by C. J. Duggan
A prod to my exposed foot caused me to drag it away from the edge. A tickle and I kicked out. Scratching my nose, I rolled over to push my face into the pillow with a sleepy groan.
“Wakey, wakey,” an upbeat voice sing-songed. Mum.
“Noooo, go away.”
“I have a surprise for you,” she coaxed as I felt the mattress dip next to me.
She had my semi-attention now. I squinted at the clock.
“But it’s so early.”
The bright and breezy note in my mum’s voice lowered in astonishment.
“It’s 11.30!”
“Wake me in half an hour.” I turned over, hugging my pillow.
“I guess you don’t want this, then.” I heard the rustling of a bag as she got up to leave.
I sat bolt upright, blinded by my wayward hair which swept across my face at haphazard angles.
“What is it?”
“Never mind, you’re too tired,” Mum teased.
“Oh, be the grown-up, Mum, what is it?”
Mum became all excited as she hid an object behind her back.
“Close your eyes.”
I was fully awake now. I loved surprises. Had I told her about that top I had been eyeing off? She must have noticed I came home without it yesterday. I sat on my knees, pushing my bed-tousled hair back.
Holding out my hands, I closed my eyes. Mum placed something in them, and they dipped under the unexpected weight. Okay, definitely not a top. But it was solid and cool.
“Open your eyes,” Mum said, barely able to contain her excitement.
I opened them with haste as Mum ripped the plastic from the top with as much flair as a magician pulling a rabbit from a hat.
“Ta-DA!”
“Oh …” I said, “wow.” That was about as much as I could muster as I took in the hot purple, marbled bike helmet in my hands with, oh Jesus, was that a lightning bolt on each side?
“Do you like it?”
“Wow. It’s … wow.”
Mum nodded in appreciation.
“I saw you came home with another scrape on your knee, and thought you really need to have one of these. It’s the new shape, like the racing people wear, very smart.”
Smart was not the word I would have used. Helmet hair screamed inside me. I had never been so happy that my chain snapped, rendering my bike useless.
“I know you kids don’t get around with helmets, but I think once one starts wearing them, it will catch on; the next thing you know, you’ll all be wearing them.”
I offered my best fake smile. “Thanks, Mum.”
“Try it on!” She beamed.
I humoured her by placing the egg-like dome on my head. It slipped forward, into my face.
I gave her a double thumbs up. “Awesome.”
She patted my cheek. “Looks great, you’ll have to give it a test run.”
I grimaced, trying not to overact my disappointment. I was a terrible actress.
“I can’t until my bike’s fixed; the chain, remember?”
“Oh that’s right, well Dad can-”
“No rush, it’s kind of nice walking – won’t do me any harm.”
In fact, I was pretty sure it may just save my reputation.
As Mum went to leave my room, she stopped and said, “I almost forgot.” She fished out my mobile phone from her pocket that I had left charging in the kitchen.
“This thing keeps beeping at me.” Mum wasn’t very savvy with technology, and she handed it over as if it had a bad smell secreting from it.
I waited for her to leave before taking my helmet off with great gusto; I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. I placed it on my chair giving it a horrified look.
Oh hell, no! Mum I love you, but this I cannot do.
A reminder beep went off, and I crawled back into bed to read 5 missed calls, 7 messages from Ellie. What the?
9.06 am
Oh me Gawd! Oh Me Gawd!
Ring me!!!
9.10 am
Why haven’t you rung me??
9.38 am
OMG!! Check your emails woman!
And pick up your phone…I have to talk to you!!
9.44 am
OH MY GOOOOOOOD!!!! Tell your dad to switch your home phone over from the fax, I mean seriously!
9.46 am
Are you mad at me??
9.50 am
Because seriously now is not the time to be mad at me…TRUST ME!!!
10.00 am
I am coming over to kick your skinny butt!!!!!! Plus I want to see your face when I tell you!!!
I dove out of bed, tripping over my sheet that was tangled around my legs, while I attempted to dial Ellie’s number and fire up the computer all at the same time.
I pressed the power button on the old computer and, as usual, it whirred, groaned and chugged to life. I swear, my parents had given me what must have been the oldest, slowest computer in the southern hemisphere. And if that didn’t have my leg jiggling in impatience, I pressed the power on the modem and waited, waited and waited some more as the dialup beeped and buzzed, connecting to the internet. Thank God it was a separate line; between Dad’s inability to switch the phone back over from the fax, or the fact that Mum and Dad were constantly using it for the business, I would never have got a look in. I convinced them on my sixteenth birthday that it was vital for my future study to get with the times. So they got me a secondhand computer and the internet with its own separate phone line. And I did use it to study. Right after I chatted to Ellie and Adam for a couple of hours each night on MSN Messenger.
Ellie wasn’t answering; guess it was payback or she was riding over to kick my butt. What on earth had her knickers in such a twist? I was used to Ellie’s dramatics, but this seemed different, far more intriguing, even more so than my hideous helmet.
Finally, my computer connected to the web, and I tapped into my email account. I expected to see one BILLION messages of harassment from Ellie, but there was only one from 8.04 am.
To: tessmcgee
Operation Go with Flow initiated!
Oh me Gawd! Oh me Gawd!
I hope you are sitting down, and I hope you have relieved yourself because otherwise you are seriously going to pee your pants!!!
I walked to the corner shop this morning to fetch the paper and who do I run into, in his work rig, fueling up?
That’s right! Stan Remington, looking all windswept and interesting. Seriously he is so adorable!
Anyhow we got to talking and he invited us to go out on the boat with him and the boys…THIS AFTERNOON!!!!
Hold onto your helmet honey…(Oh yeah I know about that by the way. I mean I had to help your Mum pick it out and all. So cute don’t you think??)
Anyway I will call you for rendezvous.
Meet the boys at the Onslow Hotel at 1pm.
Ellie X
P.S If you’re wondering…Toby will be there.
PP.S And Angela has gone to visit her grandparents and won’t be home for two weeks. (Just saying)
Sender: ellieparker
Boat.
Toby.
1pm.
Shit!
Chapter Twelve
I looked at the time in a panic as I tried to dial Ellie’s number.
“Come on, come on, Ellie where are you? Pick up.” My leg was jigging rapidly, what had she done?
By 12.00 pm I was showered, dressed and still unable to get onto Ellie. Now it was my turn to kick her skinny butt. You couldn’t just drop a bombshell on someone and then not answer. Furthermore, you do not encourage and help your best friend’s mum to pick out a hideous bike helmet and expect to get away with it. I would put that in the memory bank for later. For now there was nothing else to do but grab my bag and pocket my phone.
“Mum! I’m heading to Ellie’s.”
Luckily, Ellie lived only three blocks over (be it three large blocks). The weatherman’s words echoed in my head. It’s going to be a scorcher!
Lesson learned
! I had water, sunscreen and coconut cream lip balm that I never left home without. I had opted for a light yellow summer dress. Cool and airy.
I found Ellie in her bedroom, looking radiant as ever in her cut-off denim shorts and halter top; she looked like a catalogue model, but that wasn’t new.
“I trust you got my messages?” she asked as I entered. She was sitting at her dressing table, moisturising her long legs.
“Ah, yeah, are you serious?”
“I would never joke about such a thing.”
I believed that. Boys were an extra-curricular activity Ellie took very seriously.
“Oh-my-God! Look at the time, we gotta go!” Ellie leapt to her feet and grabbed for her beach bag, eyes searching the floor for her thongs. “We have to meet at the hotel at one.”
I had to force my heart to stop racing, everything was happening too fast.
“I have to swing by my house first and grab a towel and my bathers,” I said.
“No time! I’ve packed you everything you need. Dad is going to drop us off. I told him we had a staff meeting and then we were going to McLean’s for the afternoon. I suggest you tell your mum the same.” Ellie shouldered her bag and squealed with excitement. “Let’s go!”
I tapped my foot and bit my nail as I stood in the Onslow Hotel ladies’ room, staring at two microscopic strips of bleached white material. Ellie had chosen a bathing suit for me. I use the term ‘suit’ loosely, as when one usually thinks of a suit, one would think of actual body coverage like the one-piece bathers I was more accustomed to.
I should have worked out something was a bit fishy when Ellie changed with lightning speed and left me alone in the change room, dumping the bag in front of me.
“There you go! Everything you need. I’ll be out in the bar waiting for the boys.”
I thought she was just overeager for them to arrive. I thought little of it until I took out the rolled-up towel and peered into an empty bag. My heart clenched with fear; in Ellie’s haste she had totally forgotten a bathing suit for me! But as I unraveled the towel, a white square fell out, revealing two tiny pieces encased in a sheer, barely there sarong. My suspicion was right. She had forgotten a bathing suit, because this was barely anything.
I hated her, cursed her and stood there, staring for a full ten minutes. I couldn’t go on the boat with them in this. And if I did, I just wouldn’t swim. Simple. I could keep my dress on and have a bit of a tanning day. That’d be alright.
I gritted my teeth and tried the bikini on. I had never felt so utterly naked, not even when I was naked. I crept out to adjust the foreign pieces in the mirror and Oh my God! There was just so much skin … and was that a hint of cleavage? Not possible.
Ever since I had been branded Tic Tac Tess, I had taken to wearing loose, flowing tops that diverted all attention away from that area. It was not until I was forced to wear the Guinness top that I was forced to reveal any form of shape in that department, hence why I was so uncomfortable now. Not only were they out there for the world to see, but they were barely contained by tiny strings that felt like they could be blown undone by a breeze.
I was going to kill her! Before I could dive back in to the cubicle and change into my clothes again, Ellie burst through the door. My instant reaction was to cover myself with my arms as if I was standing naked, which wasn’t too far from the truth.
Ellie’s eyes bugged out; even she thought it was too revealing.
She looked me up and down. “Tess, you look amazing!” she gaped.
“Yeah, well take a good look because this is not going anywhere.”
Ellie grabbed my arm, preventing me from walking back into the cubicle to change.
“They’re here and waiting in the bar.”
I frowned, pulling away from her. I didn’t care; this was a bad idea. I should have known from the very beginning. I guess I did know, but I should have had a plan for when it happened, when the second I confided in Ellie she would be pushing me into things I didn’t want to do. Now I was literally poured into a bikini that I would never have worn even in the privacy of my own bedroom, let alone in front of the Onslow Boys.
“Tess, trust me! You want to wear that. If you want to grab someone’s attention, this is how I’d do it.”
“I’m not you!” I snapped.
“No, you’re not,” Ellie said. “You’re Tess and you’re beautiful. And believe me, when people see the real you, Tic Tac Tess will be a thing of the past. Come on, Tess, just this once?”
It was like a physical blow, saying that name to me. Adam and Ellie never ever uttered those words, knowing how much the nickname hurt me.
There was a knock on the door.
“Come on, you lot, you ready?” called Sean. “You’re taking so long the seasons are changing.”
“Coming,” yelled Ellie.
She gave me an imploring look, grabbing my shoulders and turning me towards the mirror.
“Learn to see what others see,” she said as we both appraised my reflection, “because, believe me, that girl in high school, the supposedly flat-as-a-board nobody … this is not her.”
“Fine.” I slipped on my dress over the bikini.
We weaved through the restaurant, sighting the Onslow Boys propped on stools in the main bar.
“Don’t think I’ve forgotten about the helmet, either,” I muttered like a bad ventriloquist, plastering a fake smile on my lips.
“Geez, did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed or what?”
I thought back to my lack of sleep, and Mum’s annoying awakening.
“You could say that.”
Sean and Toby led the way down to the jetty. Boats of all shapes and sizes dotted the harbour, a hub of distant splashes and screams echoed from the water as people lapped up what was the beginning of the hottest part of the day. We neared an impressive boat with navy inscription scrawled along the hull.
Southern Son.
“Whose boat is this?” I asked.
“Stan’s, isn’t he a nice boy?” Sean mocked.
Ellie just scoffed, tipping her sunnies on as she crossed her arms and looked out to the jet skiers, churning circles on the water.
Toby jumped into the boat followed by Sean as they went to work on their safety checks.
“You okay?” I asked Ellie. I hoped that she wasn’t going to be in a mood for the rest of the day. Ellie didn’t take too kindly to being stood up.
She flashed a winning smile. “Sure, this is going to be fun.” She pushed past me, over the edge of the jetty and held out her hand. “Sean, could you help me?”
Sean dropped his rope and scooted over to help her into the boat. Ellie squealed and clung onto his arm as she landed awkwardly on the rocking deck.
“Careful,” he said, steadying her.
I rolled my eyes.
Sean motioned me over and helped me into the boat. His hands circled my waist as he lifted me down. I had never had so many hands encircled around my waist in my life as I had in the last couple of days, and every time it made my cheeks flush from the intimacy of it. The ripped cords of muscles in his arms felt foreign under my touch. Scott had always been lean and gangly, like he still had growing to do, which he mostly did, he was a teenager after all, as opposed to the Onslow Boys.
I sat on the sideboard, watching Sean and Toby work with expert precision, finishing up the safety checks.
“Sweet! Full tank. Good on you, Stan, my son,” Sean said.
“I think he had a big day planned,” Toby said, more to himself than anyone. And my heart did ache a little for Stan, who was now stuck helping his dad on this hot, sweltering day, when he was supposed to have been firing up the engine, which Toby did instead.
As the engine churned dark water into white froth behind us, I thought about what we were about to do. I was about to embark on a day on the lake with Toby Morrison. If anyone had told me last week this was how I’d be spending my summer, I would have never believed them.
“Where
to?” called Toby over the hum of the motor.
“McLean’s?” posed Sean.
“Too busy,” Ellie yelled.
“How about over Horseshoe Bend? Pretty secluded there,” I suggested.
Sean smiled wickedly as he moved to sit beside Toby. “You want somewhere private, do you, Tess? What do YOU have planned for the day?”
I blushed, horrified at what he thought I was suggesting.
“I just meant …”
“You heard the lady, Tobias, drive her around the bend.”
Chapter Thirteen
We powered along, giving a wide berth to all the other boats that were littered throughout the lake.
Once we were clear of them, Toby floored it, jerking us backward and causing Ellie and I to hang on for dear life. The thrill of the surge and the power of Stan’s boat was exhilarating. It was fast; very fast. I looked at Ellie, who mirrored my own gleeful smile, as we set across the never-ending stretch of water, the wind spray of the water cooling my face.
“Faster!” Ellie yelled.
Toby leant sideways, struggling to hear. “Faster?”
“Yes, faster!” we screamed.
Toby accelerated before the words were fully out of our mouths, and we hung on with white-knuckled intensity. I dipped my head to prevent my eyes from watering. Sean and Toby were laughing as they looked back to check on us (probably to make sure we were still onboard).
All too soon, Toby lowered the throttle, slowing the boat down as we reached our destination. We were on the opposite side of town, and I could see just offshore the very place I had been limping along earlier in the week.
As if it triggered a memory in Toby, too, he turned to me. “How’s the knee?”
It was now only an embarrassing pink mark and looked far less fatal. I tried to bend my knee away from his eyes.
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
“What’s this?” Sean’s ears pricked up.
“Nothing,” Toby quickly changed the subject. “Help me with this, Sean.” He concentrated on something complicated on the control panel.
I guessed that Toby didn’t stop for an iced chocolate with Sean after dropping me home. Didn’t tell him all about his afternoon and how he rescued me, fixed me up. Didn’t exchange smiles and laugh at each other’s jokes.