Introduction
Before they all became a group, a "them", there were certain factions and friendships already made. Anthony Stonem met Maxwell Oliver when they were infants, being strolled about in prams by Anthea and Jackie; Sidney Jenkins in primary school when they were four years old, and were inseparable from then onwards; Christopher Miles when they were seven, eating ice creams on the boardwalk, cool and creamy rivers sliding down their hands; and Jalander Fazer when they were ten, at a bookshop, in the Shakespeare section, her clutching a copy of Romeo and Juliet, him holding onto King Lear.
Michelle Richardson met Cassandra Ainsworth when they were both five years old, finger-painting in art class; Chris when they were seven, at the aquarium, staring in awe and admiration at the wall of fish; Jal when they were twelve, sitting in English class and passing notes; and Maxxie when they were thirteen, both auditioning for the school play.
Cassie met Chris when they were eight years old, sitting outside of the headmaster's office, their legs swinging idly from their spots on the pleather couch cushions; and Jal when they were thirteen, in music class, where Cassie simply took apart her trombone and then put it back together, over and over again, her body as thin as the main slide itself.
Chris met Jal when they were fourteen years old, when she rolled her eyes every time the class clown misbehaved or had something witty or sarcastic to blurt at the teacher; Anwar Kharral, at the same age, when he managed to run through his mosque on the run from a few angry older boys who thought Chris ran his mouth too much.
Jal met Maxxie when they were ten years old, nearly running into each other at the library, each carrying books similar to each other, for a book report due the next day; Anwar when they were thirteen, as he stopped in the middle of maths to "pray to his God".
And of course they all met because of Tony. Tony made them a "they", a "we", an "us". Soon, every morning he would bring them all together. He was their ringleader, their master of ceremonies. Every morning those separate people: charming Tony, warm Maxxie, awkward Sid, kooky Chris, level-headed Jal, rebellious Michelle, scatterbrained Cassie, and goofy Anwar, they all became one.