And then, only weeks after they arrived, news broke that the war was over.

“NATO has called off its eleven-week air war against Serbia following the beginning of the withdrawal of Serb troops from Kosovo,” the newscaster said.

Sam looked from the car radio to Anika in the driver’s seat. “Does that mean they’re going home? Even though they’ve only just got here?” he asked.

“It’s not quite as simple as that,” Anika said. “Both sides may say it’s over, but it might not be—there’s still a lot of violence over there, and military everywhere, plus there’s also not a whole lot for these people to return to. No law and order, destroyed homes . . .”

We were in the car that Tuesday after school, heading to the supermarket while Luca was volunteering again. Sam and I had taken turns telling Anika what Mr. McMillan had told Aidan—about how the refugees could have gone home weeks ago, but they wouldn’t because they had a good thing going here, and would bleed Australia of all our good intentions.

We saw Anika rolling her eyes in the rearview mirror, and we heard her mutter something under her breath before she cleared her throat to talk to us properly. “That’s all well and good for Aidan’s father to say, but I’m sure he’d feel differently if it was his family choosing between staying here in safety or going back to a bombed-out city that could still come under attack.”

Anika put the turn signal on and swung us into the car park, but before we got out of the car, she awkwardly tried turning her big body in the seat to look at Sam and me. “Don’t go telling Luca every bit of word-vomit that comes out of Mr. McMillan’s mouth, okay?”

Sam and I smirked when Anika said that, and she did the same. “I know, I know—you shouldn’t disrespect your elders. Especially not your friend’s parents, understand?”

Sam and I both nodded.

“But Mr. McMillan can . . .” Anika sighed and fidgeted in her seat. “. . . He can be a bit of a gossip and run his mouth without caring what other people think, or how they’ll react or even what the full story is.”

Then a little quieter, Anika added, “I can just imagine what he thinks of me and Luca.”

But I didn’t have to imagine—I knew. I knew because Aidan was forever inviting Jed and Keira over to his house after school, but never me. He didn’t make a big deal about it, but I’d asked Jed the other day why Aidan never asked me to hang out, too, and Jed’s neck had gone bright red and he’d scratched at it while avoiding my eyes.

“What? What did Aidan say?” I asked. “Did I do something wrong?”