Chapter two.

It was a pleasant morning in Yarrawonga. Birds were chirping, a faint breeze was drifting and the warm morning sun was rising higher in the sky.

Tracey was enjoying the walk. She’d taken the long route along Burnley Road instead of going down along Telford Street, the more direct route.

As her feet moved along the edge of the deserted road and she took in one breath after another, she enjoyed the warmth of the sunlight that was beaming down onto her bare shoulders. That is until a magpie came swooping down from a Gum tree. Tracey ducked just fast enough to avoid it and only saw a fearsome black and white flash as she looked up to stare at it.

She had experienced Magpie swoops on this road before during previous years when she’d been in Yarrawonga with her family.

As she stared right at the Magpie, trying to instinctively place her feet and keep her steady pace she heard a car come roaring towards her from behind. She barely had time to duck onto the edge of the road before a dark green Commodore sedan went hammering passed her with arms and legs swaying and moving out the windows.

    ‘Dickheads!’ she scoffed, looking down to check she was still in one piece.

Regaining her composure she set about crossing the road to get onto Irvine Parade, which would take her to Orr Street. Just as she safely stepped in between two shrubs on the side of the road, the same car came thundering back in the opposite direction. She noticed now that a green P plate was displayed in the windscreen.

As the car approached her location it slowed to a crawl and a bunch of ugly pimple-faced boys began to sneer and jeer at her. They called out some offensive remarks which Tracey figured was probably their silly way of trying to pick up girls. She wasn’t interested in them and kept walking.

    ‘What’s the matter baby? You wanna play hard to get?’ came a voice from the car.

Tracey didn’t stop to look back at them. She felt safe because where she had crossed to get to Irvine Parade, it was walk room only - No cars could fit. She hoisted her tote bag higher onto her shoulder and picked up her pace, bursting into a frantic sprint.

By the time she made it to the main drag at the end of Orr Street, she was exhausted.

Way to get yourself fit girlfriend! She thought as she panted breathlessly.

She paused on the corner to catch her breath and didn’t notice the Commodore coming along the main drag – Belfore Street – behind her. She looked up to decide which shop to go into to buy a drink and noticed a café near the newsagency.

The Banksia was a fairly new place. She hadn’t remembered it being there before. She started walking again, still unaware that the Commodore was there, now pulling into a parking space behind her.

She made it to the café and as she walked inside she could hear a faint radio out in the back room somewhere playing some top 40 tunes.

She glanced up at the menu, still blinking glare from her eyes, and debated whether to order a cappuccino or a milkshake. She turned to look outside at the glaring sun reflecting off every surface that remotely had sheen on it and she decided to go with the milkshake.

Tracey’s eyes were still fixated on the glare outside. She was about to look away again when she noticed a guy, about her own age leaning against one of the supports for the overhead awning. One leg was crossed over the other at his feet, his hands were in his pockets and his scruffy hair hung loosely over her eyes. He was apparently waiting for someone, or so Tracey assumed.

    ‘Excuse me can I help you there?’ came the voice of the girl behind the counter.

Tracey blushed, ‘Sorry.’ She looked at the flavours of milkshakes that were available, ‘I’ll have a medium chocolate milkshake please.’ She requested with a polite smile.

The girl behind the counter rang it up on the till.

‘Anything else?’ she asked, almost in a monotone.

Tracey shook her head, ‘Nah, that’s all for now, thanks.’

    ‘Four dollars, thanks.’ The girl said.

Tracey handed over a five dollar note and accepted the dollar change.

Her eyes moved back to the guy outside. Something about him was mesmerizing. She’d seen guys similar looking to him before but never before had she felt an almost magnetic pull behind her eyeballs. Suddenly her mind flashed back to the voice she’d heard in the shower. ‘Go to them.’ The voice had said. But she’d dismissed it and thought that it was coming from the television. Now she was standing somewhere totally different and she realised the reason her mind had flashed is because the voice was there again. ‘You must go to them.’ The voice told her.

I’m going nuts! She thought as she focused her attention on the cute boy outside.

    ‘Here you go darlin’.’ A man’s voice said from behind her. She turned around and the man behind the counter was holding up the chocolate milkshake she had ordered.

    ‘Thanks.’ She said as she accepted the drink and took a refreshing sip. She scanned the room for an appropriate place to sit and moved toward a free table that had a great view through the door.

She could see the guy outside – his arms were folded over his chest now and he was slim, but not too slim. His arms were strong looking but not overly muscular and his shoulders were broad and tanned.

She was taking in the attractive view when the guy looked up and briefly caught eye contact with her. Her eyes shot away and her face flashed with colour.

She reached into her tote bag and grabbed her book out. He’s kinda cute. She thought as she began reading her book.

The book was about a girl who was homeless and accidentally stumbled upon a murder that was taking place and now she was on the run. Tracey found herself unable to put the book down without forcing herself when she had started reading it yesterday but now she was half heartedly reading.

Her mind was on other things.

She pondered her feelings on the subject of boys. The truth was, she considered herself unworthy of a boyfriend even though her hormones had been racing at full power since she was thirteen.

It didn’t matter how many fantasies she had about holding hands with one boy or kissing another, the whole concept of relationship was a complete alien language to her.

She tried harder to focus on her book – rereading the two pages she’d only just read. She held her book in one hand and her milkshake in the other. She managed to get back into the story and sipped her milkshake slowly.

She was so engrossed in the story she barely noticed some people enter the café. It was the same guys who had driven past her earlier in the green Commodore.

One of the boys wolf whistled and his mates snickered and cheered.

The boy who’d been driving the car earlier sat down on the chair opposite Tracey and startled her. She was about to stand up but the guy’s mate stood behind her, grinning evily and the other two guys took up stance on either side of her. Trapped! She thought.

Tracey panicked on the inside but tried to stay calm and give the boys the impression that their presence wasn’t bothering her. She glanced towards the counter but the man who’d given her the milkshake was gone and so was the girl who had taken her order.Probably out in the back room on a break. She could smell dreadful BO wafting around from one of the boys. It assaulted her nostrils, but she did her best to ignore it.

‘What’s the matter little lady? Got no man to walk with?’ The guy sneered from the seat in front of her.

Tracey glared up at him. He was clearly in need of a toothbrush – his teeth had yellow and orange plaque build up on them and they were large visible teeth too. She’d have been too ashamed to go out in public with teeth that grotty.

The guy hovering behind her leaned over ad reached for her breasts. His disgusting breath washed over her face nearly making her gag. She shoved his hands away defensively.

    ‘Leave me alone.' She screamed as loud as she could.

Suddenly from somewhere behind her came a voice, ‘Hey! Leave her alone Bradley.’

It was an orotund female voice penetrating through the noise and chatter.

The boy in front of her looked horrified. Tracey was confused. This boy didn’t strike her as the type to back away from a girl, especially since he had just been harassing her. But he raised his hands in surrender and got up from the chair. He backed away a couple of steps. The voice continued.

    ‘Kane that means you and your yobbo friends too dude. Leave the girl alone!’

Tracey turned her head to try and locate the source of the voice. It was a chick standing near the drink fridge holding a coke. She was sort of semi punk, semi rock chick in appearance. Baggy camo cargo pants, tight grey t-shirt with some sort of intricate print on the front, a chain hanging from the waist band of the pants and attaching at the other end onto a loop on the side of her pockets. The girl smiled at Tracey as the offensive boys walked away then she went and paid for her bottle of coke. The man who'd given Tracey her milkshake had reappeared.

Tracey, still in shock about what had just transpired, watched as the girl walked towards her. Then from the corner of her eye she saw someone else approaching. She looked sideways and noticed that cute boy from outside walking in her direction. She looked back at the girl and made eye contact as the girl sat down opposite her at the table. The cute boy walked right passed and Tracey felt her face flush as she tried not to notice.

    ‘Thanks.’ She smiled nervously to the girl.

The girl adjusted her position on the chair Bradley had occupied only a few moments ago and smiled. ‘Don’t worry about those dicks. They’re typical riff-raff,’ she told Tracey, ‘I’m Kayla by the way.’ She held her hand out for Tracey to shake.

    ‘Tracey Pierce.’ She said shaking the girl’s hand awkwardly.