Stuff Happens Read Free

school, but my place was only around the corner . . .
    â€˜You can use our phone to call your parents if you want,’ Jeff added.
    â€˜All right.’
    His house was a lot like my new one, only there weren’t unpacked boxes everywhere. Jeff rushed straight to the living room up the back. He handed me the cordless phone and started emptying his school bag on the coffee table.
    I dialled Mum’s number. She was really serious when she answered. ‘Hello, Tara speaking.’
    Ah. She didn’t recognise Jeff’s number. ‘Hey Mum, it’s me.’
    Her voice changed. ‘Hi darling, where are you?’
    â€˜A kid from school invited me to his house. Can I stay for a bit?’
    Mum said yes, but I had to be home for dinner. Which was easy.
    Jeff was sitting on the floor. He had his maths book out. ‘Want to do the homework?’ he asked.
    Honestly, I thought we would’ve played video games or something, but work was fine. I was just happy he’d invited me over. I sat down next to him and took out my stuff. We had fifteen questions from class to finish. I only had one left and it didn’t take long.
    â€˜Have you done question five? I think I’ve done it wrong.’ Jeff looked over at my page. ‘Whoa! How did you do it so fast?’
    I slid my book up beside his and compared our work. He noticed his mistake and quickly corrected it. ‘Thanks,’ he said, but when I tried pulling my book back, he put his hand on it. ‘Wait a sec.’ He started copying my answer for question six.
    I said, ‘Want me to show you how I –?’
    â€˜Nah, this is fine.’
    Jeff moved on to question seven. He was just copying my work exactly.
    â€˜Won’t Mr Johnson notice?’ I asked.
    Jeff shook his head. ‘Nah, don’t worry.’
    But I
was
worrying, and not only because we might get in trouble. He was stealing my answers. Eddie and Christian never did that.
    Jeff pushed my book back over to me. ‘I should get ready,’ he said. ‘Gus and I are meeting at the park soon.’
    â€˜Oh.’ My stay was over already? ‘Can I come?’
    He hesitated. ‘We’re practising penalty shootouts, so you probably wouldn’t like it.’
    â€˜I probably wouldn’t,’ I mumbled, feeling rejected.
    Jeff hurried off to his room to get changed and I stared down at our work. He had taken my answers, and was now going to hang out with a real friend. One that liked soccer. I felt stupid for thinking he liked me. We were so different.
    â€˜You ready?’ Jeff was standing in the doorway wearing his soccer gear.
    â€˜Yeah, sure.’ I quickly stuffed my books back in my bag.
    â€˜Let’s go,’ he said.
    I was glad he was in a hurry, because I wanted to get out of his house as fast as possible.

Mum brought up Jeff when we were setting the table for dinner.
    â€˜Sean was invited to someone’s house after school,’ Mum said to Dad.
    â€˜That was quick,’ Dad said. He gave me a light pat on the back. ‘Good going.’
    I forced a smile. I didn’t
feel
good.
    Mum was emptying the Chinese takeaway into bowls when she asked, ‘So . . . do you think you two might hang out some more?’
    â€˜I don’t know. Maybe.’
    Dad glanced at Mum, and then back at me. ‘You all right, Sean? What’s the matter, mate?’
    â€˜I’m fine,’ I said.
    Mum didn’t believe me. ‘Do you miss Bunbury?’ she asked.
    â€˜Yeah.’
    â€˜Well.’ Dad nodded at Mum. ‘We were thinking it was a big step, moving across Australia, so –’
    â€˜We’re going back?’ I blurted.
    Mum smiled and wiped her hands down her front. ‘No,’ she said. She opened the closest cupboard door and took out a bag. She held it out. ‘We got you this.’
    I walked over and reached inside. It was a mobile phone. I had wanted