Mac Slater Coolhunter 1

by Tristan Bancks

  We raced around finding palm fronds and other branches to cover the trike. If you looked hard you could still see something shiny underneath but it was good enough.

  'What do you think?' I said to Dad, looking out over the water at the storm moving in.

  He drew in a sharp breath. 'Not a great night for flying.'

  38

  Gatecrasher

  5:38 p.m. Lightning all around, the sky silvery grey, as I wriggled my way under the fence. The bottom of the wooden palings tore at the grazes on my back, and I had the taste of dirt on my tongue. I was crawling into a garden. The rain hadn't hit yet but the wind was full-on, blowing the plants in every direction. There was a distant boom of thunder. Through the hedge and down the slope I could see the party was kicking in. The house was open-plan with big bi-fold doors so you could see right through to the pool out front, water blowing off it in sheets, the ocean beyond. About fifty kids were cutting loose to a hip-hop track on the dance floor by the pool where the band were setting up.

  We were way up at the back of the house. We'd been circling Cat's three-metre fence for twenty minutes before Paul noticed a bunch of rocks blocking a hole where a dog had been digging. We rolled the rocks away and, voila! Our invite to the party of the year.

  Gatecrashing didn't feel so good. Not just because the row of hedge-bushes I was sliding into had about six hundred kilos of manure in it but because I didn't even want to go to the party. But we had to get our camera back. My dad was up the hill looking after the trike. Jewels was probably inside. She was the key to me getting the camera.

  Once I was through I waited for Paul's head to appear in the dog hole. But it didn't.

  'What are you doing?' I yelled, trying to be heard over the combined noise of wind and music.

  'Reereeroraa,' was what I heard back.

  'Speak up, moron. I can't hear you,' I said.

  'I can't do it,' he yelled.

  I crouched down and spoke through the hole I'd just crawled through, like I was talking to a bank teller, waiting for them to slide me my cash.

  'You better be coming through!' I said.

  'I can't man. It's my claust–'

  'Don't tell me that. I don't wanna hear it. Just. Get. Under. The. Fence.'

  As well as fear of old people and flying, Paul was petrified of small spaces. Squeezing through a hole under a fence into a manure-filled hedgerow really wasn't his idea of a great night out.

  'You go. I'll find another way,' he said.

  I cupped my hands to my face. This was so typical. But I didn't have time to psychologise the dude into climbing under.

  'Whatever, man. Just make it fast.'

  So, I was on my own. All I had to do was make contact with Jewels, get upstairs without being seen, search around, find our camera and get out again. My school shorts and a T-shirt from Big W that I'd borrowed from Paul were now covered in dirt, dog hair and manure. This'd be a piece of cake.

  39

  The Party Of The Year

  The second I stepped out of the bushes I heard a voice that I recognised. The guy was pacing around in a timber cabana with a hammock in it, yapping into a mobile phone. He had a British accent.

  I quickly backed into the hedge again as I heard:

  'Can you hold on for one second? Mac, is that you?'

  Speed Cohen, Coolhunters founder.

  I shuffled further back into the hedge, hoping he'd give up and think I was the gardener or some guy who thought the dress code for the party was 'animal faeces'.

  'Can I just – Can I call you back?' said Speed. 'OK, two minutes.'

  I could feel him moving in closer to the hedge, peering through dense foliage.

  'Mac?' He pushed aside some branches and stared right at me. 'What're you doin' in there, man? Come out. It's a party.'

  I figured I didn't have much choice.

  'Hey, Speed, how're you doing? I didn't hear you calling out the first time,' I said, giving away the fact that I knew there was a first time.

  Speed shook hands with all that knuckle-slapping and skin-sliding stuff, like we were old college buddies. I didn't even bother trying to work it out this time. I wasn't in the mood. I looked like the biggest Loser from Loserville and I really didn't want to be speaking to him.

  Speed pulled me out of the bushes, in full view of the party. I could see Cat milling around inside so I quickly turned my back.

  'Seriously, mate. Why are you –' Then it dawned on him. 'Are you not invited?'

  'Not exactly,' I said, raising my voice over the sound of music, the constant groan of thunder and the wind howling all around us.

  'Right, well, we better give you a low profile,' he said. 'I don't wonder she hasn't invited you. I've loved what you've been doing, mate. Spot on. You take, like, totally uncool elements like inventing, for God's sake, and make them cool. You're teaching us stuff that kids like. I mean, you're teaching kids stuff that they like and didn't know they liked. I even like your goofy mate. You just...'

  I tuned out. All I needed was to steer clear of Cat, Egg and his dudes and find my camera.

  'You don't have a camera on you, do you?' I asked Speed.

  'No. Why?' he said.

  'No reason,' I said. I didn't want to tell him I'd lost his cam. I still hadn't broken it to him about the phone.

  'You haven't lost yours, have you?' he asked.

  'No. No way. Course not. I just... Paul has it. He's just setting up.'

  'What've you guys got planned?' he asked, grinning.

  I felt the first big, chunky drops of rain splat on my head.

  'Big secret,' I said, thinking what an extra-big secret it'd be if we had nothing to shoot it on.

  'Can't wait,' Speed said.

  'Sorry,' I said. 'But can we catch up later tonight? Is that OK?'

  'Hey, sure, mate. No problemo. Storm's about to hit. You take care of yourself, OK?' he said.

  'Yup,' I said and took off along the back fenceline.

  There was a giant gust of wind and the sound of a door smashing shut inside. A couple of kids started to close up the house. The rain was getting heavier.

  'There's no way I'm flying in this,' I muttered to myself as I ducked down the side of the house and snuck in through a laundry door. There was a guy and girl sucking face in there and blocking the way through.

  ''Scuse me,' I said, squeezing past. They didn't come up for air.

  The hallway on the other side of the laundry was packed with kids sheltering from the wind. Guys dressed in Diesel T-shirts, girls looking like they stepped off a catwalk. They must have had an ugly-ometer at the front door and banned anyone who looked nasty. Just as well I came in the back. I'd never seen so many perfect-looking people in my life. It was creepy.

  On the wall in the hall there was an LCD screen logged in to the Coolhunters site. It was showing Cat's mini-skirt vlog from Wednesday. To the left was the main lounge room, opening onto the poolside dance floor. To the right was a set of stairs leading to the floor above. I wanted to just go up, find the camera and get the hell out but that would be just as bad as someone breaking into our workshop. I needed to find Jewels. She had to help me.

  As I walked up the hallway towards the lounge room kids were staring at me. I heard a guy say, 'Hey, it's that dude,' and a girl said, 'Is he even meant to be here?' She sounded kind of scared to see someone in a T-shirt that cost less than 250 bucks. It might also have had something to do with my new cow-dung aftershave.

  In the open-plan lounge area that spilt onto the front and back decks there were seven or eight LCD screens on the walls showing Cat's vlogs from the week gone by. In the centre of the lounge room there was an ice sculpture of the Empire State Building. The wind howling through the big bifold doors was blowing drips of melted ice off the building.

  Three guys finished closing most of the doors. Someone had towels down on the tiled floor, trying to mop up all the rain that had blown in. Outside it was too foggy to see the ocean. The trees around the pool
were blowing violently. The band was dragging wet equipment inside – soaking amps, speakers and drums. They did not look happy. Cat was there, holding a camera, and it looked like she was apologising to them. Then she turned and headed across the dance floor, disappearing down the hall. This was so not turning out to be the party of the year. I scanned the room for Jewels but she was nowhere.

  Then there was a loud crack. And another. And another. Something bounced off the concrete out near the pool. Hail. Giant lumps falling from the sky. Within seconds the noise of falling hail was deafening. A soaking Speed bolted in from out back. I wondered how Paul and my dad were doing out there. The whole party was silent. Even the music couldn't be heard and nobody noticed me anymore. For the next few minutes everyone just gazed out the wide glass doors, watching this demented ice-fest.

  Pretty soon the area around the pool out front was white with hailstones the size of tomatoes. They were smashing the surface of the water, causing explosions and turning the pool into this heaving, churning bucket of crazy.

  I hadn't eaten since before lunch and hunger hit so I wove my way over to the food table. I grabbed a plate and piled it high with bread and salad and pasta and prawns. I knew I should be getting on with my mission and getting out of there but the food looked too good. As I dug a giant spoon into the potato salad I glanced up and saw Jewels in an armchair at the back of the room. She was by herself, staring out the window. She was wearing lots of makeup, a black, expensive-looking dress and high heels. I wondered whose clothes they were. I'd never seen her look like that before. She looked kind of great but super-uncomfortable, too.

  I made my way over and crouched next to her. When she saw me her eyes bulged out of her head, she straightened in her chair, and looked around to see if anyone was watching.

  'What're you doing?' she asked.

  'Eating,' I said. 'You?'

  'You're not meant to be here.'

  'Neither are you.'

  'I was invited,' she said.

  'That's not what I meant.'

  'You better go,' she said.

  I looked at her. 'Where's my camera?'

  Her eyes seemed to fill with tears.

  'I don't know. Where'd you leave it?' she said.

  I looked at her again.

  The sound of glass smashing. A bunch of people roared at the front of the room and stepped back from the glass doors now being thumped by hail.

  'I don't know where she put it,' Jewels said. 'I don't!'

  I just stared at her. We went too far back and she knew that I knew that she had no choice but to help me.

  'Stop looking at me, creep-o-zoid,' she said and stood up. I stood with her, ditching my plate onto a coffee table.

  'Go away.'

  'Please. Just tell me,' I said. 'What'd I do?'

  She looked at me.

  'You don't know?'

  I shrugged, feeling like maybe I should know.

  'At lunch the other day you brushed me,' she said.

  'You stole our camera because of that? Are you kidding me?' I asked. 'Anyway, you showed us the kitesk8 board thing the next day. I thought we were cool.'

  'And you snubbed me then, too!' she said. 'Remember shooshing me whenever I said anything?'

  By the way she looked at me I kind of knew what was coming. It was the Jewels-talk I'd been sidestepping since she kissed me on the cheek in first grade. I panicked and looked around. I wanted to ask someone for help but I was at the wrong party.

  'I like you, Mac,' she said.

  Oh, no. This was it.

  'I always have.'

  Please. Someone. Stop it now. I know she looks good and she's great and all that but it's Jewels! The girl my mum wants me to marry. The girl who can do no wrong. The girl I used to swim nude with in the ti-tree lake when I was three.

  'Are you OK?' she asked. 'You look sort of green. Do you need water?'

  'No, I'm OK,' I said. 'Just, um, emotional, you know?'

  Jewels punched me in the chest. 'Don't be an idiot,' she said. 'This is exactly why I did what I did. Because you don't take me seriously. I feel like I'm some annoying little sister to you.'

  I didn't say anything for a bit. Then: 'So you wanted to make me angry?'

  'I wanted you to know I'm alive!' she said. 'I saw you crouching behind your little tree outside Cat's.'

  'Really?'

  'Yes, really. It's not just one thing, Mac. It's years of you walking through me like I'm invisible.'

  I looked away. I didn't really know what to say. Maybe I was turning into my dad – unable to string two words together when the heat's on.

  'I'm sorry,' I said, still turned away.

  'What?' she asked.

  I lifted my head, looked her in the eye. Man, she did look good. 'I'm sorry for ignoring you, hey.'

  She smiled. 'Are you just saying this so I'll tell you where your camera is?'

  'Kinda,' I said.

  She punched me again, but a little lighter this time. She looked at me for a few seconds. 'I guess let's do it,' she said. 'I've got nothing to lose. Hanging out with Cat and her Kittens is like a death sentence anyway. They're so self–'

  Another glass door smashed and people scattered to get out of the way. Jewels grabbed my hand and led me through the crowd. As we were about to disappear down the hallway towards the stairs I took a quick look over my shoulder. I wish I hadn't.

  40

  Cat's Crib

  Above the crowd, I could see a familiar shaved head staring right at me. Egg. He tapped Soren, who was standing next to him, and they started making their way towards us. They followed Jewels and me down the hall, pushing kids aside. I looked into the laundry where the couple were still pashing each other's heads off against the washing machine. It was as though they hadn't even heard the hail, the glass smashing, none of it. I thought about ducking past and out into the backyard but the stones were still falling from the sky and I wasn't so hot on being knocked out. Jewels ducked under a rope across the bottom of the stairs and I followed her. We wound our way up into a second-floor hallway, then up another flight.

  We could hear Egg and Soren behind us so Jewels led me down the hallway, ducking through the nearest door. I kept it open a crack, peering through until I saw them in the hall. I shut the door quietly and let out a long, steady breath.

  Jewels tapped me on the shoulder. I turned, realising that I was in a bedroom. Cat's bedroom. And she was in there, too.

  She was standing looking into a mirror in an ensuite bathroom at the far end of the huge room. With all the insane cracking of hail on the roof she hadn't heard us come in. I wanted to get out of there fast, before she saw us. Jewels did, too. But I knew that there was a worse fate waiting outside. I could hear Soren and Egg talking. A nearby door slammed.

  Jewels and I stood still, barely breathing. Cat was crying. Just looking at herself in the mirror, tears streaming in big, black streaks down her face.

  The bedroom looked out the front of the house towards the ocean. Every wall of the room was covered in photos of models torn from magazines. Even the ceiling was covered. Thousands and thousands of catwalk pics of way-too-bony chicks sucking in their cheeks, looking moody. Angry. Just like Cat. There was a walk-in robe next to the bathroom with racks and racks of clothes inside. There were clothes strewn all over Cat's bed and in twisted balls around the floor. There were shoes and bags, too. And half-filled coffee mugs on a nearby dresser and all over the bedside tables.

  The hail sounded like it was beginning to ease.

  'My God, what the hell are you doing in here!' wailed Cat. 'Get out!'

  I grappled with the door-handle but I think I locked it and couldn't get it open. Cat stopped about a metre away from us.

  'What are you doing in here?' she screamed. 'And what stinks?'

  I glanced down at my manurey T-shirt and school shorts.

  'He wants his camera,' said Jewels.

  'As if I have it!' Cat said.

  'Cat, he knows,' Jewels tol
d her.

  'Whatev's. Like I'm going to give it back to him when my party's this disaster. What do I do, just let him win?'

  I had a flash of the 'other Cat' in that Maths class.

  'Why did you try to be friends with me?' I asked.

  'So I could beat you!' she said. 'You're so naive. It's like you're five years old.'

  The door-handle started rattling. A heavy hand bashed on the door.

  'Cat? You in there?' Egg's deep voice asked.

  I waited for Cat to open the door and let them in so they could tear me apart.

  'Give me a minute,' she called out. She stared at me and Jewels.

  'Why are you so angry?' I asked.

  'Because everything sucks.'

  'No, not just right now,' I said. 'Always. You're always angry.'

  'Well, we don't all live in hippie heaven like you two. Some of us have lives. Some of us want to be somebody or do something. Some of us want to succeed. I know that probably sounds weird for people like you who just want to sit around and burn incense and sing happy songs about love and draw on your sneakers and try to make your bike fly, but it's the truth of the world outside your little bubble. Neither of you will ever be a success because you don't want it bad enough. I've worked so hard to become successful and you've just been this total geek-freak inventor idiot and somehow got lucky. I hate you.'

  She slapped me across the face. Hard. That was the moment I kind of got over my obsession with Cat DeVrees. For now, anyway.

  The sound of hail had almost died. Cat stepped towards the door, hand on the lock, and clicked it. Egg burst through. Jewels and I were behind the door and, through the crack, I could see Soren waiting outside.

  'You OK?' Egg asked, putting his hand on Cat's shoulder. She was staring right at me.

  I had one chance and one chance only to get out of that room.

  41

  The Great Escape