‘We do need to include some boys—for balance.’ I shook my head to remove the biceps image from my eyes.
‘Like who?’ Suzie asked.
‘I don’t know. Janet, can you think of who we can invite?’
‘Hmm. Perhaps, the whole football team from Hill End?’ Janet smiled, nodding.
‘That’s just crazy. We’d need a bouncer if we invited the whole team.’ I gathered my books and attempted to leave for class. ‘Actually, I think a bouncer would be a good idea anyway.’
‘What about the guys from dance?’ Suzie suggested as she grabbed my arm.
‘Sounds like a plan.’ I walked away but this time Janet pulled me back.
‘They’re a bit ... ahem. But I guess if we asked them to bring their friends, you never know who they might bring.’ Janet stared into the distance.
The bell vibrated through the walls.
‘Great, I’ll send the boys a text and tell them to bring a couple of mates.’ Janet tapped her phone as we trudged off to class.
CHAPTER 5
Janet ripped the plastic wrap off six-packs of Cruisers purchased by her father. She wedged them into ice-filled eskies already laden with beer. I wanted to offer soft drinks to everyone, but my friend had manipulated other plans.
Thankfully, Janet’s parents grew money on trees. When she asked if we could hire security for the party, they jumped at the idea. Having bouncers at the front door would keep their daughter and home safe, or so they thought.
Janet handed a copy of the guest list to the bouncers when they arrived. She bustled them to their post on the porch and returned, grabbing a drink from the top of the esky.
‘Cheers!’ Janet opened a Cruiser, drained it and grabbed another before our first guests arrived. The house was bumping to the beat of the playlist. I’d spent the afternoon making sure we’d have loads of great tunes to groove to.
My geography buddy Sarah arrived with her cousin Peta, who’d played netball with Lily. The three of them grabbed a Corona each.
‘Hey, Janet, do you have any lime wedges?’ Lily asked.
‘No, sorry. I didn’t think of lime for the beer.’ She opened a drawer loaded with stubby holders and passed one to each of them.
Mum and Dad had drilled my brother and me from birth, “You only know that you are an alcoholic after your first drink. We just don’t want you ending up an alcoholic like your Uncle James. Once you take that first drink ...”
Over the years I’d become more and more fearful that I might have the addictive gene and become the alco, the black-sheep family trouble maker. I took another sip of lemonade. The sweet drink gave me a sufficient sugar buzz.
I passed Suzie a can of soft drink, knowing her parents would probably ship her off to a lock-down boarding school if she even smelt an alcoholic drink. The guests flooded through the door and soon Suzie and I were the only ones without alcohol running through our veins. Everyone else indulged in Janet’s supplies.
Just before nine, Joey waltzed in. Seriously, he looked like he was doing a Fred Astaire impersonation. He was the definition of a dancing dork. I’d hoped some hot boys would join our dance school, but so far, Joey was as good as it got.
Stop.
Get out of here.
Who just followed Joey in?
‘Suzie, Suzie,’ I whispered, grabbing her shoulder. ‘Mr Universe has just entered the house.’
‘Calm down, Tabbie,’ she said, in a smooth molten voice, before she faced the door. She turned back to face me, with a blotchy pink trail on her neck. ‘Joey.’
The boy, lurking in the doorway beside Joey, was unmistakably a younger version of Mr Biceps. ‘Have you ever seen that other boy in your life?’
Janet had returned for another drink and rolled her eyes. ‘In my whole fifteen years? No, I can’t say that I have. Anyway, I thought you weren’t interested in boys.’
‘Nothing wrong with a little eye candy. Have you got his name on the list?’
‘I’ll check.’ Janet ran her finger down the guest list. ‘Hmm, let me see. Possibly Danny.’
‘Check ya. I’m off to catch me a boy.’ Goosebumps tingled through my arms. I’d never seen anyone so gorgeous.
‘Catch? What happened to eye candy? You’re hilarious, Tabbie.’ Suzie giggled.
I laughed and called back over my shoulder, ‘Jokes!’
Well, life was about fun. If Steph was here, she’d probably rush over to chat to the new boy. But she wasn’t here. Project “check out young Mr Biceps” was about to begin.
‘Hi Joey,’ I said in a way-too-sweet voice before turning my attention to young Mr Biceps. ‘Hi, ahh ... did you come with Joey?’
‘Yeah, Tabbie.’ Joey sighed. ‘This is Danny.’
‘So, where do you go to school?’
‘Urgh.’
Did he just grunt at me? Would he have grunted at Steph? ‘Is that far from here?’
‘Yeah.’ He looked to the floor.
‘Can I get you a drink?’ Maybe he was a one word, one syllable Mr (young) Biceps.
‘Coke.’
I turned and spoke out loud to myself. ‘You really like to talk then, hey?’
Maybe his supreme looks were his only drawcard. I fished a Coke from the esky and handed it to him, and then I left Joey and Danny to grunt at each other.
‘Maybe he’s just shy,’ said Miss always-look-for-the-best Suzie.
‘Or purely eye candy.’ Either he was shy, tongue tied, in awe of my not-beauty or he was a total dweeb.
The party continued while Suzie and I collected bottles. The guests drank like fish, spilling plenty on all the slip-n-slide zones.
The party got ugly.
‘Tabbie.’ Janet squinted to see me. ‘Grrreat pardy, hey?’
‘It’s getting a little messy.’
‘The cleaner can fix it t’morrow. ’ll be fine.’
‘Should we start sending everyone—’
‘Argh! I think I’m gonna be ...’
Janet stumbled into her parents’ en-suite. I followed, catching her hair just in time as she projectile vomited, getting most of it into the toilet. At least I’d saved her hair.
I searched the drawers for facecloths to clean her up and found some towels to mop up the mess. She puked until nothing was left but bile. Her face had morphed into a pasty shade of green and her eyelids drooped and fluttered. I tucked her into her parents’ bed, leaving a bucket beside her and asked the bouncers to round everyone up and out.
Suzie busied herself wiping down benches and searching for sneaky bottles under cushions or behind curtains. I was worried Janet might choke on her own spew so I sat with her until the voice of an older woman ranted outside. I rushed to the front door. Suzie’s mum.
‘You mean to tell me this is the sort of party you came to?!’ Mrs Peters pointed towards Sarah and Peta who were both clinging to a tree for support.
Suzie hung her head.
‘Get in the car now!’ Mrs Peters looked towards me. ‘And that will be the last time Suzie ever comes to one of Janet’s parties. I can see there are no adults here. I’ll be on the phone to both of your parents in the morning!’
I rushed down the stairs to apologise, but Mrs Peters had ushered Suzie into the car and tore off before I could open my mouth.
The kerfuffle had left my heart racing. I rang home.
‘Mum, is it okay if I stay the night?’
‘Sure, love. Everything okay?’
‘Yeah, I just don’t want to leave Janet here on her own. She’s had too much to drink.’
‘You mean too much alcohol?’ Mum’s voice strained.
‘Yes.’ I balanced on one foot, waiting to see if she was about to freak out.
‘Have you had anything to drink?’
Phew, she sounded calm. ‘No, Mum. I didn’t realise Janet was going to get alcohol until the last minute.’
‘Do you want us to come over?’
‘No, I’ll be fine. I’ll just stay here with her.’ I
hung up and I nudged Janet until she rolled over a little, leaving room for me to sit on the side of the bed.
‘Janet.’ I bounced the bed to revive her. ‘Janet, what’s your mum’s number?’
‘Left her phone here. Can’t call her.’ Janet turned away, pulling the doona over her head.
‘Your dad’s?’
‘Same. His phone’s over there.’
There, sitting on the dresser were their phones. At midnight, I used my flashlight app on my mobile to find my way to the other side of the bed. I turned it off, staring until the ceiling came into view as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. Janet’s continued steady breath kept my fear of her vomiting in her sleep at bay. I listened, breath after breath and only succumbed to sleep as the birds began to tweet.
Janet woke with a throbbing head. I dragged myself out of bed, exhausted. I rang Mum to rescue me from Janet, who insisted she didn’t get drunk and she was the life of the party. She’d be fine now that the sun had risen, but I had to get some sleep.
CHAPTER 6
On Monday morning, my eyelids hung heavy and my mind wandered. Janet bragged boldly to everyone within earshot that she’d hosted the most fabulous party of the century. Suzie was absent. At a guess—her parents had suspended her from school. Her mum had blasted my mum over the phone on Sunday. Overreaction, much.
I reminisced about the times spent with my best friend, my ridiculously beautiful and not-quite-perfect best friend who I missed today more than I had in a long time.
I needed to talk to Stephanie, but every time I rang, she was either in the shower or not home. When I tried again at the end of the week, her mother told me she was out on a date. A second date with the same boy.
Finally, she returned my call. ‘Tabbie, you won’t believe what’s happened!’
‘You saw Jason again?’
‘How did you know?’
‘Because you’re so excited.’ Nah ha, she didn’t know how I knew.
‘But I—?’
‘I rang while you were out. Second date hey?’ That was it! No more “only interested in eye candy” garbage. If Stephanie had started dating, I wanted to date boys too.
Steady breathing was her response.
‘So, do you think he’s into you?’ I wondered if this guy was a good looking as Mr Biceps.
‘I don’t know. How would I know?’
‘I don’t really know either.’ I chuckled a fake laugh. How would I know? Inexperience was my friend. Clueless. But why would he want to hang out with her if he wasn’t into her? ‘How did you meet?’
‘At school. He said he’d been watching me. Is that creepy? Should I be worried about that?’
‘Not if he was watching as in checking you out.’
‘Mmm, I guess. He invited me to one of the senior’s birthday parties. He was such a gentleman.’
‘Is he a senior?’
‘Uh-huh.’
‘What gentlemanly things did he do?’ If there were gentlemanly types out there, I wanted to find one too.
‘He was really kind about Dad’s curfew. And his eyes, his hair, his muscles. Wow.’
‘Well, most guys have eyes, hair and muscles.’ I laughed. Looks don’t define a gentleman. The image of Mr Biceps flashed in my mind again.
‘Monica, the class cow, told me he’s dating me for a dare to get me to sleep with him.’
‘Maybe Jason’s into you and Monica’s jealous.’
‘But what if Jason is planning on using me to win a dare or a bet or something, just so he can have sex with me?’
‘No sex.’ Because if you do, you really are kind of a numbat. Seriously, Steph. You just met the guy. And you’ve told me in the past that you want to wait until you’re married. I hoped she’d remember those details herself.
‘I wasn’t planning on it.’
‘You need to make it clear to him.’ I swallowed the extra saliva pooling in my mouth.
‘You don’t think that’s being a bit presumptuous?’
‘Steph, you weren’t planning on having sex with him, so just be up front about it.’
‘It’s not really third date conversation material, is it?’
‘Well, do you want to know whether he’s dating you for a dare or not?’
Stephanie mumbled into the phone and said she had to go.
I said goodbye and clutched the phone until the repetitive beep irritated me. I could tell she was really into the boy, but she’d kick herself if she gave in and he was a fraud just wanting to get into her pants. One thing I did know—I wouldn’t have the guts to talk about sex on the third date.
The conversation with Stephanie led me to think about Danny. Sure, he was a bit of a freak with his lack of words, but he did resemble Mr Biceps. I wondered how well Joey knew him.
I rounded up Joey at our next dance rehearsal and he told me Danny hadn’t stopped talking about me. Yeah, that made sense?! Like, not at all. What was it with boys? He’d barely spoken to me and then talked nonstop about me. Dah! I should just forget about him.
Stephanie rang with all the gory details of her third date. She went through with it. I couldn’t believe she actually brought up sex. It sounded like she scared him off. The little bit of nasty in me, the bit that hoped they wouldn’t last, made me grin. I hated to admit it, but I had been turning green.
‘Did he say it was over?’
‘No, but I’m sure it is. He seemed ... really nice.’ She blew her nose and hiccupped into the phone.
‘You’re thinking that girl Monica was right, aren’t you?’
‘Mmm. Maybe.’
‘Try not to think about it anymore. Hey—’
‘Mum needs the phone, gotta go.’ Stephanie cut me off.
Her mother’s yelling echoed through the phone before it clunked. Silence.
I was meant to be the super-caring best friend. But something in me sang with joy that she’d scared him off. Could I be any shallower? My heart flooded with remorse. I had to call her again the next day.
*~*~*~*
‘Hi, is Stephanie there?’
‘No, I’ll get her to call you.’ Mrs Stronge wasn’t in a chatty mood—she rarely was.
It was hard focusing on homework expecting a call from Stephanie. But her call never came.
Suzie returned to school after a week, telling us she was pretty much grounded for life, and her parents were this close—she showed us millimetres pinched between her fingers—to homeschooling her. The sweetness that had radiated from Suzie since I met her disintegrated before my eyes.
‘Are you girls up for a big one tomorrow night?’ Janet ambled into school on Friday with her chest puffed out.
I laughed. Since when would Suzie, who was grounded for life, or I, who cleaned up her vomit at the last party, be keen for a so-called, “Big One”.
‘Look what I’ve got.’ She held her phone up. A text message with our three names at the top. ‘Come on girls, you could at least look a little excited.’
‘You’re invited to a BOOZE-UP!’ It was from Marcy, one of the girls from dance who we rarely spoke to.
‘Straight to the point isn’t she?’ Oh, to go back to the way parties used to be—music, soft drinks and lots of laughter with the girls.
‘There’s no way I’d be allowed to go.’ Suzie frowned.
‘Come on, Tabbie. We’ll have a ball.’
Suzie’s eyes swelled with tears. My heart ached to see her so sad.
‘Why don’t you go to this one on your own?’ I handed the phone back.
‘I won’t really know anyone there. It’ll be boring without you.’
I shook my head. Would I end up looking after Janet again if I went? ‘I’ll check with Mum and Dad. Can you forward the invite so I can show them?’
‘Why?’
‘Because that’s what I do.’
‘You haven’t told them I drink or anything have you?’
‘I told Mum you’d had too much at your party.’
‘Why?’
‘Because I stayed at your house that night to make sure you were okay.’
‘Can you like ...’ Janet stepped closer, towering her anger over me and hissed, ‘like mind your own business. Your parents don’t need to know what I do.’
‘I’m sorry if I broke your confidence.’ I shuffled backwards. ‘I’m not going to lie about this party.’
Janet did have a point. It was one thing to tell Mum and Dad about me, but perhaps I had broken the confidential friend code.
*~*~*~*
Mum looked at me with a long staring gaze after she read the invitation. ‘I’ll have to double-check with your father.’
I kind of hoped Mum and Dad would say no, but Dad only reminded me of my uncle and made me promise not to drink. If I didn’t go, I’d feel guilty all weekend knowing Janet had gone on her own.
‘I’ll be back to pick you up at midnight,’ said Mrs Range.
‘Please, Mum,’ Janet whined. ‘Can you come back at three?’
Mrs Range shook her head. ‘I’ll come in and get you if you aren’t waiting here by the kerb at midnight. And take it easy, I don’t want another earful from anybody’s mother in the morning.’
We waited as the Audi’s amber indicator blinked and the tyres scattered small stones along the gutter, before it headed down the street.
‘Seriously.’ Janet shook her head. ‘I can’t believe Suzie’s mum.’
‘Yeah, she rang my parents as well.’
‘She’s such a cow, adding fuel to my mother’s foul mood of late.’
‘Your mum didn’t seem that bad just then.’ I replayed the car conversation in my mind. ‘Midnight isn’t early.’
‘It’s not just that ...’ Her voice trailed off as she walked.
I followed her towards two-storey brick house.
‘Can you watch the time? I’d hate her to embarrass us and come in.’
The music was funky. Marcy’s very smart parents had kicked the party out into the frost-biting backyard. They’d lit a couple of fire warmers to prevent everyone from freezing.
Janet pulled a bottle of champagne from her bag.
‘Where did you get that from?’
‘The fridge,’ she replied.
Spiralling Out of the Shadow (The Spiralling Trilogy) Page 3