“Megan,” he replies with a nod. She smiles, looking between the both of us before she makes her way towards the table and takes a seat. I follow. I can just imagine what’s going through her head right now.

“Open your present,” she says when I’m seated.

“I still have one more present to open from Carter first.” Leaning forward I reach for the gift bag that’s sitting on the table.

“Oh. Did Carter give a you present before I arrived?” she giggles.

“Yes,” I answer. She’s such a smartarse. I know exactly what she is insinuating. “He gave me this necklace.” I hold it up for her to see.

“Jewellery? Hmm. Oh, that’s so pretty,” she says grinning when she leans over to get a closer look. “What else did he get you?” Her eyes move over to him and he squirms in his seat. Poor thing. Meg can be such a stirrer sometimes.

“You can open it later if you like,” Carter replies looking over at me.

“No she can’t. I wanna see what else is in the bag.”

“Meg,” I snap.

“What? I think it’s sweet that he got you a present.” Ugh! I wish I hadn’t said anything now. Opening the bag I pull out the other gift. I gasp when I unwrap the tissue paper. It’s a framed picture of Lassie and I playing fetch.

“Did you draw this?” I ask meeting his gaze.

“Yeah,” he shrugs nervously fiddling with the collar of his T-Shirt. I’ve never seen him look so unsure of himself. This picture is amazing. There’s so much detail in it. It looks exactly like us. Who knew he was so talented?

My eyes scan over the drawing and then I see the title written down the bottom. ‘My Man Larry and the Kid’. My gaze moves back towards him. I fight the grin on my face while trying my best to give him a dirty look. I know I’ve failed miserably when he laughs.

“Let me see,” Meg says snatching it out of my hand.

“Wow. You drew this? You should do this for a living.”

“I’m considering it,” he tells her. “I sold some of my drawings to a tattoo place a few weeks ago. I’m still surprised by how much money they made me.”

“No shit,” Meg says. Then she gives me a look. I know exactly what she’s trying to convey. I guess he didn’t go to see that whore-bag after all. I feel terrible now. It was wrong of me to make assumptions about where he got his money from. Meg even said there was probably a reasonable explanation, but being the stubborn person I am, I refused to listen to her.

••••

Meg ended up sleeping over so I didn’t get any more alone time with Carter. I’ll admit I was disappointed, but it’s probably for the best. He’s definitely not a one-woman man, so I guess if this thing between us continues, I’m only going to wind up getting hurt.

Monday is a public holiday, so we have no school today. Meg and I spend the day cruising around in my car. “You wanna grab some lunch at the little café mum took us to a few weeks ago? I want to try that dish she ordered,” Meg asks.

“Sure. I might have the same. It looked yummy.” I park in the car park just off the main road. It’s near impossible to get parking on the street this time of day. It’s only a half a block walk to the café from here anyway.

Meg links her arm through mine as we walk down the street. “Is that Carter over there?” she asks pointing across the road. Of course my head immediately snaps in that direction. It’s him. My heart starts to race for some reason. I hate that he makes me feel like this.

“What’s he doing going into a bar?” I ask more to myself than her. He’s not even eighteen yet.

“I don’t know. Maybe he wants a drink.”

“It’s the middle of the day. He’s underage,” I say.

“So, we’re not all goody-goodies like you, Indi. I’ve been in plenty of bars before.” Reaching up, I pinch her on the arm. “Ouch. What was that for?” she laughs.

“I’m not a goody-goody,” I snap. Sure I haven’t done half the things she’s done, but since Carter has been my neighbour, I have crossed the line a few times.

“Name one thing,” she challenges. I can name a few, but I haven’t told her about the things Carter and I have gotten up to. Only because I know she’ll never shut up about it if I do. She stops and waits for me to answer. “Exactly,” she says when I don’t.

“I put dog poop next to Mr. Shepard’s car the other night.” Lame I know, but it’s the best she’s getting.

She starts laughing. “You did not.”

“I did too. He trod in it the next morning. He came bashing on our door screaming like a raving lunatic. My dad went off his head when he blamed Lassie.”

“No fucking way. You really did that? Why?” she asks.

“Because he was being mean to Carter. I hate the way he treats him.” She stops walking and turns to face me.

“You really like him, don’t you?” I shrug. The answer is yes, but I’m trying my best to fight what I’m feeling. No point wishing for something that’s never going to happen. “Why don’t you tell him how you feel? I can tell by the way he looks at you that he feels the same. This just proves it,” she adds, flicking the necklace around my neck. “When a guy buys a girl jewellery, it says a lot.”

“It’s a necklace with a dog charm on it, Meg. It’s not a damn engagement ring.”

“Why don’t you make a move on him? Maybe that’s what he’s waiting for.”

“He doesn’t want a girlfriend,” I tell her.

“He told you that?”

“Kind of. He said things could never go any further …” Shit. I clench my mouth shut before I say anything else. I didn’t mean to say that part.

“Any further? Any further than what?” she asks yanking on my arm when I try to walk away.

“Nothing,” I reply looking down at the ground. She’s gonna know I’m lying if I look her in the eye.

“You lying bitch. Spill. I know you’re keeping something from me.”

“I’m not,” I lie, raising my head and meeting her steely gaze. When a smile creeps onto my face she reaches out and pinches me. “Ouch.” I start to laugh as I rub my arm to try and relieve the pain.

“I’m waiting,” she says impatiently, raising her hand like she’s going to pinch me again.

“Okay,” I reply pushing her hand away. “We may have snuck into each other’s room and did some things. Not sex. Other stuff.”

“What? When? Why am I only hearing about it now?” she screeches in a high-pitched voice. I drag her towards the café, promising to tell her everything once we’re seated. She’s never going to shut up about this, I know it, but I don’t really have a choice. I can’t lie to her.

••••

I tell her the whole sordid mess as we wait for our food to arrive. We’re sitting outside the café. I told her I wanted to sit out here for privacy so we could talk, but my real reason was so I could keep an eye on the pub where Carter is. I’m still wondering why he’s in there. I hope he hasn’t gone in to meet, or even worse, pick up a girl.

That thought makes me feel sick in the stomach.

“I can’t believe all this has been going on behind my back and I’m only hearing about it now. I tell you everything about my hook-ups,” she complains.

“Yes I know,” I reply rolling my eyes. “All the sordid details as well. Sometimes after talking to you I feel the need to bleach my brain.”

“Fuck off,” she says and we both laugh. We both stop talking when our food arrives so we can eat, although the whole time my eyes keep drifting over towards the building that houses Carter. Half an hour has passed since he entered.

When we’ve finished eating we ask for the bill. We split it and make our way back towards the car park. We don’t make it far when Meg turns and starts dragging me across the street. “Where are we going?” I ask.

“To see what lover boy is up to.”

“What? We can’t go in there, we’re underage,” I say horrified.

“So is he. We can both pass for eighteen. Well I can. Not sure about you,” she laughs.

“Ha ha, bitch. Just because I’m short …”

“Undo those buttons,” she says reaching for my top. I slap her hand away.