Shoshanah Albrecht
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Angie was worried about Mr Kwick, but I told myself we were being careful. I hadn’t seen him in such a long time, the fear I had felt was dwindling away. I couldn’t remember his face, and I sometimes I wondered whether he lived in the house at all. There were always little pieces of others around the boarding house: a lost sock or a dirty shoe. Someone set the picture frames askew in the halls; someone else always straightened them. But Mr Kwick, he could have been a ghost. And a tidy one too. His absence made me braver and braver. It would be alright, I bargained, as long as we didn’t forget to keep quiet.
Tom was alone as usual, asleep on his mattress. He snored with his hat wrapped around his head and I shook him fondly awake.
‘Tom!’ I whispered. ‘Wake up sleepy head. It’s time to play.’
He swatted at the air. ‘Noooo,’ he groaned, and then cursed. I didn’t know he knew words like that. His face looked tired and crumpled. I suddenly wondered how old he was.
‘Tom!’ I repeated, remembering my boredom ‘Get up!’ I shook him harder. He didn’t open his eyes, but instead, leaned over the mattress to where I sat and pushed his head roughly into my chest. I fell backwards, laughing.
‘I don’t want to,’ he mumbled.
‘Yes you do!’
‘No.’ He rammed me again with his head, keeping me away from his bed. I could tell he was fully awake by now.
I pushed him back. ‘This counts as playing you know! I can tell you want to, really.’
He stopped and lay there, a smile creeping over his face. He jumped up suddenly and threw himself on top of me, pinning me to the floor. ‘Baaaaa!’ he cried. ‘I g-g-got you!’ Spit slipped from his mouth onto my face. I squirmed beneath him.
‘Tom, you’re drooling on me. Get off.’ I pushed against him with all my strength, pretending to be annoyed. He eased back, smiling. ‘Tom, I got my school uniform yesterday,’ I said, adjusting myself. I wiped my face with the back of my hand.
‘No school,’ he replied.
I ignored him. ‘I don’t know if I like it though. I imagined it different.’ I paused, thinking about this. ‘And I met a girl called Samantha too.’
Tom pushed me restlessly. ‘Nooo.’
I carried on with my thoughts aloud: ‘She’s really mature. She’s kissed boys and everything.’ I stopped and looked at Tom. His face was scrunched up like a wet dish cloth.
I knelt up and smacked him with a kiss on the lips.
We looked at each other in confused silence. It seemed to do everything and nothing all at once. I didn’t know what to say and Tom looked as though he had woken up to find his bed made of jelly. I laughed. It wasn’t so bad. Tom began laughing too, nervously, and then rocking back and forth on his knees. I wanted to try it again; maybe it got better the more you did it.
‘Tom?’ I asked. ‘Will I grow very fast, do you think?’
He didn’t answer.
‘I wish I could wear something pretty to school. Something new. A pretty dress,’ I said wistfully.