‘Oh, that …’ Charlie said, thrown off balance. ‘I was looking forward to it. But I’ve had so much going on today I’ve hardly thought about it. Maybe I’ll go next week, if I haven’t been booted back to White Boulder by then. I haven’t even worked out how to get to Swallow Park.’

‘It’s not far,’ Harry said. ‘Maybe seven bucks in a cab.’

‘I won’t be focused with all this going on.’

‘But you’re meeting your support worker tomorrow. All you’ll be able to say is that since your release, you’ve got trashed, hung with me, gone to the mall with Juno and been in a fight at school. It might make a difference if you have something you can big up and sound positive about.’

The last thing Charlie felt like doing was going out and interacting with a bunch of strangers. But Harry had made a good point, and there’d be plenty of time to catch up on sulking if she didn’t do all she could to avoid getting sent back to White Boulder.

24 HOT OR NOT

Betsy was back to her smoky best, and the sun was setting as she cruised the boundary of Swallow Park golf course, with Brad at the wheel and Charlie using her phone for directions.

‘It says point-four of a mile, then left at the stop sign.’

‘Aye-aye,’ Brad said, then glanced across at Charlie. ‘So that English kid, is he your boyfriend?’

‘Just friends,’ Charlie said, shaking her head.

‘How’d you meet him? At school?’

‘Long story,’ Charlie said. ‘Harry was awesome after I got busted. Wrote me, visited me. Paid money into my commissary account at White Boulder, so I could buy treats and toiletries.’

‘And he don’t get nothing out of that?’ Brad asked.

The way Brad phrased it made Charlie feel guilty. ‘He’d just moved from England and he was lonely.’

‘You find him attractive?’

‘He’s a nice guy.’ Charlie squirmed.

Brad laughed. ‘That’s not what I asked.’

Charlie realised she didn’t exactly know the answer to that question. She was tempted to tell Brad to mind his own business, but he’d been sweet, offering a ride after she realised she’d spent most of her money on leggings and a school bag at the mall and didn’t have enough for a cab both ways.

‘I guess he’s more like an older brother,’ Charlie answered finally. ‘He’s my best friend, but I don’t really think of him like … that.’