by Nova Weetman
Thommo’s still said nothing but ‘hey’ since Maggie walked up. Frankie can’t work out if that means he likes Maggie or he doesn’t. The queue is shuffling forward and he seems desperate to move, to dive into the cinema and get away.
‘I don’t really look like him,’ says Joely, screwing up her nose. ‘Do I?’
Maggie nudges Thommo with her elbow. ‘You going to the dam for New Year’s?’
‘Dunno,’ he says. ‘You?’
‘Yeah. Course. Everyone’s going.’
Thommo nods and Frankie wonders what’s happened between them.
‘I hope you do,’ says Maggie, touching Thommo on the hand. He pulls back sharply, and Maggie darts away to rejoin her friends.
Frankie looks at Thommo and imagines what it would be like to kiss him, to make him really blush.
‘She likes you,’ she says, nudging him with her elbow and feeling the prickle of hairs on his skin.
‘Does not,’ he mumbles.
Frankie laughs and follows the others through the door.
Chapter 20
The cinema’s cold, airy and packed full of teenagers trying to escape Payne on one of the hottest nights of the year. The movie isn’t new. It’s an American comedy that’s been around for ages. But Thommo doesn’t care. He’s sitting next to Frankie so he can’t concentrate on the movie anyway. He keeps peeping sideways to see bits of her. Her leg. Her arm. Her fingers. He hopes she doesn’t think that he likes Maggie. He’ll have to avoid her at the dam and stick with Frankie as much as he can.
On screen, someone falls off a horse and Frankie laughs. Thommo smiles at the sound. He has no idea what’s so funny about falling off a horse, but she seems to be enjoying it and that’s all he cares about.
He risks edging his elbow to the armrest and brushing against Frankie’s. She leaves hers where it is and Thommo feels his heart racing at her closeness.
As the credits roll and the lights come on, Thommo wishes movies were running all night so he could stay where he was.
Frankie and Joely laugh as they start filing out of the seats.
They push into the foyer. Frankie’s suddenly gathered up by the crowd and Thommo loses her. He knows it’s crazy to feel panicked, but something feels wrong about her disappearing. It’s as if the town has swallowed her up for his own good. He starts pushing madly against the people in front of him, needing to get outside where he can find her.
‘Piss off, Thommo,’ says a guy from school. Thommo rolls his eyes, but stops pushing. Last thing he needs is a fight.
Finally, they move through the corridor to the candy bar. It’s packed. Thommo looks around, scanning every face. Then he sees a girl in an orange dress shining in the light from the chipped chandelier. She’s laughing. He looks to the side to see why.
Rory Macleod.
‘Here, you do it,’ says Rory, handing her his phone.
Frankie types in the right number this time and hands it back. ‘Can’t believe you waited for me the other night. I told you it was five, four, four not three, four, four!’ Frankie laughs at the thought of him standing on the road near Joely’s dead kangaroo, wondering where she was.
‘Want to go hang out?’ he whispers, leaning close, making her skin prickle.
‘Can’t. I’m with Thommo, Joely and Mack. Although Mack’s buggered off somewhere.’
He shrugs. ‘So you can too. Make an excuse.’
She shakes her head. ‘Nah.’ As much as her body wants to, she won’t ditch the friends she came with for a boy.
‘Tomorrow then?’
His hand finds hers and squeezes it. She hopes nobody around notices. She nods. ‘Yeah. Tomorrow.’
Despite being in the middle of a hundred people, she wants him to kiss her. His mouth is so close. She could lean up, brush her lips against his and nobody would even notice. But they probably would. Mack would see, or worse, Thommo. Then she’d have to explain herself and she doesn’t want to do that.
‘Tomorrow,’ she says again, and walks away, hoping Rory is watching her.
Outside the air is full of insects. The lights at the front of the old cinema are sending them crazy. Frankie weaves her way through to where it’s dark and clear and sees Thommo and Joely off to one side.
‘Finally,’ Joely says as she walks up. ‘Where have you been? My feet are killing me. The blister’s popped.’
Frankie shrugs, pleased Joely didn’t see her talking to Rory. ‘Toilet.’
Thommo shoots her a look.
‘I’ve got to go, too,’ Joely says, heading back into the crowd. Frankie’s pretty sure she’s fake limping and it makes her smile.
Joely knows she only has a few minutes to find Rory if he’s here. She’s looked at so many faces tonight but none of them are his. As she swings in through the door she sees his blond hair.
It’s him.
She knows it, even though he has his back to her. It’s the way he stands.
He has to see her. Otherwise she’s worn this stupid long-sleeved shirt for nothing. Plus her hair is out, and she can’t leave it for much longer. It’s making her neck all sweaty and yuck. She walks past, wanting to pretend that it’s a coincidence that she’s found him. But he doesn’t see her, so she walks past again, in the other direction. She waits for him to see her this time and, as his eyes look up, she smiles.
‘Rory. It’s me, Joely,’ she says, suddenly panicked that he doesn’t remember her name.
‘Hey Joely.’
She relaxes, giggling a bit and steps closer, breathing him in. ‘Did you like the film?’ she says, not caring if he did, but wanting to make small talk.
He shrugs in that Frankie way.
‘You going walking later?’ She hopes he understands what she’s asking, that she doesn’t have to spell it out and explain that she wants to meet him down by the kangaroo. He looks straight at her this time, and she wonders what he sees.
‘Nah. Not tonight,’ he says walking away. ‘I’ve gotta go.’
‘Okay. Me too. I’ll see you tomorrow maybe. At the pool?’ Joely doesn’t know if it’s okay that he didn’t touch her. She hoped for more. But then at least she saw him and he remembered her. That’s a good sign. Isn’t it?
Walking outside, she realises how sore her right foot is. She slips off her thong and sees the bloody mess between her toes. It’s going to kill to walk all the way home. She reaches Frankie and Thommo, and notices they aren’t talking.
‘Look at my foot. I can’t walk home,’ whinges Joely.
‘Come on, you’ll be okay. It’s a beautiful night,’ says Frankie, looking up at all the stars. It’s a sky of dots, like Joely’s freckles, only sparkling.
‘But look,’ says Joely, hopping around on one foot so Frankie can see how bad it is.
‘Gross.’
‘Yeah, I really can’t walk all the way home. We’ll have to call Ged.’
Up until this point, Thommo’s been standing off to the side, as if he wants to distance himself from Frankie. Or maybe he’s waiting for Maggie to see him.
‘Wait here,’ says Thommo. He runs across the road into the darkest part of the street.
‘Do you think we’ll ever see him again?’ Frankie jokes in an ominous voice. Joely doesn’t answer.
Frankie tries to see what she’s looking at, but Joely just seems to be staring blankly at the group standing near the cinema doors.
‘Joel? You okay?’
‘Yes,’ says her friend.
As Frankie glances again to where Joely’s looking, she notices Rory staring back at them, a slight smile on his face, and she can’t decide whether the smile is aimed at Joely, or her, or someone else entirely. It’s creepy and thrilling at the same time.
‘Joely!’ yells Thommo from the other side of the street. ‘Come here.’
‘Is that a wheelbarrow?�
� says Joely.
Frankie laughs. ‘I think that’s how you’re getting home!’
Thommo pushes the old wheelbarrow down the middle of the road. Frankie walks alongside, reaching out to squeeze Joely’s good knee every now and then. Joely tries not to yell out in pain each time the wheelbarrow hits a bump and her elbows and ankles come down hard on the metal. She’s sure Thommo’s deliberately choosing the roughest path to punish her for something, but she isn’t sure why.
‘Thommo, are you okay?’
‘Just sick of pushing this fucking wheelbarrow.’
‘I’ll walk,’ says Joely, dreading that he’ll actually put her down in the middle of the road and make her hobble the rest of the way home. But he keeps wheeling, his arms straining as he pushes her up the hill.
Joely watches Thommo and is struck by how little she knows about him. He’s still a little child in her head. A dirty, grinning boy whose job it was to collect the eggs each morning and let the chickens out. Now the chickens are gone and he’s tall, almost as tall as Mack, and Joely has no idea what he thinks about.
‘What’s your favourite subject at school?’
Thommo laughs at her, but still doesn’t look happy.
‘What?’ she says.
‘You like school. Most of us hate it,’ says Thommo.
‘You must like something?’
‘Woodwork. Playing footy. And hassling Mr White.’
‘That’s it?’
Frankie drops back a bit so she’s closer to where Thommo is. ‘Sounds pretty good to me,’ says Frankie.
‘You like woodwork?’ Thommo shoots the words like bullets and she shrugs to duck them.
Suddenly, Thommo stops, dropping Joely hard in her metal chariot. ‘What’s with the shrug?’
‘Nothing,’ says Frankie.
‘Why do you always shrug?’
‘I don’t.’
‘Yes you do. All the fucking time.’
‘Stop swearing at me.’
‘Stop shrugging at me.’
Frankie stares at him, tears threatening to spill.
‘Thommo, leave her alone,’ says Joely.
‘Fine. I’ll leave you both alone.’
He walks off, his big feet scuffing in the dust. Joely stares after him, scrunched up in the wheelbarrow, wanting to call out, to plead with him to come back and push her home. But she can’t. Not now. She has to stay on Frankie’s side.
Frankie tries lifting the handles and struggles to keep the wheelbarrow straight, but it wobbles, the front tyre turning left and right, and she drops it down before Joely is tipped on the road.
‘Sorry. I thought I could push you home.’
Joely smiles at the thought of Frankie carrying her all the way.
‘Shove over,’ says Frankie.
‘What?’
‘Shove over.’
Joely wriggles to the front of wheelbarrow. It’s like sitting at the dud end of the bath with the taps, and not being able to lean back and relax into the curved enamel. Frankie climbs into the other end, and their legs squash together in the middle. Joely tries to move slightly, so their skin doesn’t touch, but in the end she gives up. Frankie’s left foot is wedged under Joely’s leg anyway.
‘Let’s paddle home,’ says Frankie, stretching out her arms and rowing with imaginary oars.
‘We could fly,’ says Joely.
‘Or drive.’
‘Or just sit here and wait for someone to come along.’
Frankie turns to her friend, her face as serious as Joely has ever seen it. ‘Why did he yell at me, Joel?’
‘I don’t know, Frank.’
‘I thought he was sweet. I thought we were friends.’
Joely doesn’t know what to do. She always feels uncomfortable in these sorts of moments. She reaches out and strokes Frankie’s hand. But after a couple of strokes, her hand sits awkwardly on Frankie’s and she wants to move it, but she can’t. So she waits. Finally Frankie shifts her hand and Joely can pull hers away without feeling like she’s let her friend down.
‘Do I really shrug all the time?’
‘No,’ says Joely, wondering why she can’t just tell Frankie the truth.
‘I don’t mean to.’
Joely shrugs in solidarity, making Frankie laugh. So Joely shrugs again, liking the happy sound of her friend. Soon the two of them are shrugging back and forth squashed into the small wheelbarrow, laughing into the summery night air.
‘What the fuck?’ booms a voice from the dark.
As he steps closer, Joely laughs at the expression on her cousin’s face.
‘Just in time, Mack!’ Frankie climbs out of the wheelbarrow. ‘Thommo left us here and Joely’s got a popped blister. Can you push her home?’
‘Just walk, will ya!’
‘Please?’ Frankie dances in front of him, twirling her orange dress.
Mack picks up the handles on the wheelbarrow and starts pushing, as Frankie whistles some song Joely should know but doesn’t.
Chapter 21
It’s even hotter this morning than it was yesterday. Frankie’s never liked this sort of heat before. She always fought it in the city and tried to spend her days in air-conditioning. But here she likes it. She likes the old silver fans rotating at their fastest speeds but still failing to cool anyone down. She likes that nobody bothers to shut windows or doors because the air is the same temperature inside as outside. It changes time, changes days.
It takes all her effort just to breathe. She’s no longer hungry. She no longer wants to do anything or see anyone. She just wants to lie in bed and watch the day fall away. She can hear Thommo outside working in the shed, trying to fix his bike. She wonders if he’ll speak to her today or if he’ll just bump past like she’s Jasper, the house cat. She still doesn’t understand why Thommo turned on her.
Her phone beeps and she scrabbles around to grab it before it wakes Joely. There’s a text from Rory.
Pool?
She texts back: Ok
Now?
She smiles at his urgency and is pleased he’s woken thinking of her. She wonders how quickly she can get into town.
Sure u have the right number this time?
Lucy?
Frankie smiles, impressed at his efforts to be funny.
Nah. Margo.
Yeah. That’s what i meant.
She wants to see him. She considers leaving Joely, mouth open and snoring, and sneaking into town on her own.
‘Joely,’ says Frankie.
‘Wha—?’ manages the body in the other bed.
‘Can we go into town? Soon? I want to swim before it gets too hot and maybe go to the op shop to find a dress for New Year’s.’
There’s a groan and Frankie knows she could make a run for it and Joely probably wouldn’t even care. But this holiday is about them, together, and she’s not sure if the rules include running off to meet a boy she hasn’t really admitted exists.
‘Joel!’
This time Joely rolls over and smiles a half-asleep, squashy faced smile. ‘Morning,’ says her friend opening an eye.
‘Up!’
Frankie’s phone beeps again.
‘Is that your phone?’ Joely says.
‘Yeah, it’s just Mum.’
‘Really? Didn’t think she sent messages,’ says Joely sitting up.
Frankie can’t resist reading the message.
Hurry
Smiling, she shrugs. ‘You know. She misses me.’ Excited about seeing Rory, Frankie jumps up and starts grabbing stuff out of her drawers.
‘Can’t we have breakfast first?’ says Joely.
‘If you hurry!’
Lying under the only tree at the pool, Joely tries to hide herself in the shadows of the dying branches. But she’s only striped w
ith shade. She tries to work out what’s worse: being burnt on the head or on the soles of her feet. She scrunches up as small as possible, but parts of her are still in sunlight. She sits up, annoyed, and looks around for Frankie. She can’t see her anywhere. Maybe she’s swimming along the bottom of the pool again.
Joely pulls her hat down hard and dodges the sunbathers, trying to find Frankie. She can’t believe how many people are scattered on the grass, lying on their backs and stomachs, while the sun shines down on them. Even under layers of sunscreen she can feel her freckles multiplying.
She heads up the short path to the main street. As she crosses the road, she sees him.
Rory.
She discretely starts walking faster, trying to catch up.
Just as she could reach out and touch his brown arm if she wanted to, he stops, right in the middle of the footpath, and Joely crashes straight into him. He spins around, his face creased with anger.
‘Bloody— Oh, Joely. Hi …’ he says, trying to smile.
‘Hi! Sorry!’ Joely’s heart is beating so quickly she hopes she doesn’t faint.
‘Whatever.’ He shrugs.
Joely can’t believe how much his shrug is like Frankie’s. At the thought of her friend, she prickles. This was her moment and now Frankie’s presence is suddenly here, with them, in the middle of it all.
‘What are you doing?’ she says, sounding more confident than she feels.
‘You know.’
He nods at her, like he’s dismissing her, and Joely panics. She reaches out to grab his arm, not wanting this to end, wanting him to remember what her skin feels like. As she touches him, she feels dizzy and strange.
‘Is Frankie at the pool?’
‘I don’t know,’ says Joely, excusing herself for lying.
He looks at her and she can feel the lie rubbing in her chest.
‘What are you doing?’ he says in that lazy voice.
Joely can’t speak. She’s aware of people passing them, of people noticing and she wants people to notice that this beautiful boy is touching her red, freckly arm. She wishes she’d worn the long-sleeved top again, but maybe he wouldn’t care about her freckles anyway. Then behind Rory she sees Thommo walking towards her with a couple of guys. Panicking, she turns away, not wanting to be seen by her cousin. As much as she wants the world to notice her talking to Rory, she doesn’t want Thommo or Mack to see just yet. Not before she knows exactly what this is.
