I’m kind of dreading the night of the school social. Leni and Soph must’ve agreed not to talk about it in front of me, but I still know it’s coming up and everyone else talks about it all the time. On the Friday night I’m planning to watch a DVD, but Carolyn stays home and we end up working on her algebra stuff together. I know that spending Friday evening doing maths doesn’t sound like the most fun, but it’s actually fine. It’s nice to spend time with Carolyn, for one thing. I’d never say it to her, of course, but I’m kind of glad that she and Max split. It means that I’m seeing a lot more of her. And we’re getting along a lot better too.

It took a bit of work convincing Mr C to go along with my idea of coaching Carolyn for my ‘extra maths’ assignment. I think he was worried that the algebra would be too hard for me – and I have to admit, I was a bit worried too. But I can be very determined when I want to figure something out, and I really wanted to do this. I think the tipping point for Mr C was when I said I was thinking about becoming a maths teacher when I left school, and that helping my sister would be good practice. A total lie, by the way. There’s no way I’d be a maths teacher.

It was difficult at first – and not just because of the algebra itself. It was mostly that to begin with, Carolyn was embarrassed about having her little sister tell her how to do stuff. But after two days, she was used to it. The good thing is that she doesn’t mind asking me questions when she doesn’t get something. She says that sometimes in class, Mr Cartright goes really fast and she’s always too embarrassed to put up her hand and admit she didn’t understand it. And then she’s even further behind.

So like I said, on the night of the school social, Carolyn spends most of the evening in my room, working. She’s doing pretty well but I can tell she’s getting tired. Eventually she shuts her book and says, ‘That’s enough for now.’

I check the time. It’s 9.30. The social will be finishing soon. It makes me feel a little sad. ‘Wanna watch a DVD or something?’ I suggest. I need distractions. I’m still not allowed to have my friends over for a DVD night, but surely it doesn’t matter if I watch one with my sister.

‘No,’ says Carolyn, smiling in this mysterious way. ‘Now it’s time for me to teach you something.’ Then she disappears off to her room, returning a few minutes later with her bulging make-up kit. She pulls out my desk chair. ‘I’m going to show you how to put on make-up so that none of the teachers notice you’re wearing it,’ she tells me. ‘Then you won’t have to wipe it all off before recess.’

I don’t really think this is possible, but Carolyn sets to work with her little brushes and tubes and I just let her go for it. She flicks on my radio and sings along, although whenever I try to join in too, she tells me to sit still.

Eventually she lets me look at myself in the mirror, and I’m pretty impressed. She’s put on the make-up in this subtle way that makes me look good, without being too obvious.

I’m just getting her to show me how she did it when there’s a knock at my bedroom door. ‘Come in, Mum!’ I call, figuring it has to be her. But it’s not – it’s Leni and Soph, all dressed up in their clothes for the social. Soph has on a purple tie-dyed maxi dress and Leni – who only ever wears jeans – is wearing a short flippy skirt (which I gave her because I knew it’d suit her) and leggings. I feel a little pang looking at them, thinking that I missed out on all the fun of dressing up and going to the social with them.

‘Hi!’ says Leni, hugging me before she throws herself on my bed. ‘Mind if I take my shoes off? They’re killing me.’

‘Sure,’ I say. ‘But what are you guys doing here?’

Soph and Leni grin at me. ‘We left a bit early,’ says Soph.

‘Because we were dying to see you!’ finished Leni. ‘It just didn’t feel right without you there at the social.’ I’m happy they’re here – really happy – but something’s bothering me.

‘I’m not allowed to have anyone over,’ I remind them. ‘My parents are punishing me until the next millennium, remember?’

‘Your mum let us in, you doof!’ Soph says.

‘She said we could stay for a bit,’ explains Leni. ‘We have something to show you, you see.’ She pulls a Flip video camera from her bag.

‘I’ve seen your mum’s camera before, Leni,’ I say, even though I know she’s talking about what’s on the camera. Leni puts it on and we all crowd around – even Carolyn.

My friends – my sweet, funny, awesome friends – have made a film of the social so I can see what it was like. They have taken it in turns to record different things and do the commentary. They’ve filmed the fairy lights strung across the front gate. They’ve filmed the outside of the hall with the ‘welcome’ banner above the door. And they’ve also recorded a message for me from pretty much everyone in our entire year level. It’s kind of embarrassing, but it’s also nice.

A lot of people say the same thing. Most of the girls say, ‘ Hi, Anya! Sorry you can’t make it – it’s SO awesome!’ Most of the boys say, ‘You’re lucky you got out of it.’ But I can tell they’re mostly enjoying themselves, even if they’re pretending that they’re not.

A few people say different things, though. Like Edi, for instance. She says, ‘It’s not the same without you here, Anya.’ Which makes me feel good.

Then suddenly Leni stops the camera. ‘The next bit is Ethan,’ she says. ‘Do you want to see it?’

‘You actually got him to talk on the video?’ I say, my stomach rolling like a wave.

‘Soph made him,’ says Leni. ‘After she gave him a huge serve about dropping people via text messages.’

I turn to Soph. ‘You did that?’ I ask, starting to laugh.

‘Of course I did,’ says Soph. ‘I’ve been meaning to for ages – I just had to find the right time.’ She shakes her fist.

‘No-one dumps my friend like that and gets away with it.’

Leni shakes her head, laughing. ‘You should’ve seen him, Anya,’ she says. ‘He was shaking in his shoes by the time Soph finished with him.’

‘So,’ says Soph. ‘Do you want to see what he said?’

My stomach rolls again. ‘Yes,’ I say. ‘No. I’m not sure.’

‘Go on,’ says Carolyn. ‘You should.’

So Leni presses play and suddenly there’s Ethan, his nervous-looking face filling the screen. I notice that he’s dropped most of the improvements I made to him. His hair is back to how it was and he’s wearing a terrible shirt, but the funny thing is, it kind of suits him.

‘Go on, Ethan,’ I hear Soph’s voice saying sternly offcamera. ‘Talk.’

Ethan coughs. ‘Hi, Anya,’ he says. ‘Sorry you couldn’t come tonight because I know you were really looking forward to it. But don’t worry, you’re not missing much. The food is terrible and so is the music.’ It’s funny, though, because as he’s speaking I hear one of my favourite songs playing in the background. And as he talks, I realise that I’m not feeling so bad about the break-up anymore. I guess I’m over it. Pretty much.

Ethan stops talking and I hear Soph say, ‘Isn’t there anything else you want to say?’

And then Ethan’s expression changes. ‘Actually,’ he says. ‘Yes, there is.’

‘Well, go on, say it,’ says Soph.

I guess I’m expecting him to apologise for text-dumping me, but instead he says, ‘Anya, I know you got the highest mark in our class for the last test. And Mr C told me you’re helping Carolyn with algebra. So I’m wondering if we could be study buddies.’

I shake my head. ‘Do you believe the nerve of this guy?’

I say. ‘First he dumps me because I’m not smart enough and now he wants me to help him study!’

A song comes on the radio and Carolyn suddenly jumps up to dance, swaying in time to the music. I know it’s one of her current favourites and I like it too. It’s meaningful, you know? And true. It’s a song about how when someone breaks your heart, your friends will be the ones to help you put the pieces back together. Someone like Ethan would probably say it was a cliché, and maybe he’s right, but I actually don’t care. Right now it feels true to me.

Leni gets up next and starts dancing in that longlegged, spider-like way of hers, and even Soph joins in, swirling around, jumping on and off my bed in a kind of crazy gypsy dance. It’s funny because in one way we’re all off in our own little worlds, doing our own dances, but in another way it feels like we’re dancing together too. I know that sounds confusing, and maybe impossible, but that’s how it is. And it just feels right somehow. Like life, I guess.