Lucy

The casino’s all zing, all everything that’s inside me. In the toilets we cram into the cubicle of truth. ‘Ed’s the one. It’s Ed,’ I say. ‘Not Shadow. Ed has great hair. He listened to me talking about Mum and Dad. He didn’t seem to be put off by my vomiting.’

‘All important qualities to take into account,’ Jazz says. ‘But the most important?’

‘Static. Definitely static.’

Jazz grins. ‘I knew it. I had a feeling.’

‘Do you have a feeling about me?’ Daisy asks. ‘About my static?’

‘I do. I think you’re going to meet someone who gives better static than Dylan.’

‘Really?’

‘Absolutely,’ Jazz says. ‘What you have to do is write a list of all the things you want and then you tell the universe and that’s what you get.’

‘Who is the universe, anyway?’ Daisy asks. ‘I mean people are always talking about it, but the universe must have better things to do than eavesdrop on three girls in a toilet cubicle.’

‘The trick with the universe theory is not to over-think it,’ Jazz says.

‘Okay.’ Daisy takes out her lipstick and starts writing a list on the toilet wall.

‘So you and Ed,’ Jazz says. ‘Leo and me. Everything’s turning out even better than I planned.’

‘I feel kind of stupid that I was chasing Shadow all this time. Do you think I was stupid?’

‘That’s the way it is. Most people don’t know what they want till it’s right in front of their face.’

‘I like Ed being right in front of my face.’

‘He seems to like being right in front of your face too.’

‘I’m done,’ Daisy says, staring at her list. ‘That’s the guy I want to meet.’

I read through. ‘That’s an interesting list. I never met a guy who’d straighten my hair for me while he’s watching the footy.’

‘It’d be handy, though,’ Jazz says. ‘The back bits are so hard to reach.’

‘Yep. It’d also be handy to have a guy who makes a great toasted cheese and tomato sandwich.’ I read further down. ‘And one who’ll work in your parents’ fruit store on Saturday without complaining even though he’s a little scared of your mum.’

‘And a guy who still wants you back even when you call him an idiot in a pink van on the freeway would be a catch,’ Jazz says.

‘So would a guy who kisses exactly how you like because you taught him how. These are all important qualities,’ I tell her.

‘They are,’ Daisy says.

‘Daisy!’ Dylan calls and bangs his fist on the toilet door. ‘I know you’re in there! Get out here, I’ve got a present for you.’

Jazz opens the cubicle of truth. ‘Don’t get too excited, but I think that might be the guy of your toilet-wall dreams knocking at the door.’

‘The universe must be having a slow night,’ Daisy says.

We walk outside and Dylan hands her a bunch of flowers. ‘Happy birthday,’ he says, and she smiles. She doesn’t need to know that Ed probably gave him the heads-up.

‘I have a good feeling,’ Jazz says.

‘Me too.’

‘Happy birthday,’ a guy next to Dylan tells Daisy.

‘Thanks, Raff.’ She makes the introductions. ‘Lucy, Jazz, this is Raff, Pete and Tim. Guys, this is Lucy and Jazz.’

We walk out of the casino, back towards Ed and Leo. Daisy asks Dylan how he remembered. ‘Your shouting in the van jogged my memory,’ he says. ‘I kept wondering why you’d yell at me to stay away on your birthday.’

‘So, you two go to school with Daisy?’ Raff asks Jazz and me.

‘Yep. We’ve been celebrating the last night of Year 12 with Ed and Leo. They’re outside,’ I tell him.

‘Pete and Tim and me are celebrating too,’ he says.

‘Where do you go to school?’ Jazz asks, and I know she’s planning on pumping these guys for information about Leo. She reads my thoughts and smiles.

‘Delaware High,’ Raff says.

‘So how do you know Dylan?’ Jazz asks.

‘Him, Leo and Ed are on our footy team.’

Leo and Ed are staring at us from the queue. They’re standing under a blinking sign that’s lighting them up one second and making them hard to see the next. It’s the blinking that does it. It’s Ed’s face in light and shade. It’s the way he looks at me, nervous and sad, shoulders swimming downwards like that disappointed sea. The way he’s haloed with blue from that light above him. He looks fenced in and lost and flat to the edges. He waves at me and the light makes a bird of his hand.

‘Did you know he’s Shadow?’ I ask Raff, hoping he’ll tell me I’m stupid and Ed can go back to being right in front of my face.

‘Yeah,’ he says. ‘I didn’t think anyone except me and Dylan knew. His and Leo’s stuff is some of the best around.’

The light over Ed and Leo blinks on and off.

Jazz stares ahead too. ‘Quick question. Are we the stupidest girls in the world?’

‘Possibly,’ I say, close enough now to see the worry on Ed’s face.