Unspoken Rules

by Lora Inak

  Gemma grunted in agreement, her eyes closed.

  ‘You going to the formal?’ Maddie asked her.

  ‘Nah.’ Natalie bunched up her nose to make it look like she didn’t want to go. She wasn’t even going to ask her parents. There was zero chance they’d let her go. ‘Got a wedding on that night.’ A total lie, but at least it was a plausible excuse.

  ‘Bummer,’ Maddie replied. ‘I’m so going. My plan is to make Alex fall in love with me.’ She smiled, pulling up her socks until they reached her knees. ‘Just need a busty dress and a pair of kick arse high heels … oh, and lots of booze.’

  ‘Won’t work, Mads,’ Gemma murmured. ‘Alex is into Chloe.’

  Maddie pouted, flicking back her auburn hair. ‘We’ll see about that.’

  ‘Chris is going,’ Steph said, looking straight at Natalie. ‘Thought you’d wanna go too.’ She arched an eyebrow. ‘Can’t leave your man unattended. He might get snatched up.’

  Natalie swallowed. Was Steph trying to get her to admit that she and Chris were seeing each other? Or was it something else? A warning perhaps?

  ‘Yeah, like I said, I’ve got a wedding,’ she shrugged, her voice light. Chris hadn’t mentioned the formal to her yet.

  ‘Your parents wouldn’t let you go anyway, would they?’ Gemma sat up, her blue eyes wide. ‘So whether you have a wedding or not is irrelevant.’

  Her shoulders stiffened. She wished she could cut Gemma down, make her look foolish by telling her that her parents let her do whatever she wanted, but there was no point in lying.

  ‘Kind of. But like I said, I ...’

  ‘Are your parents super strict ’cause you’re Muslim?’ Gemma continued.

  Gemma knew Natalie wasn’t Muslim; they’d been attending the same school since Grade One. Gemma was baiting her. She put her poker face on. ‘I’m Christian Orthodox.’

  ‘But your parents are super strict.’

  Natalie felt the heat rising to her cheeks. ‘Yeah, but it’s not like they keep me chained up or anything.’

  ‘But they wouldn’t let you go to the formal, right?’ Gemma cocked her head and gently shook it, as if she was talking to someone less fortunate.

  Jaw tight, Natalie fought to keep her voice even. ‘As a matter of fact, they would.’

  What was she saying?

  Gemma lifted an eyebrow. ‘Really?’

  ‘Yep.’

  ‘So ditch the wedding and come then.’ Gemma smiled, throwing her palms up. ‘You only get one Year Twelve formal.’

  Maddie and Steph watched the exchange, hanging on every word, waiting to see who would come out on top. Natalie was never on edge with Katelyn like she was with these girls.

  She couldn’t back down now. ‘Fine. I’ll be there.’

  The bell rang.

  Natalie had never been so happy to hear it before.

  ***

  ‘Okay. My turn,’ Chris said, tearing leaves off a lilly pilly bush. ‘Did you know that banging your head against a wall burns one hundred and fifty calories an hour?’

  ‘Funny that. I feel like banging my head against a wall right now.’ Natalie rubbed her neck to ease the tension.

  ‘Just relax, Nats.’ Chris ruffled her hair.

  It was easy for him to say.

  ‘Stop telling me to relax,’ she swatted his hand away. ‘It only makes me more nervous about meeting your dad.’ It wasn’t the only thing making her nervous. She was still reeling from her showdown with Gemma at lunch break.

  ‘Fine,’ he laughed. ‘You really don’t need to worry. The box of Turkish delights you got him is enough to make him fall in love with you. Good move by the way. If I ever meet your parents, would getting them a box of sweets work for me too?’

  Natalie ignored the last comment. She had no intention of letting the conversation steer in that direction. ‘What’s your dad like?’

  ‘I don’t know. Like a dad I guess. He’s tall and has hair the same colour as mine. He laughs really loudly and leaves his dirty undies on the bathroom floor.’

  ‘Too much information,’ she said, screwing up her nose.

  ‘Really? Too much? Okay, how about … he clips his toenails in the bathtub and leaves the cuttings there for days.’

  ‘Gross. Seriously, stop it.’ She laughed, poking him in the side.

  They walked hand in hand until they got to Chris’s house. Natalie had to keep reminding herself to breath. She didn’t know why she’d agreed to this. It was way too much pressure.

  He cupped her face with his hands. ‘Ready?’

  She swallowed, then nodded.

  Chris unlocked the door and called out. ‘Gavin. You home?’

  ‘You call your dad by his first name?’ Natalie whispered, horrified. She’d never dare. Baba would blow his top.

  Chris shrugged, leading her into the kitchen. ‘Yeah. He’s cool with it.’

  The kitchen was a mess of dirty dishes and empty beer bottles. Plastic and cardboard food packets spilled out of the bin and littered the floor. There was a funky smell too. Natalie had an urge to grab a sponge and get to work. Clearly they needed a woman’s touch.

  Chris’s dad sauntered in wearing an old t-shirt and shorts, his feet bare. ‘Hey, buddy.’ He ruffled Chris’s hair. ‘You must be Natalie. Nice to meet you.’ His eyes sparkled. He was an older version of Chris. Tall, good looking, broad-shouldered. He grabbed a mug out of the sink and rinsed it.

  ‘Nice to meet you too, Mr Walsh,’ Natalie said, her voice wobbling. She’d expected someone more formal. ‘Oh,’ she yelped, remembering her gift. She unzipped her bag and pulled out a crumpled box, the curly pink ribbon crushed. ‘This is for you. An Easter present.’

  ‘Thanks. You didn’t need to.’ He took the box and turned it over.

  ‘They’re Turkish delights,’ Chris explained.

  ‘Thanks, Chris. I do know what Turkish delights are.’ He unwrapped the box and helped himself to a couple of pieces. ‘Delicious. Are you Turkish, Natalie?’

  She shook her head. ‘No, I’m Syrian, but we do have relatives who live in Turkey.’

  ‘Do you have family caught up in the crisis?’

  Natalie shook her head. ‘No.’

  Mr Walsh poured himself a cup of coffee from a half-full plunger and took a sip. ‘Does your family celebrate Easter?’

  ‘Yes, but we follow the Julian calendar, so our Easter is five weeks away.’

  ‘You’re not Muslim?’

  ‘Dad!’ Chris cut in. ‘What’s with the twenty questions?’

  ‘It’s okay, Chris,’ Natalie said, turning to Mr Walsh. ‘We’re Christian.’

  ‘Don’t you have somewhere to be?’ Chris gave his dad a little push.

  Mr Walsh laughed, loudly. ‘Right. I can take a hint.’ He popped another Turkish delight in his mouth. ‘Thanks again for these. Again, nice to meet you.’ He gave Chris a friendly push as he left the kitchen.

  Natalie exhaled. Phew. It was over.

  ‘Sorry about that.’ Chris pulled Natalie to him and wrapped his arms around her.

  He smelled so good. ‘Your dad’s just curious. He’s really nice.’

  ‘Nosy more like it.’ He stepped away and looked down at her. ‘Do you want a drink?’

  ‘Sure.’ She hoped they had clean glasses somewhere.

  Chris opened the refrigerator door and dipped his head in. He pulled out a bottle of beer and carton of milk. ‘Which will it be?’ he asked, smiling.

  Natalie laughed. ‘Milk please.’ Mama would rather die than offer guests a choice between a plain glass of milk or beer. In their house, they always had a supply of various soft drinks, sparkling water, Turkish coffee, Nescafé, at least three kinds of herbal tea, whisky, wine, the Arabic equivalent of ouzo called Arak, beer and fruit liqueurs—just in case guests dropped in.
/>   Chris handed her a glass of milk. She took a sip and gagged.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Chris threw his arm over her shoulder.

  ‘The milk,’ she said, spluttering. ‘It’s off.’

  Chris’s face turned red. ‘Oh, wow. Sorry. I guess now’s not a great time to ask you to go to the formal with me then?’

  She was almost relieved she was choking. It gave her more time to think. She wanted to go, desperately. Especially as Chris’s date. But how would she wrangle it? Then again, she’d just told Gemma and the girls she’d be there. But it was one thing to lie to them and another to lie to Chris. Ugh! It was all such a mess. He handed her a glass of water.

  She took a huge gulp to wash away the putrid flavour in her mouth. ‘I’d love to, but I can’t.’

  His shoulders dropped. ‘How come?’

  She figured she’d continue the lie she’d told the girls. ‘I’m going to a wedding that night.’

  ‘Another one? You get invited to a lot of weddings.’

  Her stomach twisted. Was one lie any better than the other?

  ‘Are you sure you can’t come?’ His eyes pleaded with her.

  All her resolve melted. Maybe, like with the party, luck would be on her side. Maybe, somehow, she’d be able to go.

  ‘Okay. I’ll come.’

  Chapter 15

  It was the first day of term two and Natalie was sitting on the oval after school, rugged up in her school jumper, watching Chris play footy, when she heard the news.

  ‘What did you say?’ she asked Maddie, who was relaying the story to Steph and Gemma.

  ‘Oh, sorry. Didn’t you know already?’ Maddie faltered, darting glances at the other two. ‘You and Kate used to hang out right?’

  ‘Um … yeah. Did you say something about Kate’s brother?’

  ‘Isaac was hit by a car last Saturday. I heard he was pretty banged up, poor kid. And then apparently Katelyn had some massive panic attack. Sounds totally intense.’

  Blood pumping loudly in her ears, Natalie stood and grabbed her school bag, barely noticing the girls calling after her, or the stitching on the handles of her bag tear as she sprinted out the school gates, her feet pounding on the concrete. She didn’t stop until she was in front of Katelyn’s house covered in sweat.

  Panting, she put her bag down and lifted her shaking hand to knock on the door. She hesitated, wiping her brow. Would Katelyn even want to see her? She hadn’t been a very good friend. That was an understatement. She’d been a terrible friend! She’d been judgemental and unfair, and she wished she’d had the guts to apologise weeks ago. She’d tried, yes, but not hard enough. So what right did she have to even be here? But her feet wouldn’t turn away. She didn’t want to walk away. She wanted to stay and make amends. To be there for Kate, like she should have been from the start.

  She knocked on the door and waited. Mrs White answered the door, her hair unruly, her face drawn.

  ‘Natalie,’ her voice was barely a whisper. ‘We are about to head back to the hospital.’

  ‘I’m sorry to interrupt. I … I just heard the news.’ Beads of sweat trickled down her cheeks. She must seem like a crazy person. ‘Can I—’ Natalie paused, swallowing. ‘Can I see Kate, just for a moment?’

  Mrs White motioned for her to wait. Katelyn came to the door, her eyes hollow, her face strained. ‘What are you doing here?’

  She’d never seen Katelyn like this. It threw her.

  ‘I … I ran here because …’ She was so choked up the words got stuck in her throat. She took a long breath and blinked back the tears, cursing herself for not holding it together. ‘Because, I wanted to be here … for you.’

  ‘You want to be here for me now? After making me feel like I was some total slut not worth your time?’

  Natalie swallowed. ‘I didn’t mean to make you feel that way. I’m so sorry. I wouldn’t blame you if you tell me to piss off. I deserve it. I reacted badly … wrongly … I felt like you’d changed, and that in some way, it meant I would lose you—so I let go before you could let me go. But … I miss you. Can we start over?’ God! She was blabbering like a fool.

  ‘What? Tired of Steph and those girls already?’ Katelyn crossed her arms.

  Natalie’s mouth turned up, ever so slightly. Sounded like Katelyn was as happy to see her hanging around with Steph, Maddie and Gemma as she was of seeing her with Brooke and Chloe.

  ‘They don’t compare to you, Kate. You’re my best friend. I love you.’ She swallowed, holding back tears.

  Katelyn’s face softened. She shook her head. ‘Did you say you ran here? It’s ages from school. Are you crazy?’

  Natalie gulped. ‘I think maybe I am a bit. Is Isaac okay?’

  ‘Dad’s with him now, but’—Katelyn gulped, wringing her hands—‘they won’t know if he has any permanent damage to his spine until the swelling goes down. It’s been a nightmare.’ She threw her hands over her face and sobbed, leaning against the doorframe.

  Should she hold her? Would Katelyn want that now? Last year it wouldn’t have been a question, but now she wasn’t sure. Screw it. She stepped closer and hugged Katelyn, gently stroking her head and whispering in her ear.

  ‘It’ll be okay, Kate. Isaac will be all right, and I’m so sorry for everything. I’ve been an idiot. I’ve wanted to tell you that for weeks.’ It probably wasn’t the best time for confessions, but letting it all out lightened the heaviness she had inside.

  Katelyn lifted her arms and wrapped them around Natalie.

  ***

  Cuddled into Chris on his couch the next day, eating toasted bacon and tomato sandwiches and left over chocolate Easter eggs, he asked her about it.

  ‘So, are you going to tell me why you left in such a hurry yesterday?’

  ‘Oh! You saw that.’ Why was she surprised? He noticed everything. ‘Then did you see that I was being chased by a group of Year Seven kids? As I have mentioned before, I have serious celebrity status. They wanted my autograph, and’—she paused for effect ‘—to touch this rocking body.’ She ran her hands through her hair and then stroked her face.

  ‘Hilarious!’ He got up and ruffled her hair. ‘Do you want a drink?’

  ‘No thanks.’ Natalie wrinkled her nose. ‘Never again. Not after you gave me off milk. Seriously, don’t you guys shop?’

  ‘As a matter of fact, we do. But mostly in the frozen food section, and only when we run out of stuff.’

  ‘Boys.’ Natalie rolled her eyes.

  ‘Not everyone is fortunate enough to have a Michelin star chef as a mum.’ His eyes grew soft. ‘I do miss home cooked meals. Mum wasn’t a great cook, but at least she cooked. Maybe you can invite me over for dinner one night? So I can try your mum’s food.’

  Natalie ignored the last comment. ‘Doesn’t your dad cook at all?’

  ‘Only if you call toasted sandwiches and two minute noodles cooking.’

  ‘Why don’t you cook then?’

  ‘Me? Are you trying to be funny?’ He went to the kitchen and came back with a can of Cola. He jumped back on the couch and threw an arm around her shoulders. ‘So, do you think you’ll ever actually answer my question?’

  ‘Which one?’ She hoped he wouldn’t press her about the dinner invitation.

  Chris raised his eyebrows as if to say: Seriously! ‘About why you left school in such a hurry.’

  She bit her lip, considering what parts to tell him, and what to leave out. ‘Ah … I went to see Kate. Maddie told me about her brother’s accident and I just kind of freaked out and had to see her.’

  Chris took a sip of his drink. ‘Why did you freak out?’

  ‘I don’t know. Maybe because I heard it from Maddie and not from Kate. Kate and I used to be best friends,’ she explained. ‘But things had been a bit …’ She shrugged her shoulders. ‘A bit funny between us lately.’
<
br />   ‘Funny how?’

  She took a huge bite of her sandwich and chewed it slowly. ‘She told me something personal and … I overreacted. I was wrong; it’s just that, at the time, I didn’t really understand things the way I do now.’

  Chris smirked, giving her a friendly nudge. ‘This is about a guy, right? Isn’t that what girls always fight about?’

  ‘No.’ She pulled away. ‘That is not what girls always fight about, but as it happens, this was kind of about a boy, but not the way you think.’

  ‘Right, now you have to tell me everything. And stop being cagey with the details.’ He plucked a strand of her hair and twirled it around his finger.

  ‘It’s kind of personal, for Kate I mean.’

  ‘Tell me what you can then.’

  He wasn’t going to let up until she told him. Well, she didn’t have to tell him everything. ‘Kate dropped a bombshell on me and I judged her for it. She didn’t do anything wrong. She didn’t kill anyone or anything; it’s just that suddenly there was this massive canyon between us. I knew I was in the wrong. I did. I just didn’t have the guts to say sorry.’

  ‘So, this “thing”’—Chris leaned in and nuzzled her ear—‘is it about sex?’

  Her heart quickened. How did he do that so easily? Turn her body on like that. He was no virgin, he’d told her that already, but surely it was more than that. Did he have some kind of magic touch? She moved further away. She’d been over a few times since term break, and the last time, things had gone a bit too far. Her body had a way of taking over and ignoring the little voice in her head that reminded her about all the things she should not be doing. And his dad was never around to keep things in check, either.

  ‘What makes you think that? Did Kate say something?’

  ‘No, I kind of overheard some stuff. But you just confirmed it all,’ he laughed, moving closer and planting a line of wet kisses on her neck.

  ‘You tricked me again!’ Natalie pushed him away.

  ‘You’re just gullible.’ He kissed her earlobe. ‘So why did you overreact about her having sex?’

  ‘I don’t know, I just felt like we were at different places.’