Free Dare You by Sue Lawson Page A

behind Taj, fists clenched.
    Khaden stumbled to his feet, ears now squealing more than ringing. He tried to work out where the pain was coming from—his eye, ear or cheek? A voice exploded from him. ‘I’ve had it with you psychos! I’m so sick of your bullshit!’ Rage pulsing through every cell in his body, Khaden sprinted out the open front door.
    Khaden leant against the brick fence, panting. Even though his heart beat flat-out and his vision was blurry, he knew where he was—outside Sas’s home. The pain had focused, like a torch beam in a dark room. His cheekbone and eye hurt like hell and he could still taste blood, though not as much as before. With his tongue, Khaden explored his mouth. The inside of his bottom lip was lumpy and tender.
    Who had hit him? Dad or Taj?
    Once his heart slowed, Khaden crept down Sas’s drive—not in a weird, stalker way, but to see if the lights were on. He’d have sent her a text if, in his rush to escape, he hadn’t left his phone at home.
    Sas’s home was dark and reeked of sleep. He slunk back to the footpath and wondered where he could go. If Sas was asleep, Ruby would be too. Mrs Neri would take him in, but since Khaden was sure she’d called the cops the other night, that wasn’t going to happen.
    That just left the last place he wanted to be. Home.
    Khaden trudged up the street to the park where he, Sas and Ruby used to play as kids, and where they still hung out. Exhausted, he made for the old tram. The tram had been gutted and the middle seats replaced with a picnic table. Khaden weaved around the table, behind the driver’s cabin, and lay on his back staring at the ceiling. In the moonlight he could see the dark outline of the holes punched in the ceiling. Even though it was a warm night, he shivered.
    With a sigh, Khaden curled into a ball. Using his arm for a pillow, he dozed, dreaming of angry voices, pain, blood and burning letters.
    Khaden woke to the myna birds’ song filling the crisp air as the sun streamed through the empty tram windows. How long had he slept? Five hours or five minutes? His face hurt, his muscles were stiff and his mouth dry and scratchy. He staggered to his feet, stretched and headed for the drink tap near the car park.
    Khaden gulped water and splashed it onto his aching face, gasping at his reflection in the silver bowl beneath the tap. His lip was fat and red, his hair wild, and the bruise on his cheek, huge. He slumped to the park bench and watched the magpies, myna birds and sparrows. Joggers paid him no attention as they puffed and panted past.
    When the traffic was roaring like a ravenous beast and the sun was high in the sky, Khaden walked home.
Text Message—Sas to Khaden
    Sas: Hey KD
    Khaden: Miss me?
    Sas: U bet. U OK?
    Khaden: Yeah. Couldn’t be stuffed with school
    Sas: Good move. Boring as bat shit. Wot u doing now?
    Khaden: Chilling at home
    Sas: Me and Ruby are at burger joint. Come over
    Khaden: Be there in 5
    Sas: Gr8 xoxo

Ruby
    Sas promised we’d only be in the massive craft and furnishing store for an hour at the most, but we were there until the place closed.
    The three of us turned off the main road and onto the street that led to Sas’s place. Khaden balanced the rolled rug Sas just had to have on his shoulder, and Sas held the ‘perfect’ pink laundry hamper. I carried the purple, fuchsia and lime curtains stuffed into bags.
    I’d made a new discovery about plastic bags; they were more than an environmental issue, they were a pain issue. The handles biting into my palms, my burning feet and frustration with Sas’s indecision all combined to make my brain feel like it was about to explode.
    ‘I’m dying of thirst,’ said Khaden, who hadn’t said much since he met us at the burger place.
    I wanted to ask him if he was all right, especially since the bruise on his cheek had grown overnight and his lipwas fat, but something stopped me. ‘We could buy a drink at the supermarket,’ I said.
    ‘Can’t