by Alex Miles
‘That’d be great! Thanks, Niki,’ said Lucy.
Ezra walked the class through the rest of the pitch, explaining the possible audiences and uses for TALKthING. When they finished, the whole class cheered.
‘Squizdip!’ yelled Ezra. ‘That means “thank you” in unicorn.’
Ezra’s group returned to their seats and everyone was buzzing with excitement. As the next group got ready, Hamsa’s tummy was churning. Ezra had done so well, especially given how scared he was of public speaking. She hoped she could do just as well for her team.
‘Relax,’ said Niki, when she noticed Hamsa nervously chewing on her necklace.
‘I am relaxed,’ said Hamsa.
‘And a terrible liar,’ laughed Niki. ‘C’mon, you got this.’
‘Okay,’ said Hamsa, taking a deep breath and pepping herself up. ‘Two serves of razzle and a side of dazzle coming right up!’
Niki rolled her eyes and smiled. ‘Dork.’
And for the first time, Hamsa didn’t mind the playful dig. She looked to Maggie, Niki and Eve, each giving their encouragement. ‘I gotta say, whatever happens up there, even if the whole class thinks our idea is a stinker, I’m so glad we ended up in a group together. I’m … It’s …’ Hamsa couldn’t find the right words, but with each passing day she was feeling more and more comfortable in their company.
Eve gave her hand a squeeze. ‘It’s been fun, hasn’t it?’
‘Really fun,’ agreed Hamsa. And as the next pitch began, she held on to Eve’s hand, feeling more at ease. Hopefully they’d be able to put yesterday behind them.
After hearing about a recipe wizard and two other startups, there were just two teams remaining.
Zoe’s team was the next to present. She took her place at the microphone and waited until her team was ready. Then she began. ‘Did you know that millions of tonnes of plastic waste leaks into our oceans every year?’
Niki looked at Hamsa, worried.
‘Introducing Plas-tastic – an app that allows you to track your plastic use and gives rewards when you reduce your usage.’
Hamsa’s jaw dropped. There’s no way they could have the same idea. Could they?
‘What is going on?’ whispered Niki.
Hamsa shrugged. She was holding her friendship necklace, chewing on the cord and wishing she could disappear. As Zoe continued, there was no mistaking it – their startup was exactly the same as PlasTICK. Hamsa tuned out, thinking back to the conversation she’d had with Zoe, walking home the day before. She knew Zoe wasn’t keen on the Hackathon, but she didn’t think she’d steal their whole idea!
‘Well done,’ said Ms Atlas, when Zoe finished her pitch. ‘Any questions from the crowd?’
Niki’s hand shot up and she didn’t even wait for her name to be called. ‘Where’d you get this idea?’
Zoe smiled. ‘You know, we were worried it may have been an obvious choice. That maybe another group would do the same. After all, plastic pollution is such a hot topic.’
‘You didn’t answer the question,’ said Niki shortly.
‘Oh, it just came to us,’ said Zoe.
‘And how are you going to build it?’
Zoe didn’t miss a beat. ‘Our hackers have been working hard on that, but we haven’t decided yet.’
‘Niki, you had some great suggestions for TALKthING,’ said Ms Atlas. ‘Is there anything you’d recommend to help this group?’
‘Nope,’ said Niki, glaring at Zoe and leaning back in her chair.
‘Right, well, if there are no more questions, we’ll keep moving,’ said Ms Atlas. ‘Well done, Plas-tastic. Now it’s time for our lucky last team.’
The class clapped as Zoe’s group returned to their seats.
‘Hamsa?’ said Eve, nudging her gently. ‘We’re up.’
Hamsa shook her head. ‘Ms Atlas, we need more time.’
‘C’mon,’ said Ms Atlas, looking at her watch. ‘It’s almost the end of class.’
‘It’s just …’ Hamsa looked down at the notes she’d written. ‘Our idea is kind of similar.’
‘That doesn’t matter. Let’s hear what you’ve come up with,’ replied Ms Atlas.
‘Hamsa, we don’t mind,’ said Zoe. ‘Like I said, it’s not as if our group were the first people on earth to care about the planet. I’m sure your idea will be great too.’
Niki rolled her eyes and pulled the others in close. ‘They totally stole out idea, but whatever. Let’s get up there and show everyone that ours is better.’
Eve nodded. ‘Let’s do it.’
Hamsa reluctantly followed the others, standing in front of the microphone as Eve got their first slide up on the screen. It was the mock-up she’d done of the PlasTICK icon.
Hamsa shuffled through her notes. The words looked fuzzy and she was finding it hard to breathe. She looked over to the girls and Eve gave her a supportive thumbs up.
‘Sorry,’ said Hamsa.
‘Just relax,’ said Ms Atlas. ‘Remember the Halfway Hack is about having a go. If you make a mistake, awesome – you can learn from it. Some of the best inventions in the world came from making mistakes.’
Hamsa nodded, but she couldn’t focus. Why is this so hard? she thought. She had the words in front of her and had practised all last night, but that was before her best friend had betrayed her. The worst part of it all was she’d let her team down.
Eve walked over and held Hamsa’s hand gently. ‘Should I start you off?’
Hamsa shook her head and cleared her throat. ‘Introducing PlasTICK – a revolutionary app that helps minimise plastic use.’
‘Sounds familiar,’ said Richard, pretending to yawn.
A few classmates sniggered and Hamsa swallowed hard. She read through the rest of her cue cards, unable to muster any enthusiasm. After fielding a few questions once the pitch was over, she practically ran back to her seat.
The bell rang for the end of the day. Outside class, Niki couldn’t help herself when Zoe and her friends walked past. ‘It’s pretty low to steal someone else’s idea.’
‘It’s not my fault,’ said Zoe, sounding defensive. She avoided meeting Hamsa’s eye, like she knew she’d done the wrong thing.
‘How is this not your fault?’ snapped Niki.
‘Because Hamsa told me! She explained the whole project to me yesterday afternoon.’
Eve stepped in. ‘You should be able to chat to your friends without them stealing your ideas, though.’
Hamsa was grateful for Eve’s support, but Niki disagreed. ‘You shouldn’t have told them, Hamsa. You should have known Zoe would do something like this.’
‘Ouch, that’s rude,’ said Zoe.
‘It’s true,’ said Niki.
Zoe looked at Hamsa. ‘Are you going to just stand there while these girls say awful things about me?’
‘Um, I’m …’ Hamsa gulped. They were all staring at her now. ‘I’m really sorry this happened.’
Niki groaned. ‘Hamsa, stick up for yourself for a change! Zoe’s the one who should apologise.’
‘Stay out of it. You don’t know Hamsa like we do.’
‘We know her better than you think,’ snapped Niki.
‘Can you all stop fighting?’ yelled Hamsa.
They did, but neither Zoe nor Niki looked ready to back down.
‘C’mon, Hamsa,’ said Zoe, after a while. ‘Let’s get out of here.’
Hamsa felt trapped, torn between both groups as they all awaited her reply. Were they really going to make her choose?
‘Come on,’ repeated Zoe, growing more impatient. ‘Or have you got soccer again today?’
Maggie looked from Zoe to Hamsa. ‘You didn’t have soccer yesterday. You were hanging out with us.’
Zoe shook her head, seemingly confused. ‘You told us you couldn’t hang out at lunch because you had soccer training.’
‘And you told us that training was cancelled,’ said Eve.
Zoe looked hurt. ‘Seriously? You lied about going to socc
er practice so you could hang out with the geeks?’ she asked Hamsa. ‘Maybe I don’t know you after all.’
Zoe walked off with Michelle, Wai-Ling and Sal following close behind.
Hamsa finally found her voice. ‘I can explain.’
‘I knew you were being weird yesterday at lunchtime,’ said Eve. ‘Worried about someone seeing you. Why did you have to lie to spend time with us?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Hamsa.
‘It’s because we’re geeks,’ said Niki, ‘which is so below you. You didn’t want to be seen with us.’
Hamsa shook her head. ‘You’re not geeks. I’ll make them see that.’
‘You’re missing the point,’ said Niki firmly. ‘I am a geek, and I don’t need to lie about who I am.’
‘Please,’ said Hamsa, her eyes welling up. ‘Let me make it up to you.’
Maggie shook her head. ‘Sorry, Hamsa. I think we better go.’
As Maggie, Eve and Niki walked away, Hamsa wiped her eyes with her sleeve. She’d messed up. Big time.
In a household with four boys and one girl, you might expect the ratio of most things to be 4:1. Not in Hamsa’s case. Her four brothers shared two bedrooms, while she had her own; she had the highest amount of new clothes while her brothers shared hand-me-downs; and breakfast-cereal consumption was normally a whopping 100:1 in the boys’ favour. But despite how the numbers stacked up, Hamsa always felt like she was at a loss.
‘Hey! I’m home,’ said Hamsa’s mum, dropping her phone and keys on the kitchen bench and joining the rest of the family at the table that night. ‘How’d today go, Ham?’
‘Yes, my little tech wizard. Give us every detail,’ said Dad warmly.
‘Not every detail,’ said her second eldest brother, Dinesh. He knew Hamsa had a habit of telling long stories.
Hamsa pushed the brown rice and meatballs around her plate, wondering whether she should start with the bit where she embarrassed herself in front of her whole class, or the bit where her friends busted her for being a liar, or, the worst bit of all, the aching feeling that she’d really let down her Hackathon team. ‘There’s nothing to tell,’ she said finally, deciding she didn’t want to relive any of it.
The clinking of cutlery on plates stopped as her four brothers looked at her.
‘When have you ever had nothing to say?’ said Shehan, the youngest.
‘Never ever,’ said Gavesh, his twin.
Hamsa shrugged.
‘Suits me,’ said Shehan. ‘Dad, can we stay up for the Premier League tonight?’
‘No way,’ interrupted Mum. ‘It doesn’t start until two am.’
‘Can we at least record it?’ pleaded Shehan.
Dad nodded. ‘So long as I can work out that remote.’
Shehan grinned. ‘And can we watch last night’s recording after dinner?’
Hamsa huffed loudly. Her favourite show would be on. But her brothers had zero interest in anime.
‘Hands up for EPL,’ said Dinesh, raising his hand. His brothers quickly followed suit.
‘Outnumbered … again,’ said Hamsa under her breath.
After finishing dinner and their chores, Hamsa’s brothers crammed onto the worn leather couch while Dad fumbled with the remote.
‘Give it here,’ said Dinesh, grabbing it.
Hamsa retreated to her bedroom which was undoubtedly her favourite room in the house. Bright yellow walls, a mural of colourful wall decals and the shelf above her bed that was home to more than thirty unicorns, ponies and cartoon figurines. As she lay there, determining which favourites she would bring down from the shelf for a chat, there was a knock on the door. Mum entered, laptop in hand.
‘I found tonight’s episode online,’ she said. ‘We can stream it.’
‘What happened to the “we only watch one show together as a family” rule?’ asked Hamsa.
Mum held her finger in front of her lips. ‘I won’t tell the boys if you don’t.’ She gave Hamsa a wink. ‘To be honest, I’m just happy that one of my children inherited my excellent taste in television.’
‘Sailor Moon!’ said Hamsa.
‘Forever and ever,’ said Mum.
Hamsa made room for her mum to snuggle in next to her as she propped the laptop on the bed between their legs.
‘I’m excited about your class coming to work tomorrow.’
‘Yeah,’ mumbled Hamsa.
‘You know, I wanted to hear how today went, even if the boys didn’t,’ said Mum, taking longer than necessary to get the show up on the screen.
Hamsa shrugged. ‘I stuffed it a bit.’
‘The first time I pitched to everyone at work, I was terrified,’ said Mum. ‘And I was awful. Then I hid in the server room because I was so embarrassed and accidentally locked myself in.’
‘Whoops.’ Hamsa snorted.
‘That’s not the worst bit,’ continued Mum. ‘It was an hour before anyone found me, and by then I was busting for the loo and was this close to wetting my pants!’
Hamsa laughed.
‘Your pitch can’t have been that bad,’ said Mum.
‘Not as embarrassing, but it still mega sucked.’
‘How?’
Hamsa ran the top of her patterned doona cover through her fingers. ‘My friends think I’m a loser for lying to them and my Hackathon team hate me.’
‘I’m sure they don’t hate you. They wouldn’t hate you for making a few mistakes in the pitch.’
‘Not for that.’ Hamsa took a deep breath and braced herself. ‘I told Zoe our app idea and then her team copied the whole thing.’
‘Really?’ said Mum. ‘That wasn’t very nice.’
Hamsa nodded. ‘Then my team found out that I lied about soccer practice being cancelled because I was embarrassed to be hanging out with them.’
‘With your friends?’
‘No, the Hackathon girls.’
‘They can be your friends too, you know.’
Hamsa looked up at Mum. ‘They’re so different to my group with Zoe. We can’t all be friends.’
‘Why not?’
Hamsa was stumped.
‘It’s okay – it’s even good – to have different types of friends. You can have your soccer pals, your school friends, your brothers –’
‘Those Stinko-Mc-Stinkies downstairs are not my friends,’ said Hamsa, thinking about the time her brothers made her sit in the back seat of their car, windows up, after the world’s biggest baked beans breakfast.
‘Yes, they are. I know you feel like the outsider with the boys when it’s four against one, but they do love you. And Eve, Niki and Maggie can absolutely be your friends too.’
‘They don’t fit. Or maybe it’s that I don’t fit with them.’
‘A friend doesn’t have to be a perfect fit. Just someone that feels comfy. Who you can be yourself around.’
Hamsa looked away from Mum to the other side of the room. She’d been so focused on not losing Zoe, she’d never really thought that Eve, Niki and Maggie could be her friends.
‘Whatever,’ said Hamsa. She was tired of thinking about it.
Mum waited a moment, like she was giving Hamsa the chance to share more if she needed. Then she kissed her gently on the forehead. ‘Time to join the Sailor Scouts.’
They’d just nestled down when Mum realised she’d left her tea in the kitchen. ‘Don’t start without me!’
When she left the room, Hamsa scooped up the laptop and propped it on her knees. She opened a new tab and logged into the team’s message feed, hoping the girls may have posted an update. But there was nothing.
Hamsa heard Mum’s footsteps heading up the stairs. She closed the tab and placed the laptop back on the bed.
‘Ready?’ said Mum, jumping into bed.
‘Ready,’ said Hamsa. She wriggled a little deeper under the covers and snuggled in close to Mum. She felt comfy there. And it was a feeling she could definitely get used to.
‘Marshmallows really are the key to a good hot chocolat
e,’ said Hamsa, as her mum replied to emails on her phone.
She was at the café in the foyer of her mum’s office building, waiting for the class to arrive. As she sipped on her hot chocolate, Hamsa stared out through the floor-to-ceiling windows, which overlooked the busy city street and peered down at everyone bustling by.
Who are all these people? thought Hamsa. They all looked so different and she wondered what jobs they had.
She took the final sip of her hot chocolate, holding the mug in the air, waiting for the last bit of marshmallowy goodness to drip into her mouth. From the corner of her eye, she saw her class approaching outside. Her tummy felt wobbly.
‘Relax,’ said Mum gently. ‘I’m here if you need me.’
Hamsa nodded and tucked her hands into the pockets of her favourite red jumper. She trailed behind her mum as they went to greet the group.
‘Welcome,’ said Mum.
‘The kids are so excited to be here, Anika,’ said Ms Atlas.
Mum smiled. ‘Then let’s get straight into it.’
She led the group towards the reception desk, where they were all issued with a ‘Visitor’ lanyard to wear around their neck. Hamsa hung around the outer edges of the group, checking out her classmates’ outfits and worrying whether she’d underdressed by wearing the jumper, jeans and trainers. She saw Zoe and her friends, took a deep breath, but instead made her way to where Niki, Eve and Maggie were standing. Niki stared Hamsa down with an ‘I’m still angry at you’ face, Eve avoided eye contact altogether, while Maggie managed a sheepish smile. Hamsa retreated, heading towards her old friends.
‘Hey, Hamsa,’ said Zoe. She was wearing a cute white t-shirt tucked into floral shorts. Hamsa suddenly felt uncomfortable in her jumper. Those girls always looked like they’d thrown a great outfit together with zero effort, when it would have taken Hamsa six days to choose something and, even then, it probably wouldn’t look good.
‘Where were you this morning?’ asked Wai-Ling.
‘I got a lift in with Mum.’
‘Really?’ asked Zoe. ‘You weren’t hanging out with your secret geek friends again?’