Head Over Heels ✓

4 / boys and girls

may, age 7

Spring was a fickle time of year but the weather held out on a glorious Saturday in the middle of May when Lucas's aunt, Laura, and Asher's cousin, Claire, had tied the knot in a quiet, pretty ceremony in a park outside Farnleigh. The sun had prevailed, beating the rain that had been threatening to fall for days, the spring showers eventually sprinkling down once the reception had begun and the two women had posed for photographs with their friends and family. There were several photos of Claire giving her cousin a piggyback; snaps of Laura dancing with her nephew, and Asher had a whole host of pictures that his mother had taken of him and Lucas.

They had both dressed up in white tuxedos with ties to match the brides: Laura had worn the same dress that both her mother and her sister had got married in, a beautiful white and lilac gown, and Claire had ordered one to match with fuchsia pleats in the pure fabric. Lucas's purple tie had matched his aunt; Asher's pink tie had matched his cousin. The guests had stood out from a mile off: the invite had instructed them to dress in every colour of the rainbow and many had obliged. Sarah had found a pair of pumps to match her rainbow dress, dressing Liliana in a multicoloured ensemble, and Ishaana had even added streaks to her hair. The pictures were brilliant, the sun bringing out every colour stronger, and the park had been in full bloom with fresh flowers in every shade of love.

When it came time for show and tell on Friday morning, a bit of fun each week for the children to talk to the rest of their class if they wanted, Lucas and Asher knew exactly what they would be talking about as a pair. Asher was armed with a whole folder of photos that his mother had printed out for him, an arsenal of memorabilia from the wedding.

Lucas held onto the fake flower he had worn in his button hole and a programme, nervously waiting until it was his turn to get up in front of the class with Asher. Ordinarily he hated to talk in front of people, or even to most people, but he had agreed to do show and tell as a pair when Asher had begged him to do the talk together. After all, they had both been at the wedding and they were basically family now, he had argued. Family stuck together.

"Alright," said the teacher, Miss Franks, once Adler had finished talking about the family trip to Greece she had taken over the Easter holidays. "Asher and Lucas, were you two going to do something for show and tell?"

Asher nodded, taking Lucas hand to pull him to the front. "It's not scary," he whispered. "Claire and Laura had way more people watching them!"

Lucas nodded, nervously scanning the sea of his classmates' faces. He couldn't call them friends: more than one friend seemed like overkill and Asher had filled that spot for four years now, and he hoped forever after that. He had no backup, no insurance. Just Asher.

"We've just got a few minutes left before break time," Miss Franks said, watching the boys over the tops of her glasses. Lucas warily eyed her. She was an immediate improvement on the woman he'd had last year, who hadn't come back in September after the extent of her intolerance had come out when Lucas had wept to his grandmother over the summer, but she still wasn't as good as Cora.

Lucas wasn't sure what Maddie had done but when she had told him that his Year Three teacher was moving up to Year Four with the class, he had worked himself up into a panic at the thought of another year with her in charge of his class. When she had calmed him down enough for him to speak, he had told her how much he had hated the teacher who had never let him wear gloves, who had forced him into the activities he had despised as though she could somehow fix him by giving him no choice.

But she was gone now, her job snatched away from her when she had proved her inability to teach and her lack of empathy, not seeming to care much at all about the children in her care. Her replacement was new to the school, new to Lucas, but she was a good learner. She seemed to care. It helped that she had Maddie's constant watchful eye just a few classrooms away, ensuring her grandson was treated right.