Frankie and Joely Read Online Free Page B

dumping Anna after all. He turns and walks back through the plastic strings, smiling at Anna like it was all one big joke.

Chapter 5
    Of course there’s no air-conditioning in the bus, thinks Frankie as she slumps down in the first empty chair. Joely squeezes past her and Frankie wishes she’d sit somewhere else. She wants to spread out on the vinyl seat, not be squashed up against her sweaty friend.
    â€˜The pool is open, isn’t it? It’s not just decoration,’ says Frankie.
    â€˜Yes, they open it every summer.’
    â€˜Is it a real pool? Not a toddler pool?’ Frankie wants to pick an argument because she’s so hot and Joely’s arm is pressing against hers.
    Joely shoots her a look. ‘It’s an old pool with really blue concrete. It’s super deep and small, too. It’s not like our pools in the city. The fence is pretty easy to climb so Mack used to sneak in when it was hot at night. ’Til he got caught and my uncle Ged went off his head. He made Mack do community service.’
    Frankie smiles at the thought. She likes boys who break rules.
    â€˜There’s a dam, too,’ says Joely.
    â€˜Yuck. I like being able to see the bottom,’ says Frankie, imagining her toes squishing mud.
    â€˜It might be gone anyway. Looks like the drought has swallowed everything up,’ says Joely.
    â€˜What about New Year’s?’ Frankie imagines sitting around with Joely’s aunt and uncle, counting cows.
    â€˜There’s probably a party. Sometimes in the old hall there’s a movie.’
    â€˜A party sounds good!’
    Behind them a kid starts screaming. Frankie hears the mum try to calm him. But it makes him scream louder. All this heat. She wishes she could scream like that, too.
    â€˜What’s your uncle’s name again?’ says Frankie.
    â€˜Ged. And Jill,’ says Joely, irritated that she’s repeated this information about twenty times.
    â€˜Hope Ged and Jill have good air-conditioning.’
    â€˜No, just a couple of old fans.’ Joely remembers last summer when she lay in bed for a whole day not moving, watching the fan blades turn.
    â€˜Great,’ Frankie groans and leans back against the plastic seat, closing her eyes.
    Joely knows they have to get off in a minute. In the time it takes them to walk the rest of the way to the farm, her skin will be burnt, fried, crispy. So she opens the front of her bag and pulls out the extra-large tube of sunscreen her mum bought. Squeezing the tube, a huge lump of white cream oozes out. She tries to close the lid quickly, but it’s too late. She has enough cream on her hand for the whole bus.
    â€˜Want some?’ she says to Frankie, forcing her to open one eye.
    â€˜Ergh. No. Thought you were offering me food.’
    â€˜It’s sunscreen. It’s sunny outside,’ says Joely, trying to rub the cream in at the same time.
    â€˜I’m fine,’ says Frankie, turning away.
    â€˜It’s hotter than it is in Melbourne,’ says Joely, hating that she sounds like her mum.
    â€˜Whatever.’
    Dripping with sunscreen, Joely still can’t get rid of it all. She has a hand full even after applying it over and over again on her arms, neck and face. She’s so preoccupied by it, she almost forgets to look out the window for the gum tree that marks their stop. She sees it just in time and jumps up. ‘Next stop,’ Joely calls to the driver. Frankie hasn’t even moved.
    â€˜Don’t get too comfortable. We’re getting off here,’ says Joely nudging her.
    â€˜Comfortable. As if.’
    They hop off the bottom step onto the ground. The air outside is the same temperature as in the bus. It drives off, churning up the dust and Frankie spins around trying to hide her face. When she looks up, Joely is standing off to the side of the road, shaking her hand in the air.
    â€˜What are you doing?’
    â€˜Trying to get rid of the