~*~
The rest of that day and the next passed in a blur of furious activity as I determinedly avoided thinking about Jack. It was interesting to note that I had no problem with hashing and rehashing the things I'd said or the way I'd acted towards Simone or Matt but as soon as my thoughts began to veer towards a certain blue eyed boy I would slam shut a kind of firewall in my mind and busy myself with something. Over the Wednesday and Thursday I cleaned the whole flat (OK not the whole flat because I avoided the boys’ rooms like the plague) thoroughly, even finding myself climbing onto a chair to scrub the top of the kitchen cabinets which only an 8 foot giant would be able to see anyway.
I worked a couple of extra shifts at the bookstore and lugged a bag load of heavy law textbooks from the library to the flat and actually began to read them. I also took long baths and bought a new phone for the landline, although I regretted that decision immediately as every time it rang I jumped from a mixture of excitement and fear hoping and dreading in equal parts that it would be Jack or Matt. But neither of them rang.
On the Thursday evening I was having one of my long, luxurious baths when I heard the phone begin to ring. My heart did the now familiar jump up into my throat and I eyed the receiver, which I'd brought into the bathroom with me, with some trepidation.
Hauling myself out of the bath and wrapping a towel around myself I sat cross-legged on the bathmat and answered the phone.
"Talia?" My mother's voice was shrill after I said hello.
My stomach wasn't sure whether to rise or sink at hearing her voice so it did a little bounce to cover the bases. "The one and only," I replied grabbing another towel and beginning to dry the tips of my hair. "Hi, Mum."
"Don't you 'hi Mum' me!" She shrieked down the phone and I winced and held the receiver away from my ear. "Where has everyone been? We've been calling for days and days. The home phone was just dead and your mobiles are all off!" Hmm, looks like I wasn't the only one playing the avoidance game then. "Jack called us on Monday to tell us he got the scholarship and then nothing," she continued.
"So, in fact, mother, it has only been three days without hearing from us," I interjected as she paused to draw breath.
"When you have children, Talia, and they seem to disappear off the planet for only three days I'll remind you of this," my mum replied, her voice crisp with anger.
I took a deep breath, knowing I'd started off on the wrong foot, and spoke in a more conciliatory tone. "You're right, sorry. Things have been kind of hectic here lately."
"Things?" She asked.
"You know, uni, work, that kind of thing," I answered in my tried and trusted vague manner.
"Oh, I thought it was because Matt found out you've been sleeping with Jack."
OH FOR GOD'S SAKE!
A weird little cough of shock and horror got caught in my throat and I was thankful that I was already sitting down because my mother's comment would have seen me flat out on the floor otherwise.
"Mum!" I shrieked once I'd found my voice again. "Have you got our place bugged or something?"
She scoffed down the line and I could almost see her shaking her head pityingly at me. "Darling, you know I don't need electronic devices to know what's going on with you kids. I just called Tom and asked him. I don't think he wanted to tell me but he's a good boy."
Poor Tommo. I could see it now, his eyes wide and frightened, mum's probing questions hitting nearer and nearer the mark and then, the clincher, she tells him his mum wants him to visit on his next weekend. I didn't blame him, I can't usually last out against my mother and I've had almost 19 years to get used to her.
Still, it was news to me that Tommo even knew what had been going on. Jack must have told him, but how much? Honestly, so much for a web of lies, this was becoming a web of truth and it was a hell of a lot scarier!
My mum started to talk again and, although I was terrified of what other things she knew about what was going on with me, I tuned in to what she was saying.
"Am I to suppose that, considering I haven't had any calls to let me know the date of Jack's funeral, someone was there to stop my first-born killing him?"
"Yeah, I was there, me and my friend Adam actually. Matt got a couple of swings in but Jack was OK." Well physically at least, my mind couldn't help adding.
"I did tell you that this was going to happen, didn't I? I warned you of the consequences last week, didn't I?"
Well at least she'd lasted a whole two minutes before slipping in an 'I told you so', there have been conversations in the past when that has been the opening line. Deciding to bite the bullet I gave my mum a quick rundown of the past week's events realising, as I did so, that with each retelling it was getting easier to talk about.
When I'd finished talking I worried for a moment that the line had gone dead or my story had bored my mother to sleep as there was a long silence in the receiver. Just as I was about to check whether she was still there my mum said calmly, "I want you to give the speech at our anniversary party next week."
OK, I was used to my mother's short attention span and her quick conversation jumps but this was ridiculous! Swallowing back the hurt at her apparent disinterest in my current crisis I managed to ask in a fairly normal voice, "Why me?"
She let out an amused little chuckle. "Isn't it obvious? I think spending some time thinking about mushy love stuff and writing an amusing and insightful speech about commitment and long-lasting affection might do you some good, that's all. Apart from that, I can't think of anyone else I'd rather have do it, I love your brother but he's hardly the most articulate person in the world."
Whereas I can't seem to stop myself speaking even when I should definitely shut the hell up. Fine, I got her point.
"Thanks, Mum, I'm honoured," I said truthfully. I was also thinking it was nice to have something else to take my mind off Jack as there are only so many baths you can have in a day without feeling guilty about the drought crisis.
So Much to Learn Page 54