‘How long have your parents been making wine?’ I asked Caroline.

‘This place used to be my nonno’s,’ she said.

‘Is he still alive?’

‘Yeah, he lives in Port Lincoln now. He likes fishing. He gave this place to Mum and Dad before I was born.’

‘That’s cool,’ I said, feeling a bit more relaxed now that I couldn’t smell anymore smoke and the lingering deodorant. As long as I’m not high and drunk, everything is fine, I told myself. And really, apart from giggling a bit, Caroline and Ashley seemed normal, talking about bands, films and stuff on Netflix, pretty much like Jane and Katie do.

I felt my phone buzz with a message.

‘Got to say bye to the olds,’ I told Caroline and Ashley before I walked out of the room.

I wondered if I should head home with Dad and Caitlin, but it would be rude – I’d only just got there – and Caroline didn’t seem to mind too much that I wasn’t joining in with her and Ashley. I trusted myself to resist temptation.

Sure enough, when I got out the back to see Dad and Caitlin, all the adults were getting into their drinks, talking and laughing. They really would be oblivious to whatever Caroline and Ashley were getting up to inside.

‘Better grab your sleeping bag and things before we go,’ Dad said, placing an empty wine glass on the table.

‘She’ll be absolutely fine with us,’ Caroline’s mum Theresa declared.

I followed Dad and Caitlin out to the car to grab my stuff. I gave Dad a kiss and waved as they drove off between the agapanthus.

Hanging out with Caroline and Ashley ended up being fun. Later in the night, we sat by the fire pit with Caroline’s brother Mitch after his friend left. We just talked and joked around. To my relief, they didn’t pressure me to drink or smoke.

Caroline was a bit tipsy when we went to bed and it got me thinking about Mum, what she was up to, if she had been drinking like everyone else around me that night.

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 7

It’d be too far of a stretch to say that Caroline took me under her wing the following week at school, because the girls seem to make a thing of treating each other equally, but I did feel like Caroline was looking out for me a bit more. And Matilda felt a little less like a threat – not so much on the basketball court, but in class.

By this point I hadn’t seen Mum in almost a fortnight so we made plans for her to pick me up from school on Friday night.

While waiting for her to arrive, Dad asked, ‘Have you heard from your mum?’

‘What?’ I said, distracted trying to get comfy on the sofa.

‘Your mum. Have you heard from her?’