Free Shift by Em Bailey Page B

Everyone knew about those earrings because Katie bragged about
them constantly. They were ‘twenty-four-carat white gold’ with a ‘two-carat diamond in each stud’. She only dared to wear them to school because they were insured. No-one
could touch them, not even Paige and Justine. But at assembly one morning, there they were in Miranda’s ears, sparkling and twinkling like stars when she swished her hair to one side. And
that’s where they stayed. Until the night of the formal, of course.
    Miranda had become part of the school-formal committee, although whenever I saw them having a meeting it was mainly Katie and Miranda examining the streamer samples while they listened to music
with one purple earphone each. Paige and Justine would sit a little way off, their faces grim, surrounded by uneaten packets of rice crackers and bags of grapes. There seemed to be a protective
barrier forming around Katie and Miranda, and it was becoming harder for people – and snacks – to get through.
    Still, I was surprised when the news went around that Justine and Paige were officially no longer friends with Katie. Maybe it was the suddenness. Or the way that no-one seemed to know –
or care about – what had happened. Apparently they’d just failed to measure up in some way.
    ‘They probably wore the wrong shade of nail polish,’ said Ami. ‘You know. Something unforgivable.’
    When Justine was ejected from The Katie and Miranda Show, she just faded into the background. Maybe it was a relief. But it was different with Paige. I suppose I’d always thought that
there wasn’t any real friendship between her and Katie – that Paige was prepared to put up with being Katie’s slave because of the associated benefit. Status. She’d stuck at
it for a long time too, hovering on the edges for months as things soured between me and Katie, and pouncing when my position became vacant. I knew she was thrilled with her promotion, but I never
considered for a minute that Paige might genuinely like and care about Katie.
    Yet when Katie deleted her as a friend, Paige seemed devastated. She continued to trail along behind Katie, watching everything she did. Miranda put a stop to that quick smart. The story went
around that there was some big fight and that Paige had refused to go away until Katie herself told her to. Which Katie did – right to her face one lunchtime in front of everyone. I
don’t know what Paige looked like as she walked away – neither Ami or I were there – but I picture her as looking kind of dignified. I do know what she said as she went, though,
because for the rest of the day everyone went around imitating it.
    ‘I’m really worried about you, Katie. I think she’s trying to kill you.’
    The imitations were all pretty much the same – using the quavering, emotional voice of someone about to lose control. Some people gave her a speech impediment – saying the
‘r’s like ‘w’s. It was probably exactly how they imitated me when I was in the clinic.
    When Paige finally left Katie and Miranda to it, I was relieved. I knew I didn’t have a shred of evidence, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that if she’d resisted, something
would’ve happened to her. Like what had happened to Miss Falippi. Getting in Miranda’s way was starting to seem like a health hazard.
    Once Paige was gone, the invisible wall around Miranda and Katie closed up completely. The only other person who was allowed into their space was Cameron. The three of them walked around
everywhere together – the untouchable trio – laughing and acting like they were the only three people in the entire world. The only three that mattered.

 

    One Wednesday afternoon, I brought Toby home from football practice and we found Mum busy frying up what looked like a pan of large, brown erasers.
    ‘Oh!’ said Toby, glancing at me. ‘Tofu schnitzels.’
    I was just as concerned as he was. Mum seemed to think tofu schnitzels were a