on the map//spencer 'spider' white

3

Darren takes Amerie and I to the top of a building with Quinni. Apparently, they hang out here sometimes. Amerie sits in a shopping cart as Darren fixes her fringe.

"It's bad, isn't it?" Amerie asks. "Like irreversible bad?"

"Nah, I shaved off both my eyebrows in year 8 and they grew back," Darren tells her. "Yeah, way less shit."

Amerie smiles in the mirror. "More like heaps less shit, thanks."

"Why did Harper punch you in the face?" Quinni asks.

"I don't really know," Amerie admits.

"You must have done something," Darren insists.

"Rhiannon, Harper, and I went to a music festival last week. And after that, she just went ghost," Amerie explains.

"Did you get into a fight?" Quinni asks.

"Yeah, but I can't remember what it was about," I tell her.

"We always fight," Amerie says.

"When's Harper's birthday?" Darren asks.

"November 21," I tell them.

"Uh-huh. Scorpio. Unsubscribe," Darren says.

"What's yours?" Quinni asks.

"I'm a Virgo," Amerie tells them.

"Cancer," I state.

"Mmm. I'm an Aquarius. Quinni's a Libra," Darren tells us.

"Are we compatible?" I ask.

"Not all queer people are astrology experts," Darren tells me.

"Oh. Sorry," I start.

"I'm kidding, we are," Darren says. "I'm going to need your time of birth because if you are a Leo Moon, I'm not messing with you."

"Do you feel sad?" Quinni asks Amerie.

Amerie nods. "Yeah."

"What do you feel saddest about?" Quinni asks. "That you're no longer popular, Harper doesn't want to be friends, everyone knows you did the map, or that we're all in sex prison because of you?"

"Mm-mmm. Quinni..." Darren says.

"Try scream therapy," Quinni offers.

"What's that?" I ask.

"Scream therapy. You scream your frustrations to the moon," Quinni explains.

"No," Amerie tells her.

"Yes! You should. It's helped me before," Quinni says. "Come on, let's go."

Darren pushes Amerie in the shopping cart towards the fence.

"Okay, we're doing it," Amerie says with a laugh.

"My best friend dumped me!" Amerie screams. "Damn, that actually felt good."

"Told you," Quinni says.

I smile. "My turn." I step up towards the edge and take a breath. "I cheat on all my maths tests!"

"Oh. Um... I'm a reject!" Darren shouts.

"I have a lazy kebab vagina!" Quinni yells.

"Right. I'm really sorry about that. I should never have put it on the map," Amerie tells her.

"Spider's a lying dick anyway," I offer.

"Oh. It's okay. I'm not upset about it anymore," Quinni says. "I just wanted to know if my flaps were too big."