by Lora Inak
She’d hidden in the library at lunchtime, pretending to work on an assignment. She knew she was being a coward, but she didn’t care. Not today. She would have cared yesterday and she’d probably care next week, but not today. Today she was emotional, on edge. She needed time to process what happened between her parents the night before. It was all so horrible. So unreal. She hadn’t slept at all, the stress of everything weighing on her like a ten tonne boulder. She had a pounding headache, with bloodshot eyes to match.
At afternoon recess, Chris tried to corner her in the locker room, but fortunately Steph pulled her away, eager to discuss the party and show her all the photos she’d posted on Facebook. Natalie was too distracted to really listen.
Wondering if, after school, she should walk home the other way to avoid Chris, or hide in the library until he left, Natalie rounded the corner and almost collided with him. He was with Alex and a couple of other guys.
Chris stopped short. ‘Hey.’
‘Oh, hi.’ Damn it.
Alex looked from Chris to Natalie, and back to Chris again. ‘Awkward. I’m outta here.’ He motioned for the other guys to follow.
‘I should get going too.’ Maybe Chris would let her pass without a scene.
Chris stepped to one side to cut off her exit. ‘Can we talk?’
‘I’ve got a lot on my mind, Chris. Can we do it another time?’
His face fell. ‘Just tell me, is everything cool between us? It kinda feels like you’re avoiding me.’
‘Nah … everything’s fine.’ Her voice wobbled. She couldn’t do this. Not right now. She was already rubbed raw.
‘Are you sure?’
She nodded, her back tense. ‘I should get to class though.’
His shoulders dropped. ‘Sure. Yeah. Maybe I’ll see you after school?’
‘Cool.’ She had no intention of walking home with him, but telling him that would only make things more awkward.
He was still blocking her way. ‘Are you okay?’
She avoided his eyes, furiously blinking back tears. ‘Yes. I’ve gotta go.’ She darted around him and made her escape, practically running to maths. She arrived just as everyone was taking their seats and plonked herself next to Peter Tang, the uncontested Year 12 maths whiz.
‘Natalie, hey.’ Peter shuffled closer, clearly thrilled Natalie had seated herself beside him.
‘Hi.’
‘What’s happening?’
Natalie knotted her eyebrows. ‘Not much. You?’
‘Not much either.’ His chuckle was forced, his jaw too stiff.
Natalie looked around. Could she shift seats without seeming rude? Peter was acting pretty strange.
‘So, I was wondering. Are you and Chris Walsh a thing?’
‘What?’ Where had that come from?
‘You know, you two … at the party. I thought maybe you were going out?’
‘Ummm. No.’ She wasn’t even sure if she and Chris were still friends. And how did Peter know about the party anyway? He wasn’t there. At least, she hadn’t seen him there.
‘So, you’re a free agent then?’
‘A what?’
‘Are you single?’ He smiled at her, spittle gathering at each end of his mouth.
She didn’t like where this was heading. Where was Ms Pratt anyway?
He didn’t wait for an answer. ‘Wanna go bowling? With me?’
Seriously? Was he asking her out? For once, she was glad she could use the crazy father card. ‘Sorry, Peter. My parents don’t let me date boys.’
‘What? Really?’
Ms Pratt rushed into the room, calling the class to attention. Natalie was never a big fan of maths, but right now, Ms Pratt was her favourite teacher.
***
‘Crap.’ She ducked behind the portable building, bag in hand.
Chris was still waiting for her at the gate; his school bag slung over one shoulder. Clearly he wasn’t going to give up that easily. Should she just go over? Throw a fascinating fact out there and hope nothing had changed? Her stomach tightened. No. Everything had changed. Nothing would ever be the same again. Not after last night. She reluctantly trudged back to the library. The place was practically deserted, except for Angela.
Natalie carefully put her bag down, grabbed a book, and slumped into a beanbag, fighting back the images of her father’s bulging eyes, the fear in her mother’s face, Misha shaking with shock.
‘Hi, Nat.’
‘Hey, Ange. Are you studying?’
‘Yeah, for my bio class. You?’
‘Nah. Just here for some time out.’
‘Nice pic on Facebook by the way. I’m peeved I missed the party. Was it good? It was my Nanna’s eightieth and my parents forced me to spend the night at her place. So boring. Why do old people smell like talcum powder, or in my Nanna’s case, curry powder?’ She laughed at her own joke.
Natalie smiled, then paused. ‘Wait. What pic?’
Angela faltered. ‘Oh. Haven’t you seen it?’
‘No.’
Angela crinkled her forehead. ‘There’s a picture of you on Facebook. With Chris. Kissing, I think.’
Natalie stopped breathing. Shit! SHIT! Is that what Steph was trying to show her earlier? Is that where Peter got the impression she and Chris were dating?
Natalie grabbed her phone and rushed outside. Hands shaking she logged into Facebook. Damn it. What if somehow Misha saw, or Juliette, or anyone else from the community. Those girls were always on social media. No doubt within seconds the news would get back to her parents, and then … she didn’t even want to think about the consequences.
She almost cried with relief when the picture finally loaded. Blurry and dark it was hard to tell who was in it. Still, Steph had tagged her, which meant the picture would appear on her news feed. Taking long breaths, she quickly dialled Steph’s number, hoping it was still the right one. Steph had given it to her last year during a group assignment.
‘Hey, Steph.’
‘Hey, Natalie. Whazup.’
‘Steph, can you please, please take that picture down. The one of Chris and me on Facebook? My parents will have kittens if they see it.’
‘Oh, soz. Sure. I’ll take it down. Are you in trouble?’
‘Ah … nah,’ she lied, sincerely hoping it was true. ‘I’d just rather not have it up there for everyone to see. Can you take it down, like now?’
‘Yep. No stress.’
Natalie hung up, hoping Steph would take it down before her sister or anyone else saw it. This had to be the world teaching her a lesson. She picked up her bag and headed to the school gate. Surely Chris would have given up and gone home already.
Half-relieved, half-disappointed to see he had, she dragged her feet home.
***
‘Wanna go shopping today?’ Misha popped an olive into her mouth, followed by a piece of cheese. ‘Juliette said she’d come too. We’ll go dress hunting for the wedding.’
It had been ten days since the Facebook incident and Misha hadn’t mentioned a thing. Natalie was pretty confident she was in the clear. True to her word, Steph had taken the picture down straight away.
‘Sure. I’ve got nothing better to do. But I’m going to invite Alya.’
‘Do you have to? She’s so boring.’
‘Don’t be mean, Mish. Alya is really nice. She needs a girls’ day out. Her baba has her working like some slave.’ Natalie gulped down her tea.
‘Whatever. I’m not picking her up though.’
‘Fine. Don’t then.’ Natalie sent a text message to Alya with all the details. Alya could easily meet them there.
‘Natalie. Can you please tell your baba that the gas and Internet bills need to be paid next week.’ Mama’s eyes never left her mobile phone.
Baba’s back stiffened.
Natalie huffed, loudly, making her annoyance crystal clear. Since Mama and Baba stopped talking, their mealtimes had become unbearable. Mostly, Mama fiddled with her phone or flicked through magazines while her father read the newspaper. No more jesting. No more singing along with the radio. No more embarrassing PDA. It was painful being around them. She’d had enough of being their go-between, too.
‘Baba, I know you heard that, so please pay the bills.’
‘Can you please ask your Mama to leave the bills by the front door? I’ll pay them on Monday.’
Natalie caught Misha’s eyes and rolled hers. ‘This is ridiculous. You both have ears, and mouths as well.’
Why were her parents acting like children? Suddenly, she couldn’t wait to get out of the house. She ran upstairs, dressed and then rummaged around in her drawer for the two hundred dollars Mama had given her. Maybe retail therapy would help.
Funny! There was only a hundred dollar note. She was certain she’d put both notes in there. She checked her wallet, pockets and her school bag. No. Not anywhere.
She walked into Misha’s room. ‘Hey, have you seen the hundred dollars that was in my drawer?’
Misha shook her head. ‘No. Why?’
‘It’s missing.’
Misha slipped on a pair of sandals. ‘Did you check your school bag?’
‘Yes. I checked everywhere.’
‘I guess you lost it then. It’s ’cause you go off with the fairies too much.’
Natalie racked her brain trying to remember what she’d done with the money. She hated to admit that Misha was probably right. Great! Now she’d have to find something on sale.
Misha’s phone rang.
‘Hello,’ she answered. ‘Who? Oh right. Ummm. Marhaban.’
Natalie caught Misha’s eyes and mouthed, ‘Who is it?’
Misha turned her back to her. ‘Yes, it’s a really nice day. Not much, just going shopping. How about you? Oh, that’s a shame about having to work on a weekend. Hey, Azeem, how did you get my number?’
Oh no! She’d forgotten all about giving Misha’s number to Azeem. Natalie turned to leave, but Misha grabbed her arm.
‘Natalie gave it to you, did she! That was nice of her.’ Misha squeezed so hard Natalie squealed. She wriggled free and darted to her room, checking for indents in her skin. He’d called. Azeem got full points for that. The guy had guts. She tried to listen into the remainder of the five-minute conversation, but Misha kept her door shut and her voice low.
When her sister finally emerged from her room, she had her hands on her hips. ‘You’ll pay for this.’ She snatched her handbag and car keys before storming out the door.
‘He’s a good guy and he really likes you,’ Natalie said, as they jumped into the Nissan and backed out of the driveway.
‘He’s disabled,’ Misha spat back, narrowly missing the neighbours’ rubbish bin.
Sometimes Misha was so damned rude. ‘You know what? You sound just like Juliette. And I don’t mean that as a compliment. Besides, if Azeem is so “disabled”, how come he’s a medical student? He’s going to be a doctor.’
‘I’m not talking about this. Don’t you dare give my number out without asking me first ever again.’
Misha drove in haughty silence, refusing to let Natalie turn on the radio. She turned into Juliette’s driveway and hooted the horn. ‘Don’t say anything to Juliette about Azeem. I’ll never hear the end of it.’
‘Fine with me.’ Juliette was likely to turn her sister completely off Azeem anyway.
‘Hey, sexy ladies,’ Juliette shuffled into the back seat. ‘Where are we going?’
‘The factory outlet in the city. There’s always good bargains there.’ Misha headed west. ‘Oh, and Natalie invited Alya.’
Juliette rolled her eyes. ‘Great. Boring.’
‘I know, right?’ Misha laughed.
Natalie shook her head. There was no point telling them they were being nasty, they already knew it. They just didn’t care.
Juliette leaned into the gap between the two front seats, her hair pulled back in a ponytail so tight it looked like she’d had a facelift. She turned to Natalie. ‘Nice pic on Facebook by the way.’
‘What pic?’ Misha’s head snapped left, eyebrows raised.
Natalie’s breath caught. Crap! She’d let her guard down thinking she was in the clear and now she was caught unprepared. How could she get out of this? The picture was dark and blurry. Maybe she could bluff her way. ‘Oh, that,’ she said, her voice light, her heart drumming in her chest. ‘Steph accidentally tagged me instead of this other Natalie she knows. That’s not me in the picture.’ Natalie could feel the heat in her cheeks and was glad Juliette was sitting behind her.
‘Mmm hmm … whatever.’ Juliette flicked her hand. ‘So, any other news for me?’ This time, she turned to Misha.
Natalie was relieved she’d managed to lie so convincingly, or perhaps Juliette was interested in something else. But could she have found out about Azeem? Was that what she was hinting at?
‘No.’ Misha’s eyes darted across to Natalie.
‘Really?’ Juliette settled back in her seat. ‘Well. Umm. It’s just that I heard something about your Mama owing money to a woman called Marina. I know it’s a total lie, but you’re my best friend, Misha, so I wanted to ask you. Everyone’s talking about it.’
So, gossip about Mama had well and truly spread. Natalie would have been surprised if it hadn’t, but even so, her stomach twisted. Why couldn’t people mind their own business?
Misha’s face drained of colour. She looked straight ahead and gripped the steering wheel. After a long silence, Misha spoke, her voice faint. ‘What did you hear exactly?’
Juliette shuffled in her seat. ‘People say your Mama borrowed thousands of dollars from Marina and refuses to pay her back.’
Tears sprang to Misha’s eyes. ‘That’s not true,’ she cried. ‘It’s not even true.’
Natalie put her hand gently on Misha’s arm. ‘Listen, Jules, this is kind of private.’
‘But everyone is talking about it.’
Marina and her stupid big mouth.
Natalie decided she may as well clear one thing up. ‘Mama only borrowed one thousand dollars from Marina. And Baba already paid her back.’
‘But why did she even borrow the money from Marina?’
Good question. Natalie wished she knew the answer to that. ‘That’s private too.’
Misha turned the music on, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.
After a car trip bare of conversation, they finally arrived at the factory outlet and parked the car.
‘Mish … O.M.G. I didn’t notice before. You’ve totally lost weight,’ Juliette squealed as they walked past a rusted metal sculpture shaped like a dome and into the concrete shopping complex.
‘Really?’ Misha’s eyes lit up. ‘My jeans do feel a little looser.’
‘Definitely.’ Juliette looped her arm into Misha’s. ‘And your hair really is totally hot. The red makes your eyes pop.’
‘Does it?’ Misha was all smiles again.
Natalie had to hand it to Juliette. The girl certainly had her sister figured out.
Alya met them in front of Boost Juice, a banana smoothie in hand. Together, they strolled around the brightly lit walkways, dipping into every women’s apparel and footwear store. Being the least fussy, Natalie was the first to find a dress. A simple deep mauve, mid-thigh length dress that showed off her long legs and narrow waist. She didn’t have much of a bust, but the ruching on the bodice gave her some added oomph.
Juliette picked a sequined yellow dress that matched her blonde hair. She already had her coral dress but decided she needed another one.
Alya couldn’t find anything that fitted her properly, and finally, after three hours of walking around, Misha found a dre
ss. Natalie was relieved because her feet were sore and she was light-headed. It was a magenta beaded dress, knee-length and low cut at the bust. It also had a heart shape cut out of the back.
‘O.M.G,’ Juliette squealed as they waved Alya goodbye and headed back to the car. ‘Misha, your dress is sooooo sexy. Every single guy at the wedding is gonna come knocking on your door. Maybe a few may even come knocking on mine—although I’m totally so not interested right now.’
Misha held the shopping bag to her chest. ‘I can borrow Mama’s fancy diamanté high heeled shoes. That’ll make my legs seem skinnier. And I’m definitely getting my hair done. All I need is a new pair of earrings.’
‘I can’t wait for this wedding.’ Juliette jumped into the back seat, her ponytail swaying side to side. ‘My aunty said they’ve got four hundred people coming, and a band, and a belly dancer, and a traditional bass drummer. It’s gonna be so great.’
Natalie wondered just how great it really would be. Would everyone be whispering behind their backs about Mama and Marina? There was a good chance Mama and Baba wouldn’t even be speaking to each other. Maybe they wouldn’t go at all. She kind of wished they wouldn’t. But then again, she didn’t want to miss out on Selena’s wedding either. Why did everything have to be so complicated?
Juliette leaned forward to crank up the volume on the dashboard. ‘I love this song!’ she wriggled about and sang at the top of her lungs. It was so infectious that Misha and Natalie joined in, clicking and gyrating in their seats. They took turns to do the lead versus back up, using their fists as microphones.
A few meters from Juliette’s place, Misha suddenly yelped and hit the brakes.
They all lurched forward. Juliette screamed. Natalie gasped as the seatbelt tightened and cut into the side of her neck.
‘What the hell?’ Juliette screeched. ‘Why did you brake like that?’
‘What’s wrong?’ Fear gripped Natalie the instant she saw her sister’s face. ‘Misha? What’s wrong?’
Misha’s breathing was ragged, her eyes wide and unfocused, her face beaded with sweat. She rubbed her eyes. ‘Everything’s grey.’
‘You could have killed us,’ Juliette squawked. ‘I could have died.’
