I watch him leave. Then I reach across to pluck off a gum leaf, my leg hurting as I move. I scrunch the leaf between my fingers, like Dad showed me when I was little. Then I hold it up to my nose and breathe in the clear, sharp smell of eucalyptus. I look down at the large white lump that is my knee, imagining the damage under the skin, the shattered bones, the swelling. At least I will heal.

Then the door swings open, and Bridge and Ellie burst in like they’re competing to get to me. But before they reach the bed, they both stop.

‘Are you okay?’ Bridge is the first to speak.

I look at her, forcing myself to fill my chest with air so I can talk.

‘Yeah,’ I say finally.

They step closer, looking at me and then not at me and then at my leg. And then they both dash to where I’m lying and throw themselves on top of me. Bridge bangs against my leg and I yell.

‘Argh,’ I say, pushing her off.

‘Sorry, sorry,’ she says.

‘We bought you a snake.’ Ellie holds up a rainbow-coloured jelly python. I look up into my friends’ eyes and the hurt spreads through me, limb by limb.

‘But we’re not giving it to you until you apologise!’ Bridge says.

‘And then grovel,’ says Ellie. ‘For at least a month.’

‘Maybe cook us some biscuits.’

‘And do all our homework.’

They start competing with bigger ideas, until I’m shouting, ‘Stop!’ over both of them.

‘I’m sorry,’ I say. ‘I’m really sorry. I was jealous.’

Bridge explodes with laughter.

Ellie joins her. ‘Of us? We hate each other!’

‘It’s true. We just put up with each other because of you,’ says Bridge, forgetting about my knee again and leaning in for a cuddle.

‘Ow,’ I say.

‘Sorry!’ Bridge jumps back. ‘But don’t be jealous. You’re Clem!’

‘Yeah. We love you.’

‘Really?’ I manage. My friends are watching me so closely that I sort of wish they’d step back a bit.

‘Yes, really,’ says Bridge.

‘Of course really,’ says Ellie.

‘But no more secrets, Clem,’ says Bridge. ‘Do you know how much I hate finding things out from Nat?’

I nod. Then I realise I need to tell them the truth. ‘You guys made me feel like I wasn’t part of things. That wasn’t just my imagination.’

My friends both look away. The fridge hums in the corner, making the silence painful.

Then Ellie carefully perches herself on the edge of my bed. ‘You’re right. I wanted Bridge to like me, and somewhere in all that I forgot about you. But only because you and I were already friends, and I didn’t think anything would change that,’ she says.