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The school bell rang out the end of another day and Luke packed his books away. The walk to his locker for his school bag was a lonely one, jostled by others who were far more eager to get home than he was, escaping what they considered the grind of education for the freedom of the park, the shopping centre, anywhere that wasn't here. Luke was in no great hurry. Not that he enjoyed school more than they did, or disliked his time at home, more that he was never really in a hurry to get anywhere. There were things he liked about school and things he disliked about home. He dragged his feet where the other school boys ran.

Pete was waiting for him at his locker.

"Come on Lukie," laughed Pete. "you're always so slow. Hurry up and we might have time for some kick-to-kick before we have to get inside. What do you reckon?" Pete was football mad. He could happily fill a day kicking a football around a park, whether or not he had company. Luke was obliging enough not to mind it whenever Pete asked him to join in, so he picked up his pace a little as he pulled out whatever he'd need at home that night to finish his homework and put it into his bag.

'I've gotta go by the primary school for Becca, though,' he reminded his friend. Pete just smiled and nodded. He knew the routine as well as Luke did by now. They'd been walking home together since they were old enough to go without adults, and had stopped off to pick up Luke's little sister on their way since she'd started school.

'Bet you'll be glad when she starts here next year, huh,' offered Pete to break the silence. Luke simply grunted a reply that could have gone either way and kept walking at his normal steady pace. Pete was always running laps around him, trying to get him to walk faster, but nothing would disturb Luke in his rhythm. Pete decided that it was probably better not to interrupt him today. Something seemed to be on his mind; he was even quieter than normal. Idly wondering what it was, Pete tried to slow his own pace to match Luke's and made an extra effort to keep the impatience he was feeling from showing.

They walked through the streets in silence, neither of them taking in their surroundings. They'd been walking the same way for so many years now that they didn't even really need to look. Luke had tested it once, closing his eyes as he walked, and found that he could navigate as well from his memory of the road as he could from seeing what was going on around him. There were rarely any changes, and none that would interest the two school boys.

When they arrived at the primary school gate, Pete waited outside in the yard, taking a football out of his bag to keep himself occupied while Luke went inside for his sister. The teachers had started keeping the kids inside until someone came to collect them in the past year or so. It was easier, reflected Luke, when he'd just had to go to the big fort at the back of the school to find Becca, when he hadn't had to face up to her teachers before being able to take her home. It had all come out of some idiot taking a bus load of kids over the edge of a cliff; since then there'd been plenty of changes at the primary school. Not so many at his school, though. Most people seemed to figure that they could take care of themselves a bit more up there. Still, he was certain that he'd be picking Becca up just the same from the high school. He crossed the playground and entered the school building through the front door, memories of his own time at the school coming back to him as always.

That spot over there was where they used to play rounders at lunchtime. Their never-ending games of tag used that fire hydrant as a safe haven. He'd tripped and skinned his knee on that patch of bitumen. That was his music class room. There was the spot where he'd first been told that he didn't fit in. Over there was the spot where he'd had his first fight. That seat was where he'd been sent when he'd been hit with a stick in the playground. This was the corridor where he learned that it wasn't enough to have your parents spend everything they ever earned in trying to get their children a better education - and a better life - than they had had themselves. Here was the place that taught him you also needed money left over for other things. Only Pete had been on his side back then, on the same side of the growing divide between him and his class mates.

"Luke, hi,' said Becca's teacher as he came into the class room. There were about 10 eleven year olds left in the room. The other 12 or so had already been picked up by parents who didn't have to go to work or, far more likely at this school, their nannies.

'Hey Miss Jarvis.' She'd taught Luke when he was in Becca's grade and knew his situation better than most. She treated him as his sister's parent since she saw him more often than them, and knew that he was the one to make sure Becca got her homework done. 

'How'd she go today?' he asked. This was a normal interchange between them, sharing the details of Becca's day.

'Good, as always,' laughed the teacher.

'Anything I need to know about?'

'She's got a project to do for next week, some maths for tomorrow and a story for Friday. Library tomorrow as well, so she needs to bring back any books she borrowed last time around. It should all be written in her planner, though, so if you look there you'll find out anything that I've forgotten. Oh, and there's an excursion in a couple of weeks.' Luke's face closed over. Excursions were a sore point in their family, and usually meant Luke missed a day of school since they could neither afford to sends Becca on the excursion, nor trust her to be home alone.

'It's a free one this time,' offered Miss Jarvis. 'Just a form to sign. It'll be good for her to go.' Luke blushed at her knowledge of their family situation. He hated having to admit that they couldn't have sent her any other way, hated the knowledge that someone else didn't even need to be told that, but knew it already.

'Where are they going?' asked Luke in an attempt to distract himself. He did have some genuine curiosity as well; free excursions were a rarity.

'It's a government rally, I think. I'm not certain. I was just given the forms and told that the kids could all come along. You know the sort of thing, though. Lots of kids waving flags as politicians talk over their heads to the cameras. The usual. But we will be getting back a bit later than normal. It's all on the form,' she finished, losing her concentration as two of her charges started to bicker loudly.

Luke took the moment while the teacher was settling the dispute to study his sister as she played. She still hadn't noticed him in the room, so involved was she in marshaling her group of classmates. He watched her carefully for a few moments, looking for the signs that he knew had to have been there for him at the same age, had he only been able to see them.

'Rebecca's a good kid, Luke,' Miss Jarvis said softly. He wondered where this was going. 'She's popular, bright. There's no need to worry about her.'

Her tone was gentle, and he wondered how she'd been able to tell what he was thinking. He was uncomfortable just thinking about it all, and tried to hurry his departure.

'Come on Becca, time to go.' She looked around in mid-command of whatever the complicated game was that they were playing, and her face fell at the sight of her brother. It made him wonder what she was thinking. Unlike the uncanny Miss Jarvis, he wasn't good at reading other people's thoughts. Or maybe it was that they were better at hiding theirs. Whatever the reason, he didn't like that his sister was disappointed to see him. Or that it happened most days when he came to get her. He sighed. 'Come on.'

'Just a few more minutes?' asked Becca hopefully. 'Please? And if Jamie's nanny gets here soon, can he come and play?'

Jamie was apparently the friend of the moment. They still seemed to change a lot. Luke guessed that he was the boy with the rampant ginger curls who was being bossed around the most - a sure sign that he was Becca's current favourite. Another sigh slipped from Luke, knowing that he was about to disappoint her again.

'Not tonight Becca. I've got a mountain of things to get through, and Pete's already waiting for us at the gate.'