A Day in the Life of...

[Brackie]

A Day in the Life of...Brendan Wallace, Age 15

Brendan was...nervous.

And you know what, it was weird. He liked Abby, a lot. They hadn't been going out long, really, but she was probably the nicest person in the world. So when the opportunity arose, which neither of them were sure if the other suggested it, or if the agreement was uniform and mutual, they jumped.

Term 2, Week 9. Exams were over. They weren't needed back at school for another week or so. Well, assessment-wise.

They met at Brendan's house. That was something he suggested. His dad was visiting the town, and mum worked 10 hour days. It was silent, quiet, and a great chance to...well...

They stood there, still. His room was clean for once. Navy blue and black patterns decorated the bedsheets and blanket, like a living disease. Abby turned the fan on, a hot winters .

Yeah, ironic. Wait, was it ironic? Or just inconvenient?

The fan didn't turn on, and Brendan muttered under his breath.

"Oh, uh, you need to..." Brendan said, and pushed the knob in and turned it. The fan groaned to life, and started to spin slowly.

"Ah, thanks Bren."

"No-no problem."

Yes, they were both nervous. Nervous kids.

"So...did you bring the condoms?"

"Uh...yeah!"

The prada bag was unzipped, turned over. About 20 condoms, different brands, sizes, and alterations. Brendan curled his bottom lip slightly. It...wasn't that dark in here, maybe if he turned off the lights...

"So uh...which one are you..."

"Oh, uh..."

It was still weird. They hadn't known each other for that long, yet he was more comfortable around her with the stuff that would make him blush, mutter, stutter, anything else, than he was with anyone he'd known. Perhaps it was how much she was...well, good to him?

They sat down on the bed together. Abby tossed her hair behind her shoulders, so it wasn't in the way. She had the best hair. It was dyed, used to be brown, but now it stood at a faded red colour, the kind you get after you try and fail to make yourself blonde, and it looks a mess a few weeks later. Only with her, it didn't look a mess. It was wavy, hit her about the shoulders, and her fringe scraped the top of her eyebrows. As they got themselves settled on the bed, he tried to not notice how the bed was slightly tilted towards her angle. It was just mother nature trying to screw her over, Brendan told her that a few days ago.

She'd gone through a lot in that regard. Abby had struggled her entire life with her weight, always being obsessed with the mirror. She hated her stomach, wishing that the wobbles that didn't exist there but she thought were there anyway would move up to her rack. Brendan never gave out advice, even after they talked about stuff that would claim he would have expertise otherwise. They both confessed their bisexuality to each other after a movie, and he was surprised at the lack of the usual reaction, the girl asking for fashion advice. Dense populace, Lismore. No, he knew nothing about what looked good to women, and Abby knew that perfectly well.

Unzipping his pants, he tried to avoid her gaze. This was still going to be the most nerve-wracking conscious act he'd ever done.

He picked up the nearest condom that looked his size. He thought it was his size anyway, he didn't know how condoms worked, whether they stretched like putty or snapped back into shape like balloons. Brendan tore off the opening, and kept it by his left hand as he started to take his jeans down.

Abby was quiet. It was normal, true, since they were both very quiet people. But the way she was just...not looking at him was the most unnerving thing about the whole decision. Look, she'd put him on the spot today, and now she wasn't even acknowledging it. Just being quiet.

"I think you're supposed to be hard before you put that on, Bren."

"..."

*

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

*

"..."

"..."

"...did you..."

"...I think."

"...how about-"

"-yeah...loads of times."

"...yeah."

"..."

"..."

".....I gotta go home, my cousins visiting in a few hours."

"Oh, uh...okay."

"Yeah, I'll just...be going now."

"...was I okay?"

"Oh, yeah, Bren, you were...yeah, you were."

"...thanks I suppose."

"...just don't tell anyone that it happened, okay? Like...ever?"

"...okay."

Yep. Quiet was his style, whether he liked it or not.

[Brackie]

A Day in the Life of...Paige Strand, Age 8

"Ohhhh my god, she's actually gonna do it!"

"No way, really? How tall is that thing?"

"It's gotta be taller than my dad's house, and my dad's house is really tall!"

"Do you think she's gonna fall off...?"

This was perfect! All eyes on her, all eyes watching the girl with the blonde ponytail who decided to climb the biggest tree in the yard.

Paige didn't know how tall this thing was, but it was pretty tall, since it was taking her so long to get to the top. Nobody noticed at first, when she got onto the first branch, but by the time she'd made her way halfway up, nearly half the playground was watching that quirky girl who climbed the buildings. She never thought about falling off, that was for losers. If she wanted to be the best, get the most attention, she had to go the whole nine yards when doing something incredible/stupid.

Nothing like climbing Ol' Smokey to do that.

Her feet found themselves on the thickest and strongest branch so far. It looked weird, like a pool noodle bent out of shape, but she could walk on it really easily! She stopped there for a moment, and looked out at her school yard.

Kids all around the place were either occupied with whatever they were doing before, looking up at her, or looking at her and not caring. They'd probably seen better things.

Instead of looking down (not that she'd ever done that before, but she knew it would make her feel sick), she looked up at the top of the tree. It was /so/ close now, there was a few more places she could put her feet, and one more branch like the one she was on then. This was gonna be so-

"PAIGE STRAND!"

....that was sooooo not fair.

Paige looked down (DAMMIT), and it was Mrs K. The mean old Mrs K that everyone said should be fired, because she was so mean. She really hated Paige because she wasn't nice, and sweet, like the other girls in her grade. Like Hermione, that really dumb girl with the really nice hair that made Paige hate her.

"PAIGE STRAND, GET DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT!"

Yeah right, Mrs K couldn't even see her! If she knew how high up she was, she would be happy, cause no one else could do it! Instead of coming down "THIS INSTANT", Paige stuck her tongue out at her from behind the leaves, Mrs K had no idea, and kept on climbing.

After a few minutes of yelling and threats later, Paige did it.

She finally did it!

Paige had reached the top of the tree!

Her little ponytailed head poked out from the top of the leaves, and looked around. It was soooooo amazing up there, you could see the whole city! She'd finally gotten better than her brothers and sisters, they said she couldn't do it, said she was a 'spaz', and she didn't know what that meant. But she'd shown them! One day, she was gonna climb the biggest tree in the world, and then she'd show them!

...how was she gonna get down?