Free Haunting of Lily Frost by Nova Weetman

you rather that room under the stairs?’
    â€˜Nope.’
    Lying under the doona, waiting for Mum to clear out, I start thinking about last night. There was defi nitely someone breathing next to me and Jasper felt it too.
    â€˜Right, Lil, you need to get up.’
    â€˜Yeah, okay. I will.’
    Mum sighs and I wait for her to go. She has nothing else to say so she won’t just sit here, waiting for me. Finally her weight moves off the bed and she stands up. ‘Five minutes!’
    â€˜Yep.’
    I don’t know what to wear. I’ve never been the new girl, so I don’t know what the rules are. I’m hoping jeans and an old t-shirt will just blend in and no one will notice me. Because it’s much colder than it is at home, I grab a hoodie from the pile of clothes near my door that Mum must have left. She’s trying to be nice and not make me do all my own washing just yet.
    Downstairs, Max is onto his fourth breakfast already. Clearly he hasn’t worried at all about what to wear. He looks exactly the same as he always does: black jeans, some surf t-shirt and hair that he’s never brushed.
    â€˜So you’re still a pig, then.’
    â€˜And you’re still a—’
    Before he can swear at me, Mum hands me a bowl. ‘Breakfast, young lady.’
    â€˜Yeah yeah, most important meal—’
    â€˜I thought it would be nice for us all to walk together this morning.’
    I almost drop the bowl, but give Mum the death stare. She’s smiling at me.
    â€˜Why?’ I sound more horrified than I mean to.
    â€˜It’s your first day of school.’
    â€˜No. That was ten years ago. And actually you missed it.’
    â€˜I didn’t miss it, Lil. I was at work.’
    â€˜Well, don’t you have somewhere to be today too?’
    She shakes her head. ‘Retrenchment – remember? I haven’t got a new job yet.’
    â€˜Whatever, Mum. I don’t need you to walk me there this morning.’
    â€˜Well I’ll walk Max then.’
    â€˜Fine with me.’
    â€˜Not fine with me. You haven’t walked me to school for a year.’ Max pipes up through a mouthful of cornflakes.
    â€˜But you might get lost.’
    Max and I both laugh at this. I can’t believe we actually agree about something.
    â€˜I think you’d be struggling to get lost in a town like this, Mum,’ he says.
    â€˜Yes, I know, but—’
    â€˜You head out the door, turn right and you’re there. Too easy,’ he says.
    â€˜I’d like to meet the teacher.’
    â€˜Fine. Why don’t you go to school and we’ll stay here,’ I say.
    Max laughs and sprays cornflakes across the table. For once, I don’t yell at him, because this morning, he’s actually on my side. Mum looks disappointed or sad or something. She drops the box of cereal on the table and walks out of the kitchen.
    â€˜Was it something I said?’ I say to Max.
    â€˜Want to walk together?’ he says.
    â€˜No. Not today. Or tomorrow. Not ever.’
    â€˜Yeah. Me neither.’
    I pour a much bigger bowl of cornflakes than I feel like eating, but I’m quite happy to stall the two-second trek to school for as long as I can.
    Dad bowls in with two umbrellas. ‘It’s still pouring outside, so you two can use these if you like.’
    Max grabs the plain black one before I can and I get stuck with the oversize blue golf umbrella covered in giant bank logos. The only good thing is that it’s so big no one’ll see me.
    â€˜Thanks, Dad,’ I say.
    â€˜Want me to walk with you?’
    â€˜Got that covered. Thanks.’
    Of course there’s only one school in Gideon and we both have to go to it even though Max is still in primary and I’m not. So he tags along behind me, whether I like it or not. At least this umbrella’s so big he has to walk a fair way back or we’d crash.
    Water sprays up onto my legs as