Thinking the day was the worst she could remember, she slammed the door behind her as she got home. Nina’s mum wasn’t home, but Chook was. He ran up, licking her all over making her pants wet with saliva. At least Chook would always be there for her. Heading straight for her bedroom she thought about how her best friend Sam had made her life feel as though someone had taken the sun away.
Why did Sam choose to eat with Julia Carter? They were supposed to be best friends. Didn’t Sam know Julia was Nina’s least favourite person in the whole school? Or was Julia trying to annoy Nina on purpose by being nice to Sam so she would sit with her? Julia knew Sam was the only person who respected, understood and cared about Nina?
That night Nina lay in bed reading her favourite book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
When Harry woke the following day, it took several seconds before he remembered what had happened…
Nina stopped reading to grab her water bottle.
…Then he hoped childishly that it had all been a dream. That Ron was still there and had never left. Yet by turning his head on his pillow he could see Ron’s deserted bunk. It was like a dead body the way it seemed to draw his eyes…
Nina thought about this for a while. Knowing how Harry felt when his best friend left him like Sam left Nina.
Nina woke the next day feeling sad and tired. She walked down stairs to the kitchen for breakfast.
“Nina, Nina” called a voice as she walked into the school gate. It was Sam. Nina turned away. “I called you five times last night. Why didn’t you answer your phone” Sam asked the back of Nina’s head. “Because you were obviously having a good time with your new best friend. I didn’t want to take you away from Julia for too long, because she might not sit with you at lunch, but then I should have answered, then you would know how it feels” she blurted out not making any sense. Then she ran off to the girl’s toilets fighting back the tears. “Nina, wait, you don’t understand” Sam called after her, but it was too late.
Nina didn’t go to her first class. Sam was worried sick and kept glancing up at the door hoping Nina would come in wearing her happy, smiling face that Sam loved, apologise to the teacher for being late and sit down next to Sam.
Later that day when Nina was walking home while she was supposed to be at school, a man saw Nina at the bus stop. It was Mr. Pinkerton, the scary man from next door. She turned away so he would not recognise her.
“I know who you are,” he said.
Nina turned back to face Mr. Pinkerton.
“I know how you feel too,”
“About what?” Nina asked
“That friend of yours,”
“How do you know?”
“The look on your face,” he replied
Nina thought about this. Could Mr. Pinkerton read minds?
“When I was your age, I had a friend called Jack. One day we had a fight about something silly. We didn’t speak for two months. I missed him and I think he missed me. One day I was walking home from football training some bullies had chased me into an ally. It was a dead end and I couldn’t escape. I think Jack saw me in trouble. Then I heard a voice.”
Nina could picture a teenage Mr. Pinkerton backing into an ally that was dark except for an old flickering lamp post.
Mr. Pinkerton looked back at Nina.
“Dad I’m here,” Mr. Pinkerton had started to tell the story again.
“Over here,” Jack pretended, trying to help.
“Where is the car?” Jack said
“In the ally” said a deep voice, which I knew was Jack pretending to be his dad.
"The bullies ran for it, I ran out after them, saw my friend and hugged him. All the hatred was gone, just like that. You see he had been following me to try and apologise because he was missing me too and wanted to make up,” said Mr. Pinkerton.
"That man was you Dad, we have been friends ever since that day,” he said wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. "My dad had died soon after I was born, that’s when we got Chook."
As Nina walked back to school she thought that she would forgive Sam and forget that they ever fought.
When Nina got back to school, she walked in wearing her happy, smiling face. She turned to see Sam’s glowing expression that she loved, apologised to the teacher for being late and sat down next to Sam. Sam gave Nina a quizzical look and Nina whispered “I’ll explain later.
“Same” whispered Sam.
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