit for him while he’s away. Which is fantastic because Freddy and I are starting our course at Sydney U next year, and his house is nice and close. He says you can move in too, if you want. As long as we take good care of the place.”
I let my mind play catch-up with her words. Move out. My brain seemed to single out the phrase from the jumble of sentences.
“Us, move out?” I asked dumbly.
“Yes! If you get the internship with See! Sydney, we can room together in his house.”
“But what about rent and stuff? I’m not getting paid for my internship.”
“We don’t have to pay rent. We just have to take care of the place.”
“Seriously?” I said.
“Yeah, isn’t it great?”
“Oh my God!” I was suddenly jubilant. “I can get away from my mother!”
“Exactly,” said Lucy happily.
“Like, I don’t have to see her every single day.” The thought was almost too wonderful to process.
“And our boyfriends can stay over too! Duck’s starting his course next year, so it’s perfect. Audrey, we’re going to have a blast!”
“We’ll have to get part-time jobs, for groceries and stuff,” I said happily.
“We can figure all that out. I think we can get some government grants or whatever, and I get access to my trust once I start university. We can do this, Audrey!”
“We totally can!” I answered, feeling exuberant.
“Are you doing anything after your meeting?” she asked.
“No, I’ll text you when I’m done.”
“Okay, I’ll pick you up afterward; we can go and check out the house together.”
An immaculately dressed woman in her midthirties was standing in the elevator when I walked through its heavy doors. I gave her a half-smile.
“Which floor?” she asked.
“Uh, seven,” I said, as she reached for the set of buttons to the side.
“You wouldn’t happen to be Audrey, would you?”
I turned to look at her. “Sam?”
She nodded, sticking out her hand. “Nice to meet you,” she said with a warm smile.
I smiled back as we shook hands. I liked her immediately.
“Angie has told me so much about you,” she said.
“He has?”
She nodded. “He gave me the latest copy of your school magazine. Outstanding work.”
“Thank you. It was his baby.”
There was a ding sound and the elevator doors slid open.
“Yours too, apparently,” she said, as we stepped out of the lift. “Your articles were great to read. A little dark perhaps—but I do like your style.”
She led me down the narrow hallway and through a frosted glass door with the words See! Sydney imprinted in bold black lettering.
“Hi, April,” Sam said to a twenty-something girl sitting behind a simple white desk.
“Hi, Sam,” said April. “Is this your ten o’clock?” She motioned to me.
Sam nodded.