Dancing Barefoot by Alice Boyle

Author:Alice Boyle
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Text Publishing Company
Published: 2022-07-16T00:00:00+00:00

I EXPECT THINGS to be tense at school the next day, but it’s like Abigail, Evie and Tamika never had a disagreement at all. They’re being overly sweet with each other, if a little odd, especially Abigail: she squeals when Evie arrives in homeroom, which is a new level of cutesiness, even for her.

‘The hell’s going on with her?’ Edwin murmurs out of the corner of his mouth, as we watch Abigail give Evie exaggerated air kisses.

‘Long story. Very long. Very weird,’ I murmur back.

‘Do I want to hear it?’ he asks, wincing, as Abigail performs her air-kiss routine all over again, this time with Tamika.

‘Oh yeah, you want to hear this one. I swear, that girl’s deranged.’ I roll my eyes.

Luckily, Mr Robinson arrives and starts taking the roll. Abigail shuts up.

‘Wanna come over after school?’ I whisper.

‘Really?’ Edwin looks surprised.

‘Why not?’

‘Are you sure you don’t have somewhere else to be? You don’t have plans with Evie?’

‘She has training after school.’

Edwin looks a little disgruntled, but he gives me the thumbs up.

My dad’s the shittiest gardener, though, to be fair, it’s not like he’s had much opportunity to practise. Our backyard’s a cramped concrete rectangle with weeds pushing through the cracks. The most prominent features are the Hills hoist, the bins and a swing set that was already rusty when Dad bought it second-hand when I was seven. By all accounts, it’s a dump. Nobody ever goes out there if they can help it, which means it’s the perfect place for a private chat.

I pull the gate shut behind me. It scrapes on the concrete, and Edwin winces. He has a real thing about gross noises.

‘Sorry.’

We drop our bags and flop onto the swings. They creak ominously.

Edwin throws me my banana Paddle Pop and unwraps his Golden Gaytime. He focuses on removing the wrapper just so, folds it neatly, and places it in his blazer pocket. That boy is so tidy. I have no idea how we’re friends.

‘So, this is nice. Thanks for coming over,’ I say, taking a lick of my Paddle Pop. Edwin wrinkles his nose. He hates banana-flavoured anything. This is the first time he’s been over in weeks; it’s just like old times.

‘Well, it’s been a while. One-on-one, I mean,’ he replies.

‘It has. You wanna go to the movies or something this weekend?’

‘What’s on?’

‘Dunno. Just wanna hang out with you.’ I grin.

‘Well, maybe. Probably. I might have plans on Sunday. I’m not sure yet.’

‘Plans?’ I ask.

‘Yeah. See, I have news,’ he says eagerly.

It couldn’t be clearer that he’s been sitting on this for a while. He’s busting to tell me.

‘Oh?’ I ask, raising my eyebrows and continuing to lick my Paddle Pop. ‘Pray tell, dear friend.’

‘I like someone,’ he says, scuffing the soles of his school shoes against the concrete.

‘No! Who? Do I know her? Or him or them?’

‘Her. Yeah. You do.’ He focuses on nibbling the honeycomb coating off his Gaytime. He even eats ice-cream neatly.

‘Well?’

He looks me dead in the eye. ‘If I tell you, you have to promise not to tell.

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