I'm laying in bed, trying to get back to sleep so that I can continue with the dream I was having. I was some kind of superhero with ice powers and I had been making ice structures for a school and getting heaps of money.
The door swings open and Paul runs into my room, a blue and pink pamphlet in his left hand. I bury my face in my sheets and pull my pillow around my head to block out his voice.
"Nat!" he sings. I groan into the mattress. "We're going to the fair!"
"Whassafair?" I mumble, sitting up tiredly.
"Huh?" he squints at me. I yawn.
"How d'you know there's a fair on? Where?" I ask, slumping against the bed head.
"This!" he says and hands me the pamphlet. I take it and look down. There's balloons and Ferris wheels decorating the border.
The Great American Fair
11:00 to 10:00 pm
Oval on Ferrtis road
See you there, California
"Did Mum and Dad say yes?" I ask, looking up. "This looks dodge."
"Yup," Paul says, snatching the pamphlet pack. "Mum wants you down there by ten thirty in casual but classy clothes, she says. The Collins' are coming too."
I stiffen when I hear that the Collins's are coming, thinking 'is Michelle up to it' but I immediately scold myself. Just because Michelle was diagnosed last week doesn't mean she's not going to do anything with us in the early stages of her cancer. No one should be treating her differently, I tell myself, and shake my head, ashamed that I thought that just before.
I sigh and get off the bed, making it quickly before walking into the closet. Mum said casual but classy apparently, so I choose a pair of denim shorts and chuck them on with a dark blue halter neck top that reaches to just above my belly button (because all my good shirts and singlets and hoodies are in the wash). I tie my hair into messy dutch braids after having a shower and brush my teeth. I tie up my white converse and brush my teeth.
I pack a couple of things in my navy backpack (ear phones, phone, jumper, sunglasses, a pen and my wallet) and skip downstairs. Mum serves me some cereal and I thank her, scooping it into my mouth.
Lucas walks down the stairs a minute later with board shorts and a white t-shirt on. "Hey Lukey," I say, ruffling his hair. He scowls at me.
"Where're we going, Mum?" Lucas asks, rubbing his face.
"The fair. We got the pamphlet yesterday, Michelle and Jackson got one too, so we're going together," she says, pouring milk into Lucas's bowl and handing it to him.
The door bell rings and Mum leaves us to let them in. Alex walks in first, flicking his sunglasses up onto his head and flashing me with a million dollar smile. I smile back. He walks around behind me and takes my spoon out of my left hand, scooping some cereal and milk into his mouth. I push him away and he smiles, gulping down the milk and handing back my spoon.
"That stuff's good! What is it?" he asks.
"Weet-bix," I say and reach across the bench, turning the tap on and washing the spoon.
"What's that?" he asks, scrunching his eyebrows.
"Its Australian. Adele got me into it. She's Australian," I say, eating my cereal again. Alex nods and sits next to me.
YOU ARE READING
This Girl
RomanceI turn around and look into his blue eyes, searching them. When I'm certain that he's not lying, butterflies erupt in my stomach and I gulp audibly. His fingers move from playing with the tips of my hair to my cheeks. I wrap my arms around his neck...
