Page 53 of You Had Me At Thirteen

‘I’m not having a go, I’m just saying. I’ve seen you lose, and it’s not pretty, sweetheart.’

‘Wow, thanks Mum. Way to have my back.’

‘Well, you kind of take after…’ Mum pauses but I know what the next words out of her mouth were going to be.

If I had a dollar for every time she mentioned I wasjust like my father,I wouldn’t be very rich. She doesn’t say it often, which hurts all the more when she does. What’s wrong with wanting to win? I’ve trained for almost ten years, just for this very chance. Why would I want to come second? Any doubts I had last week are long gone, replaced with my usual hunger to prove my worth.

‘Anyway, how’s the assignment going with Wren?’ Mum says, trying to take the gigantic fat elephant out of the room and pretend like she didn’t just insult me.

I bring the mug of hot tea to my lips before I answer. ‘Fine. I guess.’

Wren wasn’t at school again today, which is unusual for him. That’s now two days he’s been absent, which has me a little worried. When he didn’t come in yesterday, I thought nothing of it, except for the disappointment.

When he didn’t show again today, concern inched its way into my brain. Even my text messages went unanswered. I thought that after we connected in class on Monday, he’d at least text to tell me he wasn’t coming, for assignment stuff, obviously. I had to work by myself today in English. Not that it bothered me much, but it wasn’t the same without Wren’s vulgar mouth. I’ve found myself in some alternate universe where I miss the crap that comes out of it.

Mum presses her elbows into the bench as she leans over. ‘What’s going on?’

‘Who bloody knows? He’s like a seesaw. I can’t keep up.’

‘Well, he’s going through a lot at the moment. It must be hard watching your mum…’ She slaps a hand over her mouth, her eyes going wide.

‘What?’ I almost drop the mug on the white stone top, then wring my hands of the scalding water that spilled from it.

‘Oh God! He hasn’t told you?’ she says through her hand. ‘I just thought…’

‘Hasn’t told me what, Mum?’

She sighs and rubs a spot on her chest. ‘This can’t leave this house, understand?’

‘Fine. Just tell me what’s going on.’ My heart races with what my mum is about to tell me, and I know it’s not good, but I try to remain as impassive as I can while I wait for her to speak again.

‘Deb has cancer, sweetheart.’

I rub my forehead as the weight of Wren’s home life comes crashing down on me full force. Is that why he’s been away these last two days? ‘Oh, God.’

It explains so much. His anger, for one. Plus, I’ve been horrible to him. Although he’s not much better towards me, but I understand him a little more now. The only times I’ve seen him even remotely happy is when he’s with his mates, or sometimes with me. What does that even mean?

Mum finishes the contents of her mug, then places it in the sink. ‘Well, remember I never told you. Wait for him. He’ll tell you when he’s ready.’

I rub my hands over my face. ‘I’m such an idiot.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Nothing. Maybe I should go check on him, see if he needs anything?’

Mum kisses the top of my head. ‘I’m sure he’d love the company. But remember, patient confidentiality and all that.’

‘Yeah, yeah,’ I say, already closing the front door.

My hands are sweaty as I stand on the front porch of Wren’s house. After knocking twice, the wait for him to answer the door has me deciding that it’s a super bad idea to be here.

But before I can walk away, the front door opens, and the smell of something baking infiltrates my nostrils, sending my salivary glands into overdrive.

Wren fills the doorway, his hair dishevelled, dark circles under his eyes. My heart does little fist bumps at the sight of him, but it also breaks for him. All I want to do is wrap my arms around him, which makes me question my sanity. In what universe would that ever be a good idea?

He rubs the back of his neck. ‘What are you doing here?’ His voice is hoarse, as though I’ve just woken him from a sleep, but I doubt he’s slept much at all by the look of him.

‘I haven’t seen you in a couple of days. Just wanted to check you were okay.’

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