Free Fifteen Love by R. M. Corbet

. . Hey, Will! Are those too spicy for me?’ Dave considers his options carefully, before choosing his trademark packet of Burger Rings instead.
    â€˜Would you go on TV, Will? Would you talk to Rove?’
    â€˜Only if I’m really famous, Dave.’
    â€˜Would you move out of home, Will? Would you have your own swimming pool?’
    â€˜I’d live by the beach, Dave. In the Caribbean.’
    â€˜You’re not going to live in a caravan, are you, Will?’
    â€˜Car-ib-be-an, Dave. We can sit around all day, drinking pineapple juice.’
    â€˜Can I come to the Caribbean, Will? Except I don’t like pineapple juice. Would there be other types of juice, Will, in the Caribbean?’
    â€˜Any juice you want, Dave.’
    â€˜Will there be chips, Will?’
    â€˜Chips and Burger Rings, Dave.’
    â€˜But there won’t be drugs, Will?’
    â€˜No drugs, Dave. And no Year 7 girls, either.’
    MIA
    At morning recess, Renata makes her big announcement.
    â€˜Guess what!’ she says. ‘I’m going to Europe!’
    Renata starts talking about Europe as if Australia is somehow kitsch now. She uses the words exquisite and sophisticated . She talks about the exchange rate and the euro. The political situation has changed, she says. Her family is going ‘home’ to see their beautiful country. For years, Renata has avoided the subject and now she won’t stop talking about it.
    â€˜Europe is the safest place on earth,’ she says. ‘The fashions. The nightlife. It’s much more chic than Australia.’
    By the end of recess, Vanessa and I have had enough. It’s stupid, but I feel betrayed – as if Renata is going away at a time when I really need her.
    â€˜Who does she think she is?’ I say, while Renata goes off to get a drink.
    â€˜She’s such a leech!’ says Vanessa. ‘Her family came here to make money, then they go back home to spend it.’
    â€˜Don’t say that!’ I snap. ‘This is Renata’s home, as much as it is ours.’
    For a moment, Vanessa almost looks hurt. Then her face changes.
    â€˜You are so predictable, Mia,’ she says. ‘No wonder you can’t get a boyfriend!’
    WILL
    THINGS TO DO
    1) Design website, including a short biography, fan club details and advice for young players. What inspires you? What do you eat? How do you maintain fitness? Hobbies? Interests? Who would you most like to meet?
    2) Phone Mia.
Approach publishers re autobiography: ‘Will Holland – Tennis Ace’.
(May need a ghost writer to do this.)
    3) Send Mia some flowers.
Approach corporate sponsors, i.e. Adidas, Nike, etc. No tobacco companies!
(May need an agent to do this.)
    4) No more viola jokes!
Photo for website?
  (May need new roll of film.)
    5) Begin legal proceedings against
   Ricki the barber.
    MIA
    It’s official. Vanessa and I are fighting. It wasn’t the boyfriend comment per se , so much as the lack of concern that followed. What was just a flesh wound had been left to fester. The pus was not squeezed, the rot had set in. Vanessa was my best friend, but now she is my enemy for all eternity.
    The next day, to avoid Vanessa at recess, I sit on the grass in the place where Will used to sit, before the Year 7 girls came and offered their bodies on a plate. Sports stars are notoriously sleazy, but I thought Will Holland was different. I thought he was inspired by soaring eagles. I thought his heart was as clear as the clear blue sky, but I was wrong . . . When I lie back and look up into the sky, the clouds all look like clouds to me. It’s even a challenge trying to make them look like woolly sheep.
    Am I really predictable? Am I boring?
    At lunchtime, in orchestra practice, we work on our bowing. It’s not enough just to know all the notes and when to play them. They have to be played the right way with the right tone, which means all the