Get A Life | ONC2023 Shortlist

7 | Other people's moments | Darcy

"How'd the bus go?" Hunter asks.

"It... ahh... went."

"Did you mention our Shane theory to Arch?"

"Not yet. We decided Archer deserved this morning to be about him and Lily. I figured Lil deserved that too."

"Absolutely. Tomorrow it is then. Can she... can she see him?"

"Sadly, no."

He exhales. "Brutal honesty? I'm relieved she can't. How shit is that? I didn't want to be the only one who couldn't see him. What a selfish prick."

"You're not selfish... they're feelings, Hunter. They are what they are. Not good. Not bad. Just there."

He wraps an arm around my shoulder and squeezes affectionately. I don't hate it. At all.

"What would I do without you, Darcy Li-Quinn?" he asks.

"Probably whatever you did last Friday."

"Touché. Do we have cookies today?"

"We have cookies."

"That's my girl."

If only.

The day passes in a blur of educational banality with a refreshing side serve of Adonis. Hunter and I sit together in the classes we have in common and in the courtyard at lunch. We get a few curious looks, but he doesn't seem to notice, and so I pretend I don't either. Danica, Tamsin and Pia keep their distance, and-for the first time in a long time-my day is miraculously free of snide remarks, sharp nails, and pointed elbows.

It's a blissfully uneventful day.

Until it isn't.

School ends and Hunter heads to basketball training while I go home to commune with my textbooks. I've tackled maths methods and chemistry and am halfway through my analysis of the themes of love and marriage in Pride and Prejudice when the doorbell rings-loudly and incessantly.

Mum and Dad have a charity thing tonight and Danica has an entitlement complex always, so it's left to me to deal with whichever solar panel spruiker or geographically challenged delivery driver is refusing to give up. By the time I make it downstairs, I can feel the beginnings of a doorbell-induced headache thumping to life in my temples.

"Seriously, would you..." I thrust the door open and find Lily crumpled against the wall.

"Ooohhh... mmrrr," Lily moans around ragged breaths. "I'm... uggh... ss... sorry... On bus... pain... thought Braxton Hicks... but... aww... hurts too much... real thing... bus stop close... came here."

"You were on the bus for thirteen hours?"

"I didn't... want to... ooohhhh... leave Arch... alone."

"Lil, I think we need to get you to the hospital. Do you want me to call your parents?"

"Aww... oomph... away... beach house."

"Should I... should I call Shane?"

"No! Please..." She's trembling now.

I weigh up our options. None of them are great. But only one of them gets us a car and a driver inside of five minutes.

"Wait here." I half lead, half carry Lily over to the white wicker porch chair my dad bought my mum for Christmas.

Lily clutches my arm. "Don't... go."

"I'll be two minutes," I say. "Promise. I just need to negotiate us a ride."

Upstairs, I march into Danica's room without warning or permission. "I need you to drive us to the hospital."