LITMIR.BIZ

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relaxing, and the druggies haven’t come out in full force yet.”

      “Yeah, okay, Lexi,” Tristan said, laughing. “But no, you’re right, it is nice wandering around down here this time of day.”

      “Um, yeah,” said Delilah, staring in disgust at a man who was relieving himself in an alley. “It kind of depends on where downtown, don’tcha think? Like, more there than here,” she pointed up the street to where H&M was and walked quickly. Tristan and Alexandra laughed and followed her.

      Later, as they walked into Mondo Gelato, Tristan and Delilah were arguing. “I just don’t like them, okay?” Tristan said firmly.

      “Why?” demanded Delilah. “Look, they are sooooo cute!”

      “I don’t like the shoes. They’re ugly,” repeated Tristan for the third time.

      Ignoring them both, Alexandra went up to the counter and looked. Half blueberry sorbet, half pineapple, she decided. That was what she always got.

      “May I try the strawberry sorbet?” Alexandra asked the server. “And then the mango, and then the mint? Thanks.… Actually, can I have one scoop in a cup, half blueberry sorbet, half…” Oh why not be different for once, she thought recklessly, “banana sorbet?”

      “Sure,” the server said, laughing slightly.

      “It’s a gelato place,” Delilah said when they all had their orders and were sitting at a table outside. “How come you two both ordered sorbet?”

      “It’s better for you. It has less calories,” Alexandra and Tristan answered at the same time.

      “Jinx, give me a Coca-Cola!” Alexandra laughed. They finished their desserts slowly as it got dark, and then started walking back down Robson.

      “Oh, look, it’s the mime dude!” Delilah said excitedly.

      “Delilah, that guy is here all the time, we can watch another day,” Alexandra said, stopping to watch nonetheless. They laughed as a Japanese tourist jumped back — the mime was pretending to try and kiss her. Then he turned around and had a fake fight with her boyfriend, who couldn’t stop laughing.

      “Okay, we totally have to go, like, now,” said Tristan. “Lexi, is your mom picking you up?”

      “No, my dad. I phoned him while you two were arguing over the shoes. He’s going to meet me in front of Le Château and Bebe. Do you need a ride?”

      “Yes, please.”

      “I can bus,” Delilah said, but Alexandra ignored her.

      “Good, that’s fine then,” Tristan answered for her.

      “Hey, Tristan,” said Peter Dunstan as they got in the back of the car. “Am I driving you home?”

      “Yes, please,” Tristan said, grinning.

      “Did you have dinner, Lexi?” Peter asked as he drove.

      “Um, no. But we had a lot of junk, so I’m not really hungry.”

      Tristan stared at her and mouthed, “We just had sorbet.”

      Miming a slit throat, Alexandra mouthed back, “I’m not hungry, and they’re annoying.” Tristan nodded. They spent the rest of the car ride imitating Sequoia for both Peter’s and their own amusement.

      As they got out of the car, Peter said, “Are you okay, Lexi? You don’t look so well.”

      “I’m fine, Dad,” Alexandra replied angrily. “I’m just tired. I couldn’t sleep last night.”

      As she walked up the steps and into the house, Alexandra felt like crying. Emma ran up to her excitedly.

      “Lexi, guess what? My teacher is taking us all to the pool on Friday, because we were really well behaved this week!”

      “Cool,” said Alexandra impatiently.

      “She already ate downtown, with her friend Tristan,” Peter called to Beth.

      “Who?”

      “Tristan,” Peter said in his normal voice, as Beth walked out of the kitchen. “You know, the tall, skinny one.”

      “They’re all tall and skinny,” Beth said, laughing. “Lexi, you look tired. Go to sleep early, okay?”

      “Okay. I’m just going to do some homework and take a shower first.”

      Alexandra went upstairs, moving quickly. She closed the door to her room, threw her bag on the bed, took off her jacket, and fired it after the bag. She began digging through her drawers, and breathed a sigh of relief. The cookie and chocolate bar were both still there. Taking out a pair of pyjamas and a towel, she set them on the bed and unwrapped the chocolate bar, eating it as fast as she could. She wanted to cry. (No, it’s okay, it’s okay, she reminded herself.) Trying to slow down a bit, she also finished the cookie. When she went down the hall to the bathroom, the door was locked.. Oh great, she thought. Emma’s in the bathroom. “Emma, get out of there quickly,” she called through the door. “Please?”

      “Okay, okay,” Emma called back. “I’m just brushing my teeth.”

      As soon as Emma finished, Alexandra went into the bathroom and locked the door. She started the tap, tested the temperature, and then turned the shower on to muffle the noise. Then, she bent over the toilet and held her hair back to throw up.

      In the shower, Alexandra felt her stomach happily. It was the same as before the chocolate and the cookie. She also didn’t feel as panicky or depressed. Feeling along her jaw, she sighed. She had to stop doing this, and just not eat. It was making her face fat. She walked into her room, trying to hold onto the happiness until she could fall asleep, but it didn’t work. Lying under the covers, Alexandra tried to block everything out of her head, but she couldn’t, and she started crying into her pillow. “I hate you, I hate you!” she mouthed angrily into the darkness, not sure who she meant. Eventually, calmed and exhausted from crying, Alexandra fell asleep.

      Chapter Four

      Julian Reese

      They don’t teach us the ABC’s, We play on the hard concrete, All we’ve got is life on the streets, All we’ve got is life on the streets … I want an accent, something non-Canadian.

      Julian woke up to his alarm clock for the first time since he had arrived in Vancouver. He got up, glad not to be waking up an hour before the alarm. It was so quiet in his homestay that early. Everyone else got up at around the same time. It wasn’t like his home, where if he got up before anyone else he could just make his breakfast or whatever. Here, he was given breakfast at the time he was supposed to have breakfast, and he was pretty sure that he was not supposed to go wandering about the house when nobody else was up.

      Standing up and stretching, he felt his hamstrings wince. He liked Mr. Yu, he was funny, but his classes were hard. He picked up his iPod from under his pillow, where he had put it the night before, and put in the earbuds. Sitting back down on the bed, he scrolled through his playlists. There it is, he thought, clicking on “wake.” He mouthed the words to “Night Train” for the millionth time, laughing at his reflection in the mirror. Axl Rose I am not, he thought as he picked out his clothes.

      As he ate his cereal, he listened to Keiko argue with Mr. Yu. “If you want skim milk, I’m not going to waste my money,” said Mr. Yu. “You want skim milk, take this milk, put water in. There, skim milk.”

      Julian wished that there was someone in his homestay who went to school with him. But they had all graduated (or, in Keiko’s case, had opted out of senior school, only graduating from middle school in Japan), and were in the youth company at the academy. As he waited for the bus, Julian shivered. Going to school at 6:30 in the morning sucked, but it was the only way to get enough credits to graduate while going to the academy every day. You could have done a distance course, he told himself reproachfully. But no way would that would

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