I take the sprig of Geraldton Wax and tuck it behind Leila's ear. The pink petals nestle into her fine, golden hair.

 

She admires herself in the window and grins. "OK Jaz, from the start!"

 

She presses play on the tape recorder and we run to our positions behind the planter box. As Paula Abdul blares from the speakers, we emerge from either side, breaking into a jazz ballet run and leaping into the sunken lounge. We've choreographed a lot of dances this summer, but this is by far our best work.

 

At that moment, my little brother enters stage left and does a roly poly into the room, causing me to stop half way through a kick ball change.

 

"Scott!!!' I scream. "We're practising!"

 

He lies on his back and spreads his arms, taking up as much space as he can.

 

"It's so not funny!" I turn to Leila. "Let's go to your place."

 

I yell to Mum that we're leaving, and we race out the door, picking up our bikes off the front lawn and taking off towards Leila's house.  

 

It's the last day of the summer holidays and we can't waste it.

 

Leila lives on the next street. Her house is so much better than mine. For a start, she's got a pool. A fibreglass pool with freezing water, bordered on one side by brown bricks which scorch our feet and on the other by spiky bushes that scratch our legs as we brush past them.  But it's still better than no pool.  

 

She's also got the best toys. For Christmas Santa brought her a Cabbage Patch Kid doll, one with proper hair, and her parents gave her Shera and He Man figurines. She even got the Crystal Castle.  

 

For lunch Leila's mum makes us tomato sandwiches with a shake of salt, or toothpick skewers of cheese, pineapple and polony; so much better than the leftovers Mum dishes up at my place.

 

Today, it's polony skewers. As we're finishing lunch, Leila's dad gets home from a fishing trip and chases us around the lounge with a crab. We shriek, and I try not to let on that I'm actually terrified – almost as much as that time Nigel chased me into the cupboard at school with a spider skin.

 

"Da-ad!" Leila protests.  "You're so embarrassing!" She turns to me. "Let's get out of here!"

 

We agree Melissa's house is a good idea – her mum works for a chocolate factory and there are always boxes of chocolates in the back of the pantry. Mel also has the best sticker collection and often brings it out to show off, although she'll never trade any of us.

 

Her older brother opens the door. "Mel!" he yells. "It's for you!  It's your stinky friends!  Including the one with four eyes." He laughs as if he's made the funniest joke ever. I wait until he walks away before pushing my pink frames up from where they've again slipped down my flat Asian nose.  

 

Mel appears in a white dress with pink stripes and sparkly pink jelly sandals. I wish I had clothes like hers. I wear boring t shirts and shorts handed down from cousins, which arrive in garbage bags and smell of moth balls, even after I've worn them for a year.

 

"Hey guys!" Mel says. "Wanna see my new stickers?"

 

We follow her to her room and ooh and ahh at the stickers her piano teacher gave her, which are both puffy and smelly. We then head to the pantry for a box of chocolates which we snack on while we watch TV. Mel's parents are both at work, so there's no one to tell us not to eat the whole box, and half an hour later that's exactly what we've done.

 

"I don't feel so good," mumbles Leila.

 

"Me neither," I agree.

 

"Let's go to the park," she suggests.

  

Mel retrieves her bike from the shed. It's pink with purple Spokey Dokeys and glittery streamers flowing from the handlebars. I glance down at my blue bike with the rust spots, also a hand-me-down from my cousins, and wonder if I should have asked Santa for a new ride, instead of a Mr Frosty.

 

The park happens to be opposite Ashley Taylor's house.  Ashley is my not-so-secret crush. I write his name all over my notebooks, often inside a love heart with my name.  Sometimes I try combining my name with his. I think ‘Jasmine Taylor' has a nice ring to it.  I'd like to have a name like that one day, one that I don't always have to explain or spell.

 

Mel heads for the swing, while Leila and I climb to the top of the wooden pyramid which gives us an excellent view of Ashley's front yard.

 

Ten minutes later, the door opens and Ashley comes out with his little sister. I nudge Leila hard with my elbow. We watch him help his sister into the car as their mum gets into the driver's seat.

 

As they back out of the driveway, he sees us.  I instinctively duck down behind Leila. He waves at her.  She waves back.  His car speeds down the street and disappears around the corner.

 

"Jaz!!" Leila shrieks. "He waved at you!"

 

"No he didn't, he waved at you!" I say. "I was hiding behind you the whole time."

 

"He totally knew you were there!" she says.

 

"Do you think so?" I ask.

 

"Yes!! He was probably waving at you actually – I just happened to be in the way."

 

My stomach flips at the thought of Ashley waving at me.

 

"Come on, let's go," Leila says, jumping down from the top of the pyramid. I climb down to the bottom beam and jump from there. Years of my mother warning me to "be careful" and telling me the story of her friend's son who jumped off some monkey bars and fractured his spine have beaten any sense of bravery out of me.

 

"Hey guys, let's stop at Caitlin's on the way back," Mel says.

 

As we ride, my head is filled with thoughts of Ashley. Maybe next time Leila asks him if he wants to go out with me he'll say yes.

 

Caitlin's front yard is full of dead grass, and weeds as tall as me. Inside isn't much better, but we have fun when we're there, as long as her dad's not around.  

 

Her parents have a water bed her mum lets us play on. One time we let the cat onto the bed and it tore a hole in the mattress with its claws. Apparently, Caitlin's dad was not happy when he came home.  We weren't allowed over for a long time after that.

 

Caitlin answers the door.  "Hi," she says, softly, standing up against the screen door but not opening it.

 

Mel takes the lead. "Hey Caitlin!  We were at the park and thought we'd come by to say hi. What are you doing?"

 

"Oh, nothing much," Caitlin says.

 

 "Jaz and Leila made up a new dance and said they can teach it to us if we want?"

 

"Uh..." Caitlin looks behind her. "Not today."

 

"Caitlin, who is it?" Caitlin's mum appears. "Oh, hi girls," she says. "Have you had a nice holiday?"

 

I get a shock when I see her face. It looks the way mine did after I had a tooth pulled out one time at the dentist – tight and swollen.  A blue bruise spreads across her jaw. I want to ask if she's been to the dentist. I want to ask if she's OK. But instead, I just stare.

 

Caitlin notices. "I – I'll see you guys back at school on Monday," she says, and before we can protest, she's shut the door.

 

Mel, Leila and I stand on the front step in silence.

 

"I'd better get home," says Mel, finally.

 

"Yeah, same," Leila agrees.

  

As we ride off, I look back and see Caitlin in the front window, holding the curtain to one side. Our eyes meet for a moment before she drops the curtain.

 

When we get to Mel's street she turns off and we mumble our goodbyes. It's not how we normally say goodbye, yelling and waving, but that doesn't feel right now.

 

Leila and I ride on in silence. I breathe in the scent of dried grass and eucalyptus as the warm air beats against my face. At Leila's front gate I straddle my bike as she dismounts hers and undoes the gate latch.

 

"Well..." she says.

 

The early evening light shines at her back, a golden glow encircling her. I notice she still has the Geraldton Wax flower tucked behind her ear. Some of the blooms are starting to close. I reach out and push it further into her hair.

 

"Wanna come over after school on Monday to practise the dance?" she asks.

 

I smile. "Definitely."

 

"See you Monday!" she says, wheeling her bike through the gate.

 

"See you Monday," I reply.

 

The gate swings shut on our summer.