“Genie?”
“You know – Genie from Aladdin? I’m just saying that you can go, and you really don’t need to feel obligated to come back. I’ve got my plastic bags now and I can get around on the crutches, so I’m all good.”
“Trying to get rid of me?” he asked as his eyebrow quirked.
“Shockingly, I actually don’t mind having you around, but there are final classes to attend and exams to study for, and I’m sure you have some sort of sport you play and friends that are just waiting for your call, so go, I’ll be fine. If I need anything, I’ll call Janesa, she’ll help me out.”
“Well, I hate to break it to you, but she’s probably with the study group that’s meeting at Alex’s place today.”
Alex, you could say, was Tyler’s right hand man. They were rarely seen without each other. In looks, Alex was the opposite of Tyler, with dark hair and dark eyes with pale skin. He was just as good looking though, which made them quite the irresistible duo to most girls, and Janesa had been drooling over him every day for the last four years.
I released a short laugh, finding it highly amusing that Janesa obviously used my injury as an excuse to finally talk to him.
“What’s so funny about studying? Alex said a whole bunch of them are swapping notes to make studying for exams easier.”
“No. That’s a great idea, I'm sorry, it’s not funny at all. I don’t know why I laughed.”
“If you’re up to it, I can take you there if you like?” he suggested as he moved into my kitchen and opened my fridge. “Where is your food? There are only pizza boxes and take away containers in here.”
“That is my food,” I responded.
“Seriously?”
“Sure,” I shrugged. “If you’re hungry, you can have anything you like. It’s all still good.”
He closed the fridge door and stood up, dusting his hands on his army print cargo shorts before turning to face me.
“I can see there needs to be a bit of an intervention here,” he stated, looking around for the set of keys he’d returned earlier. “Is it alright if I drive your car?”
“I guess, it’s not like I can drive it. What’s wrong with yours?”
“It’s at my house. I had Alex drop me at the Uni to get your car. I was going to run home.”
“Run? Where do you live?”
“A few kilometres on the other side of the Uni.”
“So you were planning on running nearly ten k’s? No wonder you look the way you do.” I muttered the last part and wasn’t sure if he heard it.
“I was. But, now I’m planning on taking you somewhere to eat some food that won’t clog your arteries, and then we’re going to study with the others – you can get them to sign you cast.”
“Fine. But first I need to change. I’m not going out looking like a Ribena berry.” His eyes drifted over my outfit, and I swear I saw his eyes linger for a moment on my chest before he quickly looked away.
“You don’t look anything like a Ribena berry, you look fine.”
“I’m still getting changed,” I insisted, standing from the chair and hobbling to my room before having a slight freak out. I’ve never spent any time with these people before. What the hell was I supposed to wear to a study session at Alex Peterson’s house?
5
JANESA WAS probably the smallest girl I’d ever met. She was just over five feet tall and standing next to her at only five-foot-nine, I felt like I should be singing ‘fe, fi, fo, fum!’ and stomping my feet like a giantess.
I wasn’t the tallest girl in the world by any means, but having a tiny best friend made me feel quite enormous most of the time, because it was like walking around with a little doll. She was so damn cute, and had shiny blonde hair the was long and perfectly straight without the need of a flat iron, big blue innocent looking eyes and a pouty little cupid’s bow mouth that just made her the sweetest thing on two legs.
We’d been friends since day one of university. It wasn’t that we had a particularly huge amount in common, more that we were just the misfits of the groups – the ones who didn’t fit in anywhere else. We weren’t outcasts by any means, but we did exist on the fringes of all groups and spent most of our free time together, hanging out, or clubbing, while also attending the occasional party.
Janesa was particularly good at picking up men. I could hold my own and had a couple of boyfriends in my time, but my prowess was nothing compared to Janesa’s. She attracted tall guys like fly paper attracts flies, but the one guy she always really wanted was Alex Peterson. But, being a little shy herself¸ she wasn’t that great at approaching guys herself, so she never got around to speaking to him, and for some reason – possibly because she was friends with me – he didn’t seem to fall prey to her flypaper-like qualities as much as other guys did.
But, all that changed the day I fell, and when I hobbled into the pool house at the ridiculously enormous home, owned by Alex’s parents, I found her sitting close with him as they spoke quietly about something I didn’t think had much to do with exam notes because their pens weren’t even in their hands.
“Mate! We thought you might be doing one of your disappearing acts when we didn’t hear from you for a couple of days,” another guy, who I thought was called Felix said when he caught sight of Tyler helping me through the sliding door.
“I spoke to Alex, mate, we’re all good,” he said, and at hearing his name, Alex got up from beside Janesa.
“You made it,” he said, holding his hand out to shake Tyler’s. “Hey, Sarah,” he said to me, his eyes moving over me then down to my cast. I’d changed into a cream coloured summer dress that tied up behind my neck and flowed down to my knees, so there was no clashing with the purple to worry about that time. “Sorry about your foot and all that.”
“It’s fine,” I replied, shaking my head as if it was nothing, even though I could still feel a gentle throb despite the painkillers in my system.
“How are you feeling?” Janesa asked, immediately coming to stand beside me with her hands covering her mouth. “That must really hurt.”
I shrugged. “Painkillers. But they make me drowsy.”
There were about ten people all up littered about the room. I knew them all from classes, and I suppose they knew me, because everyone said hi. They didn’t ask how I broke my foot, so I assumed the story of the girl and the dastardly gum that broke her foot had already circulated.
“You two looked pretty close when I came in,” I whispered to Janesa as I sat down at the table as Alex and Tyler went to get a stool or something for me to prop my leg up on.
“He is sooooo nice,” she whispered back. “Although, I could say the same about you. Was that Tyler’s hand around your waist just before?”
I shook my head. “He just feels bad for hurting me. It’s nothing.”
She gave me a disbelieving look. “You have been into him for years, Sarah. Don’t lie and act like you aren’t dancing inside. I know I am,” she grinned.
“I have not, and I’m not. It’s not like that.”
“Whatever you say,” she said, holding up her hands in surrender. “Just remember I know you, Sarah, and you don’t pull out the pretty dresses for just anyone.”
“It was the easiest thing to wear with the cast.”
“Sure,” she said, moving to the side when Tyler and Alex returned.
“Here you go,” Tyler said, placing a footstool on the ground near my chair before adding a pillow then gently lifting my leg to rest on the little throne.
“Thanks,” I smiled, trying not to blush at the way Janesa was beaming as she watched the way Tyler fawned over me.
“No problem. You want a drink or something?”
“Oh no, I couldn’t. I’m still full from that lunch you made me eat.” He’d taken me to an organic café where we ate sweet chilli and salad wraps that were so big, I almost couldn’t finish it. But I did, and I was stuffed full as a result.
He laughed. “You inhaled that thing
. I didn’t make you do anything.”
“Oh my god, can I please sign your cast?” one of the girls asked, cutting in on our conversation.
“Sure,” I shrugged. “Knock yourself out.”
Going through her bag, she produced a sharpie then came at me with it.
“Wait,” Tyler said, claiming the marker from her hand. “I broke it, so it’s only fair that I’m the first to sign.” Then he knelt back down and wrote on my cast, ‘Broken by Tyler’.
Everyone laughed. I’m not sure that it was even that funny. But, Tyler just had that way about him. It seemed that even breaking a girl’s ankle turned out well for him.
***
“So, some of the guys want to head out to Menai with the dirt bikes to do a few jumps,” Tyler announced when he sat beside me a couple of hours later. The study session hadn’t involved much studying and was more of a drinking session which was fine, although, I didn’t drink because I didn’t think it was wise with my pain meds. But, then the party moved out to the pool area where they started passing around a joint, and I was happy to stay inside. I wasn’t into the whole getting baked university experience, but then, I was never one of the cool kids.
Tyler didn’t drink either, although he did take a hit of the joint, which surprised me after the insistence of organic food at lunch.
“Aren’t you all a bit high for driving all that way?” I retorted.
He shrugged. “A hit of kush never hurt anyone. Besides, it’s medicinal from what I hear.”
“So are my painkillers, and they say not to operate heavy machinery.”
Grinning, his gaze shifted between my eyes. “You’re beautiful when you’re indignant,” he said.
“I’m not indignant. I just think it’s stupid to drink and smoke then drive for an hour to ride on dirt bikes.”
“We weren’t all drinking, sweetheart, and I only took one hit. I’m fine,” he said, standing to demonstrate his coordination skills. “But, if you’re worried about getting in the car with me, I’ll call a cab to take you home.”
“Hang on, you expected me to come to this dirt bike extravaganza?”
He nodded. “Of course, I wasn’t going to just take off and leave you here. Some of the other girls are coming too. There’s a viewing platform that you can see the track from, it’s a lot of fun.”
“For the guys,” I pointed out.
“Do you want to come or not?”
Chewing my lip, I thought for a while, looking into Tyler’s eyes. His pupils looked normal, so I found myself nodding my head, even though I was suddenly incredibly nervous about going.
“Excellent,” he said, reaching out and grabbing the top of my head and kissing my forehead as he jumped up and took off outside to get everyone organised. My forehead felt incredibly warm where his lips touched – is that what he did to every girl he knew?
“Nothing’s going on, huh?” Janesa giggled, standing in the doorway he’d just vacated.
Touching my cheek, I wiped my hand over my mouth to try and hide my blush and my smile. “That didn’t mean anything,” I told her.
She shrugged. “Well, he totally wasn’t in unless you were coming along, so I’d say that means a whole lot, actually,” she said with a wink before she vacated the doorway, leaving me alone for just long enough that I could smile without anyone seeing, even though I felt completely ridiculous.
***
“So, the goal here, is to get you up on that viewing platform without putting any pressure on your ankle. So, I’m going to go up top and Alex is going to lift you up to me. Seems like the fastest way,” Tyler explained once we got out to the Menai property that was home to their epic bike track.
“You’re always in such a hurry,” I said, shaking my head as he grinned down at me.
He shrugged. “Maybe I just like picking girls up.”
I laughed then watched as he made quick work of the ladder leading up to the wooden platform, before Alex came up behind me and took a hold of my hips.
“OK, mind your cast,” he said, hoisting me up to Tyler’s waiting arms. I worried that my dress would slid up and they’d all get a rather close view of my panties, but I wasn’t in the condition to climb up myself, so I took a deep breath, thought like a farm girl, and just got on with it.
They both lifted me with ease, and I landed on my good foot with my hands pressed against Tyler’s chest, and even though I wasn't the one who exerted myself, I was definitely a little out of breath.
“You OK, sweetheart?” he asked, reaching up to tuck a wayward curl behind my ear, and I nodded, feeling ridiculous as I just smiled and looked up at him like a lovesick puppy. “Good. I’ll come back to help you down when we’re through. There’ll be a bonfire later if you want to stick around.”
I nodded again. “OK,” he murmured, and I couldn’t stop looking into his light eyes and the way they shone and crinkled at the sides when he smiled warmly.
“Here’s her crutches,” Alex called up, causing Tyler to lean away from me to collect them and hand them to me.
“See you soon,” he said, pressing the second kiss of the day to the side of my temple. A grin caught on my lips immediately, and it wouldn’t stop no matter how much I tried to pull it in as he climbed back down.
Janesa looked over at me from where she was standing and mouthed ‘Oh my god!’ and I rolled my eyes to try and play it down a little.
“Be careful, he’s a heartbreaker,” one of the other girls on the viewing platform said when he left with the other riders. Her name was Nancy, and I’d never known of her being involved with Tyler. As far as I knew, they never even hung out in public.
“No he’s not,” said one of the other girls, Natalie. “He’s never promised anyone anything. You have to give him credit for that. He’s honest about his inability to do relationships.”
I raised my brow.
“He’s not a manwhore if that’s what you’re thinking,” Natalie elaborated. “He just…he doesn’t make any promises.”
“Yeah,” Nancy agreed. “Then when you fall for him and he disappears you can’t really get upset because that’s just what he does. Then he comes back, and tells you that he’s a shit and that you should just be friends.”
“Is that what happened to you?” I asked.
She pulled out a cigarette and lit it with a shrug. “Yeah. But Nat is right. He didn’t promise me anything. I knew it was just a fling, but I wanted more, you know?” she said.
“It was one night, Nanc,” Natalie laughed, reaching into an esky they’d brought with them to pull out a beer. She offered Janesa and me one, and we took them with thanks. My painkillers had worn off, and I hoped the alcohol might take the edge off the pain.
“Yeah, but it was a bloody good night,” Nancy said, taking a beer as well then tapping it against the next of mine. “Here’s to you broken Sarah. May you get the chance to bag Tyler Lohan more than once. Lord knows, he’s never called any of us ‘sweetheart’ before, so if anyone stands a chance, it’s you.”
“Here, here!” Natalie agreed with a laugh, before taking the cigarette from Nancy and having a drag. The moment I noticed her holding it in her chest, I realised it wasn’t a cigarette at all and felt slightly stupid and naïve. “You want a hit?” she offered, as she blew out the fragrant smoke. “It’s good pain relief.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” I said, shaking my head.
Janesa reached out and took a hit in my place. “It’s mild, Sarah. It’s not going to fuck you over at all,” she told me, knowing I had a back experience with dope when I was in high school. Turned out it was laced with something else, and I was sick for days.
“That’s the good thing about Tyler. He’s totally into organically grown, chemical free everything, so the stuff he gets is really smooth and leaves you feeling real mellow. Like being drunk without the hangover. It’s good shit,” Natalie explains.
“All right,” I said, taking a hold of the joint. “I’ll take one hit, but only because my
foot is throbbing like a bitch, and I don’t have my pain killers.”
“That a girl!” Nancy cheered, slapping my back good naturedly as I slowly released the smoke from my lungs.
“They’re coming,” Janesa announced, pointing to the distance where we could hear the buzzing hum of the dirt bikes along the track. We’d come out here with eight of us all together, and the guys were all travelling in pack, kicking up dirt behind them as they rode along the sandy brown track that was carved into the bush. From where we stood, we were surrounded by gumtrees, and the bikes are still far enough away that we could hear the calls of magpies singing their garbled song, while a galah took flight and shrieked overhead.
I took a sip of my beer as the men drew closer, their motors whirring and taking over the soundscape. I kept my eyes on Tyler in his black gear with green wavy stripes over his chest and thighs, and I realised how good I’d begun to feel.
“Want another?” Nancy asked, holding out the joint.
They were right about its quality. It was super smooth, and my foot wasn’t feeling like much of anything thing at all. I simply felt…good, and as we watched the men fly over a jump and land, one by one on the other side, we hooted and hollered after them, grinning as they hit another one, and all I could do was watch Tyler as he flew gracefully through the air and landed without falter. Suddenly, I was feeling really, really good, and it wasn’t just because of the joint.
***
“Bonfire, or home?” Tyler asked, as he reached up and slowly lowered me down from the viewing platform. The others had run ahead and were busy setting up blankets and stacking wood.
“Bonfire,” I smiled, letting my hands rest against him as he held me in front of him.
“How’s your foot feeling?”
“Oh, it’s fine. Nancy gave me some of nature’s pain relief.
“And it worked, I see. You’re smiling widely.”
“I’m smiling because I’m having a good time. But, I do have to admit that I’m feeling a little buzzed.”
“All right,” he chuckled, slipping his arm around my waist as he helped me over to the others. It was slow going through the scrub at our feet, but I made it without too much trouble and lowered myself down on a blanket near Janesa.
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