A Straight Line to My Heart Read Online Free Page B

them and they weren’t important or memorable, but I think they were the right ones. I held onto her hand, too; seemed a natural thing to do, not strange or uncomfortable for either of us. It took a while, but gradually the tears stopped and the smile came out. It was always there, just needed a bit of coaxing.
    That day I think we really saw each other for the first time. I mean, saw beyond the bag of bones on the outside. You take away her pretty and my plain and what you get underneath is about the same: a couple of lost girls looking to be found.
    As I crest the hill, I see Kayla standing on the road and waving to me. I walk faster.
    When we go inside her house she makes a grand announcement to little Harrison.
    â€˜Hey. Guess what? Aunty Tiffy’s here!’
    He looks up for a second. I’m not a cartoon character or a cuddly animal. I’m not an ice-cream or a lolly. All I am is a disappointment.
    He goes back to his colouring-in. Smart kid.
    I tell Kayla about Reggie.
    â€˜He’s probably really scared,’ she says. ‘I feel so sorry for him.’
    I’m scared, too. If anything happens to Reggie I don’t know how I’ll handle it. Don’t even want to think about it.
    â€˜Where’s that nappy monster?’
    I could run courses on how to move a conversation in another direction.
    â€˜Here she is.’ Kayla leads me to the baby’s cot. ‘Look, Rowie – Aunty Tiffy.’
    â€˜Hi, Rowie!’ I lean in to give her a kiss, but then instantly lean back out. Something died in there. I’ve been around the kids lots of times, but I never get used to that smell.
    Kayla gets a whiff. ‘I think it could be time to change her.’
    That just might be the understatement of the year.
    â€˜Okay. Let me know when it’s done. I’ll be outside.’
    She grabs my hand. ‘Don’t even think about making a run for it, Tiff. I know how much you hate changing nappies, but today’s the day. Look and learn.’
    Kayla peels the dirty nappy from Rowie. The horror! The horror!
    â€˜Don’t worry about missing out,’ she says, ‘you’ll have a turn before long. Rowie’s a machine: food goes in, food comes out; all day, all night.’
    There is no way I’m going to have a baby if it leads to this.
    At last Rowie is clean and happy, and Harrison is contentedly watching a cartoon. That leaves time for me and Kayla to carry on the way we always do. Our conversation travels down many windy paths, from girls at school who we’d like to see attempt spontaneous combustion, to guys too good to be true, to Kayla’s mum’s morning sickness, to the odd boy I met at the library, and finally – to wondering if it’s possible to be so bored to death you actually die?
    Kayla decides it is. ‘It’s probably like, your heart gets so bored it just goes, “What’s the point?” and stops.’
    It’s fun to rave on like this but we both know there are important things to talk about. School is over; not just for the year, but forever. We’ve done Year 12. We’re free. That’s what we’ve always wanted, but now that we’ve got it, it’s too big and dark and scary to handle. Summer is nearly at an end and that means life decisions; like heading in different directions, saying, ‘I’ll see you later’, when we don’t know how long later might be.
    The first major change for me will come on Monday. That’s when I start at the Eagle . It’s officially work experience, but there’s a slim hope it could be permanent. Miss Arthur, our English teacher, put in a good word to the editor for me. I don’t know what she said, but it was enough for him to give me a chance. The Eagle is one of the few papers I know of that still takes on cadets straight out of school. If the editor likes me, if I like the job, if I’m any good at it – if, if, if