Sticks gave it some thought. ‘That’s actually not a bad strategy.’
‘Yeah, it just . . . came to me.’
I didn’t want to tell him it was Hayley’s idea. I didn’t know how he’d feel about it.
It had always been just the two of us.
My younger brother smelt like a lost sweat towel and, apparently, the sound of my breathing aggravated him.
‘God, why are you here?’ Peter asked.
‘Yiayia asked me to stay over.’
‘Yes, but why are you in here?’
I was lying on the floor beside his bed. It was a pretty odd place to set up camp for the night, but I wasn’t budging. ‘You know, I could ask you the same thing.’
He groaned. ‘I always use this bedroom. There are two more.’
‘The other guest bed creaks and I’m not sleeping in Yiayia’s bed.’
That shut him up. Besides, I wouldn’t have had to invade his personal space if he’d just had dinner with me or not ignored all of my previous attempts to talk to him that night.
There was a faint glow coming from above. Peter had his phone out.
‘What are you doing?’ I asked.
‘Changing my status.’
‘Ah.’ I took a breath. ‘I didn’t know you had –’
His reply was curt. ‘I blocked you.’
‘I see.’ I bit my bottom lip and stared up at the ceiling. ‘You know you can’t do that in real life, right?’
Peter didn’t say anything. He wasn’t giving me much to work with, but still, I found a silver lining.
‘You know, this is probably the longest conversation we’ve had in months,’ I said.
‘Devastating.’
I was beginning to think that blindly following the advice of a pretty girl I’d just met wasn’t the brightest idea.
‘Hey, Peter?’ I asked eventually.
He didn’t respond.
‘Is everything okay?’
‘Fine.’
‘What?’
‘It’s fine. I’m trying to sleep.’
‘You’re on your phone.’
‘Yeah, while I’m trying to sleep.’
He was winding me up, but I wouldn’t let it work. He wouldn’t get a rise out of me. I was careful to keep the exasperation out of my voice when I asked, ‘Did we have a fight I don’t remember?’
‘Goodnight, Bill.’ He said my name.
He. Said. My. Name. I held my breath as if exhaling would ruin the moment. When it started to hurt and I realised dying would probably ruin the moment too, I exhaled.
‘Goodnight, Peter.’
It was a strange kind of nice.
‘Sh.’
When I woke at half-past ten, Peter was already gone. He had left an egg-crusted pan in the kitchen sink.
I had to give him props for consistency.
I let the tap run. It was the only sound in the entire house. I hated being at Yiayia’s when she wasn’t there. Hers was an absence that could be felt.
I reached for the TV remote. It wasn’t a complete fix, but scrubbing the pan with my back to the living room and the Greek channel blaring, I could imagine she was there, wrapped in her robe on the recliner lounge chair, squinting at the news broadcast from behind her comically large bifocals.
And it all felt a little less empty.
Yiayia wanted to know everything about the night before. I sat beside her and said it had been fine. That hadn’t been enough.
‘Kai?’ she asked with an encouraging nod.
My feelings were mixed on the night’s success. On the one hand, I was no closer to discovering what was wrong with Peter, but on the other, he hadn’t left the room until morning. It was the longest we’d spent around each other in years.
It wasn’t exactly monumental, but I didn’t want to disappoint her. Her eyes were wide and her smile, tentative.
‘It was really good,’ I said. ‘I think he’s getting better.’
Yiayia’s face lit up. She held her hands to her cheeks and sighed. There were no words.
It was hard to feel bad about overselling it when she reacted like that.
‘Is Hayley around?’ I asked. I had come in hoping she’d be there, waiting to hear how her plan had unfolded.
Yiayia shook her head. She then took my hand in hers and launched into a spiel about just wanting us boys to get along and be happy and get along and she was talking around in circles when Hayley stepped in.
‘Hi, everybody.’
‘Hey!’ I was probably louder than I should have been.
Hayley pulled her earphones out and tucked them underneath her collar. ‘How are things? Oh! How did last night go?’
‘We spoke a bit, not much,’ I said. ‘He did say my name though.’
‘Does he not say your name?’
‘Anything more than a grunt is usually a big deal,’ I explained.
‘Oh, well, that’s good.’ She smiled. ‘Baby steps.’
‘So happy,’ Yiayia said. She was looking at Hayley like she was the mother of her great-grandchildren.
‘And how’s that going?’ Hayley was pointing at the computer balancing on my lap.
I actually wanted to talk about that, but I didn’t really want to have the conversation in front of Yiayia.
‘Are you going to be around for a while?’ I asked.
She glanced over at her grandfather purring gently in his sleep. ‘Looks like it.’
‘Do you want to grab a coffee?’
Hayley rocked the cup in her right hand. She already had coffee. That wasn’t the point.
I tilted my head towards the door and raised my eyebrows. After a sec, she got the hint.
‘Yes! This one’s cold,’ she said.
She dropped her bag by the door and I told Yiayia I’d be a minute.
‘Well, I changed the picture,’ I said.
‘I can see that.’
‘Thirty-seven new messages.’
‘I can see that too.’
We were sitting against the wall by the elevators. Hayley had my laptop unfolded in front of her. eSingles was open.
‘I was wondering, and don’t feel like you have to, but I was thinking maybe, because you’re a woman, you could –?’
‘Help choose the guy for your mum’s date because you picking him is kind of creepy?’ she finished for me.
‘Yeah.’
She was already clicking around. She reached for the coffee by her side and went to take a sip. She laughed. ‘Totally forgot it’s empty.’
‘Did you want another one?’
‘Please. White. Just from the machine is fine.’
By the time I’d come back, she was done. I slid down the wall beside her and passed her the coffee.
‘Thanks.’ She turned the laptop to face me. ‘How does this guy look?’
She had pulled up HotspursFan62’s profile. He had a jaw that was meant for cologne ads.
‘He’s a stockbroker.’ She sipped her drink. ‘You like?’
‘I guess,’ I said.
‘He sent a message last night and a virtual rose three minutes ago.’
Hayley pushed up her sleeves, revealing her freckled arms. She started typing a reply.
‘Did you want me to –?’
‘No, I’ve got it,’ she said.
She certainly did.
While she chatted with John, I couldn’t help but feel a little redundant. I rapped my knuckles on my thighs. The minutes crawled by. I would have spoken if I could actually think of anything to say. But I had no idea where to start. I knew nothing about her. I didn’t know what her interests were, what she studied, what she did with her spare time. There she was, knee-deep in my life, and I didn’t even know her full name.
‘Hayley?’ I asked.
‘Yeah?’
‘What’s your surname?’
‘Walker-Pryce.’ She tilted her head down and blew a wayward strand of hair off her face.
‘Do you go to uni?’
‘No.’ Her eyes were glued to the screen. ‘So, when are we doing this date thing?’
For a split-second, I thought she was asking me out. Then I remembered eSingles, John, and the master plan to drop Mum in the middle of a blind date.
‘Is Friday night good?’ she asked.
‘As in, tomorrow?’
She nodded.
As far as I knew, Mum was free. All I’d have to do was have Sticks work his manipulation magic on his older brother to get a table for two at Gazette and then lure Mum there under the false pretence of having a fancy dinner.
I told Hayley it could work.
‘Good,’ she said. ‘Is there a place you’d prefer they go?’
‘Gazette. It’s on the Grand Parade in Brighton Le Sands,’ I said. ‘Get him to stand at the bar. She’ll have a table reserved.’
‘Excellent,’ Hayley said. Her phone started to ring. She checked the screen, silenced the ringtone and placed the phone down by her side.
‘Aren’t you going to get that?’
‘Nah, it’s just Mum.’ Hayley typed one last message to John and closed the window. ‘He’ll be there at eight.’
She snapped the laptop shut and passed it back.
Twenty minutes earlier, Mum had thirty-seven messages, and now she had a date with her potential future husband. It was massive.
Hayley was blind to its apparent massiveness. She was watching the elevators, drinking from her coffee cup. Her left knee bounced into mine. We were sitting close enough for our legs to touch and I hadn’t noticed until now. Her knee bounced into mine again.
Should I draw attention to it? Should I ignore it? Did it mean something?
I was convinced it meant something.
‘Hayley?’
She looked at me and smiled. I was instantly filled with confidence.
‘What are you doing Friday night?’ I asked. ‘Do you want to . . . ?’ The confidence evaporated a sentence too soon. I swallowed hard and forged ahead. ‘We could meet at eight outside the restaurant and go grab some gelato?’ I didn’t know if she liked gelato. ‘Or something,’ I added.
Ding.
The closest elevator doors slid open and out stepped Mrs Walker-Pryce. Hayley pulled her leg away from mine. ‘Mum!’
‘There you are. What are you . . . ? Get up.’
Hayley was already halfway standing.
Mrs Walker-Pryce stared down at me for a moment before turning to her daughter and adding, ‘I’ve been calling you.’
‘Really?’ Hayley asked. She knelt down and picked up her phone. ‘I hadn’t heard it ringing.’
‘Go say goodbye to your grandfather and let’s go.’
Hayley hesitated, like she didn’t want to leave me alone with her mum.
‘Now, Hayley.’
‘Aren’t you coming too?’
‘I’ll see him this afternoon.’
Meanwhile, I hadn’t gotten an answer to my question and I didn’t want to lose my chance. I pushed up off the floor. ‘Tomorrow?’ I asked.
Hayley was walking backwards. ‘Yeah. It’s a date.’ I couldn’t tell whether she was talking to me or her mother. She spun around on her heels and disappeared into Yiayia’s room.
I could feel Mrs Walker-Pryce’s eyes on me. There was no use delaying the inevitable. I turned to her.
‘Hello,’ I tried.
‘I don’t know what that was, but no,’ she said. ‘I’m sure you’re lovely, but you cannot date my daughter.’
‘What?’ It was all I could manage.
‘Hayley has responsibilities and I’m certain you know nothing about them.’
‘I –’
‘And that’s your grandmother, is it?’ Mrs Walker-Pryce asked. The switch to casual small talk had been jarring. Hayley was on her way back, her bag over one shoulder.
‘Uh. Yeah,’ I mustered.
‘She seems like fun,’ Mrs Walker-Pryce said. ‘You’re Greek?’
‘Yeah.’
Hayley stopped beside us. She seemed apprehensive. ‘Everything all right?’
Her mother left it to me to answer. ‘Yes,’ I said.
Eager to wrap things up, Mrs Walker-Pryce made a beeline for the elevator call button. ‘I’m parked in a handicapped space.’
Hayley said, ‘See ya,’ and followed her mother into a lift. She waved. I waved back. It was as if what Mrs Walker-Pryce said had affected my wrist’s function. My wave was rigid, forced. Hayley furrowed her brow. The elevator doors shut.
What had Mrs Walker-Pryce meant by, ‘Hayley has responsibilities’? She was at the hospital at eleven a.m. on a Thursday, surely her responsibilities couldn’t be that big? And if they were, why would they stop us from dating? Everybody had responsibilities. I mean, I had my grandmother’s bucket list to complete. As if I could hold somebody’s responsibilities against them.
Besides, I liked Hayley.
And after being dumped part way through my first ever date, nothing felt better than having booked a second one less than a week later. I was pretty proud of myself.
It must’ve been obvious.
‘Ti?’ Yiayia asked when I waltzed back into her room.
‘I . . .’
I stopped myself. It hadn’t just been me.
I owed Yiayia. She had been the one who’d gotten Hayley involved in the bucket list in the first place.
‘Ti?’ she repeated.
I wanted to thank her, but it was the sort of gratitude that could only be shown with tacky plush toys.
‘One sec.’
I ducked back out and made my way down to the lobby gift shop. Actually, it was less of a shop and more just two racks crammed with stuffed bears and flowers.
I was standing between the two gift racks, tossing up between the stuffed-bear-with-jar-of-candy and the stuffed-bear-holding-love-heart when I saw her through the shelves.
It couldn’t be. It was.
Maria was walking through the lobby. A guy had his arm around her shoulders. I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but she could, and it was comforting. She wiped her eyes and leaned into him as they walked. I might have just scored a date, but that didn’t stop me feeling a pang of jealousy, at least until he got closer and I realised they looked alike.
In the same way Peter and I looked alike.
Maria and her younger brother continued past the gift shop and through the sliding doors.
I exhaled, quietly thankful for the wall of stuffed bears I had to hide behind.
That afternoon, Sticks showed up at my place.
‘Mum’s working from home today and she’s on my back about exams.’ He relaxed into the couch and put his feet up on the coffee table. ‘If she asks, we’re studying.’
‘Why would she ask?’
‘I’m just saying. It doesn’t hurt to be prepared.’ Sticks glanced around. ‘Where is everyone?’
‘Mum’s at the office and Peter’s . . .’ I had no idea, ‘doing whatever.’
Sticks asked about the night before, but I couldn’t hold it in any longer. ‘I’m going on a date on Friday.’
He blinked hard. ‘With your brother?’
‘Yes, with my brother.’
‘Well, you said it right after I asked about –’
‘With Hayley.’
It took Sticks a second. ‘The handwriting girl?’
I nodded.
‘Nice. How did that all happen?’
‘Well, she was helping me set Mum up on a date.’
‘Oh?’ He was smiling, but it was a hurt kind of ‘oh’, like I shouldn’t have gone through with our plan without him.
I did some quick damage control. ‘She was really bad at it.’
‘Oh.’ It was a better kind of ‘oh’.
‘We ended up finding this guy, John. She chatted to him and we set up a date, which reminds me, we’re going to need a table for two at Gazette on Friday.’
He took out his phone. ‘I’m on it.’
‘But yeah, Hayley and I connected. I
asked her out and she said yes.’
Sticks was messaging his brother when he asked, ‘What’s your game plan?’
‘I don’t have one.’
First, we’d hover indecisively in front of the gelato freezer at Mama Crowley’s Gelato Emporium for ages, joking and laughing and sampling everything before settling on flavours. Then, we’d walk along the beach. We’d stop somewhere private. We’d brush up against each other and our kiss . . . It would be the kiss to end all kisses.
Sticks pocketed his phone. ‘You haven’t even thought about it?’
‘Not really.’ I sat down beside him. ‘We’re going to meet outside Gazette once Mum’s with John and take it from there.’
‘You guys should go get gelato at Mama Crowley’s,’ he said.
‘I think we might actually.’
He seemed pleased with himself.
‘Anyway, last night,’ he said, punching my knee lightly, ‘what happened?’
‘Peter said my name.’
‘That’s it?’
‘Yeah.’
‘We’re going to need more than that.’ Sticks shifted his weight on the couch, trying to get comfortable. ‘I was thinking, what if we went to the gym?’
‘No.’
‘He’s already seen you jogging. If he saw you working out, it’d make it more believable that you’re active like him, make him want to confide in you maybe?’
‘No.’
‘And if that doesn’t convince him, we can keep an eye on him, see if he has any friends there that we can talk to. Maybe they can tell us what’s up with him.’
‘I’m not going to spy on him and interrogate his friends.’
‘Hey, if he happens to be at the same gym as us and we happen to speak to a couple of fellow gym-goers not knowing they’re his friends, then he can’t really get upset, right?’ He winked. ‘And your older brother?’
‘Nothing. I call but he won’t answer.’
‘Have you tried today?’
‘No.’
Sticks tilted his head forward and cocked an eyebrow.
‘Really? So you think Simon’s going to miraculously answer if I phone him today? The other four hundred times weren’t enough?’
Sticks was optimistic. ‘He might.’
‘He won’t. Here, I’ll show you.’ I was already dialling his number. I put it on speakerphone. I let it ring for a bit. ‘See?’
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