“Okay,” Naomi said.
Jenni handed the note back to her. “Good,” she said.
Naomi seemed pleased, too.
Indira offered up her note next. Jenni read it aloud. “Your house smells bad, like curry.”
“It’s such crap,” Indira said. “We have curry, like, once a month. My parents don’t even make it. Only my grandmother does.”
“Have you girls ever had curry?” Jenni asked Naomi and Dylan. Neither of them had.
“Oh my God, it’s so good,” said Elise.
“When you get back to Castlemaine, go over to Indira’s place and have curry.”
“They’re never invited to my house again,” Indira said.
“Okay, well, next time you get takeaway,” Jenni said, “ask your parents to get Indian.”
“Chicken masala,” Elise said.
“And a mango lassi,” Jenni said.
“You should try saag paneer,” said Indira.
“Is that the one with cheese?” Jenni asked. “Isn’t it kind of mushy?”
“No, it’s really good.”
“Okay, get saag paneer,” Jenni said, “and a mango lassi. Naomi, Dylan, are you gonna try it?”
Both girls said they would.
“Promise?”
Both girls promised.
Jenni handed Indira’s note back to her. Then everyone looked over at Dylan.
“Do you want us to read yours?” Jenni asked her.
“Not really,” Dylan said. Then she handed her note to Jenni and put her head back down on her arms.
“You have too much pubes,” Jenni read, “it seriously gross.”
“I wanna go home!” Dylan started crying again.
Elise stood up. “Here, Dylan,” she said, “come with me.”
“Can you go get Margot?”
“I will,” Elise said. “But first, just come with me for a sec.”
“No,” Dylan said. “Where to?”
“Just to the bathroom. To wash your face.” She held out her hand until Dylan took it. The two of them went into the bathroom and shut the door.
“This is a really fucked-up game,” Jenni said to the other two. “And I’m not even sorry I said the word fuck in front of you.”
“We know the word fuck,” Naomi said.
After a couple of minutes, Elise came out of the bathroom and closed the door behind her. “So, she showed me,” she told Jenni in a quiet voice, “and she doesn’t have that much. I told her that in summer, if she wants to swim and that, she could just shave the bikini line. But she really has nothing to worry about.” She turned to the other two. “Just so you know, you’re all gonna have hair like that, and way more.”
The other two were quiet. Behind the door Dylan was running the tap. Then they heard her blowing her nose. When she came out of the bathroom, Indira said, “I’m sorry, Dylan.”
Elise and Jenni assumed that meant she’d written the note, but then Naomi said, “I’m sorry too, Dyl.”
“That’s okay,” Dylan said. “I just wanna go to sleep now.”
“Me too,” said Indira.
“Me too.”
—
After the younger girls had turned the lights off, Jenni and Elise shut themselves in the bathroom and drank the rest of the Cruisers.
“Dude,” whispered Jenni. “I’m so glad I’m not eleven anymore.”
“I know,” Elise whispered back. “It’s the worst. Everything’s so confusing and, like, no one has their shit together.”
“Did you really look at her vag?”
“Yeah. She was freaking out that something’s wrong with her. She just flashed it really fast.”
“And it was fine?”
“Yeah, completely fine. I wish I had that amount of hair.”
“Perv.”
“How does that make me a perv!”
“I dunno. But it definitely does.”
“I hope they’re asleep when we go out.”
“I know, I can’t take much more of their dramz.”
—
It was quiet when they got into bed, and quiet for a few minutes after that. But then from across the room, in the dark, Indira said, “Hey? Jenni?”
“Yeah?”
“Do both of you shave your bikini lines?”
“Um. I shave, Elise waxes.”
“Waxing sounds painful,” Indira said.
“It is,” Jenni said.
“You get used to it,” said Elise.
It was quiet for another minute. Then Naomi asked, “Have you ever done a striptease?”
“I mean, yeah, kind of,” Jenni said, “but only for a boyfriend or something.”
“Did you ever do pole dancing?” Dylan wanted to know.
The older girls laughed. “No,” Elise said. “No pole dancing.”
“What about, like, having sex on the Internet?” Naomi asked.
“Well,” said Elise, “I guess—all you need to know about that is: If you ever do it, make sure the guy isn’t taking screenshots. Like, make sure you can see his hands the whole time.”
“Okay,” Naomi said.
“Also,” Jenni said, “if you take naked pics and send them to someone, make sure your face isn’t showing. No matter what. Even if he asks for it.”
“Yuck,” Indira said.
“As if you would ever do that,” Naomi said.
But Dylan asked, “Why?”
“Because then it’s just out there. And it can come back to haunt you if you ever have, like, a job interview or something.”
“Did that happen in your job interview?” asked Dylan.
“I’ve never had a job interview,” Jenni said. “I’m sixteen.”
“Oh yeah.” The younger girls started laughing.
“Crazy girls.”
—
They were all tired the next morning. They were quiet at breakfast and happy to just walk with the occasional trot in their final ride through the bush.
Jenni’s mum was the first parent to arrive. She was standing by home paddock when they all rode up. She pushed her sunglasses up off her face and waved.
“Want me to take a photo?” she called out.
“Yeah.”
“Where are your phones?”
“In the cabin.”
“Okay, I’ll take one with mine.”
Jenni walked Snowflake over to Elise and Glen, and the girls smiled for the photo. “Good one,” Jenni’s mum said, checking to see how it came out.
“Cool,” said Jenni. “We’ll meet you at the car.”
“Are you all packed up? Do you need help carrying your stuff?”
“No. We’re fine. Can you just wait in the car?”
—
The hardest part of leaving was saying goodbye to their horses. “Bye, mister,” Elise said, leaning her nose on Glen’s face. “Don’t forget to miss me.”
“I’m sure he won’t,” said Bridget.
“Bye, girl,” Jenni whispered to Snowflake. “Bye, girl girl girl.”
“Good luck with everything,” Bridget said. “It was great to meet you both. Maybe we’ll see you in the summer holidays? Book early for that. There’ll be more girls here then.”
The younger girls also wanted to know if they’d be coming back. “Maybe,” Elise said. She and Jenni were standing on the porch of their cabin with their backpacks on their backs and their sleeping bags in their arms. “We’d have to ask our parents.”
“Can you not tell anyone?” Dylan said. “About Secret Swaps.”
“Who would we tell?” Elise asked.
“We definitely won’t,” Jenni said. “Look us up on Facebook. When you’re allowed on Facebook.” She gave each of the younger girls a high five.
—
Jenni’s mum was sitting in the driver’s seat when they got to the car. Jenni got into the passenger seat, and Elise slid into the back.
“You look nice without makeup, Lise,” Jenni’s mum said.
“Oh my God.”
Elise touched her face. “No, I don’t.”
Once they were out on the road, Jenni took a piece of gum from her mum’s bag, put it in her mouth, and started flipping through radio stations. “Hey,” her mum said, “I was waiting for the news.”
“We’ve been living with eleven-year-olds for three days. I have to hear some music that isn’t Taylor Swift or the soundtrack to Glee.”
“I thought you loved Taylor Swift.”
“Yeah, like two years ago, before she got famous.”
“Did you hear she was going out with Jennifer Aniston’s ex-boyfriend? He must be ten years older than her.”
“John Mayer.”
“Supposedly he’s addicted to porn.”
“Everyone’s addicted to porn.”
“What does that mean, ‘everyone’?”
“Hey, Ma, did you hear that Lady Gaga is actually a guy and has a penis?”
“Hilarious,” her mum said. “Don’t make fun of me.” But she was smiling. “So you girls had a good time?”
“Yeah,” Jenni said. “I miss my horse already.”
“I was just thinking that!” Elise said. “I miss mine, too.”
“I’m so glad,” Jenni’s mum said.
Out on the Western Freeway, the girls’ phones started to beep. They were back in range. They had messages from Sara-Jane and Darren and some other kids from school, wondering what they were up to over the holidays. The most recent ones were from Holly and Bec, telling them to come to Zach’s party that night. Elise thought Zach might have texted to invite her himself, but he hadn’t.
She sent Jenni a text. Wanna go Zs?
Her phone said it had sent but it was twenty seconds before Jenni’s phone dinged.
“Popular girls,” her mum said.
Jenni nodded when she read the text. Could be fun, she wrote back. U?
Maybe. Elise thought about it for the rest of the drive home.
—
Five hours after dropping Elise off, Jenni took the bus back over to Elise’s house. Elise answered the front door and the two of them headed to her room, passing through the kitchen, where her parents were eating dinner.
“You sure you don’t want something?” her mum asked.
“Yeah,” said Elise. “We’re gonna eat there. But can I have a beer?”
“No way,” her dad said, laughing.
“Give us a sip of yours, then?”
He looked at her mum. “Just a sip,” he said. Elise picked up the bottle. “That’s enough,” he said, and she handed it back.
“Better cut down, Dad,” she said, thumping her hand on his belly. “Getting a bit tubby there.”
“Thanks for pointing that out, Elise,” he said.
“Yes,” said her mum. “Really helpful.”
The girls went to Elise’s room and got dressed for the night. Elise decided on a black skater dress with a low-cut back, and a big aqua belt. Jenni wore a gold off-the-shoulder leotard and skinny jeans, with big silver hoops in her ears. Elise wore her Elise necklace and Jenni wore her Jennifer one.
“Let’s swap,” Elise said.
“Why?”
“Just for fun.”
“Okay.” Jenni unclasped her necklace and handed it over. “Just as long as Zach doesn’t get confused and try to make out with me.”
“Yeah, wouldn’t put it past him.”
They went into the bathroom and took turns cleansing, toweling, toning, and moisturizing their faces. Then they put on foundation, blemish stick, bronzer, blush, eye shadow, eyeliner, mascara, and lipstick and lip liner for Jenni, and tinted lip gloss for Elise. Jenni used a straightening iron to smooth down Elise’s hair, and sprayed her own hair with Big Beach to give it some body.
When they were ready, they put their faces next to each other and pouted at the mirror. “We look hot,” Elise said.
“You look hot,” Jenni said. “I look fucking hot.”
“You totally wanna fuck Nathan,” Elise said.
“Who’s Nathan?”
“Zach’s brother.”
“Oh.” Jenni turned and looked at herself side-on in the mirror. She shrugged a shoulder. “Maybe.”
The girls were laughing when Elise’s mum opened the door. “You girls are gonna freeze in that. I hope you’re planning on wearing coats.”
“Mum!” Elise said. “Do you mind knocking? We don’t live in a tent.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means can you please knock before you come in?”
“No need for the attitude, Elise. I was just going to offer to drive you.”
“We’re gonna take the bus.”
“Well, do you want to call me for a lift home?”
“No. Can we just get a taxi?”
—
On the bus, the girls reapplied their lipstick and lip gloss. Then Jenni played Candy Conspiracy while Elise watched.
“It’s the dumbest game ever.”
“I know, but it’s so addictive.”
They missed their stop and had to walk three blocks back to Zach’s house. Which sucked because they were both wearing heels.
“Are you nervous?” Jenni asked.
“What, about Zach?”
“Just for the party.”
Elise shrugged. “It’ll probably be the same as always.”
But the party wasn’t really a party at all. It was just Zach and Nathan sitting in the living room watching Tron.
“We all had a big one at the park last night for Nico’s birthday,” Zach said. “Most people bailed tonight.” He hugged both the girls and said “Whoa” when they took off their coats. “You’re looking good. I feel way underdressed.”
They looked at his red polo shirt, faded jeans, and white socks. “You are underdressed,” Jenni said.
“It’s not my fault.” He held his hands out. “Our dad gets back tomorrow. I’ve been cleaning all day.”
The girls looked around. The place wasn’t too bad, but the carpet was dirty and the coffee table was covered in paper cups and burger wrappers.
“Here,” Elise told Jenni, “give me your coat. I’ll put them upstairs.”
“Wait,” said Zach. “I’ll come with you.”
“Hey, Nathan,” Jenni called into the living room, “do you have anything to drink that isn’t a Cruiser?”
Elise and Zach climbed the stairs. “Where’s the snow-cone photo?” she asked him on the landing.
“I took it down.”
“Why? I liked it.”
“Shut up,” he said. “No, you didn’t.”
In his room, Zach put the coats on his desk chair. Elise sat on the end of his bed and looked around. It was messier in here than last time. There were clothes on the floor, a pile of graphic novels on his bed, a bowl half full of penne on his bedside table, and the desk was covered with what looked like his dad’s mail.
“Sorry about the stuff everywhere,” he said.
“It’s not that bad.”
Zach went over and turned on the bedside lamp. “How was the horse camp?”
“It was awesome,” said Elise. “We were drunk and stoned, like, the whole time.”
“You girls are crazy.” He turned off the overhead light. He had just come and sat down next to her when the doorbell rang.
“That’s probably Holly and Bec,” he said.
“Should we go down?”
“I don’t really want to. Unless, do you?”
“Maybe later?”
“Sounds good,” Zach said. He touched her necklace. “Jennifer.”
“I forgot about that.”
“You’re not Jenni. You’re way hotter than Jenni.”
“That’s not true,” Elise said. “We’re both exactly the same level of hotness.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Zach said. “More or less.” He reached out and put a hand on her cheek. Then he leaned over and kissed her.
—
“We’re not staying long,” Bec said when Nathan answered the door. “We had a
really big one last night. We’re zonked.”
They came into the living room and scrunched up their noses when Nathan offered them a drink. They said hi to Jenni and joined her on the couch.
“Where’s Lise?” Holly asked. “Upstairs?”
“Yeah.”
“We didn’t expect to see you guys here.”
“This is boring,” said Nathan. It seemed like he was talking about the conversation but then he picked up the remote control and turned off the TV.
“We’re not pissed off or anything,” said Holly. “We just miss you. We feel like you dumped us or something.”
“No no. We just weren’t in the mood to go out. And then we were at horse camp.”
“What’s horse camp?” Nathan asked.
Holly and Bec laughed. “It’s exactly what it sounds like,” Bec said.
“How was it, anyway?”
“It was fun.”
“What did you do there?”
“Just, rode horses and stuff.”
Holly and Bec cracked up laughing. “What?” Jenni said. “That’s what we did!” Now all three of the girls were laughing.
“What the fuck?” Nathan shook his head. There was a guitar leaned up against the arm of the couch, and he reached over and picked it up.
“Didn’t you guys used to go there in primary school?” Holly asked.
“Yeah, but you can go whenever. It’s all ages. There was one girl there who’s in uni, at Deakin.”
“Was she there by herself?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s just kind of sad,” said Bec.
Jenni took a sip of her Southern Comfort and ginger beer. “Yeah, it was a bit. Most of the girls were younger.”
“Like how old?”
“Fifth and sixth grade.”
“That’s my sister’s age,” said Bec.
Jenni spat a sliver of ice back into her glass. “Yeah, they were so annoying. We had to share a cabin with them. They were all, like, listening to Justin Bieber and braiding each other’s hair.”
“Any pillow fights?” asked Nathan. The girls laughed.
“No, but guess what they were playing?” Jenni turned to Holly and Bec. “Secret Swaps!”
“I used to love that game,” said Bec.
“These three girls had a huge fight about it. They were crying and screaming.”
“God,” Nathan said, picking out the notes to a Bon Iver song on his guitar. “Girls can be so mean to each other.”
Hot Little Hands Page 17
