by Ben Chambers
“Sure. I’m sick of them. Have as many as you like.”
I kind of giggled in her ear when she said that. I don’t think I’ve ever giggled in my life, but I did then. I went to the fridge where she had them all stacked up in a little tower. I took one. But I didn’t think it through very well and took one kind of at the bottom of the pile, and they all collapsed and clunked around very loudly in the fridge. I looked around the side of the fridge door, but no one had noticed. I opened the can. It made a cracking noise, foamed up a little bit, and spilled some on the floor. My face was feeling quite warm, and the coolness of the fridge was very nice. I actually just stood with the fridge door open for a while, standing in the cold. Then I even picked up another can of drink and put it on my cheek. It was very cold when I did that. It was nice though. I started thinking that must be what it’s like to be an Eskimo who lives in the snow all the time. Just like having a refrigerator around you everywhere you go.
I took my drink and went back to where Anne was. I didn’t know who else to hang out with, so I just sat down next to her on the couch. There wasn’t really enough room for me though, and I sort of squeezed into the side, squishing up against her a bit. She didn’t seem too happy about it, but eventually she shuffled over and made a little bit more room. They were all talking about various things, but I wasn’t listening too much. I was just drinking my drink. But then I started thinking about my dad. And my mother, too. I hadn’t even had a chance to see her yet since my dad died. He only died on Thursday, and it was Friday then. I guess it was only one day, but I figured I probably should have gone and seen her straight away. I wondered how she was doing. I had talked to her a few times over the phone the day before, though. She had rung me a lot of times, and I had chatted to her. But I hadn’t talked to her at all that day. I suppose it was because I turned my phone off.
Then I put my can of alcohol down on the table in front of me. I wasn’t feeling too good anymore. I didn’t want to have any more sips of it. I leaned over to Anne and said, “I think I’m going to leave now.”
“Are you feeling all right?” she said. Maybe she saw my face and thought that I was feeling a bit sick. It was quite nice of her to ask me that. Anne’s not too bad all the time.
“I’m just quite tired,” I said. Then Anne suddenly seemed very interested in me. She turned completely around to face me.
“How are you getting home?” she said. Then, before I could answer, she said, “Do you think I could get a lift with you?”
I realised then that all she wanted from me was a ride home. She must have thought that my parents were coming to pick me up or something. I thought that even if I was going home, I wouldn’t want to give her a lift anyway.
“I’m not going home,” I said. “They’re doing renovations at my house. I’m probably just going to get a hotel room or something somewhere.” Normally I’m not very good at lying, but I just thought of that one straight away.
“A hotel?” She sounded quite shocked. I didn’t really think it was that shocking, but apparently, she did.
“I don’t mind,” I said. And I guess I really didn’t mind too much. It was probably quite expensive, and I was quite low on money, but I didn’t really care.
“Of course, I would invite you to stay at mine, but I’m afraid we don’t have a spare bed for you.”
“Don’t worry ab—”
“Oh, I know! Why don’t you ask Lily if you can spend the night here? They have like five spare bedrooms. That sounds like fun!” She seemed very excited about the idea for some reason. But I really didn’t want to stay there, and I told Anne that. She wouldn’t listen to me. She insisted that it would be fine. I kept telling her I didn’t want to, but she wouldn’t listen to me. She jumped up and came back a moment later with Lily.
“No, Anne—” I said.
But she asked Lily right in front of me. “Lily,” she said, “my poor friend Franny doesn’t have any place to sleep tonight. I think her house is under renovation or something. She could stay here, in a spare bedroom, couldn’t she?”
I was really angry then. Anne wasn’t listening to a word I was saying! I stood up, and I was going to tell Anne off and storm right out of the house! But when I stood up, I forgot all about how angry I was. I actually felt very wobbly and dizzy.
“It’s perfectly fine for you to stay here,” Lily said. “My parents are gone for a couple of weeks, so no one’s going to care if you spend the night. I can give you a spare room downstairs.”
I kept trying to say no and even started to walk off. But then they both started ganging up on me and wouldn’t let me leave. They said I could take the spare bedroom downstairs. That no one ever used it. They were sort of holding one of my arms each, steadying me from falling over. I was feeling very drunk by then. Eventually, I couldn’t be bothered trying to argue with them anymore, so I said okay. Afterward, I was actually quite relieved. I didn’t have too much money, and I would have almost gone bankrupt paying for a hotel room.
Lily helped me get to the room downstairs. We were walking past so many people that all seemed to be staring at me. I thought it was a bit odd, but I guess I didn’t really notice too much at the time. She opened the door to the room, and it was very nice and white inside. Everything in there seemed to be white. White carpet and white blanket and white drawers and there were even two paintings on the wall that were mostly white. The bed looked very comfortable. I was feeling very tired by then. The party was still going on, but I felt like sleeping anyway.
I was all set to go right to sleep. I sat on the bed and was about to lie down when Lily came up to me, holding something in her hands. It was a little bowl. I think she had gotten it from the windowsill.
“Isn’t this bowl incredible?” Lily said. She held it out towards me. I wasn’t sure if she wanted me to take it from her or not, so I only looked at it. “I got it in Thailand. Have you ever been?”
“No.”
“You should definitely go when you get the chance. The vendor I bought it from told me that it’s made of seven different types of metals. I just couldn’t refuse. It’s not often you find so many types of metal in a single product like that. It’s quite a rarity. There’s bronze, copper—go on, hold it.”
She forced the bowl into my hands. I didn’t really want to hold it, but I didn’t want to be rude. I rotated it around it my hands and pretended to look very closely at some of the finer details where the metals were joined together. I made it look as though I was very interested, when really, I wasn’t. I was being quite cheeky.
She continued, “Bronze, copper, and some other metals.”
I thought that was quite silly. She bought the thing because it was made of seven different types of metals, and she didn’t even know what the metals were. I just thought it was quite silly.
Finally, she put the bowl back and went upstairs. When she closed the door, the room was very quiet. I could hardly hear any more noise. I fell asleep instantly, I think.
Chapter Five
I woke up quite early in the morning. I heard a whole lot of shuffling and banging upstairs, and I think it woke me up. I was still feeling very tired, but I couldn’t sleep. Probably because my mind was thinking about so many things all at once. I was thinking about my essay that I had to write. I thought I should probably get up pretty soon and go to university. I needed to get a good portion of my essay underway, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to finish it on time for Monday. It was Saturday, so I only really had two days left.
Then I started thinking about what would happen even if I did finish my essay. After I’d finished my whole degree, even. What would I do after that? I didn’t know what kind of jobs to get with a history degree. I guess I could be a historian, but that doesn’t sound very exciting. I wondered if maybe I could work in a museum. They have a lot of history in museums, so that might be good. I quite like museums, too. They’re always so big and quiet. There’s this nice museum that I’ve been to a few times. It’s not t
oo far from university. It’s very interesting and has a lot of very interesting stuff in it. But what I like the best is the flower garden that’s right next to it. They have this big garden filled with a whole bunch of different kinds of flowers and plants and trees. My favourite flowers that I see quite a lot are these little purple ones with yellow in the middle. I can’t remember what they’re called right now, but they’re my favourite. I like some of the red ones, too. Especially the ones that are very dark red, kind of like this lipstick that I have. I thought maybe I could work at the museum, and every day, I could visit the flower garden. Maybe I could even eat my lunch there on sunny days. That would be so nice.
Then someone knocked on the door. I wasn’t sure who it was, so I didn’t say anything. I was worried maybe a stranger was going to come in. The door opened a little bit, and someone said, “Franny?”
I thought it sounded kind of like Lily. Then the door opened all the way, and I saw it actually was Lily. She stood in the doorway. She was dressed entirely in tennis clothing. She had on this white top that was cut quite low. And this short white skirt which was very short. Then she had on this fluorescent pink headband to keep the hair out of her face. And around her neck was a very beautiful gold necklace.
I sort of looked down at myself then, to make sure I was decent. I realised I had fallen asleep with all my clothes on. Even my shoes. I could feel them on my feet. But I had the blanket pulled up to my chin, so she probably couldn’t tell.
“I hope I didn’t wake you,” she said. She didn’t really sound too concerned though. Before I could say anything she said, “Listen, I was wondering if you want to play tennis with me? My tennis partner bailed.”
I kind of just stared at her and didn’t answer. I wasn’t too sure what to say.
“Look,” she said. “I know we don’t really know each other. I know you’re probably not too thrilled about the idea. Neither am I. But I’m already in my tennis gear. I can’t not play now; it would be such a waste.”
I could tell she really quite liked herself in those tight little clothes. She kept looking down, and adjusting her skirt a little bit, making sure it was straight. She probably thought she looked quite good in it. She was right, though. She looked very pretty. Prettier than me. She had this very small waist and these very nice legs. She looked quite fit and athletic. But I wasn’t really that interested in playing tennis with her. I had my essay to write, after all.
But I didn’t really want to say no. She did let me stay the night at her house, so I thought it would be rude to just reject her like that. I sort of felt like I had to say yes, to be honest with you. And I figured the tennis wouldn’t last all day, anyway. I could just play one game with her and then go to university to write some of my essay. And I’m actually quite good at tennis. I used to play quite lot. I don’t play anymore though. I eventually decided it was too competitive, and that it just made people very mean and always want to beat each other. But I thought I could at least play one game with her, so I said okay. She threw some tennis clothes on the bed. She must have been holding them the whole time. I didn’t even notice.
When I started to reach for them, she said, “Don’t put them on just yet. You can just get changed at the club, we’re already running late.” She left the room to let me get up properly.
When I got out of bed, I felt a little bit sore. My head wasn’t feeling great, and I had this weird pain in my leg. I investigated a little bit and found this big bruise on my calf muscle. I didn’t know where it even came from, but it hurt quite a bit.
I went upstairs and got my bag from its hiding spot. Then I went into the bathroom to get changed out of my dress and back into my skirt and shirt. I probably should have just changed into my tennis clothes, but I didn’t think about it at the time. I just held on to them instead. I found Lily and she gave me a glass of water and a banana. I felt quite dehydrated, and my throat was a bit sore. I didn’t feel like eating the banana, but I did drink the water. It was very refreshing.
Lily drove us to the tennis club. I’ve myself never learned to drive, but I have been meaning to. There just never seems to be any time to do it. During the university semester, I’m too busy and exhausted with all of the studying I have to do, so I can’t learn to drive then. And then, during the holidays, when I’m on break from university, and I don’t have any studying or anything to do, that’s when I feel even more exhausted. I have to spend that time recovering and re-cooperating, so that my mind is all set for the next semester when I have to focus again. During the holidays, I sleep more than anyone I’ve ever known. I’m a sleep addict. My ideal is about twelve hours of sleep per day. Maybe even more than that.
The drive wasn’t too far from her house. She lived in this very wealthy neighbourhood, so it had tennis courts quite close by. I don’t live in a wealthy neighbourhood myself. I don’t live in a dump or anything, but our family isn’t too rich. My father works for a computer company. I’m not really sure what he does, though. He earns a bit of money but not too much. Or I guess he used to. My mother doesn’t work very much anymore. Fairly occasionally, she works in an office. Usually one full day and one half day each week. I suppose she doesn’t earn too much money. So we don’t live in the nicest area. I don’t think there’s a tennis court anywhere near our house.
We parked in the club’s car park. I took the bundle of tennis clothes that I was holding and followed Lily up the stairs and inside. There were quite a lot of people there wearing tennis clothes and holding tennis rackets and tennis balls. I felt quite out of place. I was just wearing my normal clothes, and I didn’t fit in very well. I looked out the window at the people playing on the courts. They were mostly very terrible players. I guess it’s because a lot of them were quite old. I had a very good technique when I used to verse old people, when I played a lot. First, I’d hit the ball to the left side, and the old people would run to get it and hit it back to me. Then I’d hit it to the right side, and they’d try to run to get the ball. But they’d still be recovering from running all the way to the left side from before. That way, the old people would be too tired to get the ball, and I’d win. It was quite funny at the time, but I suppose now I think it’s a bit mean. It probably isn’t too nice to be old and not be able to chase the tennis ball that some stupid little girl keeps hitting so far away from you.
Lily led me across the room. “I’ll just sign in while you get changed,” she said. “We can grab one of the courts on the— Liam!”
Liam was this boy on the other side of the room that she had spotted. He was very tall and had thick brown hair. He was very attractive.
Liam turned as Lily was running over to him. She sort of clung onto him in this crazy jump-hug. I thought it was a bit strange, but I could tell he liked it very much. He had this smile on his face as she hugged him, and his hand squeezed very low down on her back. Almost on her bum. It was a little bit embarrassing.
When they eventually let go of each other, she was staring up at him all cute-eyed like girls sometimes do. She had her hands behind her back and was sort of swaying her hips side to side as she talked to him. “I didn’t know you were going to be here this morning.”
“Yeah,” he said. “I hadn’t planned on it. I was going to spend the day at the office—oh, did I tell you? I’m working at my uncle’s firm for the summer. In the financial law team.”
“Look at you,” she said and jokingly poked him in the chest. I have a feeling she just wanted to touch his muscles. He was quite muscular. “Mr Lawyer.”
He sort of gave a dry smile at that, so Lily quickly started talking again. “How long are you here for? Would you like to play a game?”
“Yeah sure, that sounds good.”
“Fantastic,” she said and kind of jumped up a little bit. I think she was quite excited to play with him. I guess she forgot I was there. “I’ll just—” She stopped and turned around to look at me. I guess she remembered again. “Ah, just hold on a second.”
She
came back over to me very quickly. She seemed in quite a rush. I could see this sort of apologetic look on her face before she even started talking to me.
“Hey, Franny,” she said. “Do you mind very much if I play a quick game with Liam? It won’t take very long. Maybe twenty minutes. Thirty at most. Then I’ll come straight over and play with you, promise.”
I hadn’t said anything yet when Liam came over to us.
“You two all right?” he said, looking at me. I felt quite shy. He was so tall. I could hardly even look all the way up at his face, it hurt my neck. I had to look at his chest instead.
“Liam, this is Franny. Franny, Liam,” Lily said and gestured between the two of us.
Then I did something very embarrassing. Liam put his hand out towards me. He wanted to shake hands with me. I guess that’s probably what you should do when you first meet someone. So I went to shake his hand, but I really struggled to do it because I was holding all those tennis clothes. When I put my hand out, I accidentally dropped everything all over the floor. I felt very stupid.
“So do you mind, Franny?” Lily said.
“No, I don’t mind.”
Then Liam said, “I’m not stealing Lily from you, am I, Franny? I don’t want to butt in on your game.”
“No,” I said. I couldn’t even look up at him. He was way too tall. I’m quite short.
“It’s okay,” Lily said. “She said she didn’t mind. We’ll just have one game and then Franny and I will play afterward. You can come watch us, Franny.”
“Come down and referee the game for us,” Liam said. “You can make sure this little one doesn’t cheat,” and he poked her back in the chest, kind of touching the top of her boobs. Lily looked like she really liked that.
I didn’t want to referee the game, but I thought I probably shouldn’t say no. So I just nodded my head. It was a bit quiet and awkward for a moment.
Then Lily said, “Liam, can you go grab us a court? We’ll meet you there in a minute.”