The jacket and trousers were black, my shirt was white, and my tie was – of all the colours she could have picked – hot pink. I hadn’t seen Avery’s dress, but she’d acquired the infernal tie for me, telling me it would match perfectly. With that in mind, the red Converse she’d bought me would have been a touch on the nose. But I was still me for all my talk of ‘right place and right time’ so I’d gone with my usual black ones. I had also thought that Avery might appreciate it if I didn’t have my hair hanging in my face all night. Not that it seemed to like this being swept to the side bollocks.
“You ready?” Dad asked, popping his head into my room after knocking and not waiting for an answer.
I nodded. “Yeah. I think so.”
He leant in my door way and nodded approvingly. “You scrub up well.”
I flapped my arms rather uselessly. “Not half bad.”
“Come on, Gran wants to see before we go.”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine.” I put my phone and wallet in my pocket, picked up Avery’s corsage, and followed him out to the living room.
It was the first time in a long time that Gran and Dad had been in the same house without it being some big occasion. I always thought that Dad felt a bit guilty for leaving Mum and me in the house alone and that he wasn’t here for us when we needed him. And I was pretty sure Gran felt much the same but also, because it had been her daughter, that she was partially responsible somehow.
“Oh, look at you!” Gran said, smiling at me affectionately as she looked me over. Until she got to my shoes, then she frowned. “Davin!”
“What?” I shrugged. “Avery knows me.”
“It’s her last formal.”
I shrugged again. “And she’ll find this fitting.” Gran looked somewhat sceptical. “I promise.”
She sighed. “All right then. Are you sure you don’t want me to drop you off with your dad?”
“God. You’d think we were getting married,” I tell you. But I could see by the look on her face what it meant to her. To see Avery that is. I don’t think she really cared about seeing me off on my first formal. I nodded. “Sure. Why not.”
Gran did a pretty decent job of hiding her enthusiasm as she picked up her purse. “Come on, Don,” she said perfunctorily as she led the way out of the house.
Dad looked at me with a knowing smile. “Yes, Ginny,” he called before we followed after her.
Dad and Gran got into the front and I folded myself into the backseat of Gran’s tiny Barina. But I didn’t complain because Gran was far too excited.
We drove over to Avery’s place and they flanked me as we walked up the front path and I rang the bell.
“Davin, look at you!” Heather cried warmly when she opened the door.
It suddenly occurred to me that having Dad and Gran drop me off (and come in) meant that my parents – for lack of a better word – were meeting Avery’s. That made it seem terribly real. But too late now. Besides, I had wanted it to be real, so I could hardly complain when it was.
“Heather, this is my dad Don and my grandmother Ginny.”
Heather turned her welcoming smile onto them. “Oh, so nice to meet you. Come in. Come in. Ave and the girls are still upstairs–”
Yep. We’re doing that, too.
“–but she assures me she’s almost ready. The others are in the living room.”
I nodded and walked in, followed by Dad and Gran. Heather took us through and there was indeed a gathering of people in their front living room. There were a few parents milling around, as well as the other three girls’ dates who kept to themselves in one corner.
“Now, you all get one drink before you go so choose wisely,” Heather chuckled. “They’re over there on the table when you’re ready. Don, Ginny, come and meet my husband and the others.”
I watched as Dad and Gran went with Heather and then just sort of stood at the archway wondering what I was meant to do now.
“Hey, Davin.”
I turned at my name and saw Shaun, who I thought was going with Blair?
I nodded to him and headed over. “Hey,” I said.
“That Avery’s corsage?” Zac asked.
Different Zac, because there is in fact more than one person with the same name.
I nodded. “Yeah. I thought it was…her.”
Adam smiled. “Definitely her. Did you make it?”
“My grandmother helped. By which I mean I sort of wondered if something similar was a good idea and she hijacked the idea and now we have this.”
This being a creation of such hideous vibrancy that I felt almost dirty holding it. Gran had spearheaded the operation in which we took two giant bows from K-mart, one rainbow and one white with little shiny rainbow unicorns, pulled them apart and rearranged them on a bracelet with other bits of shiny stuff and diamantes. It was definitely more than I’d originally envisioned, but I had a feeling – a few too many of those lately – that Avery wasn’t going to hate it.
The guys all laughed and nodded.
“Yeah, my mum got super excited when I went to the florist. Totally insisted she help. She ended up doing most of the work,” Shaun said and the other two nodded like they knew exactly what he meant. Shaun indicated Avery’s corsage with the beer in his hand. “That though is brilliant.”
“I wish I’d thought of that,” Adam agreed.
“Mu-um!” I heard Avery’s voice from the top of the stairs. “We’re ready!”
Heather pushed through the people. “Okay everyone. Let’s do this.” She pointed at us. “Boys, you ready?”
We all looked at each other. I didn’t know about them, but I wasn’t feeling particularly ready. But we all nodded, looking a bit like stunned mullets as we did.
“Excellent,” Heather said, then walked into the hallway and called up the stairs, “Who’s first?”
“Molly!” came the answer.
“Adam, you’re up.” Heather waved him over.
Adam gave us all a look, to which the others gave him a sympathetic ‘we’re behind you’ sort of expression in response. As he passed, Zac patted him companionably on the arm.
And then Molly did her entrance down the stairs and met Adam at the bottom.
We went through the same thing with Blair, then Krista.
By that time, I’d worked out the drill. Stand in the archway at the bottom of the stairs so everyone’s parents could watch my reaction to seeing Avery coming down the stairs in her formal dress. Then I give her the corsage and we pause to have our photo taken before we come into the room.
I shook myself out and psyched myself up to be the unwanted centre of attention.
“You’ll love it,” Molly whispered as I walked past her and I nodded in…well I wasn’t sure what.
I took my place and then promptly forgot the drill as she appeared.
She was wearing a cropped black top with cap sleeves and a simple neckline that looked more made from glittered lace than material. And sitting low enough that her waist was on display was an A-line skirt in a hot pink that exactly matched the tie she’d bought me. Her hair was probably the simplest I’d ever seen it; side part, soft at the front where it went over her forehead, wide bun and a single braid through the top. Likewise, her makeup was minimal – no winged eyeliner for once – and her lips matched her skirt.
It wasn’t like she was actually any more beautiful than I thought her on a daily basis, but for some reason she completely took my breath away as though I’d never seen her looking so perfect.
By the time I’d taken it all in, she’d done her elegant descent down the stairs and she was standing in front of me.
“Hey,” she said, her eyes shining with warmth and a crooked smirk on her face.
“Uh. Hi,” I said and held up the corsage for her.
She looked down and one of those bright smiles lit her face and I felt it in my chest. “Oh, Dav. It’s gorgeous. Thank you.”
She held her
hand out and I slipped it onto her wrist before I collected myself and we turned to the room.
We did the photos. Avery had a glass of bubbles and I had a beer and we all hung around chatting – or in my case listening – for a bit until the limo arrived to take us to the Hyatt for the formal.
As we walked in, it could have been worse. I’d heard about Louise’s push for Forbidden Fairy-Tales, but even I had to admit what they went with was a much better choice.
‘Once more with feeling’ hung from the ceiling in giant letters and I wasn’t going to ask how they got there. There were pictures all over the Hyatt’s ballroom of our year level from way back when most of them were in the junior school. There were whole class photos starting in 2006 with the tiny little five-year-olds up to the most recent whole Year 12 shot from a few weeks previously. There were pictures from the Year 5 production, the Year 10 production, school camps, sports days, and every talent show, fair and fundraiser the school had ever held in the last twelve and a half years.
“This isn’t cheesy at all,” I tell you over the music blasting from the DJ’s speakers.
Avery gripped my arm tightly with hers as she looked around in excitement. I knew what this meant to her. It was really our last big hoorah as a year level and she’d been part of the huge effort into getting it all ready. She was one of the ones who’d been at the school since reception so she had a lot of history with all these people and there was something scary about the fact that was coming to an end.
Watching the way her face lit up as she and the girls looked over the photos and reminisced about this and that, I got this strange sensation. It started in my chest and spread its way up to my face. It was a legitimate smile trying to worm its way out. I didn’t really think it appropriate, so I shoved my hands into my pocket and nudged it away.
The formal passed in somewhat of a montage-like blur of having pictures taken, talking with people, eating, and dancing. Although I sat and watched Avery enjoy the dance floor unless it was an opportunity to hold her close. Which is not to say I was the slow dancing kind. But I could partake of a groove if it meant she was rubbing her body against mine.
And it was just one of those times that she was looking up at me with such tenderness in her eyes that I was sure I’d done nothing to earn and in no way deserved.
“I assume now is not the time to tell you I love you?”
I scoffed. “Since when have I ever been able to tell you what not to do?”
“Isn’t that kind of corny though?” she asked, her nose wrinkling sexily.
I felt a full blown smile tip up both sides of my mouth. It felt like the first time in eleven years that I’d smiled. In fact, it wasn’t just a smile. It was a laugh as well. I looked down at the tiny erratic creature who’d been the one to bring it out of me.
I sure as hell didn’t appreciate life any more than I had at the start of the year. But I appreciated Avery and her place in my life. I truly preferred every moment of discomfort I spent in her presence and I’d long given up hope I was ever going accrue any socialisation credits back in the black. I’d accepted that she was going to be the ray of blinding positivity to cut through my swathes of dark clouds. I loved her and I fucking didn’t care who knew it anymore.
“Everything about you is corny, baby,” I reminded her. “Don’t stop now.”
She sighed happily. “In that case… I love you, Davin.”
“That’s my good girl.”
I kissed her, not hiding the smile on my lips as I did.
Epilogue
Avery
I’m still a morning person. Even Davin’s absolute refusal to wake up before midday whenever possible couldn’t change that. I was always going to want to live life to the fullest and he was just going to have to live with that.
For all our talk of lessons, it wasn’t like Davin had changed me. I was always going to be that tiny tornado of positivity, living life loud and proud. But my new appreciation for the quieter things in life had given me good balance; my concentration was better, I felt like I’d become a better listener, I could take a breath and relax for a minute. I also had a better understanding of Ebony and it felt like our bond had only grown deeper.
Every day before school, I still woke up with the sun. I still sung as I showered and dressed. I still sung as I called good morning to Ebony who was dragging herself out of bed, grumbling about the annoyance of it all. And I was still singing as I twirled into the kitchen a little before my parents.
Some people still treated me like I was that stupid little girl who didn’t deserve their respect. But I didn’t let them get away with it anymore. I wasn’t the girl who’d told herself that letting Miles get away with cheating on me was the nice thing to do.
Teachers still treated me like I didn’t know anything sometimes. And I was the first – okay second after Davin…third after Ebony – to admit that academic intelligence wasn’t my strength. But with Davin’s help, I clawed my way up to a B average and I knew that, even if I wasn’t one of the ‘smart kids’ at school, I had plenty of other strengths to be proud of.
Even now I don’t think I could tell you why Davin and I work. We’re two complete opposites, but I can’t imagine being with anyone but him. For all his extreme grumpiness, he makes me happy. He’s that one adorable cloud on a sunny day.
Davin
I’m still not even a people-person. Even Avery’s goddamned exuberance and love of…everything couldn’t change that. And I didn’t care if she nipped my ear lobe, I wasn’t waking up for anything before midday unless it was a school day.
Now was the time I was supposed to be glad we lived in Australia. Were this any other teen romance bullshit, we’d have to worry about what we’d do when we moved to opposite sides of the country now that we’d nauseatingly fallen in love. Well I’m pleased to report that we didn’t have to worry. Nine times out of ten, we endured our tertiary education in the state in which we were born and bred. Or maybe that was a South Australian thing?
My school morning routine did change slightly because Avery thought it a brilliant idea to wake me at eight-twenty-five. But she made up for it by having a travel mug of coffee ready for me when I arrived at her place to drive her and Ebony to school.
People didn’t avoid me quite as much as I would have liked them to anymore. And while that was a constant font of wretchedness, I did get Avery out of it. Blair, Molly and Krista were about the only ones who didn’t back off after the death glare and I’d started to find them more a source of morbid entertainment. I still wasn’t enlightened as to the infinite mysteries and adventures of life and for that I was glad.
So the only obstacles Avery and I were going to face in the near future was if she kept insisting on sneaking colour into my wardrobe – which wasn’t exactly easy to do since even navy blue tends to stand out among all-black, but she kept trying – or if she didn’t stop wriggling so much in the bed in the morning.
Because there was no way in hell I was going to be waking up. Even if she kept rub– Hello.
You know what? I’m going to have to get back to you on that one…
Being Not Good
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Thanks
Well if you made it this far, an extra thank you to you!
This book is particularly close to my heart and a lot of time and effort have g
one into it by a lot of friends, family members, and readers.
Attempting to write a satire novel for the first time is never easy when you spend most of it worrying that people will forget you’re writing satire and just assume you’re a terrible writer who confused the list of don’ts with a list of dos.
So thank you to everyone who helped me with this one, who made sure my goals were being conveyed in the manner in which I intended, and those who cheered me along every time I freaked out and wanted to throw it into the nearest volcano (FYI I just Googled this and apparently it’s only 433.8km away which is a lot closer than I expected).
And a special thank you to the people who dealt with me as I turned into Davin for about three months.
Thank you to the Convocation for reading the random, out of context bits I sent you and encouraging Davin on from the beginning. I know you’re a little biased, but it helps anyway.
Thank you to Emily for going through it and asking the hard questions about what the heck I thought I was doing. We work wonders together and I’m really happy to have had you on board for this one.
Thanks to my beta readers who answered my weird questions about how to make sure Davin didn’t just sound like a weirdo, who told me what was and wasn’t working, and reassured me I hadn’t totally messed it all up.
My books
You can find where to buy all my books in print and eBook at my website;
www.elizabethstevens.com.au/YoungAdultBooks.
About the Author
Born in New Zealand to a Brit and an Australian, I am a writer with a passion for all things storytelling. I love reading, writing, TV and movies, gaming, and spending time with family and friends. I am an avid fan of British comedy, superheroes, and SuperWhoLock. I have too many favourite books, but I fell in love with reading after Isobelle Carmody’s Obernewtyn. I am obsessed with all things mythological – my current focus being old-style Irish faeries. I live in Adelaide (South Australia) with my long-suffering husband, delirious dog, mad cat, one guinea pig, two chickens, and a lazy turtle.
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