Chapter Six: A little while later



Wyatt sat in the shade of the great tree in the Goths' back garden, overlooking what everybody else was doing. Adrian sat next to him, nattering away about something Wyatt thought was completely uninteresting. He wasn't listening to what Adrian was saying at all, but adding an “uh-huh” or “yeah...” in the right places, and Adrian seemed perfectly happy with that.

That was one of Adrian's many pros: his talkative personality and the way that he would give very much in a conversation and not expect to get much back. He was completely satisfied with Wyatt's lack of interest.

Wyatt enjoyed Adrian's company because of this, even if he did find it slightly annoying. He'd much rather be left alone, but that was impossible in the Goths' house with so many people running around everywhere.

Adrian allowed Wyatt to think, something hardly anyone else let him do in a conversation -- especially Max, who just wanted Wyatt to give him his opinion on everything all the time. Wyatt wasn't very good at coming up with something interesting to say on the spot. He wasn't like his sister, Tia, who could come up with a witty reply in a heart beat. He envied Tia for her ability to talk so freely with people.

“Yeah, and you should have see the tits on this one girl,” Adrian was saying next to him. This made Wyatt jerk back to earth. “They were freakin' massive! Really big, like.” He showed him the size of them with his hands.

Wyatt just blinked at him in reply. He never really knew what to say in these situations when Adrian turned the conversation to something dodgy.

“Cool,” was all he could think of.

“You don't sound very enthusiastic.”

That's because I'm not, he wanted to say, but he couldn't. Instead he racked his brains for some sort of apology for his lack of interest.

He was saved by the sound of a high-pitched scream coming from the swing some distance away. Both Adrian and Wyatt (who automatically flicked his long, black fringe out of his eyes with his hand) looked up.

Lissa lay slightly balled up at the bottom of the swing a few meters away, clutching her left leg. Tia was already by her side.

“Are you OK?” They heard her ask anxiously.

Darren, Max and Lucas dropped their game of catch and sprinted over to the swing.

“We should go check on her, too,” Wyatt suggested and got up.

Adrian nodded and did the same.

Lissa wasn't badly hurt at all. In fact she was smiling by the time Darren had carried her inside and laid her down on one of the sofas in the living room. Cassandra examined her leg and told them all Lissa had just sprained her ankle.

“What did you do this time?” she asked Lissa, who was lounging on the sofa. Her voice and the stern look she was giving Lissa was disapproving.

Lissa's smile widened as she explained how she had jumped off the swing when it was at its highest and flown threw the air.

“That was really stupid, Liss,” Tia said, putting her hands on her hips. She reminded Wyatt of the times their mother had done so whenever one of them had done something naughty in their childhood.

“But it was cool! And so worth it,” Lissa beamed.

Cassandra and Darren shook their heads and sighed.

“You kids,” Cassandra muttered. “I really don't know what to do with you.”

Lucas came over to where Lissa lay and gave her a high five.

“Shame you only sprained your ankle. You can't show that off at school.”

“Yeah,” Lissa said, “but I'm still dead chuffed about it.”

“Lucas, don't encourage her!” Cassandra scolded, looking down at him through her round glasses. “We should be very thankful that it didn't end up any worse. You shouldn't boast about such things. It certainly is not cool.”

“Yeah, and you'd really know a lot about what's cool and what's not, Mum.” The sarcasm in Lucas's voice was unmistakable.

Tia nudged Wyatt's side and sniggered. Wyatt grinned back at her.

This was one of those (surprisingly few) times he enjoyed being at the Goths' house. Lucas's sarcasm nearly always had everybody laughing when it wasn't meant in a hurtful way.

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