The Year Nick McGowan Came to Stay

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Book: Read The Year Nick McGowan Came to Stay for Free Online
Authors: Rebecca Sparrow
Nick this morning instead of racing off to get the early bus. You’re an idiot. And another thing, you’ve got a hot guy living in your house and you’re not making the most of it.’
    â€˜And what would you be doing?’
    â€˜He’s got the best body out of any of the guys in Year 12. So for starters, I’d accidentally walk in on him in the shower.’
    â€˜Yes,’ I say. ‘That’s right. Because you’re a perv. I’m just waiting for the day you ring me from prison asking for bail money. And haven’t you got an early guitar lesson? Get going and let me concentrate on my job.’
    â€˜Okay.’ Then she drops to her knees, grabs my hand and starts pleading. ‘Pleeease come to the cast party next Friday night. Pleeease.’
    â€˜No.’
    â€˜God, you’re a stick-in-the-mud.’ She pokes out her tongue, and says, ‘I’ll see you at morning tea.’
    In the next twenty minutes I bust two Year-9 girls for wearing illegal black lace hair ribbons; a Year-11 girl for wearing her sports uniform; a swampie Year-10 boy for black nail polish; and Simon Guilfoyle for trying – again – to walk through the gates wearing a beanie. Despite the fact it’s summer. And about twenty-four degrees. I don’t enjoy busting people. I pride myself on being one of the nicer prefects. A shoulder to lean on, a big sister to come to in times of crisis. But I still have to give them all warnings or detentions. Rules are rules. And the school community has entrusted me to help uphold the image of the school. I’m not helping these students by letting them look messy, by letting them flaunt their beanies in my face.
    And then Nick McGowan strolls through the school gates in his sports uniform. And even though this is a detention-worthy offence, even though I busted someone just fifteen minutes ago for doing the exact same thing, I find myself turning my back and pretending not to see him.

The day drags. In Modern History, Mrs Finemore says that if we’re well behaved she’ll let us watch a video about Stalin. Only at school is a Stalin documentary offered up as a treat for good behaviour. As usual most of the class fails to respond, except Jenny Hamilton, who puts up her hand and asks if it’s the documentary that was on the ABC last week. And weren’t we supposed to be doing a pop quiz today? Someone groans. Someone else throws a pencil at the back of Jenny’s head. Mrs Finemore doesn’t notice or doesn’t care – she has a headache. Again. She wants us to spend the first half hour reading quietly from Crossroads of Modern History . Again. So Stacey McMaster and I spend the entire thirty minutes writing notes to each other about Mrs Finemore’s dress looking like it was made out of a curtain. Accordingly we spend the rest of the lesson referring to Mrs Finemore as ‘DWT’: Drapes With Teeth.
    When the lights are dimmed and the video comes on, Emma P and Meredith tap me on the shoulder and ask if it’s true that Nick McGowan is living at my house. That they’d heard that he and I had to share a room. A bedroom. They smile conspiratorially at one another when they say this. So I find myself filling them in on the story so far. Even though I don’t really like these girls, even though I wouldn’t usually have much to do with them. As the words pour out of my mouth I can tell that as soon as my back is turned they’re going to twist what I’ve said – pretzel my words – and turn them into something completely different. But right now I can’t have them thinking that Nick and I are room-buddies. When DWT starts to walk over to us, I turn back around and try to watch the film. But I find myself watching Mark Martin put pencil shavings in Jenny Hamilton’s hair. Jenny doesn’t even realise they’re there until Stalin’s third five-year plan.
    Through all of

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