What I Saw

by Beck Nicholas

  Without asking any questions, he takes Scarlett’s bag from her and we keep moving. A few minutes later we turn into the driveway of the little house next to the vet surgery.

  Inside, we all shuffle into the kitchen.

  Javier looks from Rhett to Scarlett to me. ‘Now we call the cops.’

  ‘And say what?’ Scarlett asks. ‘They’re not going to arrest any of those fine young citizens.’

  Javier ignores her protest.

  Rhett paces as Javier speaks to the operator, his jaw tightening as his boss relays the address and then hangs up.

  ‘They’ll scare them off at least,’ says Javier. ‘If there’s any damage, you can report it.’

  Scarlett nods reluctantly.

  Javier opens the fridge and pulls out some cans. He offers me a soft drink. ‘And you are?’

  ‘Callie Jones,’ I squeak. ‘Thank you, but no.’ I edge closer to the door. ‘I should probably be getting home. It’s late and I don’t want to worry my dad.’

  Javier nods and hands the drink to Scarlett instead. They sit at the table.

  Rhett doesn’t join them. When he stops in front of me I can’t look anywhere else. ‘I’ll walk with you.’

  CHAPTER

  12

  Rhett

  I should have known she’d argue. ‘I’ll be fine walking alone,’ she replies.

  ‘They might still be out there. Please.’

  Her gaze flicks to Scarlett and Javier, who are sitting at the table, listening to our conversation. They’re not even pretending to ignore us.

  ‘I’ll look after Scarlett,’ Javier promises.

  Scarlett punches him lightly on his arm. ‘I don’t need anyone to look after me.’ But it’s all front. I’m glad there’s someone she feels safe with.

  Callie looks uncertain. I should just let her go but I’m not sending her out there alone. Not after she came to warn me. I cross to the door. ‘Let’s go.’

  She nods. ‘Night,’ she says to Javier and Scarlett.

  ‘Night,’ says Javier.

  Scarlett says nothing until we’re almost out the door. ‘Thanks,’ she calls.

  Outside, the wind stirs the trees and she shivers. The breeze presses her light summer dress against her legs.

  We walk for a while in silence. She looks over her shoulder a few times, frowning.

  ‘I can’t hear anything,’ I say, trying to ease her tension. She must have been terrified, but still she came to warn me.

  ‘They were out of control.’

  ‘We’ll hear them before they see us.’ But she’s still darting looks behind us, and at each intersection she stares into the darkness for long seconds before continuing.

  I need to distract her, so I do the one thing I never thought I would. I talk. About my past. Maybe it’s the buzz of being beside her, but there’s only one thing I can think of to say.

  ‘You might not remember but back when we were about seven, that new kid in town, Jake, invited our whole class to his birthday party. His parents obviously hadn’t heard that Scarlett and I were not to be socialised with.’

  She blinks. ‘I think I was sick.’

  ‘You missed out. I was excited for days.’ Her face softens and she seems to be listening, so I go on. ‘I don’t know where Ma found the money for the present, but we turned up at his house with a brightly wrapped gift, wearing our very best clothes.’

  ‘You must have been cute.’

  ‘We were.’ The words flow. I haven’t thought about that day in a long time. ‘It’s a magic memory. There was fairy bread and fizzy drink and party games. I remember my sister’s face, lit up like a Christmas tree while she played with the other girls in her pretty dress. And at the end of the party we boys snuck away with the helium-filled balloons and sucked in the gas until our voices squeaked and our heads spun.’

  She chuckles, and what I was about to say next gets caught in my throat. That being near Callie makes me feel exactly the same way.

  She’s waiting for more. ‘Anyway, it was fun …’ I finish lamely. ‘More fun than fleeing a drunken mob.’

  She clears her throat. ‘About Jonny …’

  ‘Yeah, about him. I’m supposed to be the one with the anger problem but your boyfriend is the one roaming the streets with a broken bottle in his hand.’ I can’t hide the bitterness in my tone.

  Her steps slow. ‘My ex-boyfriend.’

  I stop. We’re back at the creek. The crossing a little way down from where we turned off to Javier’s place is the quickest way to get to her side of town. Her gaze is fixed on the ground near my feet. Before I know it, I’m touching her cheek.

  I need to see into her eyes.

  Her head lifts and the breath whooshes from my lungs when I see the interest there. ‘Ex?’ The question comes out as two syllables. This girl even has my voice going crazy.

  Her slow nod is the best thing I’ve seen tonight.

  ‘When?’

  ‘Tonight,’ she says.

  ‘But I saw you. You went into the dunes with him.’

  ‘You saw me go for a walk with my boyfriend. We’ve been together a long time and I didn’t want to think anything had changed. But tonight when he tried to … you know … I couldn’t.’

  ‘Why?’

  Despite the only light being from a slice of moon and the distant streetlights, I’d swear she flushes. Her pale cheeks have twin streaks of colour.

  ‘I found out that he’s been seeing other girls at uni,’ she admits.

  I force myself not to flinch. I wanted it to be because of me, because of the attraction I’m sure I see in her when we’re close. ‘If I needed any more confirmation that the guy doesn’t have a brain in his head, this is it.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  I swallow, feeling heat in my cheeks. I’ve given myself away. ‘He had you.’

  ‘That’s not the only reason we broke up. I can’t be with Jonny in good conscience when I can’t stop thinking about someone else.’

  Please let it be me. ‘I know that feeling.’

  She rubs at her temples and her eyes are full of confusion. ‘You’ve done something to my head.’

  It’s not a romantic declaration, but that’s okay. I don’t want romance. Just Callie. ‘I think I’ll take that as a compliment.’

  The curve of her lips flips something in my chest. It takes me a second to recognise the feeling: happiness. Making Callie smile pushes every other thought from my brain.

  I take a step, closing the distance between us so that we’re a deep breath from touching. My body tenses in anticipation.

  I search her face for signs of fear, but there’s only a reflection of the anticipation that’s building inside me. I touch the smooth skin of her upper arm, left bare by her dress. It’s cool beneath my fingertips, and hot all at the same time. I scan her face. Is it too much to hope the heat is because of me?

  Right up until the moment I touched her, I expected her to pull away, and now I have no idea what to do next. I inhale her vanilla milkshake scent. So good, so sweet. One of us should remember that girls like her don’t let boys like me kiss them. She lifts her hand and I’m sure rejection is coming, but the touch on my shoulder only pulls me closer.

  Her eyes widen a fraction, like she’s surprised at her action. Nowhere near as surprised as I am.

  Her head tilts up and I move to accept an invitation I’d be mad to refuse. I intend to kiss her, but I suspect she kisses me. Her arms wrap around my neck and I feel her body soft against mine. Her hand slides up over my head.

  ‘I’ve been wanting to know how that feels,’ she says against my lips.

  Goosebumps follow in her wake. ‘Anytime,’ I reply.

  She kisses me again and I groan deep inside, soundlessly, as I taste her mouth with its hint of beer mixed with Callie sweetness. When I run my hands over her bare arms she shivers and I’m inspired to touch her more. The flare of her hip and her waist and the bones of her ribs.

  Her sigh in m
y ear makes me feel like Superman. And the beast inside me is silent. All the anger is gone.

  I kiss her again. I never want to stop.

  ‘It’s late,’ she says.

  ‘Not that late.’

  My hands are linked with hers. Every part of me wants to press closer again, to taste her sweet lips and lose myself in the tiny, urgent sounds of her kissing me back. If morning comes and she realises she’s far too good for the likes of me, at least I’ll know how it felt to have her in my arms for one night.

  Her forehead is pressed against mine. ‘I really have to get home.’ She doesn’t try to hide the regret in her voice.

  I kiss her again. Another taste of something I could easily become addicted to. And she doesn’t fight me. She presses closer, not wanting this to end any more than I do.

  But kissing Callie could never be enough. It’s not just that I want more of her body—hell, the curve of her breasts will haunt me in bed tonight—but I want her at my side. As my friend. My girlfriend.

  One more kiss and then I pull away, letting the breeze cool the air between our bodies. ‘I’ll walk you.’

  We fall into step.

  ‘No more diversions?’ she teases.

  I bump my shoulder gently against hers. ‘Well, if you’re asking …’

  Her laugh makes me smile like a crazy person, but when she freezes and her laughter cuts off, I brace for the worst.

  ‘Crap,’ she says. ‘I was supposed to take Sean home.’

  Her brother.

  The sound of his name is the ultimate wet blanket. I’d momentarily forgotten all the reasons we can’t be together, but Sean’s name brings them all back.

  ‘My parents are going to kill me for leaving him behind,’ she continues. ‘And I’ll have to go back tomorrow and pick up the car. Sorry. He’s probably the last person you want to talk about.’

  This is my chance to tell her about my late-night encounter with her brother at the creek, but she takes my silence as confirmation and changes the subject. ‘And as if messing that up isn’t enough, my best friend isn’t talking to me either.’

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘I tried to tell her about Hayden and Scarlett. That he’s been seeing her behind Bree’s back. That he was going to … that he was about to assault her when you intervened.’

  My mouth dries. ‘What did she say?’

  Callie doesn’t answer straight away and I glance at her face. She’s staring ahead, as though the straight road lined by dark houses is the most interesting thing she’s ever seen.

  ‘You don’t have to tell me,’ I add.

  ‘No-one likes to hear that their boyfriend has been lying to them. Or that he’s violent. Especially when they’re at his hospital bedside. She was beyond pissed. At me. Among other things, she accused me of making it up.’

  ‘What a bitch. Why are you friends?’

  ‘I don’t know. Why is anyone friends? We’ve been friends for years.’ She seems to consider. ‘She’s not a bad person. When we were younger there was this one move at ballet I couldn’t seem to work out. She pretended she couldn’t do it either so I wasn’t the only one.’

  ‘That’s it?’

  ‘It’s an example. That car she drives?’

  ‘The sweet yellow sports car? It’s hard to miss.’

  ‘She bought it as a wreck and restored it herself.’

  Okay, so I wouldn’t have expected that. It doesn’t make her nice, though. I return to the topic. ‘She didn’t ask herself why Scarlett turned up at the hospital?’

  Callie shrugs. ‘I guess she didn’t want to.’

  A decent person would say something kind. Ask how she’s feeling, or whether she thinks they’ll mend their friendship. I clear my throat.

  ‘So you told Bree about Hayden and Scarlett. Does that mean you’ve decided to tell the truth on Monday?’

  Callie tugs her hand away. I miss it more than I could have thought possible. Her steps quicken. ‘Is that all that matters to you?’

  I watch the straight line of her shoulders as she walks away. It’s easy to be high and mighty when you have the choice—not so much when your fate rests in somebody else’s hands. In two steps I catch up, and my hand on her arm makes her turn.

  ‘Well, it’s pretty high on my list of priorities at the moment. Strange, that.’

  We’ve reached the part of town where the streetlights have a warm, golden glow. Her hair shines like spun toffee beneath them, making it hard to maintain my irritation.

  She doesn’t seem to have the same problem. ‘You act like you’re different to other boys. All serious and listening to what I have to say, but you’re only listening because you want something from me. First you want to make out, and now you want me to ruin my family.’

  ‘I just want to clear my name.’ But she’s looking at me like she’s both jury and judge and I’ve been found wanting. It’s way too familiar a feeling.

  ‘Oh, poor little princess will have to pay her own way to uni like the rest of us. That just means the fund your parents probably started at birth will get a workout instead of being used for some fancy overseas holiday or something.’

  She shakes her head. ‘Does it get tiring wearing your hardship like a badge of honour? Do you really believe growing up poor makes you so much better than me?’

  It’s so absurd I almost laugh. Me, better than her? ‘Of course not. I’m no better than you. But I don’t deserve to be found guilty of something I didn’t do.’

  She rubs at her eyes and sighs. ‘I don’t know what to do.’ She waves her hand at me. ‘This, us, it confuses everything. You must think I’m weak. Sean isn’t even talking to me.’

  ‘I think—’ I think of Ma and Scarlett, and my loyalty towards them. ‘I think my sister would want to protect me like you want to protect Sean. So why do you keep coming back?’

  Her hair shields her face as she considers the question.

  ‘I don’t like secrets,’ she says eventually. Four words threaded with an emotion I recognise all too well. Guilt.

  ‘Why?’

  ‘They chew you up from the inside, rot, and then crack you open.’

  ‘No real reason then?’

  Her head comes up and she frowns. ‘A bit melodramatic?’ Her lips twitch. I love how she can still laugh at herself, despite the early hour of the morning and the tension between us.

  ‘You tell me.’

  ‘When I was little, my best friend lived next door.’

  ‘Bree?’

  She shakes her head. ‘Her name was Roxy.’ Her pale lips curve slightly. ‘Everything was perfect. As long as we told our mums where we were going, we could sneak through a hole under the back fence and play whenever we wanted.’ Beneath the streetlight, her eyes glaze with memory. ‘Our families were close, too.’

  ‘Were?’

  She nods. ‘Roxy was a daredevil. The wild to my safe. She’d dare me to climb the tallest tree, or we’d sneak around the block on our trikes when we were supposed to stay in the front yard.’

  ‘She sounds like fun.’ I can’t help the softening in my voice at the thought of little Callie being led astray.

  ‘She was.’ Callie’s throat works. ‘But it wasn’t only our adventures I had to keep quiet. She often had bruises on her body. Whenever my mum asked, she’d say she’d fallen off her bike, or out of a tree, but I knew she was lying.’

  My gut tightens. ‘Secrets?’

  She nods. ‘And I never told. Her dares became more and more dangerous. We were little. I don’t know if she ever consciously thought it through, but I think her risks were a cry for help. I should have known … somehow.’

  ‘You were little too.’

  ‘But I knew something was wrong.’

  I want to reach out to Callie and haul her back into my arms. I’m sure if I kiss her for long enough we’ll forget everything but each other, but the way she holds her body is brittle, as though if I touch her she might shatter. Instead, I offer her an out. ‘You don’t n
eed to tell me the rest.’ Part of me wants to stop her now because it’s easier to picture Callie as the perfect girl with the perfect life. The kind of darkness she’s hinting at doesn’t happen this side of town.

  Callie wipes her face with the back of her hand. ‘It ended on an ordinary weekend. Roxy was sleeping over at my house like she’d done a million times before. She decided we should balance on the top of the stair rail. It would be brilliant, she promised. And she’d go first.’

  Callie’s voice fades.

  I don’t want to press her but I can’t help asking the question.

  ‘What happened?’

  CHAPTER

  13

  Callie

  The past collides with the present. Rhett’s question hammers in my brain.

  What happened?

  Part of me still isn’t sure. It was late and dark and we were high on giggles and treats we’d scavenged from the kitchen for a midnight feast. I tried to tell Roxy she was crazy, but her excitement was contagious. I loved heights back then.

  This secret takes me to the edge, where my knees weaken and my head spins. Mostly I’m okay looking over the edge—aware of the fall, but in control. But around Rhett, it lures me to tell, calls me to jump.

  Once I start with one secret I’m afraid I’ll never be able to stop. And when he knows all my ugliness, he won’t want anything to do with me.

  I exhale and force my feet to move. Towards home, and my family.

  ‘Nothing happened, forget it.’

  He doesn’t press for answers like I expect. The silence as he falls into step is worse. It leaves the echo of his question, and the lie I gave in return.

  I stop and spin to face him. ‘Why do you care?’

  His jaw is shadowed with stubble and his mouth is set in a straight line. He raises both palms. ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘Why can’t you just be the bad-tempered fighter everyone says you are? Everything would be easier.’

  The corner of his mouth kicks up. His brow wrinkles and he raises his fists playfully. ‘You trying to start something?’ His head tilts. ‘The school captain really is full of surprises.’