Separated by a Fence

Separated by a Fence (25)

Chapter Twenty Five 

Sam

I glanced down to see that Montana’s face was inches away from me, and I swallowed the huge lump in my throat. She was frozen underneath me, and her widened eyes were locked on mine, and her hand was holding a Dorito in mid-air.

Before anything could happen, I quickly yanked myself away from her, and tumbled back against the bed.

Montana let out a deep breath, and sank down onto the chair, scooting further away from me. She lifted her knees up onto the chair, and hugged them, before bowing down and resting her chin on them, a curtain of hair draping across to hide a portion of her face.

I was so incredibly tempted to move her hair away from her face, but of course I knew better. If I did that, she might get the wrong idea, and it might blow up into something crazy. And I did NOT want that to happen.

“Alright, what about the cake?”

I glanced up, surprised to see her looking at me with no hints of nervousness or awkwardness that had been on her face moments ago.

“Well I know this cake shop that we got a massive cake for Dana her last birthday,’ I shrugged. “And they had the cakes for a good price.”

Montana nodded. “Okay, so from the catering company, what food should we order?”

“Just the basics,” I replied. “Sausage rolls, hot chips, nuggets, hot dogs, definitely pizza, uhhhhh…”

“Fairy bread,” Montana chimed in.

I smiled, as a flashback popped up to the front of my brain.

“Remember Richard Greenweltzer’s year two birthday party?’ I smiled, wistfully. “And his Mum had made five giant plates of fairy bread when there were only eight people to eat them?”

Montana chuckled, shaking her head. “I remember. And his Mum insisted we finish all the fairy bread, and kept piling them on our plates and literally shoving them down our throats…”

I laughed, nodding. “She was one of those psycho mums. Remember one day at school, Richard showed up in one of those DIY shirts that you can get the lettering made at one of those shops, and his read ‘I love my Mum to the moon and back”?”

Montana threw back her head, laughing. “Haha, I remember that! He spilled some ketchup on his shirt purposely so he could take it off.”

I grinned, shaking my head. “Those good old times.”

Montana’s grin faded into a frown, and I felt my stomach stir up. I knew what she was thinking about immediately. There couldn’t be possibly anything in the world that could make her frown like that. I remember those times, year one to around year seven being her worst years. Her life had already been rough before Rochelle came mid-year in year two.

And of course, I knew Montana’s family’s one dark secret.

And Montana didn’t even know I knew.

“Those times were good,” Montana’s voice abruptly interrupted my thoughts. “I actually enjoyed going to school. Sure we weren’t good friends or anything, but we certainly didn’t hate each other’s guts like we do now. But then comes Rochelle, and completely turns you against me. Suddenly I’m getting bullied at school and at home, with you living next to me.”

I swallowed the giant lump in my throat, and glanced down.

Montana was a strong person. I guess what she’d gone through when she was young had really made her more confident, independent and fearless. When she spoke to me, she always spoke with a strong and not-backing-down tone. But everyone had that softer, more sensitive side. And sometimes I saw tiny cracks of that in Montana. For instance, now. Her voice had softened, and she sounded more exposed, more vulnerable.