on the map//spencer 'spider' white

19

Quinni nods her head. "Yes, exactly!"

"You come here trying to get me to admit that?" Chook asks.

Amerie shakes her head. "No."

Quinni's phone beeps. "Recording."

"Youse are fucking pathetic, eh?" Chook remarks. "Why would I do all this shit?"

"Well, you have some motives," Amerie offers.

"Yeah? What motives would they be?" Chook asks. "Think I'd mess with that bitch when we're still awaiting trial? How's that gonna look for my boys, huh? That make sense to you?"

"Not really," Amerie admits.

Chook leans forward. "No, not really? Not very clever breaking in here. I don't like people touching my shit. And I really don't like being accused of shit I didn't do after you burned my fucking car and locked my lads in jail! You are lucky I am trying to keep my nose clean at the moment. I think you should fuck off. Or you could stay."

The four of us jump up from the couch trying as fast as we can to get out of the house.

Amerie and I catch Harper in the school yard.

"Hey, where were you this morning?" Harper asks Amerie.

"RI and I don't think it's Chook," Amerie tells her.

"What?" Harper asks.

"Bird Psycho, it's not Chook," I tell her.

"Where were you this morning?" Harper asks again.

"We went to see Chook," Amerie tells her.

"What the fuck!" Harper remarks.

"And he genuinely didn't seem to know anything about it," I explain. "I don't think he wants revenge."

"He's a literal psychopath," Harper states.

"We took Quinni and Darren with us," Amerie informs her.

"I can't with this. I need you to stop," Harper states. "Stop trying to protect me. Don't you see this is hurting you?"

"Everything that happened to you was my fault," Amerie insists.

Harper shakes her head. "It wasn't."

"It's not just you, Harps. Everyone at this school thinks that I'm a shitty person and I can't shake this feeling that they're right," Amerie states.

Harper puts her hands on Amerie's shoulders. "You're not a shitty person. We both fuckеd up. And you're the best mate in the whole world. You have so much energy, Am. You're like... the Energizer Bunny on pingers."

"So true," I state.

"So when you turn all that on me, it's fucking terrifying," Harper explains. "You need to take that energy and put it into something else. But I swear to God, if you keep trying to protect me, I'm gonna shave your head."

Amerie laughs. "I would rock it though."

We have an assembly today about school captain elections.

"Being a school captain is a huge responsibility. It requires leadership, caring for other people," Woodsy says. "The very well-being of our students is in their hands. This year, we've only had one, uh, candidate come forward. Well done, Sasha. So I would like to encourage you all to be brave and throw your hat in the ring and give it a go. Sasha, why don't you take us through your policies?"

"Thank you to our esteemed..." Sasha starts.

"Wait!" Spencer shouts as he stands up. "I'm gonna run."