The Other Side of Nowhere Read Online Free

building up to give me a serve, but then he slumped forward again, the tension easing. ‘Look, Johnno, it’s good to see you, really, it is. But things change, you know what I mean?’
    He paused and scratched the side of his nose. ‘The farm … it’s hard, you know, just really hard.’ The creases of his frown darkened into deep trenches on his forehead. It was like he was searching for the right words, but then he just gave up trying to explain. ‘Anyway, just … no more surprises. Okay?’
    I had no idea what he was talking about. It was like he was a total stranger.
    If there was one thing I’d always admired in Nick it was the way he took control of his life in a way that I found impossible to do in my own. Nick was never afraid to tackle things head on, to make big decisions and act on them. He always seemed full of purpose, whereas I just kind of got swept along by things. But what he was saying now just didn’t sound like him at all.
    ‘Yeah. Sure, of course. I totally get it,’ I lied. ‘Like I said, sorry.’
    But I didn’t get it. As Nick momentarily turned away to fiddle with the rope at his feet I stared at him and my mind filled with a thousand images of our friendship.
    For the longest time Nick and I had been inseparable. We’d lived in the same street, gone to the same school, done everything together. Then he’d moved away and things changed. Not big things and not fast. For the first year or so we talked all the time. I told him about the usual stuff at home and he had heaps of new things going on at the farm. He sounded like he was having the coolest time. Then we kind of dropped off a bit, I guess, just calling on birthdays and stuff like that. It wasn’t deliberate or anything, it just kind of happened that way. And of course we still spent the summer holidays together. But when we’d come to the farm last year Nick was different. He didn’t talk much or do much except work on fixing up his yacht. Half the time Matt and I ended up doing stuff around the farm on our own.
    Over the past year Nick and I had hardly been in contact at all. I was kind of surprised to get an invite from him. For the past couple of days things had been good. Almost like old times. But right now, more than ever, I felt like I hardly knew him at all.
    We fell back into an awkward silence that was only broken when George came up the steps with the tea and a packet of shortbread biscuits.
    ‘Here we go,’ she said, passing them around before sitting down next to Nick. ‘Nice photo of you two down there. Who caught the fish?’
    ‘Me,’ said Nick and I in unison.
    ‘Okay …’ She raised her eyebrows at us.
    ‘Couldn’t have been Johnno,’ said Matt through a mouthful of biscuit. ‘He’s never caught a thing.’
    ‘Come on, that’s not fair,’ said Nick, straight-faced. ‘What about a bus? Or a cold?’
    I flicked some biscuit crumbs into his tea. ‘Bet those cows on the farm are just loving your jokes.’
    ‘What’s it like? Living on a farm?’ asked George.
    ‘All right,’ Nick said, sitting back with his tea. ‘I don’t have to see Johnno’s ugly mug every day, so that’s a plus.’
    ‘Just all right?’ she asked. ‘I think it’d be awesome. You know, fresh air, starry skies and all that. And horses. I love horses.’
    ‘Don’t forget the cow dung, flies and blisters,’ Nick replied dryly.
    George rolled her eyes.
    Then Nick smiled at her. ‘It has its moments, I guess. I like the amazing sunsets. That’s something you don’t have in the city. But I really prefer it out here, on the water.’
    George watched him closely as he spoke, her head slightly tilted to one side. George had this way of figuring things out before anyone else did. Like last year, when she’d pushed me into joining the school band when they needed a drummer. I was always banging on things with my ruler and she reckoned I had rhythm. I thought I was just fooling around but the band teacher said I had