by Robin Martin
‘Okay,’ I said, ‘what do you suggest we do?’
‘Something enjoyable,’ he said, leaning against the pantry door. ‘Something fun.’
Now there was a word I never thought I’d hear him say. It would be kind of interesting to see how he’d act in a social situation.
‘There’s another party we could go to this weekend, if you want to. It probably won’t be as good as last week’s because Caitlyn’s parents are going to be there, but it might be okay.’ Even as I said the words, I realised I didn’t want to go. As soon as Jas learnt that Rion would be at the party, she’d go too and I may as well stay home.
But to my surprise, Rion said, ‘I don’t want to go out with other people, just you.’
‘So, kind of like a date?’ I said, and smirked because it so wasn’t going to be like that. He wasn’t Chad Everett. Heck, he wasn’t even Harry Crosby, who at least was human.
But Rion answered quite seriously, ‘Yes, that’s it. We’ll go on a date.’
Chapter Thirteen
Okay, honestly? I’ve never had a boyfriend. Embarrassing, I know, especially since I was two months away from turning sixteen. Sure, I’d had a few kisses. The first was in year seven at Casey Short’s birthday party when we played spin the bottle, and that was Casey himself. Not a promising start, especially since he was wearing braces.
Since then I’d been on dates, of course, and I’m not saying there hasn’t been a bit of making out involved, but not much and it’s never led anywhere. So naturally I exaggerated my experience to the other girls. Well, to be honest, I lied. If Jas had known the extent of my ‘experience’ there was no way we could’ve been friends. She only hung out with cool people.
This year I’d been determined to change that. I was going to have a boyfriend. For a while, a very short while, Chad Everett had looked like a promising candidate. But even when it became obvious that Jas wasn’t that into him—pretty much as soon as she’d seen Rion—he hadn’t looked at me. Nope, didn’t happen. And there weren’t any other likely prospects at the moment.
So when Rion said I shouldn’t have any relationships for a while, it was kind of ironic (a word I’d learned from him) because there wasn’t much chance of that happening in the near future. And maybe that was another reason I got so upset. It was kind of like rubbing salt into the wound.
But after our talk, Rion and I got along much better. Over the next few days he hardly ever boasted about how clever he was. Well, only about once or twice a day, which was a big improvement over the several dozen times it used to happen. And he never put me down—at least not intentionally. Rion was trying hard to fit in, and not just with me but with everyone else as well.
He still spoke like he’d swallowed a dictionary but, amazingly, everyone thought it was kind of cute, especially the girls. So, going on a pretend date with Rion was about the closest I would get to looking normal to my friends. But I hadn’t meant to give the impression that Rion and I were anything more than friends—until I kind of got fed up with their attitude. Well, to be specific, Jas’s.
‘It’s so awesome that Rion’s kind of nerdy like those guys on that TV show that are scientists, except he’s better looking,’ Chelsea gushed after school one day. ‘You’re so lucky he’s staying with you.’ She gave me a speculative look. ‘Anything going on between you two?’
Jas joined us. ‘Of course not,’ she said. I was just about to agree with her when she added, ‘You’re not really his type, are you Zoe?’
I was getting tired of the way Jas treated me. Things had definitely cooled between us. She hadn’t called me since the party on Saturday night, and now she was hinting that I wasn’t good enough to be with someone like Rion.
So I said, ‘As a matter of fact, we’re going out on a date this weekend.’
Jas looked at me for a moment, and not in a friendly way.
‘I knew it,’ Chelsea said.
‘Yeah, I’m not sure where we’re going yet, but Rion said he doesn’t want to hang out with anyone else, just me.’ I was on a roll.
Jas shrugged. ‘I guess staying with your parents, and you being around him all the time, doesn’t give him much chance to get to know anyone else. He’s probably just being nice, Zoe. I wouldn’t get your hopes up if I was you.’
I was beginning to wonder why Jas and I had ever become friends in the first place. We’d only really become close this year, and that was because my best friend, Mandy Dover, had moved to Sydney at the end of last year. I’d decided to try to get into Jas’s group because they were cool. It took me most of first term, but I finally made it and after that my social life had looked up—for a while. Now I wasn’t so sure.
‘I might say the same to you, Jas,’ I said. The moment the words came out of my mouth, I knew it was a mistake. Nothing good ever came from antagonising Jas.
Her eyes narrowed and her hand came up to her waist. ‘Seriously? You want to go there? If it wasn’t for me letting you into our group this year, you’d still be hanging out with losers like Harry Crosby.’
Unfortunately, it was just as this moment that poor Harry came by. He hurried past us and out of the school grounds, pretending he hadn’t heard, but I saw his face.
Before I had a chance to say anything, Rion came up. ‘Are you ready to go home, Zoe?’
More than ready. I was already wishing I hadn’t said anything to the girls about our ‘date’. Rion, who was annoyingly honest at the wrong times, might let them know it was a friendship date and not the real thing. That would so not do my reputation any good.
‘Yeah, sure,’ I said.
‘Hey, Rion, I just loved how you corrected Mr Law in class today about that point in physics. But you were so polite when you did it, très cute.’ Jas gave him a simpering look.
Physics was the one class Rion and I didn’t share, so I hadn’t been able to give him death stares to remind him to be quiet. And as for Jas, could she have been any more obvious?
‘I only meant to point out an alternative theory to the one he was teaching us,’ Rion said, in a false attempt to sound humble.
‘I honestly think you know more than he does,’ Jas said.
‘Yeah, totally,’ Chelsea added. If she had to pick sides between Jas and me, I knew which one she’d pick.
‘Oh, I just had a thought,’ Jas said. ‘I’m really struggling with this physics homework. I don’t suppose you could help me, Rion. I’d be so grateful.’ She batted her baby blues at him, and if he’d been a real guy she would’ve had him hooked, or at least interested.
‘Yes, of course,’ Rion said. At times he was inconveniently polite.
‘Great. Could you come over like this afternoon? I want to get it done now, you know, as I have about a billion other assignments and stuff to do. I so hate being late with homework,’ Jas lied.
Then she turned to me with a sickly smile. ‘Zoe, you don’t mind, do you? You’re not in physics class. That’s mainly for the A-stream students.’
As if the universe wasn’t already on her side, she was actually reasonably smart as well as beautiful, popular and rich. So unfair. I knew she didn’t need Rion’s help at all. I was beginning to really dislike my former friend, but I knew the challenge was on. Jas wasn’t likely to let anything she wanted slip out of her grasp, whether it was an expensive pair of shoes or a boy. Luckily, I had an ace up my sleeve that she didn’t know about.
‘Gee, your house is several kilometres from mine, isn’t it? It’s not like it’s a hundred metres or so down the street,’ I said.
She looked at me as if I was slightly nutty.
Rion, however, grasped the situation immediately. But he also had a solution. ‘Why don’t you come over to Zoe’s house?’ he asked Jas. ‘It’s not that far and it won’t take us long to go through the homework.’ Sometimes he was altogether too clever for my liking.
I could see that Jas wasn’t too keen on his suggestion either. ‘It’ll be much quieter at my place,’ she said, ‘because no one
’s there. We don’t want to get in the way of Zoe or her mum when she comes home.’
‘Zoe and her mum won’t mind.’ He looked at me and smiled.
‘Sure, come on over, Jas,’ I said.
It was better than the alternative, and that way I’d be there to keep an eye on things. Not that I cared or anything, but Rion and I had already agreed that relationships wouldn’t be a good idea. And Jas was seriously getting on my nerves.
She pursed her lips and I could tell there were about a million thoughts racing through her mind. Then she shrugged and said, ‘Okay, but let’s catch the school bus. It’s due any moment and it’s too hot to walk, though you can if you want, Zoe.’
It was winter, and even though it was a Queensland winter where the temperature rarely made single digits, it was by no means hot. She just wanted to get Rion away from me.
‘Sure, we can get the bus,’ I said.
There was no way I was going to let her win this one, and besides, Rion on the bus and me walking would make me feel ill, in more ways than one. Chelsea, who was being picked up by her mum, said goodbye. I knew that she and Jas would be on the phone tonight talking over the day’s events. By tomorrow I’d probably be out of their group—if I weren’t already.
So the three of us piled on the bus, and of course Jas managed to get a seat for her and Rion, forcing me to sit somewhere else. She was good, I had to give her that.
When we reached home I told Rion that he and Jas could have the dining table. ‘Mum’s at a staff meeting today and won’t be home for ages,’ I said. ‘I’m sorry you can’t use the study at the moment, but Dad’s got some tax stuff all over the desk.’ No way did I want them in there with the door closed.
But Jas came up with an even more unacceptable idea. ‘I don’t want to take over your house or anything. Why don’t we go to your room, Rion? It’ll be so much quieter and easier to concentrate.’
Rion looked from me to Jas, clearly struggling to decide what was the right thing to do. But Jas took the matter in hand by going upstairs and leaving Rion to trail behind her.
I sighed. Whatevs. I told myself that Rion was such a literal person he would just help her with the homework and then get rid of her, if he didn’t bore her with science facts before then.
I headed to the kitchen for a snack. Maybe digging out the milkshake maker would be a good idea. I was in the mood for a double-choc milkshake, heavy on the ice cream. I needed—no, I deserved—a sugar hit.
Halfway through my milkshake, a sneaky little thought entered my mind. Why couldn’t I be a good hostess and make a milkshake for Rion and Jas, too? Then I could legitimately knock on Rion’s door and interrupt them. Wouldn’t Jas love that? Not.
So I made the most fattening, sugar-loaded and delicious milkshakes I could for the weight-obsessed Jas and the health nut Rion. What a wicked but clever brain I had.
It was tricky balancing two death-by-chocolate milkshakes on a tray and knocking on Rion’s bedroom door at the same time, but I managed.
After a few moments Rion opened the door. His shirt was slightly untucked and his hair uncharacteristically ruffled. He had a look on his face that could have been guilt or just unease. What on earth was going on in there?
‘Hi,’ I said, ‘just brought you up a snack.’
I walked into the room and saw Jas sitting on the floor, legs crossed and looking very pleased with herself.
‘So sweet, but I don’t usually eat before dinner,’ she said. ‘Rion and I are busy, anyway. He’s been so helpful.’ She smiled up at him.
I set the milkshakes down on his desk.
‘Thanks, Zoe,’ Rion said. ‘That was very thoughtful of you.’
‘I thought you could do with an energy boost,’ I said. ‘Why don’t you try it and see if you like it?’
I could see that Rion was again struggling between politeness and an obvious desire to give me yet another lecture on the dangers of sugar and fats. Politeness won out. He picked up a glass and handed it to Jas, who could hardly refuse since it was Rion who was giving it to her. And then he picked up the other glass and drank a little. I fully expected him to put it down again, but instead he took another even bigger sip.
‘This is actually very nice,’ he said. ‘You should try it, Jas.’
She took a sip and grudgingly said, ‘Not bad.’
I was an expert milkshake maker.
‘Are you two nearly finished with the homework?’ I said.
‘Not at all,’ Jas said, ‘there’s heaps more Rion needs to explain to me. We might even have to get together tomorrow.’
Rion looked puzzled. ‘But we’ve gone over your homework.’
‘You were starting to explain the theory of relativity to me,’ Jas said. ‘It was so interesting. Mr Law never makes our lessons so cool.’
‘I must admit physics is a fascinating subject,’ Rion said.
‘And you’re so clever in making it all easy to understand,’ Jas said.
His face lit up. At that moment Rion seemed just as dumb as any other guy. I wondered again why he’d seemed so guilty when he opened the door. What had Jas been up to? Maybe it was time for me to mount a rescue operation.
‘My mum will be home soon. Didn’t you say you were going to help her make dinner tonight, Rion?’
This time he really did look guilty. ‘Oh, I forgot about that.’
‘We have to finish these milkshakes you made for us first, though,’ Jas said, lifting the glass and her eyebrow. She knew what I was doing.
‘Sure.’ I sat down on the bed. ‘I’ll take the glasses when you’re finished.’
‘No need,’ Rion said, being ever helpful. ‘I can do that.’
‘Yeah, why don’t you go down and get things started for your mum, Zoe,’ Jas said. ‘She’d appreciate that. ‘We’ll be down in a few minutes.’
Left with no choice, I went out, but I left the door open behind me. I heard it close as I went downstairs. I cleaned up the mess I’d made in the kitchen and then peeled the vegetables for dinner. It was twenty-seven minutes before they came down. Not that I was timing them or anything. I just happened to notice the clock.
I heard Jas’s syrupy tones. ‘Thanks so much, Rion, everything makes so much more sense than before. Now, don’t forget we’re meeting for lunch tomorrow at school to go over a few more things. You sure you can’t walk to the bus stop with me? It’s getting kind of dark.’
‘Sorry, but I really need to help with the dinner now. But I’m sure Zoe will walk with you if you’re nervous.’
I popped my head around the corner of the kitchen as they walked to the front door. ‘Sure,’ I said, ‘no probs, Jas. I’m not afraid of the dark.’
‘That’s all right, I’ll be fine.’ Acid poured from those words.
‘Okay. A walk will give you a chance to work off those calories from that double cream and extra-chocolate milkshake. Hope you enjoyed it. Byeee.’ I said. What was wrong with me? I wasn’t usually like this.
I think the front door might have closed more forcibly than usual as she left. So that was it. We had definitely moved from friends to enemies.
All this, of course, went totally over Rion’s head. He didn’t have a clue about human relationships, especially when it came to teenage girls.
When he joined me in the kitchen I said, ‘So, what happened?’
He looked at me with a blank expression. ‘What do you mean?’ He rinsed the milkshake glasses he’d brought down. They were both empty, I noticed.
‘Between Jas and you.’
‘I helped her with her homework. You knew that.’
I picked up a tea towel to dry the glasses. ‘And what else?’
He sighed. ‘You actually want to know everything that happened?’
‘Yes,’ I said as I put the glasses away and turned to face him, folding my arms. ‘Everything.’
‘We talked about the theory of relativity. I always envied the being that had inhabited Einstein. I really wanted him as a h
ost.’
‘Are you telling me that Einstein was inhabited by one of you aliens?’ I shook my head in disbelief. ‘Never mind. Don’t want to get distracted here. Go on.’
‘Then you came up with the milkshakes and we drank them and now Jas has gone. But you know all this. Why are you asking me?’ He looked genuinely puzzled.
‘That’s not all. You’re leaving something out. You looked all … dishevelled when I came up.’ I had to admit that Rion was improving my vocabulary.
He turned a little red. ‘Well, now that you mention it, Jas did get a little physical. She seems an affectionate kind of girl.’
I felt my eyes narrowing, ‘What do you mean?’
‘She, um, kissed me,’ Rion said.
I knew it. Just as I was about to ask for details, I heard the front door open.
‘Hi Zoe, Rion. I’m home.’ Mum’s voice sang through the hallway.
Chapter Fourteen
Mum came into the kitchen carrying a couple of grocery bags, which Rion immediately took from her and started to unpack.
‘Thanks, Rion,’ Mum said. ‘Oh, you’ve already started preparing dinner. How thoughtful of you.’
No doubt about it, if my mum had had a son, she would have wanted one exactly like Rion.
‘It was Zoe who did this,’ he said truthfully.
‘Thanks, dear,’ Mum said to me, and laughed. ‘Looks like I could almost retire from this cooking business.’
I did not say a word, though I was tempted. I had other things on my mind, like Jas and that kiss. I wanted details and I wanted them now.
Mum took off her cardigan, put it on the back of a chair and went to wash her hands. ‘Now, let’s get this vegetarian lasagne started.’
‘Why don’t you get a glass of wine and sit down, Mum?’ I said. ‘I’m sure you must be tired, especially after a day’s teaching and that long staff meeting. Rion and I will make dinner. In fact, why don’t you have a shower, too? It’ll make you feel refreshed.’
