Struggle to Forever: a friends to lovers duet

by Lilliana Anderson

  “Hey, why do you think I don’t date?”

  Ten

  Before the school holidays ended, leading into our final year of high school, Mum surprised me with yet another car. This time it was a bit of a bomb; an old red Celica wagon. I’d been working at Franklins stacking shelves, saving every cent for a car of my own but I wasn’t anywhere near the amount needed. I was stoked.

  “It’s no Impreza, but it’ll do the job,” Mum said as I sat inside it and gripped the brown steering wheel. It smelled like someone had left their shoes in there on a really hot day. “John, I mean, Mr Mahoney said he’ll help you fix it up, teach you how to tune and repair it. I know you were saving for a car of your own, but I thought this one would do you until you hit your savings goal. Or you can use your savings to keep it running. Up to you. I just wanted to give you back that freedom you were after.”

  “The car is perfect, Mum. It’s exactly what I would’ve chosen.”

  She grinned. “Really?”

  “Yeah.” Four wheels and a working motor were literally the only prerequisites I had.

  When I drove it around to Trina’s place, she was just getting back from a bike ride. Even though she’d broken up with Ethan, she continued to train for triathlons. She was good at them too and even tried to get me roped into it occasionally. I was happy to train with her a couple of times a week, but I didn’t have any interest of competing like she did.

  “Wow. Did you save enough already?” she asked, leaning through the open window.

  “Mum did. It’s a gift to replace the one Dad stole.”

  She stood up and looked over the boxy red machine. “I like it. I expect you’ll pick me up and bring me home from school every day.”

  I grinned. “Deal.”

  Returning to school was shittier than ever. You’d think that by year twelve, we would have all figured out how to get along. But, there was still this great class divide. Cassie and co. continued to rule the school and did their best to make everyone else feel like crap. Quite successfully.

  When I told Ethan Trina and I were close like family, I didn’t expect it would come back to bite us on the butt. But it did. Somehow, everyone found out that Ethan found us in bed together. So, Cassie started referring to us as the ‘incest twins’. She came up with this elaborate story about us actually being related, and the gossip mongers grabbed hold of it and went crazy.

  We were back to the whispers, the toilet wall graffiti, and the usual jibes when enough people were watching to get a laugh. I never knew what it was about Katrina and me that was so fascinating, but with Cassie as the driving force, the interest seemed endless.

  Once again, there was no point denying the rumours. The mindless masses would think what they wanted, anyway. It just meant that Trina and I separated ourselves even more. Somehow, they pushed us even closer. We cut ourselves off and quit the whole ‘group’ scene all together. We just couldn’t be bothered anymore.

  Katrina put a lot of time and energy into her training, which in the long run paid off because she got selected to race at Nationals and came close to making it on the Australian team.

  I watched every race she competed in—except for the interstate ones—and I couldn’t have been prouder of her. She was amazing.

  In our last term of school, year twelve students completed final exams to obtain our Higher School Certificate which would determine what courses we’d be accepted to at university. Normal classes didn’t exist anymore. Which meant that finally, Katrina and I weren’t a concern anymore. The future was all anyone could think about. We were almost free save for a few formalities: graduation and the year twelve formal.

  “I don’t know if I want to go to the formal this time,” Trina announced out of the blue. We were sitting at my house going over the university course manuals to decide which courses we wanted to apply for. The deadline was looming and we needed to make some sort of a decision. Just not about the formal.

  I flicked the page, studying the marks required to qualify for law as I wondered if I’d studied hard enough to achieve them. “We can boycott it if you want,” I said absentmindedly. “Get drunk and throw eggs at the celebs when they get out of their cars.” I was half joking—I would dearly love to see the look on Cassie’s face when an egg splattered all over her nice dress—but there were bigger issues at hand. Trina and I were both leaning towards studying law and had agreed to apply for Sydney Uni as our first choice since a relationship wasn’t holding her back anymore. The University of Western Sydney was our backup since it was close to home and had lower entry scores.

  “That would be awesome. I’m so in!” Katrina laughed.

  Huh? I had to backtrack my thoughts a little to remember what she was excited about. Egging Cassie. Oh shit.

  “We can’t get drunk first though,” she continued. “We’ll need to be sober to get away. It’s out in Mulgoa, so we can drive out there, park your car around the corner and wear hats and glasses so we blend in with the crowd of parents and friends taking photos. Then, as soon as Cassie gets out of her car, we’ll egg her—we’ll egg all of them—and run.” She laughed and sat back in her chair. “It’ll be epic.”

  I watched Trina as she spoke of her evil plan with an amused grin on my face. “Well, look at you. I’ve never seen you go this nasty before. I like it,” I said, nodding my head while I chewed on the end of my pencil thoughtfully, weighing up how likely it would be that we’d actually get away with this. I decided getting back at Cassie was worth the risk and held out my hand. “All right, let’s do it. I don’t think one prank against all of her nastiness will tip the karma scales against us.”

  “Not even a little.” Trina grinned and took my hand, shaking it solidly to seal our plan.

  Eleven

  On the night of the formal, Trina and I loaded up a small Crumpler bag with about a dozen eggs and drove to the venue. With excitement buzzing in our veins, we parked at one end of the street then walked to the opposite side of the circular driveway where everyone would be dropped off to make their grand entrance. And we waited.

  The grounds had these really exquisite gardens, so it was easy to obscure ourselves by the side of a palm tree without calling attention to ourselves.

  “I’m so nervous,” Trina whispered, slumping against the palm as she pulled her cap over her face.

  I grabbed her arm and tugged her away. “Don’t lean against the tree. Those things are always full of Huntsman.”

  Trina stood up straight and immediately brushed off her arm, shuddering. “I hate Huntsman. They’re the worst kind of spiders with their long creepy hairy legs. Yuck.”

  Families had already begun to gather with their cameras at the ready, and I could see Cassie’s mother in among them. I had a momentary pang of guilt before remembering the multiple humiliations Cassie had bestowed upon Trina and me. She and her cronies deserved some retribution.

  People talked a lot about taking the high road and not stooping to your tormenter’s level. But I always thought the people who came up with that shit were either tormentors themselves, or had never been one of the tormented. Because the feeling of sweet, sweet revenge felt like reclaiming our power, our lives.

  Not going to the formal to egg Cassie would have been our greatest regret. This had to happen.

  I nudged Trina and pointed to Cassie’s mum so we could keep an eye on her. She’d know which car Cassie was coming in and would serve as a warning for us to get ready.

  We stood and watched the first few cars come up the drive, letting their occupants out at the front entrance. You’d think it was some kind of award show the way the flashes of cameras and phones were going off.

  Eventually, I noticed Cassie’s mum getting excited. “This must be her car now. Get ready,” I said to Trina, reaching in the bag to grab as many eggs as I could carry in one hand.

  Katrina let out a loaded breath. “Fuck, I’m even more nervous now. I don’t know if I can do this.”

  “Think about that
time Cassie reported you to the school counsellor by saying you wanted to have sex with your brother.”

  “Oh god. I nearly died when they sat me down to explain incest was illegal. He wouldn’t even accept that maybe she was making it up. Her and her friends cackled when I left his office red-faced. I kept finding copies of Flowers in the Attic in my locker all year.”

  “Bitches.”

  “Yeah. Fucking bitches.”

  “Bitches who deserve some egg in their face?”

  She grinned. “Hell yeah they deserve it.”

  “Then let’s do this.” I grabbed her arm, pulling her forward. “Load your weapons.”

  She closed her eyes for a moment and took an egg in each hand. We walked quickly toward the black limousine as it pulled up and waited while the door was opened by the driver.

  “Ready?” I asked as I saw the first leg emerge from the limo.

  “Not really, but I’ve come this far...”

  Out stepped Cassie, wearing this long peach coloured dress that was shimmering with little bits of silver stuff all over it. She was followed by Ben, who was wearing a suit with a tie that matched her dress. After them were, Terry with Maddie, and Aaron with Mara.

  “Go!” I called over my shoulder, sprinting with Trina close by my side. We let go of as many eggs as we could on our way past, hitting them square in their chests and exploding yolk everywhere. I would never forget the shocked looks on their faces, the horror, the shrill squeals, the gruff swearing from the guys. Suddenly, I felt so much better about the last few years’ worth of crap they put Trina and me through. Revenge really was sweet.

  Laughing hard, we ran.

  “Shit. Ben and Aaron are chasing us,” Katrina shrieked.

  “Fuck. Run faster,” I yelled, grabbing her hand and pulling her along behind me as we sprinted for my car.

  We hit against it with a bang and thankfully, I didn’t drop the keys. By the luck of the Gods, the car started first turn. I planted my foot and sped off.

  “Did they see the car?” I asked as I turned the corner.

  “I don’t think so. I couldn’t see them. I think we had too much of a head start.”

  All of a sudden, we both burst out laughing.

  “I can’t believe we just did that!” Katrina cackled. “Did you see Cassie’s face? I will remember that fondly for the rest of my days.” She sighed and settled back into her seat.

  I glanced over at her, a firm grin planted on my face, just like there was on hers. “That was probably the be—holy shit!”

  “What?” Trina demanded, looking around us frantically. “Are they behind us?”

  “Ah no. Just stay still, OK?” I told her, slowing the car and pulling over.

  “Why? What is it? Oh god, it’s a spider isn’t it? It’s a great big giant hairy mother fucking spider.”

  The Huntsman crawled over her shoulder. “Stay still and calm. I’m going to get it,” I instructed, getting out of the car to move around to her side.

  I opened her door and took her hand, pulling her out while she made a high-pitched squealing noise. “I felt it move!”

  “You need to calm down. You’ll scare it, and it’ll jump off you and into the car. Just come with me, calmly.”

  She continued to squeal with a much quieter tone as I pulled her away from the car, keeping my eye on the spider the whole time. I raised my hand and swatted it forward so it landed on the ground in front of us.

  “There. It’s gone.”

  Trina then let out a huge scream and jumped on the poor thing, stomping on it over and over again until there was nothing left to see but a couple of legs and pulpy mess.

  “Holy crap, Trina. It’s not like it was poisonous. You could have let it go.”

  She visibly shuddered. “I hate spiders,” she stated, stomping the spot one last time before getting back in the car.

  “I can see that,” I mumbled, following suit and getting back in as well. “Where to now?” I asked, once we were moving again and had calmed down.

  “Let’s get something to eat. Fish and chips at the river?”

  “Sounds perfect. All that egging and spider thwarting certainly works up an appetite.”

  We went and ordered our food and took it down to Nepean River then settled ourselves on the bank and ate quietly, watching a team of rowers glide by in their boats, a coach following after them in his speed boat.

  I pulled out a bottle of Southern Comfort and offered it to her. “Thanks,” she said, taking a swig then offering it back to me.

  “Nah, I’m driving. I’ll drink later.”

  “Is it wrong that I don’t even feel a tiny bit bad over what we just did?”

  “Killing a defenceless spider? Or egging the Celebs?”

  “Egging the Celebs. That spider deserved everything it got.”

  “Nope. Cassie has been a bitch to you for years. I’m surprised you haven’t retaliated before now.”

  “She’s been worse to you.”

  “Ah, she’s just got some weird fixation. I think she decided that if I wasn’t going to date her then she was going to make it so no one wanted to date me.” I shrugged and bit into a potato scallop. “I hated the way she treated you more. She deserved what she got today.”

  “You think so? You don’t think we were over the top?”

  “I thought you said you didn’t feel bad?”

  “I don’t feel bad as such, but I do wonder if it was a little over the top.”

  “As over the top as claiming I forced her to have an abortion? Or telling everyone we’re related and in an incestuous relationship?”

  “Well, when you put it like that. No, I don’t think we went over the top at all.” She laughed, picking the crispy batter off a piece of fish. “Do you wish we’d gone to the formal?”

  “No Trina. I’d prefer sitting here with you any day.”

  We went quiet again for a while, staring out at the now glass like water.

  “Let’s go,” I told her when we'd finished eating. “We’ll go home and get changed. I’ll take you clubbing, so we can get smashed like you wanted.”

  She laughed and helped me roll up the remains of our food in the white butcher's paper. “That sounds like music to my ears.”

  I dropped Trina off at her house and went back to mine to get changed and call a taxi to take us to the train station. We had decided to go to one of the clubs in the city and only had about forty-five minutes before our train would arrive.

  I told Mum I’d be home at some ungodly hour and dashed out the door to the tune of her telling me that just because I was eighteen, didn’t mean I could do whatever I wanted. I smiled to myself, knowing that as long as I came home before the sun was up, she’d be fine.

  When I arrived at Trina’s, she was already dressed and waiting for me. “Whoa!” I whistled at her. She was wearing a fitted black dress that barely covered her arse and a pair of low strappy heels. She’d piled her hair up on her head and put a tiny bit of makeup on. “You look absolutely smoking hot, Trina.”

  “Just look after her, David. I’m not happy about her going out in that scrap of a thing she’s wearing,” her dad told me.

  “I’ll keep her safe, Mr Mahoney.”

  “Mr Mahoney,” he muttered. “I thought I told you to call me John?”

  I gave him a half smile. “Force of habit.”

  Outside, the taxi beeped to let us know it was there. Saying goodbye to her family, we rushed outside and started the hour and a half journey from where we lived to the city. The nightclubs close to home sucked, so the trip was worth it. We generally spent the train ride in drinking southern and coke out of a sports bottle, so we’d arrive slightly tipsy, anyway. Drinks were really expensive, and we were going out to dance and have fun, not waste time forcing our way up to the bar to drink enough to feel something.

  By the time we arrived at Town Hall station, we’d emptied the sports bottle and thrown it into the rubbish bin on the platform before continuing on our way
.

  By the time we arrived at the Shark bar, the place was already jumping. The moment we entered was like being enveloped in an underwater cave. It was dark besides the flashing lights of the dance floor and the blue illumination of the fish tank and the bar lights.

  “One more before we dance?” I yelled into Trina’s ear as we moved towards the bar. She nodded and took my hand, following close behind me so we didn’t lose each other in the crowd.

  “Let’s do shots,” she yelled over the noise once we made it to the bar. She didn’t even wait for my answer before she yelled our order at the bartender, asking for six B-52s.

  Glancing at her, my eyebrows shot up in question, I placed my mouth near her ear. “Are you sure about this?”

  “We agreed to get hammered,” she yelled back.

  “We still have to make it home.”

  She laughed and rolled her eyes while I handed over some money.

  Picking up the first shot once they were set out, Trina handed one to me, tapping the plastic in cheers. “Drink up.”

  I held the shot to my lips, watching her as she downed hers quickly then reached for her second. Once again, she was holding mine out to me. “Drink!” she urged me again. “You’re falling behind.”

  I downed my shot, then took the second. Then the third, knocking them back one after the other. I was fairly tipsy from drinking the Southern on the train with the shots quickly mixing with what was already in my veins.

  Katrina let out a loud whoop and raised her hands above her head, swaying her body as she started to make her way to the dance floor. Following close behind her, I couldn’t help but laugh and feel glad we were out in this club instead of stuck with all the dickheads we went to school with.

  With the drink buzzing through my body and the music pulsing through the air, I started to let go. For hours, Trina and I danced among the crowd, slowly pressing closer and moving as one.

  Trina, me, dancing and alcohol were obviously a terrible mix. My heart thudded in my chest as my hands started to roam her body, pulling her closer. Our legs became intertwined as we swayed, her arms wrapped around my neck and mine around her waist. We were as close as we could get.