Free Dare You by Sue Lawson

fooled her, but not me.

Khaden
    The TV was on, but neither Khaden nor Taj were paying attention to the bad Sunday night movie. Taj was texting. Khaden stared at the space above the TV, thinking about Sas, and Ruby.
    The three of them had been best friends since Year One, when Sas punched Zac Robard for teasing Khaden about hanging out with girls. From then on, they did everything together.
    In Year Five, after Sas fell off the monkey bars and broke her wrist, he and Ruby had waited in the sick bay with Sas until her mum arrived. In Year Seven, the three of them had talked the sports coordinator, Ms Jonas, into choosing them to represent the school at a tenpin bowling competition, even though none of them had played competitively. They lost every game.
    From the time they were in Year Two, Khaden, Sas and Ruby had sleepovers at each other’s homes most weekendsand over the holidays. When they turned eleven, Khaden had to sleep in a different room to the girls, but they still managed to talk and play games until four in the morning.
    So why had everything changed between him and Sas and not between him and Ruby? And why now? Khaden first noticed something was different a few months ago, while they were watching a chick-flick Ruby had insisted they see.
    Sas cried silent tears for the last half of the movie, which made something flutter in Khaden’s stomach. Ruby had cried too, loud sobs and sighs, but that just made him smile.
    Ruby was his friend—the one who helped him out with maths, laughed at his Ferris Bueller quotes and always brought an extra snack in her school lunch for him. But Sas...
    He couldn’t stop thinking about Sas—her laugh, her sleek silhouette shimmering beneath the pool surface, the way she flicked her hair back when she was concentrating.
    What did Ruby do when she concentrated? He’d never noticed.
    Khaden sighed.
    ‘Crap movie, isn’t it. Want to watch the next Matrix movie?’ said Taj.
    ‘Again?’
    ‘Never get enough Matrix, Khade.’ Taj glanced at Khaden. ‘So, what did you get up to today?’
    ‘Nothing. Hung out at Sas’s place, painting her room.’
    Taj grinned. ‘You and Sas—is she your girlfriend now?’
    Khaden shrugged.
    ‘You’re blushing.’
    The front door swung open and banged against the wall, a full stop to their conversation.
    ‘Here we go,’ hissed Taj.
    ‘Hey Dad,’ said Khaden, trying to sound normal. ‘Whatcha been up to?’
    Mike stood in the doorway, his shoulders seemingly filling the doorframe. ‘What do you reckon? The only thing I ever do—work. Not that you two bums care.’
    Khaden turned down the TV volume with the remote. When Mike was like this, the simplest thing, like a loud ad, would set him off. The plastic tarp over the family room window snapped in the night breeze.
    ‘What the hell is my tarp doing on that window?’ said Mike. It had been there for days and he hadn’t commented on it until now.
    ‘It was my idea,’ Khaden said before Taj could speak. ‘A sheet wouldn’t protect the carpet and stuff if it rains.’
    ‘Wouldn’t protect his precious computer,’ said Mike, dumping his keys on the table by the door. ‘Who went into my shed?’
    ‘Me,’ Khaden blurted. Taj’s glare burned into his skin. ‘It was my idea to check in the shed.’
    Mike’s pupils were large and his face ruddy. He stood over the sofa where Taj and Khaden sat, backs now straight. Mike pointed at Khaden. ‘I’ve told you before, keep the hell out of my shed.’
    Taj stood. ‘Ease up. It’s not like you were using it. It was dumped over your beer stash.’
    A flame flickered in Mike’s eyes.
    The room exploded with yelling and pushing. As Khadensqueezed between his father and brother to keep them apart, pain, red and barbed, flared in his already bruised cheek. Khaden fell and curled into a ball. Everything was silent for a moment, then Khaden’s ears began ringing.
    ‘Khade? You okay?’ Taj stood over him, his face a mask of fear. Mike was