He makes a hmphing sound, but doesn’t argue.
After he leaves, Paula laughs. “You go, girl. You do know that’s the owner’s daughter’s new boyfriend, don’t you?”
“Well, if he doesn’t want to be charged any fines, he should use his girlfriend’s account.”
“Right on.” She continues serving, but keeps talking to me. “What did you get up to today? Please tell me it was something fun so I can live vicariously through you. I’ve been stuck inside on this gorgeous sunny day.”
“Oh, I just went to The Palace with my mum.”
And met a gorgeous boy who may not even exist.
“That’s not quite what I envisioned. At least tell me you bought something nice?”
“I got a new dress and some shoes,” I offer.
She laughs. “Eh, I guess that’s better than nothing.”
I look up at the next customer and do a double take.
“Todd!” I hadn’t expected to see him out of context like this.
He looks at me through floppy brown hair with his intense dark eyes. “Hey, Anna.”
“Are you renting a movie?”
“No,” he says, vaguely annoyed. “I just wondered if I could talk to you for a minute.”
I look at the line forming behind him and shrug awkwardly.
“I have to serve these people, but I was going to see you at the party tonight anyway, wasn’t I?”
He frowns. “Oh, right.”
“Come find me when you arrive,” I say, trying to appease him.
“Fine.” He stalks off, muttering something that sounds like “can’t even make some fucking time to talk to me…”
I look at Paula and she nods her head in Todd’s direction.
“Boys, huh?”
I smile. “Yeah.”
I continue serving customers on auto-pilot.
I can’t help entertaining the thought that this isn’t actually a hallucination or a dream. It’s a ridiculous concept, but what if I really have gone back in time? Do I want to stray too far from the original path? And where is sixteen-year-old Anna’s mind right now?
The Youth Compound label said the effects are supposed to last for twelve hours. It’s almost four-thirty now, so if I blacked out around ten this morning, it means I still have almost half my time left.
I figure I’ll just avoid any dramatic decisions for the rest of the day. But then, what is a dramatic decision? I don’t think I went to The Palace with Mum on this date last time. What if that was enough to mean I don’t go to Paris after graduation? And what if I never meet Ed?
Panic rises in my chest. I’m paralysed with the possible fate of the world resting on my shoulders.
“Anna?”
Paula points to the line of impatient people standing in front of me.
“Hi, can I help you?” I say to the next customer.
The man smiles and approaches me. “Thanks, I’ll take these.” He pushes five adult movies towards me, his eyes glinting as if daring me to react.
Ew! He’s got to be at least fifty. How can he be so brazen about his selection with a sixteen-year-old girl? At least, the appearance of one.
I snatch up his membership card and quickly scan the movies. I complete the rental in record time and plonk the cases down on the other side of the counter for him to collect. I turn to the next customer, ignoring the fifty-year-old.
It’s going to be an interesting night.
***
Kelsey phones the shop at half past seven to invite me to her place before the party. “Do you want to get ready here and we’ll split a cab?”
“Your brother isn’t going to be there, is he?” I ask. I still feel icky about this morning.
“No. He’s gone to Brisbane. He won’t be back until tomorrow night. Why?”
“Oh, he was just being a bit weird this morning. Okay. I’ll quickly go home and get my stuff after I leave here. I’ll be at yours before eight thirty.”
“Rad. See you soon.”
I’m amazed at how easily I have slotted back into 1996. I feel like maybe I should be working out if I can wake up earlier or something, but I’m kind of enjoying myself. It’s nice to have a break from reality, even if mine is usually pretty good.
After eight, I head home and pack a bag. Mum seems to feel sorry for me and offers to drive me to Kelsey’s.
When we arrive, Mum kisses me on the cheek. “Be good. And let me know if you need me to pick you up later. I don’t want you feeling stuck if you need to get away from Todd.”
“I’ll be fine. Thanks, Mum.”
Kelsey is standing on the balcony on the second floor.
“Hurry up!” she calls. “I want to leave soon!”
I go inside, waving to Mum one last time before I head upstairs.
“Hey.”
Kelsey is throwing items of clothing from her wardrobe onto her bed. “Hey.”
“Can’t decide what to wear?” I ask dryly.
“I was going to wear this.” She holds up a tiny pink satin dress. “Only it has this weird stain on it. I’m not sure if it’s wine or blood.”
I inspect the stain near the neckline. “Why would it be blood?”
“I dunno. But I don’t usually drink red wine. Either way, it’s unwearable.” She drops it on the floor and continues sifting through her wardrobe.
I open up my bag and pull out my new dress and sandals.
“Oh, nice. They new?”
“Yep. I bought them today.”
She looks at my face properly for the first time. “Hey, I like what you’ve done to your eyebrows. You look older.”
I stifle a laugh. Only a sixteen-year-old would consider that a compliment.
“Thanks.”
“So are you all recovered after this morning? You still know what year it is?”
I’m actually surprised she remembered the conversation, considering she was half asleep then. “Uh, yeah. Sorry, I think I must have had a weird dream or something.”
“That’s cool. I once dreamt that I went downstairs and found all these body parts, and I thought I’d murdered someone in my sleep. And then when I woke up for real, I was too scared to go and check whether everything was normal.”
I laugh. This is nice. I’d forgotten how much fun I used to have with Kelsey. We had a falling out in 2000 and never reconnected, because she thought I slept with a guy she was dating. Obviously I didn’t, and he just told her we did to make her angry when she was trying to end their relationship. At the time, I was mad she believed him, but now whenever I think back, it just makes me sad.
I’m glad I get to hang out with her again today without any of that drama.
“I think you should wear the crushed velvet dress,” I say, pointing to it on the bed.
“But it’s so boring!”
“It’s not. Wear it with your Docs and choker.” Ha. I lived for nineties fashion.
“Okay,” she sighs.
I never wore much makeup, so after putting on some mascara and swiping an orangey-red gloss over my lips, I watch Kelsey do her face. She was always really good at full makeup.
“So, what’s happening with you and Todd?” she asks as she clamps an eyelash curler over the lashes on her left eye.
“Um, I don’t know.” I try to think back to when we broke up. Was it around this time? I know it was at some party, but I’m not sure if it was this one tonight.
“How can you not know? He’s a total babe. What’s the problem?”
“He’s arrogant.”
“I thought you liked arrogant.”
Did I? I was a messed-up teenager.
“He just assumes I like everything he does.”
Kelsey seems to have gotten bored of the conversation and stands back to check out her full reflection in the wardrobe mirror.
“I wonder if Aaron will be there tonight.”
Aaron…Aaron…this is really stretching my memory now.
“Aaron?”
“Yeah. I
know he’s in year twelve, but he’s friends with Rachel’s brother, so maybe he’ll drop by.”
Oh. Aaron. He was the school captain. I never paid much attention to him, because he thought the year elevens were beneath him.
“Do you like him?” I ask.
She spins around and stares at me.
“Seriously? Have you been so wrapped up in your own world that you haven’t listened to me tell you how much I love him for the last month?”
“Sorry. I’m having a really weird day.”
“You can say that again.”
She grabs her handbag and heads for downstairs.
“You ready to go?”
“Yep.”
I follow her out. I can’t say I’m excited about this party, but I’m definitely intrigued.
FIVE
We arrive at Rachel’s and I experience my first sense of déjà vu all day. Everything else that happened earlier was either generic or new, so I didn’t feel like I was living in Groundhog Day until now.
We walk up the driveway, which is brightly lit and contains several teenagers lounging on the pavement, passing around cigarettes. I want to lecture them about lung cancer and tell them that in the future they’ll practically bankrupt themselves if they keep it up, but obviously I don’t.
While I’m glad I’ve had the chance to reconnect with Kelsey, I’m not particularly excited to see everyone else. The novelty of being back in 1996 was fun for a few hours, but now that I’m here at this party, I’m having second thoughts.
Kelsey drags me through the front door and into Rachel’s living room. Kids are dancing in the middle of the floor to Toni Braxton’s You’re Making Me High.
Why did I think this was a good idea? I should have just stayed home tonight.
“Oh my God! Look at Rachel and Scotty! I didn’t even know they liked each other!”
I glance over and see them making out against the wall near the kitchen.
Oh, yeah. I remember this. This is definitely the night I broke up with Todd. Awesome.
Speak of the devil. Todd appears behind me and wraps his arms around my waist, nibbling my ear. “Hey, beautiful.”
I jump back as if electrocuted. No one apart from Ed is allowed to touch me like that anymore. But of course Todd still thinks I’m sixteen-year-old me. I try to make it look like I just stumbled.
“Hi, Todd.” He’s acting like he wasn’t all moody when he saw me at work several hours ago. I can smell the Jim Beam on his breath, so maybe he’s actually forgotten about it already.
“I’m going to see if Aaron is here,” Kelsey tells me, skipping off.
Great. Now it’s just me and Todd.
“How was your day?” I ask politely.
“Not bad. I hung out with the guys down the beach…smoked some weed…had a nap…”
“So a pretty good day then?”
“Yeah, I guess it was a pretty good day.” He looks around the room. “Oh, there’s Paul. Paul! Over here!”
Paul, who I now remember was one of Todd’s best friends, comes over.
“What’s up?”
“Not much. Did you see the surf earlier? It looked so good. I would’ve taken my board with me, only the report on TV said it was going to be flat.”
“Yeah, I managed to get a few waves in this afternoon. It was epic.”
My eyes glaze over. I feel so out of place, standing here with two teenage boys talking about the surf. I notice a fully stocked bar nearby, with Rachel’s brother standing guard. I slip away from Todd and Paul and go over.
What was his name again? Chris? Yeah, Chris.
“Are you in charge of the alcohol?” I ask.
He looks at me and smiles. “It seems that I am.”
“Are you serving? Or making sure no one touches it?”
“A little of both. What are you after?”
“Anything that will help relieve the boredom of being here.”
He laughs. “That bad, huh? Aren’t you here with Lover Boy?” He tilts his head in Todd’s direction.
“Unfortunately, yes.”
His eyes light up. “Trouble in paradise?”
“Um, maybe. He doesn’t know it yet, though.”
“Well, in that case, you might need something strong. Let me make you a cocktail.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
I watch as Rachel’s brother mixes up a drink with Southern Comfort, amaretto, juice and a very large shot of gin.
“An Alabama Slammer,” he says proudly, placing the drink in front of me.
I’m impressed and take a sip. “Hey, this is pretty good.”
“I’m planning on working at a bar next year while I study at uni, so I thought I should get some practice in.” He pulls a stern face. “You’re over eighteen, right? Can I see some ID?”
I giggle, despite myself. Chris is funny.
I sip my drink and lean back against the wall beside the bar. “Thanks for this. I needed it.”
“Are you going to break his heart tonight?” He nods at Todd again.
“Uh, I don’t know.” I don’t really want a repeat of the scene from 1996 the first time around. That was ugly. But as long as I don’t somehow end up alone with Todd in a bedroom, I should be fine. And if I can avoid him altogether, I might not have to deal with any awkwardness at all.
Chris sees my expression. “Are you okay? You know this is all just high school, right? Todd will get over it if you dump him.”
“I know. But I don’t want to cause a scene.”
And then a vision of Biff Tannen married to Marty’s mother flashes before my eyes. What if I’m in the real 1996 and by not breaking up with Todd tonight, I end up marrying him?
“Well, let me know if you get into a tight spot and I’ll come rescue you. I’m going to escape this madness for a few minutes and grab some food. Hopefully the bar won’t be destroyed by the time I return.”
“Do you want me to watch it?”
“Nah, it’s all right. You go have fun.”
“Okay. But if things get rowdy, I’ll try and save the expensive booze.”
“Thanks.”
We share a conspiratorial look before he disappears.
Todd is instantly at my side. “You looked cosy just now.”
“What do you mean?”
“With Rachel’s brother. What was going on there?”
“Nothing. He was making me a drink.”
“You weren’t tuning him?”
Tuning him? Wow, I haven’t heard that phrase in a long time.
“No, I was not tuning him.”
“You’re being weird tonight. What’s the matter?”
Remember that scene where Marty McFly was horrified by the fake boobs Biff made his mother get?
Nope. I can’t risk it.
“You really want to know why?” I stare at him directly. “Because you never ask me anything about myself. You assume that I want to talk about your stupid day, where you got stoned and went surfing, but you don’t actually stop to think about whether that is interesting to me. Newsflash, it’s not! Have you ever thought to ask what I get up to on the days I don’t see you?”
Clearly I have some unresolved issues from this period of my life. And maybe, if I’m being really honest with myself, his behaviour is similar to how Ed treats me sometimes. I don’t want to admit it, but now that I’ve made the connection, I can’t un-make it.
He looks bewildered. “Have you got your period or something?”
I feel like I’ve been slapped. How dare this ridiculous little boy invalidate my feelings! I may not care about him now, but I really liked him back in 1996.
At least this time, I’m more in control.
“Todd, you are immature, selfish and arrogant. Our relationship is over.”
His face registers surprise and then anger.
“Fucking slut,” he hisses. “Fuck off, then. Go and fuck Chris, because that’s obviously what you were about to do anyway.”
“For the recor
d, I wasn’t. But I certainly wasn’t going to sleep with you either.”
“Because you’re an uptight virgin,” he says louder than necessary. A few people look at me, but I don’t care.
“I guess that makes you uptight too,” I say just as loud.
The same people snigger and Todd’s face goes red.
“Skank,” he says as he storms off. I almost laugh. How can I be both promiscuous and virginal at the same time? I shouldn’t have stooped to Todd’s level, but he kind of deserved it. And knowing what he did to me in the original 1996 erases any trace of remorse I might have been feeling.
I down the rest of my cocktail and go back to the bar. Chris is nowhere to be found so I pour myself half a glass of straight gin and swallow it in two seconds flat.
Uh…maybe I shouldn’t have done that.
My head starts to spin and I find it hard to focus. If I was paying attention, I would realise that this was the exact same feeling as this morning. But all I’m worried about is passing out in the middle of a party, especially if Todd is still around.
There doesn’t seem to be anything I can do to stop it, though. I don’t even think I can make it to the…
SIX
I peel one eye open. And then the other.
And audibly sigh in relief.
I’m back in my bedroom. The one I share with Ed in the future.
What a crazy dream!
Or was it?
I quickly roll over and notice that the other side of the bed is empty. For a second, I panic. What if everything that just happened was real and now Ed is no longer my husband?
Then I hear the shower.
Okay. So I have someone else in my house who is familiar enough to bathe here. Of course it’s Ed.
I tiptoe over to the closed door to the ensuite and slide it open.
Phew.
He’s is in there, soaping his chest. “Hey. How are you feeling?”
“Good. Great!” I have never been so relieved to see Ed in my entire life.
“When I got home last night, you were already out cold, asleep. I thought you must have been sick. You weren’t even in your PJs.”
“What time is it?”
1996 (90s Flashback Series) Page 4