She stayed in my head after that first meeting, more than made sense. Years later I would think there had been something brittle about her from the start. Or fragile. They’re almost the same. But that would take hindsight, and more. And I can’t honestly say that she was either of those things. Circumstances have to be taken into account too. She was an outsider. That much is true. Andy’s hair was still wet when we got to school the next morning in our well-pressed shirts. We weren’t the first there, so most of the upper lockers in the grade-twelve section were gone, but I found a free one at the far end from the houseroom door. I stacked my new books in no particular order and thought: this is the last time. Erica had put the idea in my head, and it would keep coming back to me. Last year’s owner of the locker had put stickers on the inside of the door — one a Levi’s logo, the other saying ‘colour radio 4IP’ A year ago he had stood on this spot claiming a locker for the last time.
