Everything Left Unsaid Read Online Free

but we’re at school, and we both know it’s not going to happen now. Tai disappears into a group of his football mates, and I’m feeling deserted when Gen comes up.
    I know she wants to ask about me and Tai, but she won’t – that’s not her style. It’s definitely Lina and Rae’s style though, and they look at me expectantly when we get to class. They’re waiting outside homeroom hastily removing excess jewellery before the uniform inspection that’s just been announced.
    ‘So? How’d it go?’ Lina blurts out, before she’s even said hello.
    ‘I’d rather scoop out my own eyeballs with a rusty spoon than do that bus trip again.’
    ‘It can’t have been that bad,’ Rae says encouragingly, before adding a hesitant ‘Can it?’
    ‘He and Tanya have broken up,’ I mumble.
    ‘Um, hello, Juliet, that’s good news? So are you two going out now?’
    ‘He didn’t ask me.’ I duck my head, embarrassed.
    ‘Why?’ Lina looks as confused as I feel.
    ‘I don’t know. Maybe he just doesn’t like me that way. Think about it. I break up with Mick, and he doesn’t ask me to be his girlfriend. I kiss him, and he runs after Tanya. Then they break up, and he still doesn’t ask me out.’
    I’m so ready for this day to be over, and it doesn’t get any better until last period when Tai slides a note towards me that says My place after school? Beach walk tonight? I nod.
    Beach walks are practically an institution for us. When it’s just the two of us on the beach surrounded by darkness, we can talk about anything. Everything. Whatever we’ve got to say will be made easier by the wind and the waves, and I’m hopeful again. Even if we go on pretending like I never said anything at the party, I’ll get my best friend back tonight.
    After school I go home and change out of my uniform. Mum is still at work, so I leave a note on the fridge telling her where I’ve gone, pinning it underneath a magnet shaped like an orange.
    Tai’s place is closer to the beach than mine, which is why we always meet there first. As I’m walking up his driveway his little brothers see me and run over, then insist on dragging me away to show me their latest obsession: training grasshoppers to do circus tricks. Or they would if they could catch enough grasshoppers. River tells me they’re very naughty grasspoppers for refusing to be caught, and Hendrix, who is two years older than River, goes back to fiddling with string and sticks, trying to make some sort of net. His jeans are torn at the knees and he’s used a pen to draw eyes and hair above the ripped parts so they look like little monster faces.
    When I step inside Tai’s mum sees me and abruptly stops knitting, mid- click . She grins. ‘How’s my future daughter-in-law?’ It’s a long-running joke that Mia finds hilarious.
    ‘What are you knitting now?’
    ‘Oh, I’m just working on Fred’s arm.’
    ‘Fred?’
    ‘For a customer on eBay.’ She grins, pleased with herself. Her passion is knitting lifesize toy people, which she then sells on eBay to lonely people who want someone to cuddle up to at night.
    ‘I see.’ Not really, crazy lady . ‘So did you name him Fred, or did the customer ask for a knitted guy called Fred who looked a certain way, or what?’
    ‘No, I name them. Unless, of course . . .’
    ‘Special orders?’
    ‘Exactly.’
    ‘That’s too weird.’
    I leave Mia with Fred and head off to Tai’s room. I know this house as well as my own; they’ve lived here ever since I’ve known them. Tai and I became friends at kindy, and have practically lived in each other’s houses since. Mum went crazy redecorating our house after Dad left, getting it all repainted white, changing the curtains, the photos on the walls, everything. Here, things have stayed the same for as long as I can remember – the pale blue walls, the old glass jars Mia insists on using for vases, our names pencilled into the doorframe of their linen cupboard, marking our