Free Three's a Crowd by Margaret Pearce

wasn’t fair that such gorgeous lashes were wasted on a guy. Also it was odd that they were so black, when his hair and eyebrows were so gleamingly blond.
    â€œI said I’m so grateful.” He had been speaking and I hadn’t heard a word he’d said. “I was dreading tackling my assignments and I feel such an idiot for dropping so far behind on my reading.”
    â€œNo trouble,” I stammered. “Reading is one of my hobbies and I enjoy analysing themes and everything.”
    Drew leaned even closer. My knees got their wobbly feel to them again. Then there was a loud knock on the back door and Drew sat upright and looked annoyed. “Your little brother back already?”
    â€œHe wouldn’t knock,” I said. I shifted my notes and went outside and opened the door.
    â€œSorry to bother you, golliwog,” Jeebie said with his broad grin. I glared at him in fury. Did he think he was being funny, turning up where he wasn’t wanted? “I promised your mother I would mow the back lawn this afternoon. I hope I won’t disturb you.”
    â€œHow could you?” I snapped as I slammed the door in his face and went back to the sun room. “Jeebie’s offered to do the back lawn for Mum,” I explained as I sat down beside Drew again. “Won’t take him long.”
    It didn’t either. It was annoying having him tramp backwards and forwards across our small lawn. I concentrated on explaining the notes I had taken to Drew. I was horrified to discover that he hadn’t read any of the books listed. I know it was rough to start another school three-quarters of the way through the year, but I couldn’t see his Year 11 English teacher being too understanding about it.
    At last, the noise of the mower stopped. I watched as Jeebie vanished around the side path, wheeling the mower back next door. I relaxed. He was gone and Drew and I still had three-quarters of an hour together.
    Drew’s arm stole back around my shoulders. Five minutes later I happened to glance out the window. The grinning Jeebie was carefully trimming the edges of the lawn with what looked like the smallest hand clippers I had ever seen. I reached for the other two books on Drew’s Year 11 list, and started explaining their characters and plots as he took notes. All the time I watched Jeebie out of the corner of my eye. It was distracting having him in view through the window as he worked. He trimmed around the lawn, around the shed and then along the side of the fence. I thought he would never finish.
    Brat came around the back, spoke to him for a minute and then crashed inside to hand Drew and me our cans of drink. Jeebie raked up the cut grass and then at last jumped the fence back into his grandmother’s place. I sneaked another look at my watch. In exactly ten minutes’ time my mother would be home.
    â€œYou’re missing your favourite cartoon show,” I reminded Brat, who had propped on the floor and emptied out his purchases.
    â€œI’ve got a whole dollar’s worth of balloon water bombs,” Brat gloated, ignoring my suggestion. “Are we going down to the beach on Sunday so I can try them out? Look at them. There’s red and green and blue and yellow and pink and purple and …”
    â€œMaybe,” I snarled at him. “But right now Drew and I have some work to finish. Stop bothering me or I’ll flatten you.”
    â€œI’m going,” Brat said in an aggrieved tone. “I just wanted to show you all the sweets I’ve got for a dollar. Want some?”
    â€œOut,” I ordered.
    Brat always shared his sweets – it was one of his few good points – but I was suspicious of his generosity under the circumstances. Brat carefully picked up his balloons and counted them, one by one, and put them in his bag. I waited in an infuriated silence. Another five minutes was devoted to arranging all his sweets before they