Lisa and Matt! The sight of my brother hooking up with one of my close friends was something I had never expected to see and with no forewarning that there was even an attraction between them, I was struggling to come to terms with it. Glancing quickly back at Zac, who by that stage was barely able to stay on his feet, I instantly realized the irony of the situation.
Matt had been insistent that his friend would not, by any means, be given permission to date his sister. And all the while, he had been taking an interest in one of my close friends. His random questions about Lisa over the past weeks finally made sense, but I found it hard to believe that he could be such a hypocrite.
Shaking my head in amazement at the scene I had never imagined would take place, I was then faced with another image that I was certainly not prepared for.
I had no idea what caused me to turn and glance in that direction. It was as if in answer to the call of my name. But with the music blaring so loudly in my ears, it was hard to hear much else. So when I later reflected on that moment, I felt curious to know what had actually triggered my impulse to look his way.
It was the familiar smile that immediately caught my attention; perfect white teeth that contrasted beautifully with his olive skin, making them appear whiter than ever. Completely at ease, he laughed and chatted with his friends; a tall, muscular figure that stood like an irresistible god in the middle of my living room.
Still dancing with Zac, who was swaying drunkenly at my side, I looked on, all the while my stomach doing somersaults in reaction to his unexpected presence in the room.
Then, as if in response to a silent signal, he turned towards me. And that was when our eyes met.
Unfair…
Instantly, I could feel the connection, an invisible current of electricity passing between us. It travelled across the room and the intensity of the moment melted all else away. For me, right then, nothing else existed.
All my recent promises and vows to forget the person staring right back at me, to put him out of my thoughts and refocus on what I had perceived to be my priorities, faded into oblivion. It was an attraction I was powerless to prevent and his riveting smile indicated that he felt exactly the same way.
Feeling the ever so slight twitch of my own lips, I stood frozen to the spot, overcome by the moment and the wild sensations working their way through my entire body.
I had never felt that way before. Not even with Blake. Not even in our closest and most romantic moments had his presence impacted my emotions quite so intensely.
Acknowledging Ky’s smile with a small wave, I felt myself being drawn in his direction. And as I took a tentative step towards him, there was a sudden tug on my wrist.
Being dragged backwards right at that very moment, caught me by complete surprise and whipping my head around, I found myself face to face with Zac. In his drunken state he had grabbed hold of my hand and was pulling me into his open embrace. With sheer brute strength, he proceeded to spin me full circle and I found myself spinning wildly out of control, until the momentum caused me to topple into the group of people dancing next to us.
As I tried to regain my footing, I became aware of helping hands lifting me to a more upright position. Then, annoyed and embarrassed, I abruptly shook myself free. Turning to Zac, my face full of fury, I opened my mouth to blast a string of obscenities. I felt humiliated and angry and wanted to let him have it.
But, horrified, all I could do was stand and watch the scene in front of me unfold.
Zac appeared to stumble. I have no idea what caused this. Perhaps he’d been given a shove by someone; payback for the way he had flung me across the room. Or was it simply his drunken state and inability to stay upright? I was unsure of the details but the whole scenario seemed to flash past in a series of deliberate movements, just like the individual scenes of a slide show, ticking slowly over, one after another.
My confused state of mind relayed the scene in slow motion and I watched in fascination, as his body propelled backwards. With arms flailing, he desperately tried to recover his balance but in the process, connected with the speaker system that was sitting on top of a wooden book stand beside him. Knocked clear from its perch, the entire device went hurtling to the tiled floor.
The music that had been blaring loudly all night was abruptly cut short, the loud smash instantly attracting the attention of every person in the house. People appeared from all directions, vying for a spot to see what had caused the noise. The deafening silence had the biggest impact, as everyone looked on, speechless at the sight that confronted them.
I stood transfixed, mortified by the gaping hole that had been carved into our living room wall. The impact of Zac’s full body weight had caused the plasterboard to shatter, with splinters of wood and broken pieces of paneling falling in a heap around him. And all the while, he lay there deathly still, his upper torso inside the cavity of the wall.
That was when Matt finally came to his senses, spurred on by the sight of his friend; or perhaps it was the vision of the huge hole and the dire consequences that were sure to follow when our father eventually saw the damage.
It quickly became clear that Zac was unhurt. Although right then I felt like changing that. He had destroyed our house and totally wrecked our party. And most importantly, he had interrupted one of the most intense and special moments I’d ever experienced.
Glancing around, I scanned the room for Ky’s beautiful face, but he was nowhere in sight, and with my stomach in knots I looked back at Zac, who in his drunken state was completely oblivious to the mayhem he had caused. After being helped to his feet by Matt, he staggered towards me, a silly grin spreading across his stupid face.
Disgusted, I shook my head and moved out of reach.
“Look what you’ve done!” I spat, my voice full of contempt. “Look what you’ve done to our house!”
Still unable to comprehend what had just occurred, I shook my head at him, knowing full well that apart from the gaping hole in our wall, the main reason for my anger was that Ky had disappeared and I’d missed my chance once again.
Instantly it seemed, the party was over. It ended the minute the music stopped, the sudden silence a clear signal for everyone to leave. And for that I was grateful. I’d had enough and wanted everyone to go.
Sighing with deep frustration, I walked with my friends to the front door. Lisa however, appeared to be in no hurry to go home. She was clearly making the most of her freedom and I could see her lingering in the living room. She was with a group who seemed to be settled in for the night and had begun some type of drinking game. Not worried by the mess that covered the floor, Matt took Lisa’s hand and sat down to join them, obviously in no rush for the party to end.
Gratefully accepting offers to return the following day to help with the clean-up, I waved goodbye to Beth, Becky and the others as they made their way out to waiting cars parked on the street. And it was then that I noticed Ky’s car as it pulled out from its position on the kerb directly across the road. I watched while it headed away from our house and out of view into the darkness of the night.
The image of his handsome face and beautiful smile flashed into my thoughts again. And rubbing my arms in an attempt to warm myself against the late night chill, I stood there thinking about the moment that we had experienced only a short time earlier.
Had I imagined the spark that had erupted between us? Had it been a pure figment of my imagination, something that I had willed into existence but in reality had only existed in my mind?
No. It had been too real, too intense to be imaginary. I was certain of that. And feeling glimpses of the earlier sensations flooding my senses once more, I closed the door and made my way up the stairs to my room, blocking out the image of Matt and Lisa entwined on our sofa, completely unmindful of the few remaining people and the mess surrounding them.
But how were we ever going to explain the damage to our dad? And the question of Ky was the other dilemma that continued to haunt my thoug
hts.
Taunted by visions of his gorgeous face, I rolled over in bed and tried to fall asleep, all the while imagining the soft touch of his lips on my own.
A turn of events…
The week began uneventfully. Once again, Ky was nowhere to be seen and it took all my strength to focus on classes and the drone of each teacher’s voice.
Walking the corridors towards my last class of the day, I looked into the faces of those passing by. Engrossed in chatter and laughter, and amidst news of the weekend’s gossip, most appeared to have not a care in the world. But I wondered if there were many like me, with hidden turmoil lurking deep beneath the surface, desperately wanting to have someone to care about. Someone who cared for them in return.
A sudden tap on the shoulder and the sound of a deep male voice, broke through my thoughts and instantly my heart skipped a beat. Whipping my head around in anticipation of the sight of him, the one I could not stop thinking about, I felt my face abruptly fall with disappointment.
Zac was the last person I felt like talking to right then. In fact, I had hoped never to seen him again. The image of our living room wall was one I would rather forget but unfortunately, it was currently a permanent fixture in our home, and Matt and I were still trying to prepare for our dad’s reaction when he returned on the weekend.
When I had finally surfaced from my bedroom the day before, and made my way anxiously down the stairs, the mess I was confronted with in the bright light of mid-morning was worse than I had realized. Dozens of empty bottles, half-filled cups and plates of uneaten food, littered the floor and surface of every table or bench top. The kitchen looked like a disaster zone and the tiled flooring was sticky with spilt food and drink.
What made it so much worse though, was the damage from the broken wall and speaker system, the splintered strips of wood and shattered electronic pieces lying scattered across the floor.
Amongst the mayhem were a few lifeless bodies, still sound asleep on the sofa and armchairs. Zac was one of them but Lisa, I’d immediately noticed, was nowhere to be seen. I later found out that during the early hours of the morning, Matt had walked her home where she had simply opened the unlocked window of her bedroom that was situated on the lower floor at the rear of the house, and climbed inside unnoticed.
That story did not surprise me in the slightest. After witnessing her miraculous appearance the night before, I felt that Lisa was capable of anything. However, I was still coming to terms with the idea of my friend hooking up with my older brother and I could barely wait to find a chance to quiz them both. How that had happened, without me even being aware of an attraction between them, was a mystery. But then I guessed that as I’d been so obsessed with my own issues, I’d simply been too preoccupied to notice much of anything going on around me.
One thing I was completely aware of though, was the state of our house. But as it turned out, the job was made so much easier by the help of the few who had stayed the night, all of whom had been more than willing to give us a hand. A couple of my friends later arrived to help out as well, but by then the house had pretty much been restored to some semblance of order. During the entire process however, Zac had remained unconscious on our sofa, too ill to move.
The sight of him the following day, wanting to have a friendly chat right there in the school hallway, did not appeal in the slightest. In fact, I had an irresistible urge to tell him that he was never welcome in our house again. Opening my mouth to speak, I was quickly cut off, his rush of remorse something I had not expected.
“Julia, I’m so sorry about the other night. I was a real jerk and I can’t apologize enough! I’ll pay for the damages. Just find out what it’ll cost for repairs to the wall, then give me the bill. And I’ll get Matt’s speakers fixed as well. Seriously, I’m really, really sorry!”
Staring at him, my mouth open, the words I had ready to spit forth disappeared into oblivion. He was clearly embarrassed and his apology was too sincere to ignore. And at the same time, I was instantly relieved that he had agreed to take full responsibility. It was a definite weight off my mind, as I was well aware that our Dad would have expected Matt and I to cover the cost of the damages, which was something I knew we’d find impossible to do.
As well, I knew how devastated Matt was to see his brand new sound system destroyed the first time he’d used it. The sight of it lying in pieces on the floor was more upsetting to him than the damage to the wall. I had no idea how Zac would be able to afford the repairs, but was extremely grateful that he had offered to do the right thing.
Feeling reassured that his apology had been accepted, Zac hurried off to his next class. And deep in thought, over the turn of events, I watched him make his way down the hallway. Then, realizing that I was late for my Science class, I turned quickly in the opposite direction and found myself face to face with Ky.
The introduction…
Seated beside him, safety belt clicked into place, I took a deep breath. And when his car pulled out of the driveway of the school car park, I could feel my stomach churn with nervous excitement.
Skipping classes was not something I usually did. In fact, I hadn’t ever before intentionally skipped a class without a legitimate excuse and to leave the school grounds without permission was a rule I had never broken.
Because the attendance roll had been marked earlier that afternoon, I hoped that no one would be aware of my absence, otherwise I’d be forced to face a week’s after-school detention if I happened to be caught out.
Quickly pushing the thought aside however, I glanced in his direction. “Where are we going?”
Waiting for his response, I watched the smooth movements of the gear stick as he shifted it into place, the car slowly gathering speed. All the while the tyres crunched on the gravel of the newly surfaced road that led past the school grounds and onto the highway.
“I’d like you to meet someone.” His hesitant reply caught me by surprise and I edged further back into my seat, furiously trying to control the loud thumping of my heart, the sound so strong in my chest that I felt sure he must also be able to hear it.
While I had hoped to see Ky at school that day, I had never in my wildest dreams anticipated that I would find myself skipping class and taking off in his car to some unknown destination.
Where was he taking me and why the urgent need to leave? I had no idea of the answer to those questions, but as always in situations where I felt anxious and a little afraid, my mother’s words of warning rang in my head.
“Never get into cars with boys you aren’t familiar with, Julia! Everything might appear innocent and safe on the surface, but if you make a wrong choice, there’s no turning back!”
At the time, her cryptic message left me rolling my eyes and grunting a response. I had then quickly walked away, keen to avoid the rambling lecture that I felt sure would be forthcoming.
For about the zillionth time, I considered how weird it was that thoughts of my mom constantly flitted through my thoughts at the most random of moments. Would I ever be able to remove her nagging voice from my head? Glancing once more at Ky’s handsome face, I pushed that thought away, along with the memory of my last ride with a boy I had not known too well.
In the midst of a dream come true, I refused to let thoughts such as those spoil the wonder of the moment, and visualizing my fantasy, I watched it play out in my head, one scene at a time.
I was being whisked away by the boy of my dreams. We would devote the rest of our lives to each other and with not a care in the world, I would pass the days in the comfort of his open arms, his gentle touch sending me into a deep and mind numbing ecstasy.
Abruptly, my reverie was interrupted by the sudden silence of the engine as the car came to a halt. Looking around, I could see we were parked on the street at the front of a non-descript white house with matching white picket fencing bordering the perimeter, both of which were urgently in need of a fresh coat of paint.
“Where are we?” I asked, curiou
sly.
“At my house. Let’s go inside.” His warm smile gave me the reassurance I needed and I followed him through the open gate and down the pebbled pathway leading to the front door.
Just as Ky put his key to the lock, the door swung open and we were greeted by an elderly lady who I assumed must be his grandmother. The likeness was uncanny. They had the same intense blue eyes and the shape of her mouth was exactly like his.
“Hi, Nan!” Ky said, giving her a quick hug. “Are you leaving for your appointment now?”
“Yes,” she replied. “I need to get going or I’ll be late.”
She smiled at me in a friendly manner and then looked towards Ky, obviously waiting for an introduction.
“Nan, this is my friend, Julia. Julia, this is my grandmother.”
“Hello,” I said shyly, shaking her outstretched hand. “Pleased to meet you, Mrs…”
“Mrs. Robertson,” she replied, “and pleased to meet you, Julia. Ky rarely brings friends to the house. You must be someone special!”
Glancing quickly at Ky, I noticed an embarrassed flush appear on his face and unsure of how to respond, I stood awkwardly next to him.
“Okay Nan, you’d better get going! I’ll see you later tonight.” Ushering her out the door with a hasty goodbye, it was clear that he was keen for her to leave before she embarrassed him further.
“She’s so sweet,” I remarked as we turned to watch her walk briskly down the pavement.
“Yeah, she’s alright!” he replied, the genuine affection on his face evidence of his real feelings towards her. “But you know what grandmothers are like! They talk too much!”
I smiled back at him, feeling pleased at his reaction to her comment and hoping that what she had implied, might actually be true. I was also taken aback to see him in his home environment, which was something I was not prepared for. The cool guy persona had melted away and it appeared that I was witnessing the real person that hid just below the surface.
Julia Jones - The Teenage Years: Boxed Set - Books 2, 3 and 4 Page 12