4

"What happened to your head?" was all I kept hearing all day at school.

I was exhausted enough considering the events of last night, but the constant badgering and interrogating was draining my energy one nosy question at a time.

"Don't worry, by next week they'll have forgotten all about it," Caitlyn assured me.

"Right," I said sarcastically. As long as the scar on my forehead stayed visible, the questions would just keep on coming. I was seriously considering getting a fringe.

"Well it's not exactly negative attention," Amy offered hopefully.

Macy rolled her eyes and pushed her way forward to stand next to me. "Seriously, you guys aren't getting it. Dawn doesn't like any attention at all! Now that people are staring at this ugly line on her forehead, she feels like a freak!" It wasn't the most sensitive of speeches, but Macy wasn't a sensitive kind of girl. I still massively appreciated it, though.

"Thanks, Macy." She sent me a weak smile. Macy wasn't much of an affectionate person, but she cared a lot.

"Okay, well there's not much we can do about that. But you're getting the stitches out later, and tomorrow's Friday. You'll have the weekend to take care of the swelling and the redness, and after that, it will fade on its own. Plus, you can cover it with makeup. Don't worry about it," Indie said. She was right, so I nodded as we walked into Afternoon Registration.

After all our names were called, Miss Moran faced the class. "We have a new student starting on Monday. I haven't been told the details yet but I think they'll be in the year above. Nevertheless, I want you all on your nicest behaviour when Monday comes," she ordered. Our school was tiny, meaning that almost everybody knew everybody. There were only three forms per year group.

Everyone turned to each other, surprised. A new student? Who? Practically everyone knew everyone in this village. Had someone new moved in?

>>

After fifth period, I said goodbye to my friends and met up with Ryan, who immediately checked if I was okay. After my accident, Ryan had become protective over me, constantly concerned about my health. In a way, it brought us closer.

We found Mum's car and quickly got in, heating up our freezing bodies.

"Hi Mum," I said, kissing her on the cheek as the pulled away from the school.

When we started to make our way down the main road, heading towards the crossroads that would lead to the start of the long lane down to our house, I shifted in my seat to face Sid in the back.

"How was your day, Sid?" I asked, smiling at her.

She practically jumped to the edge of her seat and started babbling away at how she had held a fashion show at Lunch with her friends.

"Oh, and I made a new friend, too!" she squealed.

I raised an eyebrow in interest and grinned, "Who?"

"Ash, he's ten and a quarter. I told him about how I'm nine and I'm going to be ten in two weeks! He's really nice. He let me wear his baseball hat all day because he said that I'm pretty. He said he only lets pretty girls wear his hat. Am I pretty, Danny? I don't think so. I don't know. How can you tell if you're pretty? Do you just know? Ash says he lives close to us. Do you think he can come over to play with my magic tent?" I laughed quietly at Sid's jabbering and cast Mum an amused look.

"A boy? I told you not to play with boys, Sid."

I rolled my eyes at Ryan's input. He was always so protective over his baby sister. It was cute, though; he treated her like a princess.

"I know, but Ry," she whined, "he's really nice and he wants to be my friend!"

"Sydney, no playing with boys."

"Well, Ryan, I don't care what you say," Sid suddenly huffed, turning her nose up and looking away from him. Ryan looked panicked— he wasn't ready to deal with the boy conundrum yet.

"Let your sister make friends, Ryan," Mum said with a smile.

"But Mum, he's a boy and—"

"And he's ten, Ryan. I know you know what boys are like, but he's ten. Calm down," Mum teased. My defeated brother huffed and crossed his arms, staring dejectedly out of the window.

"So, Sid, Ash sounds nice," I pressed with a smirk, partly wanting to hear more about my baby sister's new friend, partly wanting to annoy Ryan some more.

"Yeah, he's so nice, Danny. He even gave me his star sticker, even though Miss College only gave us one each!"

"Aw, isn't that sweet! And by the way, you are very, very pretty, Sid. Ash is right."

"Are you sure?"

"One hundred percent."

"Home sweet home!" Mum sang as we pulled into the driveway and everybody jumped out of the car, running into the house.

Sid dragged me upstairs to play in her 'magic tent' with her. It was really an old camping tent Dad used to keep in garage. Sid claimed it as hers and now kept it constructed permanently in her room, stuffing it with all her stuffed animals, as well as her collection of disco torches that all cast different colours and sequences. She would close the blinds, switch off the lights, and climb inside the tent to switch on all of the torches at once. Apparently it transported her to the animal kingdom where she would party with all her now-alive toys.

"Come on, Danny, you get in first!" She ordered as I waited for her to finish shuffling around her room with her tongue sticking out in concentration, her hands grabbing at the blinds and slamming the light switch off.

I rolled my eyes amusedly and climbed into the tent. It was really cramped with all of her massive stuffed animals and my tall sixteen-year-old body, so when Sid got in and zipped up the door, I could barely breathe. She lay down beside me and placed all of the torches on her stomach as she fumbled around with the switches on them.

Eventually, the space lit up.

It was a magical effect; the lights reflected off the material of the tent, and seemed to make the darkness even darker compared to the brightness of the orbs. The animals lighted up in different shades and colours as the torch lights danced around the tent. I hadn't been in the 'magic tent' for at least six months, what with the Summer Holidays, then starting the new school year, my birthday on October sixteenth, and then Christmas and New Year... I hadn't remembered to spend time in my sisters world: childhood.

"Hey, Danny?" Sid whispered.

"Yeah, Sid?"

"Why don't you have a boyfriend?"

A strangled cough escaped my mouth as I struggled to inhale air through the correct tube. "Um... I don't know, Sid."

"You have to know. Don't you want one?"

"I-I guess I do. I'm not sure. I haven't met anyone I want to go out with yet."

"But you're so beautiful!"

I laughed, "Thanks, Sid, but not everybody thinks that."

"Well they should!"

"Calm down, it's not a big deal," I laughed.

Sid sat up defiantly. "No, Danny! It's not fair! I don't think anyone is as pretty as you, but other girls have boyfriends!"

I sighed, "It's okay Sid. It doesn't matter. Come on, we're supposed to be having a party in the animal kingdom."

>>

It was Saturday; I was thankful to be away from school and the prying eyes that came with it. People just couldn't accept that I didn't want to talk about my accident.

I was supposed to be dropping Sid off at her new friend Ash's house, but I had no idea where it was. Mum and Dad had spoken to his parents on the phone and apparently they sounded "very nice and sincere," so Sid had permission to have a play date at his house. Ryan was, of course, not happy with it, but he had no say in the matter. Unfortunately, Mum and Dad were taking Ryan to the neighbouring town to find him replacement shoes for his rugby kit, so I was stuck with delivering Sid to Ash's house.

Except I didn't know where Ash's house was. My parents, who completely forgot to tell me, had left earlier, leaving me no address but the promise of a text that would tell me where I was going.

That was two hours ago.

I was fifteen minutes away from the drop-off time, and two minutes away from losing my mind. Sid was going crazy with excitement, I was going insane, and my parents had clearly forgotten about their two other children stuck at home.

"Sid, do you have any idea where his house is?" I begged.

She nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah, it's really close!"

I suppressed a groan. "Yes, but where exactly?"

"Um..." She looked stumped, when her face lit up. "He has a really big house nearby!"

My forehead hit the kitchen counter.

"Okay, Sid, it looks like you're not going on a play date today," I muttered.

"But!" she started, looking crestfallen. "Mummy said I could!"

"Yeah, well Mummy didn't tell me where I'm taking you to."

"Why can't we just ask someone where Ash lives?!" she whimpered.

I sighed. "It just doesn't work that way."

And then suddenly, miraculously, my phone buzzed with a message from Mum.

"Yay!" Sid squealed when she read the screen. "This is Ash's address! You can take me now!"

I grumpily picked myself off the counter and unlocked my phone to put the address into Google Maps.

"So," I began monotonously, "looks like we're heading to...here?"

"Huh?" Sid questioned, looking up at me and wearing a confused expression. I pointed the screen down at her and her eyebrows creased even deeper. The marker displaying our destination was overlapping the marker for our current location, and looked to be our house.

"It must be a bug or something," I stated, closing the app and restarting it. But once again, it showed me the same thing. "What the...?" Frowning, I decided to zoom in, watching at the destination marker moved further apart from our location, and finally showed that it was located across the street from us.

"I can't believe it," I said with a shocked smile, shaking my head.

Sid tugged on my jacket, "What's wrong?"

I simply shut of my phone and slipped it into my pocket, taking Sid's hand and the house keys. "Nothing— I just know the people who live at Ash's house."

She stared at me, not understanding. I locked the front door and took her and agin, leading her down the driveway before explaining, "Not Ash, I just know about him. I didn't know his name, though. I know his big brother and his parents."

"Oh. How do you know them?"

I paused. "I met them by chance."

When we reached the road, I made sure to check if a car was coming before leading Sid across to the Hunters' driveway. Her eyes practically popped out of the their sockets when I pulled her past the No Entry sign.

"B-but-"

"I thought nobody lived here, too," I cut her off. Her expression was the definition of surprise, when it dissolved into happiness.

"That means I can see Ash all the time!" she squealed. I nodded once, wondering what Ryan would have to say about it.

By the time we reached the front door, it was exactly one o'clock, the drop-off time. Pleased with myself, I rang the doorbell and grinned at Sid's awestruck gaze as her eyes scanned the house.

The door flew open, and I was greeted by an all-too-familiar face.

"Dawn," he said.

"Hayden," I replied.

His gaze landed on Sid, and he beamed at her, before looking back at me, "Sydney is your sister?" I nodded and watched his expression become unreadable. "Are you sure?"

I laughed and eyed him, "Am I sure that she's my sister?"

He huffed and smiled, closing his eyes for a minute before restarting. "I mean, do you want to come in?"

"Yes please," I chuckled. He opened the door wider and let us through, insisting on taking Sid and I's coats.

"It's okay," I assured him, "I'm just dropping her off."

He smirked. "Can't you stay?"

"I-"

"Dawn!" Jackie cut me off, rushing over and hugging me tightly. "What are you doing over? Not that I'm not happy to see you, because believe me, I am," she grinned.

I gestured to Sid, who was clinging nervously to my side. "Dropping off my sister for a play date," I told her.

Her eyebrows shot up. "Sydney is your sister?"

"Is that such a surprise?" I laughed.

"No, not at all, it's just great to have you both here," she smiled. "Ash! Sydney's here!"

Almost instantly I heard thumping on the staircase as a blonde ten-year-old boy came barrelling down the stairs, grinning happily. "Ash!" Sydney yelled, and as soon as they met, Ash grabbed Sid's hand and dragged her upstairs.

"Wow, that was passionate," I giggled.

"You're staying, right?" Jackie asked.

"I'm just dropping her off," I declined.

"You have to stay! Come on, I'll make you some lunch," Jackie bargained.

"Really, it's oka—"

"So it's decided, you're staying," Hayden declared, and suddenly my coat was pulled off me, hung on the coat rack and I was draped over Hayden's shoulder.

"Put me down!" I shouted, flailing around.

"Nope!" Hayden yelled and I squealed as he ran up the stairs, down a hallway, through a door, and threw me onto a bed.

"Welcome to my wolf den," he announced, spinning around with his arms out.

I giggled and sat up, studying his room. It was boyish enough; his bed had black sheets, his floor was covered in clothes and random thingumajigs, his walls were covered in picture frames boasting photos of other teenagers, and his desk was stacked high with papers and folders— probably his home-school work.

"It's not very manly, is it?" I commented with a sly smile.

He growled and his lips suggested a playful smile. "I'm the manliest man you will ever have the pleasure of meeting. A man. The manliest," he proclaimed in his deep voice. I folded my legs beneath me, nodding disbelievingly as Hayden flopped onto his bed beside me. "Movie?" he offered.

I considered it. "As long as I get to pick."