Frankie and Joely Read Free Page A

her away so they could fight without worrying she was listening, but she was so happy to be away from it all that she didn’t care. It was a good summer. Nobody made her do things or asked her to take sides. They just let her be. That was the year her aunt Jill started treating her like a grown-up, asking her opinion on things. Like how Joely thought Jill should get her hair cut, and whether Jill should buy the blue dress hanging in the window of the only clothes shop in the main street. Joely loved hanging around her aunt. She laughed all the time and wrapped Joely in hugs that lasted longer than any hugs she’d ever had before. And she always smelt like baked goods: bread or scones or something sweet. Joely’s mum never smelt like that.
    Ever since then, her mum has let her go alone for a week each summer. Really it suited her mum because she had to go interstate for a conference and preferred Joely being with family rather than staying in the city on her own.
    There’s a bump as Frankie’s head hits the window. She slumps down and Joely realises she’s asleep. Somehow Frankie’s managed to tuck her book close to her, so even when she’s sleeping Joely still can’t see what she’s reading. Frankie can sleep anywhere. She says it’s because she stays up late studying, but Joely thinks she stays up wondering where her mum is and if she’s okay.
    Joely watches Frankie sleep, her mouth slightly open, her face relaxed. She’s never seen anyone quite so beautiful. Not up close. She knows that’s why the other girls at school don’t like Frankie. They’re jealous of her perfect skin and her long brown hair and those brown eyes that make boys forget what they were doing. She just looks right, even when she’s asleep, dribbling with her head banging against a window.
    Staring at Frankie, Joely feels panicked for a second. She’s been imagining seeing the boy with the suntan all year and her skin prickles at the thought of not talking to him again this time. What ifs are rushing around her head. What if he’s moved away? What if he sees Frankie first? The thoughts make her nervous. She should’ve thought about it more. That’s the thing about being friends with Frankie. It makes her do things she’d normally be too cautious to consider. Like spontaneously inviting Frankie on a week’s holiday to her aunt and uncle’s farm in Payne because she was desperate for Frankie to explain the rumour Joely had heard at school. But even after Joely invited her, and even after Frankie said yes, her best friend still didn’t tell her what she had apparently done with Jamie Marks in the gym at school. It hurt to think Frankie didn’t consider she was up to hearing all the gory stuff about boys. She’d even invented a few stories about things she’d done herself, but Frankie didn’t confess anything in return.
    Joely reminds herself that Frankie’s her best friend and remembers how her skin tingled when Frankie agreed to come. She couldn’t believe anyone could make such a quick decision. Joely would have thought about it for a few days, changed her mind a couple of times, then persuaded her mum to let her go and, only then, said yes. But she’d probably still worry about her decision for weeks wondering if it were too late to back out. But Frankie didn’t even think twice.

Chapter 3
    Frankie opens her eyes. The train’s passing a small dam. She wonders if the drought has dried it out because it’s just a cracked circle with a tiny puddle of water dotting the centre.
    â€˜Good sleep?’ says Joely.
    â€˜I didn’t sleep.’ Frankie wipes away the dried spit around her mouth.
    Joely smiles.
    â€˜Tell me again about Payne,’ yawns Frankie. She slides her book into her bag and fixes her sunglasses on her head.
    â€˜There’s not much to tell,’ says Joely. ‘It’s a small town.