Theo poked disconsolately at the only phone he could reach. It was an old Nokia, battered and chipped, the kind of phone that only made calls. It was so ancient he suspected it was Mrs Harlow’s. The numbers had been rubbed off the buttons with years of use, but the weight of it in his hand felt friendly and satisfying. He shook it, took out the battery, replaced it. He couldn’t understand why it wasn’t working, why nothing was working.
Idelle was sprawled a few metres away in the shade cast by her newly erected tent, a bag of potato chips in her hand. Theo watched as she melodramatically rustled the bag, dropped a few chips into her mouth, and licked her fingers.
‘Mmmm. Yum. Want some?’
Theo’s stomach gave a loud rumble. ‘Please.’
‘I don’t know,’ Idelle said, getting to her feet. ‘I’m not sure if you deserve any.’
She stepped lightly towards him, eating another handful of chips. When she reached his side, she upended the bag, scattering crumbs onto his lap, and let it flutter down. ‘Oh dear. All gone.’
Theo exploded. ‘Don’t be such a cow!’
Idelle’s pretty face didn’t lose its mocking smile as she bent towards him, her arm raised, her hand open. Theo’s hands flew up to protect his head wound, newly bound with someone’s red scarf. But it was a feint. Idelle pulled back and casually smoothed her hair.
‘If you call me names again, Geek, I’ll make you very sorry. But you are, aren’t you? Sorry?’
There was silence. Then Theo spoke, hating her, hating himself. ‘Sorry.’
Idelle reached into her pocket, drew out a bent chocolate bar that had half melted in the heat, and threw it at him. ‘Good little Geek. Here you go. Don’t say I don’t look after you.’
Theo tore the wrapper off and thrust the bar in his mouth, afraid she might just take it back. He sucked at the gooey remains on the foil, and then wet his finger and dabbed at the chip crumbs on his pants, ate them, and licked the salt off the bag.
‘You’re so gross,’ Idelle said.
Theo picked up the Nokia again.
‘Can you fix it?’
Theo knew he had as much hope of fixing it as he did of winning a Nobel Peace Prize, but he nodded his head anyway. ‘The cover’s stuck. I need something pointy, something thin and sharp.’
‘There’s loads of stuff.’
She went off to inspect the wreckage. Theo let out a faint sigh, partly with relief that she wasn’t standing over him, partly because he felt slightly queasy from bolting a bar of chocolate in nanoseconds. From across the slope, she shot him a suspicious look, and he quickly flicked his eyes down to the Nokia and nodded thoughtfully.
