by Abby Wilder
Normally straight, her thick, chocolate-brown hair was curled at the tips, causing it to fall in luscious waves to her shoulders. She flicked a stray strand. "Thanks! It took me hours. I had to get up at, like, six. How'd you get yours so long? Mine never seems to get much longer than this." She held up the ends of her hair.
"It's called being too lazy and too cheap to go to the hairdresser." I looked down at my own long but drab hair and wondered what Sienna saw. We were alike, but opposites; same height, same age, but in her presence I faded into the background. I sighed involuntarily. "You get up to much over the weekend?"
Sienna took off on a rambling description of how her parents had gone out last night and some of Phoenix's friends came over. I listened to how rude and crass they were, how Sienna felt like an underpaid babysitter and how her parents took advantage of her, as we walked to our first class. 'Listened' may not have been the right word. I heard the words that came out of her mouth, I just didn't absorb any of them. I was too busy looking for Judah. I'm not sure why I wanted to find him again, it annoyed me that I was even thinking of him, but I told myself I was curious, nothing more. It would be good to have more than one friend in the school, especially since that only friend was also my cousin.
At lunch, we took our food out into the courtyard and ate, enjoying the sunshine even though the breeze was cold. Sienna lay back on the steps, her face tipped to the sun and her hair trailing out behind like an auburn bridal train. A few students risked admiring glances, and even though she knew it, she didn't pay them any attention. Even though they had never dated, Sienna only had eyes for one person.
"Did you see him?" I asked.
She didn't need to ask who I was talking about and shook her head. "I'm over it. He's not my type, anyway."
I raised my eyebrows before taking a bite of my apple.
"I am," she insisted. "How was the cemetery thingy?" She squinted as she popped a grape into her mouth.
"It was strange." I shrugged. "Good, I guess. Well, you know, as good as it could be."
The courtyard was crowded. Most students took the option of eating outside as it was the last taste of warm weather. Sleeves and pants were rolled up and skirts hoisted higher as people exposed their limbs to the sun, but Judah was nowhere to be seen.
"I met a boy," I said after a while.
"At the cemetery?" Sienna groaned.
"It wasn't like that."
She opened one eye. "Was he cute?"
"I don't know, I guess so," I lied. "He just looked so sad." I'm not sure why I didn't tell her who he was. I wanted to know more about him, but I also wanted to keep him to myself. When he looked at me, he really saw me, but if he saw me next to Sienna, I was afraid I would turn invisible.
"Yeah, I heard being at a cemetery kind of does that to people." Sienna smirked.
I shoved the last bite of my sandwich into my mouth and lay beside her, closing myself off to the rest of the world until the bell rang.
I'm not sure if we would have been friends had I been given the choice, but Sienna never gave me a choice. I was her best friend. Period. And really, it wasn't so bad to be entertained by the drama that was her life, like the story of her romance with Ross. It had always been Ross for Sienna, but he wasn't the type she thought she should be attracted to. He was loutish and didn't bend to her every whim like other boys, so their relationship consisted of a constant tug of war.
"You want to come to watch the game after school?" she asked.
"The game?" Sienna was a vicious hockey player, but her games were on Wednesdays, the whole reason I made Wednesdays my mid-week Grams cup of tea catch up.
Sienna rolled her eyes. "Rugby."
The school was obsessed with rugby. The entire student population turned out to watch the mid-week practice games. The entire town came to watch the weekend games. I groaned. "I've got to wash my hair."
Sienna stood and dusted her skirt before holding her hands out. "You're coming." She pulled me to my feet. "If you want to meet a decent boy who doesn't hang out at the cemetery, you've got to at least try to come to something social."
"Who said I wanted to meet anyone?" I called out to her, but she was already walking back up the steps to school.
Sienna dragged me to the rugby field as soon as the bell rang. The boys were already there, dressed in maroon and grey, stretching and running on the spot, their breath clouding the air. Sienna stared at a boy with curly blond hair and an unbelievably adorable smile. He waved, and she turned away.
"Not even a wave?" I asked.
"I told you, I'm over him." But then she waved daintily at the blond boy with the tips of her fingers, her smile heavy with flirtation.
"Why don't you just ask him out and avoid all this on again off again, are we dating, do we even like each other, stuff you have going on?"
Sienna frowned dramatically. "You really know nothing."
It was then that I noticed a boy walking out of the changing room, headgear swinging at his side, shoulders hunched, head bowed. It was Judah. "Him." I knocked shoulders with Sienna. "Who is he?" I already knew who he was, I just wanted to hear Sienna tell me her version, no doubt it would be filled with a lot more drama than the stories I had heard.
That," Sienna's eyes narrowed, "is Judah Mitchell." She turned to look at me sharply. "Please do not tell me he's cemetery boy."
I nodded and Sienna grabbed me by the shoulders. "Do not get involved with him. Ever. He's bad news. Don't even glance in his direction."
"He doesn't look it." He looked sad, a little lonely, but certainly not bad news. When I thought of bad news, I thought of tattoos and piercings, not hunched eyebrows and hesitant smiles.
Sienna shook me and I couldn't help but grin at her seriousness. "He killed a girl."
I admit it shook me a little, but Sienna was known for her embellishment of facts. I had been expecting her to say he was a player, a boy who kept girls on a string to tug and play with whenever he felt like it, or maybe he had a problem with drinking like a lot of kids did in this town.
"That's just a rumour, isn't it? He can't have killed someone, as in killed dead. And I thought it was supposed to be his brother?"
"Is there another type of killed that I'm not aware of?" Sienna pulled me away from the others gathered on the side line just as the whistle blew and the ball was kicked into the air. "Killed, as in killed dead, and his brother not long after."
"Ruben." It wasn't a question. I thought of the grave, the name etched in the stone, and the way Judah sat on top of it, like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. "What happened?"
"No one knows for sure." She was distracted by the game. Her gaze kept flicking back to where Ross was running towards the try line. Her eyes grew wider as he fought off tackle after tackle. "Run!" She jumped up and down on the spot, the heels of her shoes digging into the damp ground. "Run, run, run!" She was screaming now, as was everyone, apart from me.
I tugged at her arm. "You can't just tell me he killed someone and leave it hanging."
She looked at me, distracted, before shoving her fingers into her mouth and loudly whistling as Ross placed the ball under the posts, well clear of any defenders. Judah walked sullenly down the field, away from the other players.
"Sienna," I groaned, frustrated.
"Fine." She turned after blowing Ross a kiss, but he was too busy getting thumped on the back by his teammates to notice. "Yes, killed as in killed dead. They couldn't make it stick, but it was Judah, everyone knows it, and then he and Ruben were in the car when it went over the cliff. Judah survived. Ruben didn't. And Judah had alcohol in his system. Clear enough for you? He's bad news. Ross was his best friend."
"Ross was Judah's best friend?"
"No." She sighed. "His brother's, Ruben's."
The game started again. Judah stood to the side and waited for the ball to come to him. When it did, he ran it up the field and went to ground once tackled. Each tackle was hard, harder than it seemed they tackl
ed the rest of the players, but the coach never pulled them up, even though they were both our school teams, the first fifteen against the second.
When Ross got the ball again, he broke through the defence line and ran up the field, leaving all the other players in his wake, save one. Judah was close on his heels, gaining even. The spectators went silent. His teammates held their breath as Ross ran just out of Judah's reach, until Judah threw himself to the ground and wrapped his arms around Ross's legs. Ross slammed to the grass. The impact reverberated through the ground. Ross scrambled to his feet, threw the ball down, and stormed towards Judah, still lying on the grass. Even from a distance, I could tell Judah knew what was coming. He covered his face, but it was too late. Ross slammed his fist into Judah and blood poured from his nose. The other players came running, and soon both sides were nothing but a muddle of fists and feet. The whistle blew repeatedly, but there was little anyone could do to stop it. The coaches finally managed to peel the boys off the pile, one by one, until there were only two remaining. Someone dragged Ross to his feet. His breath came out in puffs. He wiped angrily at his nose and then spat on Judah still lying on the ground, hands covering his head. As soon as the crowd backed off a little, Judah got to his feet, scowling under the mop of hair pressed over his head with the pressure of the headgear. He walked off the field without even a backwards look at the other players, mud smeared over his uniform. He glanced my way before heading to the changing rooms, but he looked right through me. My invisibility cloak was heavy, and I couldn't help but wonder if it was Sienna who put it on my shoulders.
She turned to me, eyes lifted expectantly. "See? Bad news."
I wanted to point out that it wasn't Judah that threw the punch, it wasn't Judah who drew blood, but I knew it was pointless. He was guilty in her eyes, so why didn't I believe it? Why couldn't I reconcile this boy with the one I had met at the cemetery?
Chapter Seven
Lennon
Elmo threw a fit after the game. No matter how many times I turned the key, the engine refused to turn over. There was nothing, not even a splutter of life. Dead battery, no doubt. Everyone else had left the parking lot, so only a few of the teachers' cars remained. I considered texting Sienna to see if she would come back and rescue me, but the thought of her pulling up in her flash SUV and looking scornfully at my little Elmo was too much. It was a nice enough day. I could walk and get Mum to drive me down and jump-start my car later.
I don't know why the school was situated so far away from the rest of the town. It seemed like the planners had made a serious mistake. I guess they thought that the town would expand this way, but instead, the new development had spread in the opposite direction.
Puruwai weather could have all fours seasons in one day, and the sun was shining brightly again, so I slipped out of the maroon cardigan and rolled up the sleeves of my shirt. The tree lined road offered some protection, and I decided to walk the long way home along the lake, rather than take the streets that cut directly to town.
Thanks to the extra homework Mr Watson gave us, my bag was heavy, and I switched it from shoulder to shoulder. A voice from under the trees startled me.
"Ringo, right?"
I turned to see Judah sitting with his back against a tree, playing with a strand of long grass.
"Oh, it's you," I said, a little surprised.
He grinned and cocked his head to the side. "It's good to see you too."
"That was a pretty rough game."
He squinted and wrinkled his nose, which appeared unaffected by his encounter with Ross' fist. "You saw that, huh?"
"Was hard not to."
He got up and dusted the grass off his shorts. "Mind if I walk with you?"
"Be my guest," I replied.
"Put our service to the test."
"Excuse me?" I said.
"Beauty and the Beast? Don't tell me you've never watched it. How can Ringo not be acquainted with the tale as old as time?"
"It's Lennon." Due to my conversation with Sienna, I was wary of him but still curious.
"I know." He grinned. "Sorry, I just haven't had anyone to talk to in a while. My conversation topics might be a little rusty."
I wasn't sure what to say, so we walked in silence. He didn't look like a killer, but then again, I had never actually met someone responsible for the death of another, well, not that I knew of, anyway. I tried to steal glances at him but he was always looking at me, and I found myself both unsettled and intrigued. I had never been one to demand attention.
After a while, he spoke again. "Do you usually spend your afternoons watching other people getting pummelled?"
"My friend, Sienna—"
"I know Sienna."
"She made me go."
He chewed his bottom lip and squinted, smirking slightly. "She made you?"
I nodded gravely. "She is rather compelling."
Judah kicked at the stones on the side of the road. "I left my car at work. I'm not stalking you or anything."
"If you say so." My heart started to beat faster. His presence unsettled me and I wasn't sure if it was a sensation I loved or hated, or simply just wasn't used to. "Where do you work?"
"You know the auto shop out on Stone's Throw Road?"
"The one with all the beat up cars sitting outside?"
"Yeah, that's the one. I just do odd jobs. I get to work on the cars sometimes, but usually, I just sweep up the garage, stuff like that."
We walked a few more paces in silence. "Lennon Donnelly, by the way." I held out my hand.
He smiled under his dark hair, and his eyes somehow looked less sad. "It is a pleasure to officially meet you, Lennon Donnelly." He shook my hand firmly and smiled again. Dimples creased his cheeks and caused one of the freckles on his face to fall lopsidedly.
The sun filtered through the trees, casting strange shadows on the road. I watched the shifting shapes as I moved my bag from one shoulder to the other.
We reached the edge of the lake, and I turned in the direction that would lead to town.
"Come with me?" Judah said and started walking in the opposite direction.
"Where?" I asked.
"You'll see."
I followed him along the shoreline until we came to a willow tree. The dangling branches were still covered in green and hung like a curtain to the ground. Judah drew them back, and I passed through the opening as he let the curtain of leaves fall back into place. He sat and patted the ground beside him.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" he said, stretching his legs out and leaning back against the tree trunk.
I dumped my bag to the ground, sat beside him and stared out at the lake, framed by nothing but the mountains and sky. Lake Puruwai was known as the blue lake, and it was living up to its name. With the branches of the tree enclosing us, it was our own private beach. The stones on the ground below were damp from the shade, and the lake sparkled under the rays of the sun. Despite the sunshine, a few drops of rain fell from the sky and left rings on the surface of the water.
"So how was the rest of the day with your dysfunctional family? Everyone survive?" Judah asked.
"We all went out for dinner. That was fun."
He laughed. "I can imagine."
The water lapped silently onto the stony beach.
"So, your brother." I looked over at him hesitantly. His eyes were glued to the stones along the lake. "It must have been hard on your family."
If he was guilty of his brother's death, he didn't show it. He kicked a stone towards the water's edge, and it tripped along the beach before drowning. "It was horrible. Mum and Dad haven't been the same since. Afterwards, my parents just shut down."
"I know the feeling." I thought of my own family's demise. Even though Harrison had never lived long enough for them to know what he was truly like, it was as though my father had pinned all his hopes on him. He was the child he had always longed for, and even though my parents had never voiced it, I knew I was nothing but a mistake. A mistake they lo
ved, but a mistake, nonetheless. Harrison was the one who died, but I was the one who disappeared.
Judah shrugged as if to jolt the memory from his mind. "So do you always go around talking to random people at the cemetery?" There was a twinkle in his eye that wasn't there before.
I laughed. "Sometimes. Don't you?"
"Not personally, but each to their own."
"It's not often you see someone casually sitting on a headstone," I said. "I usually like to stay away from cemeteries. They kind of creep me out, all those bones decaying under your feet." I shuddered. "So many people mourning their loved ones, trapped at the cemetery instead of living the lives they should."
"I like to think it gives them some peace being able to visit a place to remember them by."
I snuck a glance. He was staring out over the water, a wistful smile playing at the corners of his mouth, as though he were reliving a memory. "Is that what it's like for you?" I asked.
"I guess." He threw a stone into the water. "I mean, it does give me a certain sort of peace. But you find that creepy?"
"Not when you put it that way. It just saddens me that Mum and Dad have never moved on. Well, I guess Dad has now."
We walked home, talking about our families and our losses and all too soon we reached my house. It was the smallest house on the street. Made from panels of darkly stained wood, it was basically a rectangle dumped in a small paddock of grass which was in desperate need of mowing. A small fence stained the same colour as the house, ran around the perimeter, and we had a neglected vegetable patch in the back beside the clothes line. That was one thing Mum and I shared in common, a hatred of gardening.
"Want to come in for a bit?" I didn't know whether I wanted him to say yes or no. What Sienna said kept running through my mind, but I was struggling to believe it, and it was probably nothing more than schoolyard gossip.
He tilted his head to one side and gave me a lopsided grin. "Do I get to meet your dysfunctional family?"
"No." I pulled a face. "Dad doesn't live here, of course, and Mum will still be wandering the forest for inspiration." I pulled my keys out of my bag, inserted them into the lock, and swung the door open.
