Girl from Mars Read Free Page B

Hang up. I hate her.
    Mum still hasn’t come down, so I stomp upstairs. She’s still standing in my room.
    â€œDo you have to stomp around like that?” she says.
    â€œNow what?” The door is still on its hinges.
    â€œDid you call her?”
    â€œYES!!!” She gives me this suspicious look, as if I might be lying.
    â€œGood. You could at least dust and tidy a little more often.” She rubs her finger along the top of the bookcase. “It’s disgusting in here, Miriam.”
    â€œDoesn’t bother me.” Unlike you. If only she would just leave me alone —
    â€œIt will when the mice and cockroaches start moving in.”
    I want to tell her to just piss off. But instead I lean lightly against the desk, fold my arms and give her a crooked grin.
    â€œFine, do what you want, then,” she says. “After all, it’s
your
room.” Then she leaves and slams the door behind her.
    I win.

4
    When I open the washroom door at school the next morning, Laura is in there rolling a cigarette.
    â€œHi,” she says without looking up.
    â€œHi.”
    â€œYou’re the one who sits in the back row, aren’t you?” Laura rolls up the paper, licks the edge, smooths it down.
    What does that mean, the one who sits in the back row?
    She looks up.
    â€œYes,” I say.
    Laura is sitting right on the sink. I can’t just stand in front of her, so I sit down beside the toilet.
    â€œWhat’s your name?” She sticks a cigarette between her lips and lights a match.
    â€œMiriam.”
    â€œMiriam.” She inhales deeply, and her throat makes this little crackling sound. “Pretty name.”
    The door opens and it’s Suse.
    â€œHi,” she says when she sees me. “Why are you sitting —” Then she sees Laura. “Oh, hi!” And she shakesLaura’s hand (she shakes her hand!?). “I’m Suse.” She sits down on the toilet and I have to shift over a bit.
    Suse pulls a pack of Marlboro Lights out of her bag and lights one. She crosses her legs and rests one arm on her knee with her other elbow on top. She looks perfect. Between drags she achieves the perfect distance between her cigarette and her mouth. Graceful yet relaxed. Perfect.
    I’ve never smoked a roll-your-own.
    â€œAnd how do you like our class so far?” Suse asks Laura, looking at her with interest. A coffee in her other hand would complete the picture.
    Why is Suse asking her this? We’re new in the class ourselves.
    â€œIt’s okay. All classes are the same, aren’t they?”
    Suse nods. Ines comes in.
    â€œHere’s your coffee.” She hands Suse a cup.
    â€œThanks.”
    With Ines in here now it’s really crowded. I have to slide over even closer to Laura. It’s funny.
    Laura crushes her butt on the floor and pulls out her pouch of tobacco again.
    â€œYou roll your own?” asks Ines.
    â€œYes. It’s better. There’s a lot of shit in those filters.”
    â€œAnd you think they’re healthy without them?”
    Laura looks up. “No, but it’s cheaper.” She finishes rolling the cigarette and hands it to me.
    â€œThanks.” Did I ask her for one? I don’t know.
    Laura rolls another for herself, then gives us both a light.
    It tastes totally different. Like country and hay. Maybe like leather. Mmmmh.
    â€œWhich class were you in before?”
    â€œB.”
    â€œKatharina was in there, too, right?”
    â€œOh, yeah. Katharina was there.” Laura gives her a crooked grin.
    I’m feeling a bit dizzy. I don’t usually smoke in the mornings. I’m staring at my cigarette, listening to Suse asking questions, Ines interrupting. I don’t look at them. I hear Laura’s voice beside me — soft, deep, louder than the others, closer.
    I focus on the cigarette between my fingers and let Laura’s voice wrap around me like smoke. I let her words seep