Hey Talon! You there?

Oh just need someone to whinge to, if that's okay with you?

Well mainly about an old friend. She's been sitting in my head for the last week and I need to tell some one and then maybe she'll go away.

Okay her codename can be Fisherwomen.

I'll let you know as I go on. Fisherwoman . . . my best friend and worst enemy. She is a regular guy magnet. We went to the same high school together. The Babe and the Geek. Guess who was the geek?

Thanks. But I don't have that name anymore. No. I haven't become a stunning super model in the last month. Here at my new school, no one even notices me so they definitely don't know my name. I guess computers are my only friends now. They seem a lot like Fisherwoman, they work most of the time but can easily turn their back on you and shut down. You're my friend too, I guess, though I don't really know you.

I wasn't jealous or anything. I've never really found guys so attractive. So either I've matured and not realised; or haven't grown up enough to see what the male species are really like! Guys seem to irritate me more than anything.

Excluding you of course.

Fisherwoman knew how to reel them in. It was pitiful actually, watching those poor sods going to their doom. She'd seduce them, "get her hands on them", use them and finally dump them for either their friend or some other guy. Worst part of all was that she'd tell me about it.

If only. No, she'd tell me EVERYTHING, then ask me why I haven't got one yet, basically tell me that my social life sucks and then give me pointers on "how to catch them."

Yeah I guess so.

Just for you : )

I was wondering when you'd finish with all the guidance councilor crap!

And you know that we weren't going to give details on our appearance until the fifth chat, remember?

Well you'll have to. Heck! I'd better get going. It's waaaay past my bedtime.

"You too." She exited the chat room, shut down her computer and yawned, proclaiming her arrival to The Land of Nod.

********

The next morning Nilah woke up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She waved her hand over the bedside table, until she found her dark blue framed, retro glasses and put them on. Standing up slowly, she weaved through all the junk in the room, over to her wardrobe and pulled out her clothes for the day. One black turtleneck shirt, one pair of very baggy khaki cargo pants, one red jacket and underwear went whizzing across the room onto her bed. Nilah stumbled out of her room to check if the bathroom was free. She raced back grabbed her stuff and zoomed into the empty bathroom.

A few minutes later she came out, dressed and fully awake. Nilah walked over to her dressing table and picked up a green hair band there. Searching around on the floor she couldn't find her brush. She walked out of her room and yelled over the banister. "Mum! Have you seen my brush?"

Her mum shuffled over to the bottom of the stairs and squinted up at her. "Nilah, perhaps if you actually cleaned your room once in a while, you may not have that problem," she growled with her hands on her hips.

(Mustn't have had her coffee yet. Memo to myself: Don't ask mum more than three worded questions in the morning.)

Nilah turned sheepishly away and headed back for her room. She stood in front of the mirror and stared at the young teenager in the other room, exactly like hers, attached to the back of her mirror. Both girls were about five foot tall but their petite frames were dwarfed by their baggy her clothes. They both let out a listless sigh. "And the winner for the most geekish person in the world is . . . Nilah Bradshaw! Oh well." She ran her slender fingers through her long chestnut hair and managed to pull it all up to the back of her head. Twisting it around, she pulled the hair band over the top and left it in an untidy bun. "Well this is the latest fashion in school, guess it wont kill me."

*******

After the filling breakfast of eat-whatever-Mum-puts-in-front-of-you-or-risk-getting-your-head-bitten-off, Nilah trudged along the footpath checking out the neighbour's gardens and their flowers about to bloom. The air smelt so sweet and the sunlight shone brightly through the trees along the footpath, paving the way in front of her with gold. She hummed an old tune her Grandma taught her, something about a two seat bike, as she watched her shadow accompany her to school.

(Pity you're my only friend.)

Suddenly she checked her watch and gasped. She sprinted down two blocks, across a football oval, past an arcade of shops her backpack bumping against her hips with every bound. Finally she reached Madeline Street and looked up at the familiar sign with relief, then leaned against a pole to get her breath back. But it was worth it. Nilah searched up and down the street waiting for some sign that he'd show up.

(Okay so only one boy interests me, Talon wont care.)

This one guy would usually ride past everyday at 8:30am on the dot and she'd be there to wave at him, all the while praying that he'd stop for once and just walk her to school. But waving back was all she got from him and the occasional smile. She checked her watch again, brought it up to her ear to make sure that it was working as she started to pace. "He should be here by now."

(Maybe he's walking to school with another girl. Maybe he's taken a different route from now on to keep away from me. Maybe he's sick.)

Suddenly her stomach went stone cold and she screamed. "MAYBE HE'S DEAD! Cyclists are often killed by cars. Statistics prove that only really safe way to get to school is by plane. But how can anyone get to school by plane? If they did what's the statistics of the parachute not opening as they fell to instant death on the football oval?" She heard giggles and stopped pacing when she saw two little kids staring at her across the road. One boy circled his finger around his ear and his mate nodded, they ran off leaving Nilah by herself.

(Now little twerps think I'm nuts. What else could go wrong?)

"Sorry I'm late," someone puffed behind her.

(Me and my big mouth.)