by Nova Weetman
As the boys rode off, I knew Gen was grinning at me.
‘What?’ I asked.
‘He likes you,’ she said, laughing.
‘Shhh, Gen. I don’t want him to hear you!’ I said, looking around.
I was pretty surprised that Tom had offered to search for my bike. I didn’t really know him that well, except for sitting next to him in the school band rehearsals sometimes and being in science class together. Maybe Gen was right.
‘Do you think Arlo’s cute?’ asked Gen.
I forgot about my bike for half a second. ‘You like him?’ I asked, surprised.
She shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I just don’t want to be left out. If you’re going to have a boyfriend …’ she said, smiling. ‘Then we could double-date! Unless you’d rather go out with your dad and his girlfriend.’
I screwed up my face at that thought.
‘Arlo’s cute,’ I said to Gen.
I loved the idea of us all hanging out together. But before I could get too excited the boys reappeared on their bikes.
‘Nothing,’ said Tom.
Oh. Dad was not going to be happy. He hated it when I just lost a book, or a hat. But my bike! That was a biggie.
‘It might still turn up,’ said Gen hopefully, even though we both knew there probably wasn’t much chance of that.
‘Stu’s bike was stolen last week,’ said Arlo. ‘They cut the lock.’
That gave me a thought. Maybe I could pretend that somebody had cut through my lock. But that was a massive lie. I couldn’t do that.
I’d have to tell my dad the truth. He was really big on me always being honest with him. But I’d probably have to do chores for a year before I’d get enough pocket money for a new one. Then I’d never be able to buy my new guitar.
The boys were obviously waiting to see what we were going to do.
‘So, are you coming to the pool?’ asked Arlo.
I was pretty sure he was talking to Gen, and I was pretty sure she knew he was, because she didn’t even wait for me to say anything. She just called out, ‘Yeah, we’ll walk down. Meet you there.’
There were already heaps of kids in the water when we got to the pool, and we knew most of them. Last year was our first year of high school, but this year it really felt like we belonged.
We dumped all our stuff on the grass and looked around for Tom and Arlo.
‘I can’t see them, can you?’ said Gen.
I felt a bit let down. I’d sort of expected they’d be waiting for us. But it was really hot. Maybe they were already in the water?
Gen and I used to do swim squad together, but I stopped a couple of years ago. I hated getting up early three times a week to train, but Gen loved it. I think she liked it because on those car trips to and from the pool, she got her mum all to herself. Gen didn’t get a lot of alone time with her mum because she had such a big family.
Grinning at me, she raced me to the side, ignoring the ‘no running’ signs. We dived in together. The water was cool and perfect. It felt great, like the summer was really starting.
‘Can you see the boys?’ I asked Gen when we surfaced. But she was too busy doing somersaults to even bother looking.
‘Handstand competition?’ asked Gen. We’d been doing handstands in the water since we first learnt to swim.
‘Okay. One, two, three,’ I said, and we both dived under.
Gen had only one hand on the bottom of the pool and she reached out for my hand with her other one. I went to hold it and we both tumbled out of our handstands. We surfaced again, laughing.
‘Gen!’ someone called out.
Gen turned to see who it was and was met with a face full of water.
It was Arlo. He ducked down in the water, escaping Gen’s huge retaliatory splash. Then he resurfaced and splashed us again. And it was on.
For a minute I helped Gen get Arlo, and then I realised that Tom wasn’t with him. I looked around but the pool was so busy I couldn’t see him anywhere.
‘Hey, Arlo, where’s Tom?’
Arlo shot up out of the water, but he wasn’t listening to me. He was too busy trying to dunk Gen.
‘Arlo,’ I shouted this time.
This time Gen heard me. ‘Where’s Tom?’ she asked.
‘On the grass,’ Arlo said, and then splashed Gen again. They seemed really comfortable with each other. I wished I could act that way with Tom.
I swam over to the edge and climbed out of the pool. There were kids everywhere. I wandered towards where I’d left my towel, but I was really looking for Tom.
I saw a boy lying on the grass. It looked like Tom from behind. I wrapped my towel around my waist and headed over.
Just as I reached him, a girl walked up with a can of soft drink. She sort of half smiled at me and then sat down on the grass next to where Tom was lying.
Maybe it wasn’t him? I was about to go when the boy sat up and saw me. He smiled. It was that smile. And it was that Tom.
‘Oh hey, Frankie, you made it,’ he said.
‘Yeah,’ I said, wondering who the girl was. She didn’t go to our school, and I hadn’t seen her around.
Then she opened the can, took a sip and handed it to Tom.
‘Thanks, Jas,’ he said softly and then looked at me again. ‘This is Frankie. She’s the one I told you about.’
The girl nodded and smiled at me. ‘You’re the singer?’
‘Yeah,’ I said, feeling confused.
‘Oh, sorry, this is Jasmine. My girlfriend. She sings too and I thought it would be great to get you guys together.’
‘Tom said your song was amazing,’ said Jasmine. ‘I’d love to hear it.’
Oh. He did like me, but only because I could sing.
‘Do you want to sit down?’ asked Tom. ‘We should swap numbers so we can get together in the holidays.’
I couldn’t believe I’d got it so wrong. He was just being friendly. As if I wanted to get together with him and his girlfriend.
‘Yeah, sure. But I’m just going to go and grab a drink,’ I said, desperate to get away from them.
‘Cool,’ said Tom as he smiled at me, obviously not understanding that any of this was a big deal. At least he had absolutely no idea that I liked him.
I walked straight back to the pool and looked around for Gen. She was still splashing water at Arlo. I jumped in and swam over to her.
‘Did you find him?’ asked Gen, ducking away from Arlo.
I nodded. ‘He’s with his girlfriend.’
Gen pulled a face. ‘No. What? But that can’t be right!’
I shrugged. ‘It is. Her name’s Jas.’
‘Oh, Frank. I’m sorry. I really thought …’ and she wrapped her arms around me, pulling me in for a hug.
‘I’m just going to go home,’ I said, hoping she’d get out of the pool and come with me.
But instead she said, ‘Do you want me to come?’
Of course I did. Gen was my best friend. I felt sad and embarrassed and like I kept getting in the way of other people’s relationships. But I didn’t want to make her come. I wanted her to insist.
Before I could even tell her I wanted her to leave with me, Arlo burst out of the water behind us, and dragged Gen under, dunking her. She came up laughing and turned round to get him back. Obviously I had an answer - she was having way too much fun to leave with me.
Trying not to be hurt, I climbed out of the pool, pulled on my clothes over my wet bathers, and started walking towards the exit. I’d almost made it, when Gen grabbed my arm.
‘Frankie, where are you going?’
‘Home. It’s fine. You can stay,’ I said trying to smile.
‘Really? You won’t be cross later?’ she asked, knowing me too well.
‘Probably,’ I said.
‘If you want me to come with you …’ she said.
For some reason I just couldn’t tell her I wanted her to come with me. Maybe it was because people had sort of disappointed me all day, and I just wanted
my best friend to know when I needed her. Instead I smiled weakly and said goodbye, and then I walked through the turnstiles and left.
I was playing guitar in my bathers when Mum came home. I wasn’t supposed to still be at her house, but I’d come back to grab my stuff for Dad’s, and I just hadn’t got very far. Sometimes if things were pretty crappy, I’d sit on my bed and play my guitar for ages. It usually made me feel better but, strangely, it wasn’t working tonight. I kept seeing the look on Tom’s face when he innocently introduced me to his girlfriend.
‘Honey? Why aren’t you at your dad’s?’ she asked as she walked into my bedroom and leant down to give me a kiss. I guess the sound of the guitar was a bit of a giveaway that I was here. ‘Are you okay?’ she asked.
‘Yeah,’ I said, then added, ‘Actually, not really.’
Mum sat down next to me on the bed. ‘Did something happen at school?’
I didn’t know where to start. I didn’t usually tell her about boys and I wasn’t ready to start now. And I couldn’t talk about Dad, and I didn’t know what to say about Gen. There was only one thing that I really could talk about and I felt guilty saying it.
‘Um, my bike got stolen,’ I said.
‘How? Don’t you have that giant lock?’ she asked.
I was wondering what to say, when she said, ‘You did lock it, didn’t you?’ Sometimes it seemed Mum could almost read my mind.
‘Um, nope, I didn’t,’ I said, and felt relieved that I hadn’t tried to lie my way out.
‘Oh, honey,’ she said in that voice, which I knew meant she was really disappointed in me.
‘Please, don’t say anything else. I know. It’s been a bad day. I’ll pay for a new bike somehow. And I know I have to tell Dad,’ I said, before she could add anything.
‘Well, okay. We can talk about it later,’ she said. ‘Actually, Frankie, I had something to ask you.’ She looked serious. ‘I found out today that Tony can’t go to London to collect the international design award we won, because his wife’s sick. As associate architect, I’m going to have to go.’
I looked up. ‘Oh? Well, that’s good, isn’t it?’ I said.
‘Well, yes, but it’s next week, so it’s a bit quick. I have to leave on Thursday. And I’d be away for two weeks.’
‘Does Dad know I’ll be staying with him?’ I said, hoping he wasn’t too unhappy at the thought of having me around now that he was dating.
‘Yes, and of course he’s happy to have you. But here’s the thing, Frankie: I can take someone with me.’ I wondered if she was about to tell me she had a new boyfriend hiding in the cupboard that I didn’t know about, but instead, she smiled and said, ‘And you’ve never been to London.’
I sat up quickly. ‘What?’ I said, wondering if what I thought she’d just said was true.
She nodded. ‘Do you want to come?’
Okay. Stop there, forget about my bad day. London?
‘Yes! That’d be awesome,’ I said, trying to get my head around the idea of going to London in a week.
‘I would have to do some work from the London office. And instead of staying in a hotel, I thought it might be fun to stay at Tina’s,’ Mum went on.
That stopped my enthusiasm. ‘As in Tina and Jack?’ I asked, already knowing the answer. Tina was my mum’s best friend. Her son Jack was my age and when he and Tina had stayed with us earlier in the year, I’d had a pretty massive crush on him.
But Mum obviously didn’t hear the concern in my voice because she smiled as she said, ‘Wouldn’t it be good to see Jack again?’
I managed to nod, because I didn’t trust myself to say anything. I really wasn’t sure how I felt about seeing Jack again. I had thought we could be friends, but the way he’d cut off all contact with me and just stopped answering my emails had been horrible.
‘Well, anyway, have a think and let me know tonight. If you do want to come we have to get organised.’ She laughed as she looked around my garbage tip of a room. ‘And that’s not really our strong point is it, Frankie?’
Walking to Dad’s, I couldn’t stop thinking about going to London. I’d never been overseas before, and it would be an amazing place for a holiday. But it had been nearly a year and a half since I’d seen Jack, and I’d just managed to stop thinking about him. Did I really want to go through all that again?
As I got to Dad’s, I heard my phone go. I knew it was Gen. She’d already left a bunch of messages. I didn’t want to talk to her but if I didn’t answer it now, she’d just keep ringing until I did.
She started talking as soon as I answered. ‘I’m sorry, Frankie. I should have come with you,’ she said.
‘That’s okay,’ I said, not really meaning it.
‘Don’t do that. Please. You always do that. It makes me feel even worse,’ she said.
‘Okay. You should have come with me. I would have come with you,’ I said, feeling angry enough to spill exactly how I felt.
I could hear her breathing but not saying anything.
‘No, you wouldn’t,’ she said finally. ‘When Jack was here you let me go home on my own from Sam’s party.’
I couldn’t believe she’d stored that up. I was about to argue, when I realised she was right. But still, it didn’t make me feel any better.
She must have sensed I was still hurt, because she said, ‘I’m sorry, okay? I wanted to hang out with Arlo.’
I couldn’t believe how honest she was sometimes. I loved that she could just blurt out whatever it was she felt, even though it meant I’d be hurt because I was the one she was blurting it at.
‘Since when do you like him? You didn’t say anything,’ I said, realising that half of my hurt came from the fact that she’d kept it hidden. I’d been going on about Tom for months and she’d never mentioned Arlo.
‘It’s no big deal, Frank. He’s nice. He’s cute. I like him. We had fun. That’s all. I’m not like you about boys,’ she said. ‘I don’t really think about them unless they’re around.’
I started laughing. I just couldn’t help myself. ‘Liar. What about that Charlie whatshisname? And Marcus?’
She started laughing too. ‘All right. I’m not quite as bad as you,’ she said. ‘But yeah, I should have come home with you. But then you should have asked me to come. So we’re both crap. Okay?’
That was the thing about Gen. No matter how much we fell out we always sorted it really quickly, because she wouldn’t let it go. Even when I refused to answer my phone or I was sulking or whatever, she’d just keep at me until it was okay again.
By the time I got off the phone, I felt much better. Even though I’d hoped to be the one having fun with a boy at the pool, I was really happy for my best friend. And I realised I’d forgotten to tell her about London. Maybe I just didn’t want her to tell me not to go. She’d been the one to deal with the Jack fallout and I knew what she’d say if I told her I was going to be staying with him for two weeks. I wasn’t in a hurry for that conversation.
Dad had arranged to meet Jan at the restaurant, because I think he wanted to have a bit of time just with me beforehand.
‘So are you really cross with me?’ he asked, as we were walking down the main street to the restaurant.
‘Um, I’m not exactly cross. But I’m hurt. And I wish you’d told me about Jan.’
‘Sorry, Frankie. I just didn’t know how to tell you. I think I was a bit embarrassed about saying I had a girlfriend. At my age. It’s sort of funny, isn’t it?’
Hilarious. It just seems like everyone has girlfriends. Or boyfriends. Except me.
‘Anyway, I’m glad you found out, because I want you two to get to know each other,’ he said.
Then he told me he’d had a coffee with Mum to tell her about Jan because he didn’t want me to have to keep it a secret.
‘And your mum told me about London,’ he said.
It had sort of been a day where I misread people, so I decided just to ask straight out. ‘Do you want me to go?’ I asked, feeling a bi
t prickly. ‘So you and Jan can have a few weeks without me around?’
Dad started laughing. ‘No. I don’t want you to go. In fact, I’ve been looking forward to spending time with you these school holidays. I’ve taken a couple of weeks off and Jan has a holiday house down the coast. There’s plenty of room. That’s what Jan was going to ask you tonight. I know you love beach holidays.’
I stopped walking and looked at Dad, not sure that I understood him properly. ‘She was going to ask me to come on holidays with you? Both of you?’
He nodded. ‘Yes. You can even learn to surf if you like. I know you’ve always wanted to.’
I was so pleased that Dad still wanted me around that I surprised us both and threw my arms around his neck, hugging him way too tight.
‘Is that a yes?’ he said, laughing.
As I let go of him, I realised how lucky I was. My parents had both invited me on fantastic holidays. Now all I had to do was decide which one. London would be so cool, but it would be hard to see Jack again after he’d hurt me. And I really loved the beach, but I wasn’t sure how I felt about hanging out with Dad’s new girlfriend.
This was going to be harder than I thought.
I couldn’t believe I was about to see Jack again. Did he still have that shaggy hair that fell down over his eyes, and the skinny jeans with the ripped knee?
Ever since I’d decided to go to London with Mum, I couldn’t stop thinking about him. Gen had made a pact with me that I could go to London and stay with Jack and have a great holiday, if - and only if - I did not fall for him again. We could be friends. Just friends.
It’s just that usually I didn’t get this nervous on the way to seeing one of my ‘friends’.
I knew Gen was right, especially after the way he’d treated me, but I just couldn’t help it. I was in London! And about to see a boy I had once really liked. Although my stomach turned into knots when I started wondering how he felt about me.
I hadn’t thought about him much on the plane because I’d watched about ten movies to try to make the flight go faster. And now that we were actually here and I was staring out the window of Tina’s car, I felt like I was in one of those films, just watching London flick by.