‘Mum got them for me.’

‘For your birthday?’

I shook my head. ‘To make me feel better about moving here, I guess.’

‘New kicks and the 36ers? Your mum’s awesome,’ Jane said and I felt guilty because they were really an I’m not an evil stepmother from hell that has destroyed your parents’ marriage and ripped you away from everything you love gift from Caitlin. I’d left them sitting in my cupboard for ages, but there was no way I wasn’t going to wear my new shoes to the game. They were deadly as. Not that I was going to tell Caitlin that.

Mum chose this moment to drive around the corner in her jeep. ‘Here she is,’ I told them, relieved.

We piled in. ‘You’re late, Mum.’

‘Important meeting, Phoebe.’ She leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. I could smell her perfume and champagne or wine on her breath.

I could tell she really had been somewhere important because she was wearing her lucky silver hoop earrings, a stylish new summer dress and had her blonde hair pulled back into a neat ponytail. ‘Hey girls, how are you? Excited?’ she asked my friends.

‘It’s going to be awesome! It’s been ages since the 36ers have had a winning streak,’ Jane said.

‘Six games in a row,’ Katie added, punching the air.

‘I can’t remember the last time I saw a game,’ Mum said, but I remembered exactly. It was two years ago, when I turned fifteen. We stopped for a drink at a cafe near our place on the way home. It’s one of the last times that Mum and I hung out together, just the two of us, before things started to sour between her and Dad.

‘It’s not so bad getting into the city with this new freeway,’ Mum said as we sped along. She was obviously trying to make me feel better about the distance between The Village and the city. I looked at all of the farmland, the grapevines on either side of the freeway and the dry straw hills to the east. It’s the middle of nowhere, I thought and then sighed.

The traffic slowed down as we neared the city.

‘What’s going on?’ Mum asked.

‘It’s Friday rush hour traffic and there’s a game to get to is what’s going on,’ I told her.

‘Phoebe! I’m trying to be serious here.’

Mum was always bossy, impatient and late – not for work but for me. But I respected that she showed me how to get what I need. Like she says, nothing comes to those who wait. You need to get off your arse.

The traffic started moving, except Mum didn’t notice and the driver behind us honked. We drove through the lights and Mum picked up speed. I worried she was driving too fast. Katie synced her phone to the car stereo and a minute or so later she and Jane were singing along to Taylor Swift’s latest album. Mum pulled up suddenly behind a car that was slowing to turn, and Katie and Jane stopped singing. I spun the speakers down a notch.