Everything is Changed by Nova Weetman Read Free Book Online Page A

bare arm and I’m looking at her and she’s looking away.
    â€˜Yeah.’
    â€˜Is this about you and Alex? You trying to get back at him?’ Her voice is so soft it’s like I imagined it.
    â€˜No,’ I say, horrified she’d think that of me.
    â€˜But we’re friends. You know that,’ she says, turning back to me and biting her lip.
    I nod, feeling stupid. ‘Yeah. Course.’
    â€˜I’m sorry,’ she says, like I’m the mistake, like I’m the apology that has to come.
    I shrug like it doesn’t matter. But inside I ache. ‘Okay.’
    She slaps her knee and says, ‘Bloody mozzies. They’re eating me alive. They always do.’
    But the air is clear of mozzies. The air is warm and sweet and still. And ruined.
    â€˜I’d better get home,’ she says, trying to delicately climb from the roundabout as it sways with her weight.
    â€˜See you at school tomorrow, Jake. Okay?’
    She jumps clear and I watch her back away from me.
    â€˜Yeah. Okay,’ I say, knowing it’s just one more big, fat lie. Then it’s almost as if she reads my mind, because she stops in the darkness, just far enough away so I can’t reach her.
    â€˜Don’t bullshit me, Jake. Are you going to be at school or not?’
    â€˜Yeah,’ I say in the loudest, fakest voice I can manage.
    I don’t want to be here. But Mum has left me no choice. She drove me here, to this practice in the suburbs, and then said she’d come in with me unless I walked myself in through the glass doors. She’s so set on me going back to school.
    There are others waiting in the room. Some have parents sitting too close, fussing over them. One is pretending to sleep. I walk to the counter and wait for the receptionist to get off the phone. Her voice is too high and her nails make a clicking sound as her fingers pound across the keyboard. I can see the top of her head where the hair dye has started to grow out. She hangs up and takes her time staring at the computer screen before pulling an indifferent smile. ‘Yes?’
    â€˜I’ve got an appointment with Dr Michaels.’
    â€˜First time here?’
    â€˜Yeah.’ And hopefully last.
    â€˜You have to fill this in,’ she says, sliding a clipboard across the bench to me.
    â€˜Thanks.’
    I take the clipboard and her black pen and find a seat on the outer circle of the waiting room. Some kid is curled up in the corner and his mum is patting his head with one hand and texting with the other. I tick boxes and scribble answers doubting that anyone actually reads these forms. Then I take the board back to the desk.
    â€˜Won’t be long,’ she mouths to me, while also listening to someone on the phone.
    I nod and go back to my seat. As soon as I sit down a boy looks over at me. He’s in a school uniform, complete with fancy blazer and tie. His forehead is covered in a strange sort of rash and he reaches up to try and brush his hair down over it. He does a half smile and then looks away. I pull out my phone and scroll through messages, wishing I could text Alex and know he’d text me back. But we’re so far from that now. And after everything that happened with Ellie I know I can’t message her either.
    â€˜Jake Reynolds,’ I hear a man say. I look up and see a middle-aged guy with glasses scanning the room. It’s so tempting to stay in my seat and pretend it’s not me.
    I let him call my name out again before slowly standing and shuffling over to him. He nods at me, and then starts to walk away, so I follow. We weave down a long corridor with lots of little rooms off to each side. There must be a lot of kids needing a lot of help if all the closed doors mean someone is in a psych session.
    â€˜Just in here,’ he says, opening a door to a room about the size of my bedroom. In the corner is a box of toys and a small wooden table with pens and pencils on