Dear diary, Mum doesn’t like her.

Dinner made that clear. It was building all day, right from the moment we got back from Penelope’s house. Mum kicked her flats off, actually kicked them. They flew into the wall and left a black mark. But Mum didn’t care. I stood there in shock. She strode down the hall and disappeared into the kitchen. Then she came out holding a beer bottle. We only moved in yesterday. When did she even have time to buy it?

Dad stumbled out of the office, pale faced. “Was your mum just drinking beer?”

“I think so.”

“Was our neighbour that bad?” he asked.

“Penelope’s great.”

He noticed the shoes abandoned in the hallway and the mark on the wall. “I better go check on her,” he said.

Mum didn’t even join us for lunch. Dad mumbled something about her being busy in the office, but she always eats with us on weekends. When he left with her plate, Danny spoke.

“So what about our neighbour got on Mum’s wrong side?”

“She said Mum didn’t look like an engineer, but apart from that it was more Mum making Penelope uncomfortable.”

Danny laughed. “Finally, a neighbour that isn’t scared of her. Let’s see how long it takes for Mum to start her rant.”

Danny only had to wait until dinner. They ducked their head to hide a grin as Mum sat down, her eyes a smouldering fire.

“So how does everyone like the new house?” Dad asked, looking desperately from Danny to me.

“And another thing,” Mum said. “What kind of reasonable person has a thousand books? A thousand! I don’t even care how she could afford them all. Where does she find the time to read that much?”

Dad hung his head. “I don’t know, sweetie.”

“Maybe she’s a lot older than she looks,” Danny supplied.

“That would certainly explain her living situation,” Mum said. “How else could she afford to a house in this neighbourhood while being a student?”

I frowned. “Penelope said that she does freelance jobs.”

“So, like a drug dealer or something?”

“Janette!” Dad dropped his fork. “This woman saved Emma’s life last night and here you are making her out to be a criminal.”

“Well, why was she even watching Emma in the first place?”

“She was reading,” I answered. “She told us that this morning.”

“And we’re meant to trust the word of a stranger?”

Danny hid their grin for a moment. “Maybe she’s a spy, sent by another university to steal your engineering secrets.”

“Cut it out, Danny,” Dad said.

They feigned innocence. “I was just helping Mum theorise.”

“Danny’s right,” Mum said. “This Penelope isn’t what she seems. That dragon painting should’ve made it obvious. She’s clearly in the business of smuggling artefacts and selling them to the highest bidder. Why else would she have kept avoiding my questions?”

“Because you were making her uncomfortable,” I mumbled.

“What?”

Mum looked like I’d just slapped her. Danny’s grin was gone, replaced by a look of absolute terror. Dad cleared his throat.

“Maybe it’s time we leave this topic,” he said.

“You’re right Zach, maybe it’s time we had a serious discussion about playing on roads and disrespecting parents.”

I sunk into my chair. “I’m sorry.”

“For what exactly?” Mum asked. “Are you sorry that you almost got yourself killed for being irresponsible? Are you sorry that you almost made us lose a daughter? You’re lucky we haven’t grounded you for life for what you did, Emma. So next time, don’t be so quick to jump to a stranger’s defence when there is clearly something off about her.”

“A daughter would refer to multiple,” Dad pointed out, smirking at Danny and me. “You can’t still be getting your grammar wrong after being married to me for this long,” he joked.

Mum shook her head. “You’re such a nerd.”

“And you jump to conclusions too quickly, but I still love you,” Dad said.

Just like that, Mum’s rant was over. Dinner continued on like nothing happened. I knew better than to mention Penelope, and Danny wasn’t about to poke the bear again. It’s weird that she got so worked up over Penelope in the first place. Sure, they didn’t exactly get along this morning, but Mum has never disliked someone so much after only two conversations. Maybe I can help them make up and be friends. That way I can talk to Penelope more and ask her all the questions that I couldn’t this morning.

Danny walked back to my room with me after dinner. They sat awkwardly on my bed and curled their legs up to their chest. “I’m sorry for riling Mum up.”

“You were just having fun.”

“But if I knew that she would get like that with you... Sometimes she’s such a bit-.”

“Danny!”

“What? She is. It’s probably why Penelope didn’t like her. You almost died and she had the nerve to make you feel guilty! What kind of mother does that?”

“She was just scared.”

Danny shook their head. “Scared that things won’t go exactly how she planned them.”

“Do you ... hate her?” I asked.

“No. She’s still Mum. I just wish she wouldn’t try to find something wrong with every single place we move to. I’m getting sick of changing schools.”

“Dad said this is the last time.”

“What if he was lying?” Danny asked. “What if they’re always lying about the reason we keep moving? The reasons they’re giving us don’t even make sense half the time.”

I considered that for a moment. Sure, Mum and Dad kept claiming that we were moving because of work, but they both work at universities. They’ve never changed jobs. I guess we have been moving closer to Brisbane each time, so the commute is a little shorter. Maybe we’re moving closer because we can afford it.

“What makes you think that?” I asked.

They shrugged. “I just get the feeling that there’s something they’re not telling us. Like something really important. But who knows, maybe Mum’s jumping to conclusions is genetic.”

Sometimes I think Danny is way too mature for their age. But I guess we’ve both been reading a lot since we knew how thanks to Dad. And they did have to act grown up suddenly last year. I think that was the only time that Danny was grateful to move schools.