Because April and I did everything we possibly could together, we also met our best friends together. 

Our first official day in the new town, we were in the car with mum on the way to Woolies to get some groceries for the house. 

April and I were restless the whole ten minute ride from between our new home and the shops. Three days cooped in a car from Brisbane up to Townsville would do that to any ten and thirteen-year-old. Especially for two kids who had to spend five hour intervals with their mother droning on about this and that the whole ride, wishing they could have done the one long 15 hour drive with their father instead. 

Dad had gone up a few days before us to get settled. And when we arrived today, the house was partially arranged and the fridge thankfully running. Though one look in, mum decided we had to get back into the car and go to the shops. To our dismay, dad was at his mate’s house talking about the business they were starting together, so the last thing mum was going to do was leave April and I alone.

Which is why, when mum chose to talk about the topic of school uniforms, the inevitable fight ensued.

“So tomorrow I will head to the uniform store to pick up both of your uniforms,” mum said from the front seat. April was old enough to sit in the front with her, but after the first hour on the road a few days ago, she was quick to join me in the back.

“What else would you do at a uniform shop,” April muttered under her breath in the back next to me, causing me to snigger. April nonchalantly turned her gaze back out the window as she stifled her amusement.

Mum cast a glare through the review at us and we stopped our giggles immediately. “Anyway, I was thinking four shirts and three skirts each should do it. I’ll wash midweek so you won’t run out of bottoms.”

“You mean three shorts,” April corrected, turning her gaze to the front towards mum.

“No, I mean skirts,” mum said slowly.

“But we got to wear shorts in Brissy. And I checked their website, they definitely do shorts.”

“April… These uniforms up here are already pretty casual. I want you to look somewhat presentable when you go to school, and wearing the shorts just seems even more dressed down.”

“Then maybe you should have enrolled us in a private Catholic school if you cared about the hoity-toity look.” Pubescent attitude was lacing April’s voice now, and her blue eyes narrowed as she glared at mum. 

“If April is getting shorts, then I want them too,” I said.

“Both of you are getting skirts and that is that,” mum replied.

“Mum! I need at least one pair of shorts. What about when I have to do sports?” April protested.

“Wear your shorts under your skirt then.”

“How does that make any sense? Just get me shorts and we won’t have a problem.”

“April. I’ve already decided. Also, I don’t appreciate your tone.”

“And I don’t appreciate you subjecting me to patriarchal nonsense.”

“Big words for a girl just starting high school,” mum muttered.

“Well because this ‘big girl’ can use big words, you should let me make my own decisions.”

Mum went quiet for a moment. “I’ll think about it.”

April groaned, crossed her arms over her chest and turned back out the window. Mum saying she’d think about it was another way of her saying this was the end of the conversation.

Seeing April displeased, I crossed my arms over my chest and also pouted, glaring at mum before turning to look out the window. Out of the corner of her eye, April noticed this, a small smirk threatening to ruin her scowl, but she managed to hide it just in time before mum glanced back at us.

It was thanks to this fight that April and I refused to go into the shops with mum, choosing to wait out the front instead. Well April decided to stay outside and I, in my full April copycat stage, of course had to stay with her. 

As mum grabbed a trolley and did a full grocery shop inside, April stood leaning against the wall of the building, arms crossed over her chest as she pouted and bit her cheek. And I, right next to her, mimicked her posture as best as my ten-year old body could. 

With all the raging hormones kicking in, April certainly pulled off the eye rolls and set jaw better than I could.

But our annoyance and attitude only lasted a moment, broken when we laid eyes on them. 

Polar opposites, the girls were walking hand in hand towards the shop. The taller, older one had chin length dark hair, dark eyes, pale skin, and features so sharp and prominent that they screamed ‘I hope you grow into these’. The younger one was much shorter—shorter than me. Tanned skin, round face, honey blonde hair, and a button nose, she was the prettiest girl I had ever seen. Prettier than April.

And while my eyes were fixated on the younger girl, April’s was on the ground as they walked past us.

Relaxing from her pose, April took a few steps forward, crouching down to pick something up before calling out after them.

“Hey! Excuse me,” she said, causing them to stop before they walked in. “You dropped this.” April handed over a ten dollar note.

Smiling, the taller one thanked her and went to turn around. But the younger girl stood steadfast, glowing green eyes staring into mine as she smiled. “Do you go to school around here?” she asked me.

Sliding behind April’s body, I nodded at the girl.

Beaming, she said, “I’ve never seen you before!”

“We’re new to town,” April filled in for me. “Just moved here today.” She looked between me and the girl, a smirk spreading across her face. “I’m April, and this is my sister May. She’s just starting Year 5 and I’m starting Year 8.”

Enthusiastically, the blonde girl shouted, “Us too! I’m Evie and this is Anna.”

April’s arm came around, touching my shoulder as she gently pried me away from behind her, pushing me towards Evie. “Talk to her,” April whispered just loud enough for me to hear. “It would be good to make a friend especially considering I’m not at the same school this year.”

April began to chat with Anna, while Evie dropped her hand and walked over to me, sitting on the bike rack and patting the bars next to her.

Hesitantly, I sat down on the cold metal and stared at a piece of gum on the cement ground in front of us. 

“Do you have any other siblings?” Evie asked me.

“No. Just April. Do you?”

She shook her head. “It’s just me and mum.”

“Anna isn’t your sister?’

“No. She’s my neighbour. She walks with me to the shops when I need to get something so that I don’t have to go alone.”

“Can your mum not take you?”

“Oh, she won’t be awake until much later.” 

At the time, I didn't question that it was already mid-afternoon and an adult was still asleep.

“What does your mum do?” Evie asked.

“Mum picks up phones and stuff for doctors. And dad is a builder.”

“Your parents are still together? That’s cool.”

“Yours aren’t?”

“No, dad left when I was little. Though mum sometimes brings guys home. Normally she just stays out and dances with them all night, like last night. I think it was a good night for her because she got home really late and seemed to drink a lot. She also brought home a lot of cash, which is why I’m not just getting milk. I’m totally going to get an ice cream.”

“What is your mum’s job?”

“I don’t really know. I just know she dances and wears really pretty dresses and makeup. And we always have cash.”

“That sounds… fun!”

“Right?” She sighed and looked out at the carpark. “I hope we are in the same class this year. That would be cool.”

“Would your friends mind me sitting with you?”

“Oh I don’t really have many friends.”

“What? But you’re really nice and chatty.”

“Yeah… they come and go a lot. Their parents often say they can’t be my friend.”

“That’s stupid. I’ll be your friend. Me and April don’t let mum tell us what to do.”

We shared grins and Evie said, “Thanks May. Let’s be besties, okay?”

I nodded vigorously, admiring the way she wore her cap backwards, and that her shirt was a couple sizes too big for her, but somehow she made it look really cool.

“April, May!” mum called from a few steps over, trolley loaded with plastic bags. “Time to go.” Her eyes trailed over Anna and Evie, brow tilting upwards slightly.

Turning back to Evie, I got to my feet and said, “I’ll see you at school.”

“Definitely! See you next week, May.”

“So,” mum started as we sat back in the car, turning out of the carpark and onto the highway, “Who were they?”

“Anna and Evie,” I answered. “Anna is in year 8, same as April, and Evie is in year 5, same as me. We’re going to be friends.”

“Is that so?” mum responded. “Their clothes could do with a wash.”

“Mum,” April warned. Though I wasn’t sure what she was warning of.

“Are they sisters?” mum continued.

“No,” I replied. “They live next door to each other. Anna walks Evie to the shops when she needs to get stuff for the house.”

“Evie’s parents can’t do that?”

“Evie’s mum works all night and sleeps all day.”

“What does her mum do?”

“May,” April muttered under her breath to me, as if suggesting I shouldn’t, but I missed the hint too late.

“Her mum dances in nice clothes and drinks with guys all night and then comes home with lots of cash,” I replied.

Mum went quiet for a few moments, eyes focussed on the road. Next to me, April’s brows were furrowed as she stared at the front seat, waiting for mum to talk. Finally, as we turned off the highway to the road leading to our suburb, mum said, “I don’t want you girls hanging out with them.”

“I promised Evie I’d be her friend,” I whined.

“What I say goes, May.”

“Don’t be like that mum,” April said, trying to keep her tone calm. “Don’t judge them without knowing anything.”

“I’m not judging them. I just don’t want you girls getting involved in things you shouldn’t.”

“You don’t even know what they’re like.”

“April… I said no.”

“You’re not the boss of me.”

Mum shot daggers through the rear-view mirror at April. “We will talk about this at home.”

That night, mum and April had one of the biggest screaming matches I had heard in a long time. It was behind April’s closed door, a spectacular way to settle into our new rooms and house the first night. I didn’t catch much of what was said as I sat on the floor, unpacking my toys, glancing towards April’s room down the hall.

But some of the words I did hear thrown around by mum were, “bogan”, “trash”, and “you’re better than them”.

April retorted with words like, “bossy”, “bitch”, and “judgemental”.

When mum stormed out of the room, fury flying from her limbs as she stomped down the stairs, dad came upstairs not too long later, slowly walking into April’s room.

This time dad left the door open, sitting on April’s bed next to her as he spoke softly. I watched April cry and bury her head into his shoulder while he patted her hair. 

After we had dinner, showers, and mum and dad tucked me in for the night, it didn’t take long for April to creep down the dark hallway to my room.

Lifting up the sheets, she climbed into my bed with me, pulling the blanket over our heads. 

“Are you okay?” I whispered to April.

“Of course. I’ll never let mum tell me what to do. I just hate that she always makes me angry. I don’t like being angry.”

“Is that why you cried?”

“Yeah…”

“Do people often cry when they are angry?”

“They can, May Day.”

I nodded, eyes going over my sister in the dim light under the sheets. “So does this mean I can’t be Evie’s friend?”

“Well…” April whispered. “I’m not going to avoid Anna just because mum said so. Do you like Evie?”

“Yes. She’s really nice and funny and pretty.”

“Then you should be her friend.”

“But what about mum?”

April heaved a sigh. “Dad says mum might come around one day. But I think, for now, if we are going to hang out with Anna and Evie, we should keep it just between us two, okay?”

“We can’t even tell dad?”

“No… He likes mum too much.”

“Okay…” Silence fell between us for a while, and I wondered for a moment if April had fallen asleep. But then another question popped into my head. “April?”

“Mmm?” she said sleepily.

“Can you tell me the story about why you call me May Day?”

“Have you not heard that one enough?”

“Never. I like hearing it. This place is so… new. I think it will help me sleep.”

“Very well.” April pulled me close into her arms, running her hand over my hair, the way a mother caresses a child, not a sister. April had always been that elderly figure I admired, not my parents. “I call you May Day because May Day is a day of celebration. Over in Europe and America and other places, May marks the beginning of summer. To celebrate, they throw these really big parties and dance and sing and eat.”

“Yeah but tell me the other part.”