A Hot Cold Summer

by Nova Weetman

  As guilty as I felt about sneaking out, Luke’s sparkling blue eyes were definitely helping to make me feel like it was worth it. My thoughts wandered briefly back to Tom Matthews from school. He’d certainly never commented on what I was wearing. Although I guess it was usually my school uniform.

  ‘It’s an amazing house,’ I said, still looking round. It sort of reminded me of some of the places Mum’s firm had designed. All sharp edges and lots of windows.

  Luke nodded. ‘Yeah, perfect for a party!’

  ‘There are so many people here,’ I said.

  ‘Yep. And no parents.’

  That was kind of obvious. I couldn’t imagine anyone’s parents letting this many kids into their house. ‘Where are they?’

  ‘At some function thing at the surf club with my brothers. They’ll be back later, so hopefully it won’t get too out of control!’

  ‘Bit late for that!’ said Ellie as she walked up. ‘There’s, like, nearly a hundred people here.’

  ‘Whoops!’ said Luke grinning.

  ‘Where’s Richie?’ asked Ellie, in a voice that made me think I was probably right about her liking him.

  Luke shrugged. ‘Who knows?’

  Someone must have changed the music because suddenly a song came on that made half the room cheer.

  ‘I love this song! Come on,’ said Ellie as she grabbed Luke and me and pulled us out to one of the balconies where people were dancing.

  I’d never danced outside on a huge balcony before. Through the trees I could just make out the sea. The sky was perfectly clear and I couldn’t get over all the stars. Luke grabbed my hand and spun me around, and I came back to earth and grinned at him.

  Ellie was dancing with us too. She squeezed my hand. ‘Thanks for coming, Frankie,’ she yelled over the music.

  I smiled at her and she smiled back and it seemed like we might actually make it over the friend line.

  A different song came on and Luke got pulled away by some of his friends but Ellie and I kept dancing together. She was pretty good and it was almost like mucking around with Gen except that Ellie and I didn’t know the same routines.

  We watched Luke from a distance for a while, then she whispered in my ear, ‘You like him, don’t you?’

  I still wasn’t that comfortable talking about boys with Ellie, so I sort of shrugged and smiled, and kept dancing.

  She grinned. ‘Thought so,’ she said loudly over the music.

  I spotted Richie dancing and pointed him out to Ellie. She dragged me towards him, but when we got closer, we saw he was dancing with a girl.

  Ellie stopped and turned around, facing away from him.

  ‘Are you okay?’ I asked her, assuming she was upset.

  ‘Just thirsty,’ she said, and she disappeared inside. I wished she’d just asked me to go with her because I didn’t know if I should follow her or wait for her to come back. I decided to follow her. The problem was that the house was huge and she had a head start.

  For the next half hour, I checked room after room and I couldn’t find Ellie anywhere. Finally I found Sarah.

  ‘Hey, Frankie, you made it,’ she said.

  ‘Seems like half the town is here,’ I said, smiling at her.

  ‘Yep. That’s Luke’s fault!’ she said, laughing.

  ‘Have you seen Ellie anywhere?’ I asked.

  ‘She was outside before,’ said Sarah, pointing to the garden out the front.

  I walked through the big sliding glass doors and found more people. I couldn’t believe Luke had invited so many kids. My parents would ground me until I was ninety just for thinking about throwing a party that big.

  I saw Ellie and Richie talking under a tree and I didn’t know whether to go up or not. If I was right and she did like him then she probably wouldn’t thank me for interfering.

  Before I could make up my mind, someone slipped their hands around my waist and spun me around to face them. Luke.

  ‘Hi,’ he said. ‘I’ve been looking for you.’

  ‘Really?’ I asked, smiling.

  He nodded. ‘Yep. And now I’ve found you.’

  ‘You have,’ I said, enjoying flirting with him. He was so cute that I couldn’t believe he was holding on to me.

  ‘Want to come for a walk?’ he asked.

  ‘You can’t leave your own party,’ I said.

  ‘Why not? There’s an awesome view down the hill. You can see the waves. That’s where I check the surf in the morning. Come on,’ said Luke, taking my hand. He started pulling me gently down the hill, and I would have kept going with him, but then I noticed Ellie was standing under the tree on her own and she seemed to be crying. I didn’t see Richie anywhere, so I could only guess he’d upset her.

  ‘Hang on a minute, Luke. I’ll just see if Ellie’s okay,’ I said, as I walked over.

  ‘Ellie?’ I said, slipping my arm around her shoulders.

  Her make-up was all smudged and she was crying.

  ‘You all right?’ I asked.

  ‘No,’ she said, sniffling.

  I waited for her to tell me what had happened but she didn’t say anything. ‘What’s wrong?’ I asked, hoping she’d start talking. ‘Is it Richie?’

  I think she was just about to tell me when Luke walked towards us. When she saw him coming our way, she started wiping her eyes. Maybe she was embarrassed, but somehow she just changed completely. It was like she’d never been upset. She turned me towards Luke.

  ‘Isn’t she cute?’ she said to him.

  ‘Sure is,’ said Luke. I couldn’t help but smile at him. No matter what Ellie was up to, Luke was still right there, as gorgeous as ever.

  ‘We could end up sisters. How weird is that?’ said Ellie, more to Luke than to me.

  ‘Our parents have been dating for, like, a month.’ I knew I sounded angry, but I didn’t get Ellie. One minute she was all friendly and sweet and the next she seemed to be trying to make me feel bad.

  ‘Come and dance, Luke,’ she said, ignoring me. She grabbed his arm and pulled him back up towards the house, leaving me behind. I followed them inside and Luke shrugged at me like he didn’t know what was going on either. I figured it was the end of our romantic walk.

  On the dance floor, Ellie hurled herself at Luke, grabbing him around the waist and pulling him close. I didn’t know what to do. Did she like him? Maybe I had it all wrong and it wasn’t Richie she liked, but Luke. Maybe she just wanted me out of the way.

  I backed away, not wanting to get involved in whatever was going on. If Luke liked me then he could come and find me. I wasn’t going to try to compete for a boy.

  I watched as Ellie grabbed Luke’s hands and pulled him over to where Richie was dancing with the girl from before. The four of them started laughing and mucking around and I felt really left out. What had gone wrong? One minute I was being led down the hill to look at waves and the next I was leaning against a wall, watching the boy I liked dance with the girl I was sharing a room with.

  ‘Is that Ellie?’ said Sarah, walking up to me. ‘With Luke?’ she added. Ellie was now reaching her arms around Luke’s waist and pulling him close.

  ‘Um, yeah,’ I said, hurt.

  ‘Weird,’ said Sarah, sounding as confused as I was.

  ‘Yep.’ I turned away from them. I really didn’t want to see them kiss. It was bad enough just knowing it was going to happen.

  ‘Come on, Frankie, let’s go downstairs,’ said Sarah, linking her arm through mine.

  ‘Actually, I’m just going to go. I sneaked out of the house and if Dad finds out I’ll be grounded forever.’ Then, before she could say anything, I said goodbye and quickly walked away. I wasn’t sure if I felt sick, or angry, or upset. It was all a big jumble. I just wished I’d never even gone to the stupid party.

  My heart was racing as I dodged through the trees back to the house. I didn’t know if I would recognise the house. It was pretty dark now - even though it was a clear night, the trees were huge and they were blocking out m
ost of the moonlight. I must have clipped a branch or something because I tripped and hit the ground hard. As I stood up, my right knee really hurt. I hoped I hadn’t scraped it.

  The scene of Ellie and Luke dancing close on the dance floor kept looping over and over in my mind. I knew Ellie and I had just met, and I didn’t know Luke very well either, but I’d really thought tonight was going to turn out very differently. How was I going to spend the rest of the holiday sharing a room with Ellie after this?

  I wished I’d gone to London instead.

  Finally I saw the hammock and I knew I was in the right garden. I moved as quickly as I could along the side of the house. Even though I knew Dad and Jan were probably still watching their movie, I was worried that one of them would just look outside into the garden and see me. Sneaking out was definitely not my thing.

  I held my breath and reached up for the edge of the balcony. It was much harder pulling myself up than it had been getting down. I wriggled under the metal railing and crept across to the sliding door. Now I just had to hope their movie was loud enough they wouldn’t hear the door opening.

  I opened it just enough to squeeze through and then shut it again. Inside the room, I realised I was still holding my breath and I relaxed. I was safe.

  I quickly took off Ellie’s dress and changed into an old singlet and shorts. If Dad did come down to say goodnight at least it wouldn’t look like I was all dressed up. In the bathroom I checked my knee. The skin was scraped and it was a bit bloody. I wet some toilet paper under the tap and wiped off the blood and dirt, hoping Dad wouldn’t notice in the morning.

  I climbed into bed and started thinking about everything that had happened at the party. Now that I’d had a bit more time for it to sink in, I was furious with Ellie. Why would she make me sneak out if she was just going to embarrass me by kissing Luke? And why hadn’t she just told me she’d liked him? I was pretty sure that Luke liked me, but maybe he’d just given up on me when Ellie had thrown herself at him instead.

  I knew I was going to lie awake for hours just going over and over it all in my head, so I pulled out my phone and messaged Gen.

  You awake? Party crisis!

  If she was still up at least I could have a cry on the phone to her about it all, and she’d probably make me laugh and feel better. But I waited ages and she didn’t reply, which meant she was asleep. Gen always messaged me straight back if she knew I needed her.

  I really wanted to be awake when Ellie sneaked in because I wanted to call her on what had happened, but in the end I fell asleep.

  Dad and Jan were having breakfast outside in the sunshine, and I made a cup of tea and went out to join them. I felt sick seeing Dad, because the first thing he asked me was what had happened to my knee.

  I looked down at the crusted blood, furious at myself for not putting on pants. ‘I fell over yesterday,’ I said vaguely. It wasn’t a lie, just an omission of facts.

  ‘Silly duffer,’ said Dad, and I felt weirdly disappointed that he didn’t question me further. A part of me wished he could tell I was lying, because at least then I’d know he cared enough to be taking notice.

  ‘Sit down, honey, and I’ll get you some brekkie,’ said Dad kindly.

  Jan was reading the paper but she stopped and looked up when I sat down. ‘Is Ellie still asleep?’ she asked me.

  I nodded.

  ‘That girl. She could sleep forever,’ said Jan. ‘So what’s the plan for you girls today?’

  Great. Obviously Jan and Dad weren’t intending on hanging out with us and we’d be stuck with each other again.

  ‘I don’t know,’ I said, sounding quite grumpy.

  Dad slid two slices of toast and jam in front of me. Usually when Dad got me breakfast it was cereal. Jam was reserved for special breakfasts or when I was sick.

  ‘Thanks, Dad,’ I said.

  As he sat down he smiled at me. ‘That party went late,’ he said.

  I looked up quickly. Did he know? I felt panicked for a second, but then I realised the comment wasn’t even directed at me.

  ‘The music didn’t stop until after two,’ said Jan.

  As they talked about it I tried to eat, but the whole idea of Dad being so nice when I’d sneaked out made me feel a bit sick.

  ‘I’m really sorry that you didn’t get to go, honey,’ said Dad. ‘I’m proud you were so good about it. Maybe we can do something special today instead.’

  ‘Yes, I suspect Ellie’s probably still sulking,’ said Jan.

  I don’t know why I felt so cross about Jan’s comment, maybe it was because it just highlighted how little she knew her daughter, but I hated lying to Dad. I didn’t want us to be like Jan and Ellie. Dad and I had always had a really good relationship. He’d only started hiding things from me since he’d started dating Jan. And I realised that now I was doing exactly the same thing to him - I’d hidden the fact that I’d gone to the party, and been vague about how I hurt my knee. It wasn’t a blatant lie, but I certainly hadn’t told him the truth.

  If I wanted him to be honest with me, maybe I needed to let him know the whole truth. I knew he’d be angry when he found out that I’d sneaked out behind his back, but at least I wouldn’t be hiding anything from him anymore. And maybe it would show him just how preoccupied he was these days - he was so busy with his girlfriend that he didn’t even notice when his own daughter went missing at night. That wasn’t like him.

  But if I did tell him about going to the party, I’d be getting Ellie into trouble too. She’d probably think I’d told on her just to get back at her for kissing Luke. Things were already rocky between us. I didn’t want to make them worse. What if we did end up sisters one day?

  I didn’t know what to do. Should I tell Dad that I’d sneaked out or not?

  ‘I’m sorry, Ellie. I really want to go, but if Dad found out, I’d be grounded for the rest of my life,’ I said sadly.

  ‘Okay, suit yourself,’ said Ellie, heading towards the sliding door.

  ‘What am I going to tell Dad and Jan if they come down and want to say goodnight to you?’ I asked, suddenly panicked.

  Ellie sighed. ‘Just make something up. Say I’m not feeling well, and keep them out of the room.’ She slid open the door onto our balcony and disappeared into the night.

  It was obvious she was annoyed with me being such a goody-two-shoes, but I hoped she’d get over it. The rest of the holiday would be pretty hard if she wasn’t talking to me. Especially if Dad and Jan kept hanging out on their own.

  Feeling lonely, I rang Gen. She answered on the first ring.

  ‘Hey, Frank! I was just thinking about you,’ she said.

  ‘Is there any way you can come and rescue me?’ I said dramatically.

  ‘Why? What’s happened?

  ‘Ellie just sneaked out to a party. She wanted me to go too but I was too scared Dad would bust me. And …’ I started to say.

  ‘You hate lying to your dad,’ finished Gen.

  ‘Yeah, although he’s stretched the truth a bit himself lately. So now I have to lie for Ellie if Dad or Jan come and knock on our door.’

  ‘Well, my little cousin just swiped my diary and started reading all about Arlo.’

  ‘What!?’

  ‘Yep. Then she sat at dinner and teased me about him. I’m going to kill her, Frankie. This holiday is painful.’

  ‘This has to be the last holiday we ever spend apart.’

  ‘Deal.’

  Then, before I could tell her about Luke, there was a knock on the bedroom door.

  I whispered down the phone. ‘Someone’s knocking.’

  ‘Just tell them Ellie’s asleep. Sunstroke. A jellyfish sting. Or a bad ice-cream. Whatevs! She’s sick!’

  I giggled. ‘Better go.’

  There was another knock and I really hoped it was Dad because he probably wouldn’t insist on seeing Ellie. I turned off the lights in the bedroom so it looked dark and opened the door just enough to see who it was.

  ‘Do you and
Ellie fancy walking into town and getting an ice-cream?’ asked Dad.

  I had to stop myself from laughing, thinking about Gen’s advice.

  ‘Oh, Ellie’s asleep. She wasn’t feeling well,’ I said, hoping I sounded convincing. Sometimes vague is better than too many details.

  ‘Is she?’ asked Dad. For a moment I was worried that he’d want to come in and check on her. But then he said, ‘Well, do you want to come?’

  Relieved, I grinned and said, ‘Sure. I’ll just grab my thongs.’

  I felt bad lying to him about Ellie, especially after our conversation about telling the truth. But I didn’t really have a choice. Besides it wasn’t like I’d sneaked out. I shut the bedroom door and followed Dad out.

  ‘Thought you deserved a treat, given you were so good about missing out on the party,’ said Dad.

  As much as I wanted to see Luke again, going for a walk with just Dad was a pretty good second, and it made me feel like I’d made the right decision not to sneak out with Ellie. It was the first time I’d spent alone with him since we got here. Maybe I’d finally get a chance to tell him I was feeling a bit left out. At the very least, I’d get a double cone of chocolate and strawberry ice-cream.

  But as Dad and I started down the steps, Jan called out, ‘Wait for me!’

  Of course she wouldn’t let us go without her. Great. This so wasn’t what I had in mind.

  ‘Where’s El?’ she asked as she caught up with us and slipped her arm through Dad’s.

  ‘Asleep,’ I said, not caring if I lied to her at all.

  ‘At nine o’clock! Are you sure?’ she said, stopping on the stairs like she was going to head back in and check.

  ‘She’s not feeling well,’ said Dad. This seemed to satisfy Jan and they started down the street towards the beach.

  ‘She’s probably sulking about the party,’ said Jan. ‘She’s having a bit of trouble adjusting to all these new rules.’

  Actually, she’s just ignoring them completely, I felt like saying. But I didn’t. I just trudged along behind them, not really saying anything.

  As we walked down onto the street, we must have been getting closer to the party because we could hear the music. I couldn’t believe I was now going for a romantic night walk with Dad and his girlfriend while every other teenager in the place was at Luke’s party. How tragic could it get? I wondered if Ellie was having a good time, and if Luke was sorry I didn’t come. Now that Jan was with us, I really wished I had sneaked out with Ellie. Even if I had been caught.