Everything is Changed (20 page)

before

The roundabout spins in the darkness. The boys lean back, staring up into space, like that's where the real fun lies. One boy is small, his head only reaching the other's shoulders. But still they lie next to each other like they're equal. Then a finger shoots up, pointing to a spot overhead.

‘There!'

‘Yeah. I can see it!'

And they both grin into the night as they watch the silver thread burn bright and die, like a sparkler on a cake.

‘Oh. It's gone.'

‘Yeah. It burns up on entering the earth's atmosphere.'

‘But how does it make that streak of light?'

‘The aerodynamic heating creates a trail of glowing particles.'

There's a second of silence, like the other boy is trying to understand. ‘Cool.'

‘Yeah. I reckon.'

‘Don't you have to make a wish?'

‘I have.'

‘Yeah?'

The smaller boy shrugs. ‘You know. Always be friends.'

‘You shouldn't have told me. Now it won't come true.'

‘Yeah, it will. That's just dumb. As if.'

‘Yeah. You're right. As if.'

They stay where they are, waiting for another shooting star to stretch across the sky above them. Each hoping they'll be the first to see it as the roundabout continues to spin in the darkness.

acknowledgements

Another lifetime ago, I wrote a short film called Ripples, about two teenage boys whose lives change in an instant. When UQP publisher Kristina Schulz heard me talk about it, she suggested it would make a great YA novel. So my first big thank you is to Kristina for planting the seed of this story in my head.

This was not an easy book to write. After twelve drafts and a lot of swearing, I'd started to despair it would never be finished. Thank you to my partner, Aidan Fennessy, for working out what was wrong and, more importantly, how to solve it. You really are a fixer after all.

Writing books can be pretty lonely, and my weekly coffee morning with a bunch of awesome women gets me through. Thanks, awesome women, for making me laugh and helping me stay caffeinated.

To Harvey Weir, Alexander Quealy and Eddie Caldas, thanks for being such honest contributors early on when I was still trying to nail the voices of teenage boys.

I'm constantly amazed by how supportive writers are in this country. This book pushed me far outside my comfort zone and if it weren't for a few writers saying the right thing at the right time, I would have chucked it in. Thanks to Emily Gale for listening to me whinge endlessly about why I decided to write a book backwards in the first place. And to Kirsty Eagar for being the best roomie any girl could have. And thanks to Rachel Carbonell for her super-speedy last-minute advice.

Thanks to the Australia Council, who gave me money at just the right time to keep going. Grants are critical for writers so they can buy the time to concentrate on a project without having to scrabble around to live.

I imagine editing a book that runs backwards can be rather frustrating, so a huge thanks goes to UQP editor and overseeing master Cathy Vallance, editor Jody Lee, and proofreader Kate O'Donnell for all being so patient and thorough and for making everything on the page much stronger. Thanks to designer Jo Hunt for creating another great cover, and to Kristy Bushnell for sharing my love of popping candy.

And finally, thanks to my very lovely kids, Arlo and Evie.

First published 2016 by University of Queensland Press

PO Box 6042, St Lucia, Queensland 4067 Australia

www.uqp.com.au

[email protected]

© Nova Weetman 2016

This book is copyright. Except for private study, research, criticism or reviews, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission. Enquiries should be made to the publisher.

Cover design by Jo Hunt

Cover photographs: man in tunnel by Eugene Sergeev/Colourbox; grass by Tubas/Colourbox

Typeset in 10.5/15 pt Sabon by Post Pre-press Group, Brisbane

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body.

Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

National Library of Australia

http://catalogue.nla.gov.au

Weetman, Nova, author.

Everything is changed / Nova Weetman.

ISBN 978 0 7022 5416 1 (pbk)

ISBN 978 0 7022 5781 0 (pdf)

ISBN 978 0 7022 5782 7 (epub)

ISBN 978 0 7022 5783 4 (kindle)

For young adults.

Young adult fiction.

Friendship – Fiction.

A823.4

University of Queensland Press uses papers that are natural, renewable and recyclable products made from wood grown in sustainable forests. The logging and manufacturing processes conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.