Never Ever Tell

by Kirsty Ferguson

  ‘Hi,’ Wren said.

  ‘Hi, yourself.’

  ‘Hey, Justin. Have you met Olivia?’ Wren said to the boy behind her.

  ‘Sure, we’re old friends.’ He smiled at her creepily.

  ‘I’m just going to show Olivia round, being her first day and all.’

  Justin touched her shoulder. ‘Sure you don’t want a real man to show you a good time?’

  Wren frowned slightly. ‘Don’t worry, that’s just Justin, you’ll get used to him. One of my best friends and a hit with the ladies.’

  Not this lady.

  ‘That’s right, best friends, so we’re going to be spending a lot of time together.’ He reached around and pinched her bum, and she was too shocked to do anything about it except turn and glare at him.

  ‘C’mon, don’t be so uptight. What’s Wren’s is ours.’ He smiled, but it was the smile of a predator and her alarm bells started ringing.

  Wren didn’t hear Justin’s comment over the crush of kids all talking at once, nor did he see the pinch of her bum. She leaned in close to him and said, ‘Can we go now?’

  Wren stopped in front a boy, bulky, with a grin on his face. ‘Wren!’ he said in a deep baritone voice. ‘How are you, buddy?’

  ‘Olivia, this is my other best friend, Wade. Wade meet Olivia. She’s new here.’

  ‘Wow, you’re gorgeous,’ he said. ‘Just so you know, Wren shares everything.’

  ‘So I’ve been told,’ she said in an annoyed voice.

  ‘You’ve met Justin already then.’ It wasn’t a question.

  ‘Right, we’re going now, see you later.’ Wren pulled her along, away from the boys that made her feel so uncomfortable.

  He led her to a bench outside and he sat down. ‘What happened to the tour?’ she asked.

  ‘Decided I’d much rather get to know you instead. That OK?’

  Flattered, she smiled and sat down. ‘Sure.’

  This place was all about new beginnings. She could be normal here, she was sure of it. She had to admit, she was already hooked on Wren, and he seemed to feel the same way too. He couldn’t stop smiling as he looked at her for the longest time. She blushed, the heat rising from her neck to color her face. ‘I know we’ve only just met, but I feel—’

  ‘Me too,’ she interjected. She might as well tell him. Coming to this school, and meeting Wren may be the best thing she could have done and suddenly she was thanking her dad for uprooting his life, for her, this time. He would want a blow-by-blow account of her day when she got home, and she already had something positive to report. She’d also met a girl in English class, her name was Lisa, she seemed pretty nice too, but her mind was filled with Wren Sawyer.

  ‘Tell me about yourself,’ he said.

  ‘Well, you already know that my dad is the principal. I tell everyone that straight up so there’s no confusion, but I’m not a daddy’s girl. We move around a lot, wherever the work is for Dad, so I’ve been to heaps of schools. Some good, some not so good, but I’m liking this one so far.’

  Wren smiled in response.

  ‘I’m glad you’re here.’ He reached out and held her hand. Olivia was aware that they were moving at warp speed, but she didn’t care. He was so perfect she wondered if she was hallucinating the guy, but no, his hand, wrapped around hers, was real.

  Suddenly someone grabbed her around the waist, breaking her connection with Wren as she gasped.

  ‘Justin, don’t be a dick.’

  ‘What? I just want to get to know your new friend here the way you are.’

  ‘Piss off. We were having a moment.’

  ‘Yeah, I could see that – I’m saving you from yourself. You never were good around the ladies,’ came the not-so-backhanded insult.

  Moment ruined, Justin walked off. ‘Is he always so handsy?’ Hoping Wren would say no.

  ‘Well, yeah, but he’ll settle down once the shine wears off.’

  ‘And when do you expect that to happen?’ she said in all seriousness.

  He laughed, thinking she was joking. She got a terrible vibe from that guy. ‘He just likes the pretty girls, that’s all.’

  ‘You think I’m pretty?’ she said, emboldened by his words.

  ‘Yeah, I do,’ he said, suddenly shy.

  Olivia couldn’t have had a better first day. She was sure she’d just met the love of her life.

  Olivia dipped her toe in the cool water while lying on a towel close to the bank of the river. They were under the shade of the tall trees whose roots spread out around them, all heading for the water. ‘It’s beautiful, Wren, thanks for sharing your special spot with me.’ He smiled at how happy she was.

  ‘Only Justin and Wade, and now you, know about this place. Oh, and my mom. I’ve never seen anyone else down here. I guess ’cos it’s off the beaten path.’

  A shadow fell over her face at the mention of Justin. He was getting worse, grabbing and touching her when Wren wasn’t looking or wasn’t there. Her disgust must have shown on her face.

  ‘You really don’t like him, do you?’

  ‘So, what about your family?’ she said, changing the conversation completely.

  ‘There’s Mom, my stepdad Billy and my little brother Ty. He’s my main dude.’ He said with pride. It was obvious that he really loved his brother. It was nice that he could admit that.

  ‘My real dad hasn’t been in the picture for a long time.’ Now he was the one frowning. ‘He’s an asshole who used to beat my mom. Haven’t seen him in years and don’t want to. I used to come here sometimes to get away from him, to escape.

  ‘He used to break into our house and move shit around, and I know he still hurt my mom even after Billy was on the scene. She’d come home from work with black eyes, walking funny. She always said she had just fallen at work. I mean, how many falls can one person have?’ He was angry, but a sadness came over his face. ‘He’s nothing to me.’

  Olivia moved so she was curled into his arms. ‘I’m sorry, Wren, that must have been really hard on you.’

  ‘What about your mom? You don’t talk about her.’

  ‘It’s… difficult. Dad takes these jobs to forget. I think he thinks that if he’s moving around, then he can’t form attachments to people, get to know them and maybe, just maybe, fall in love again.

  ‘I was home one night watching movies with Mom. We were talking, laughing, then all of a sudden, she went quiet. I looked at her; she was staring straight ahead, not blinking. The coroner said she died of an aneurysm. She was there and then she was gone.’ She shuddered at the memory, and Wren pulled his arms tighter around her.

  ‘Babe, I’m sorry. I didn’t know that happened to you or I wouldn’t have asked.’

  ‘No, it’s OK. It feels good to talk about it.’ Olivia spoke about her mom for a while longer, what she was like, how she loved to do crosswords, what books her mom used to read to her and how much she loved her dad. ‘I miss her so much.’ She felt the tears well up but pushed them down; it was way too early to be crying in front of her new boyfriend. She was glad that they’d shared parts of themselves with each other: it made them stronger.

  Olivia snuggled back into Wren, wanting to feel the closeness of him. She was grateful that he hadn’t pressured her for sex the way Johnathon had. Wren was truly a good guy. He started stroking her hair.

  They had been together just over six weeks when Wren first said, ‘I love you’. They were back down at Wren’s favorite spot at the river. Olivia had driven them as Wren didn’t have a car yet. She didn’t mind though, she liked looking over and seeing Wren in the passenger’s seat. It was like he belonged there. They swam with and against the current. Olivia was delighted when she discovered the warm spots that wrapped around her. The river was a bit cool, but it was a perfect relief to the hot day. They came out of the water, Wren like some kind of god, water dripping from his toned body. He shook his head, droplets flying from his hair and skin in all directions. They lay on their towels, holding hands. He rolled over
and looked deep into her eyes. ‘Olivia, I love you.’ He said it so quietly that the breeze almost stole his words.

  She gently cupped his face. ‘I love you too.’ It was a magical moment. She began to laugh.

  ‘What are you laughing about?’ he asked, putting his hand on her hip.

  ‘It’s just… this feels like it’s straight out of a movie. It’s so romantic.’

  ‘I guess you’re right. It’s perfect. We’re perfect.’

  17

  The party was in full swing by the time the three best friends arrived. Wren, Justin and Wade had driven in Justin’s V8 car, painted midnight black. Justin was the unofficial leader of the trio, ordering the other two around sometimes, especially when it came to girls. Justin had the first pick of any girl and he usually got them too. There was no real competition: Justin always won.

  Justin parked the car on an angle in the dry field so no one would park next to him and scratch his baby. Wren thought if anyone did that, Justin would come close to killing them. Justin was the ultimate spoiled brat; his parents couldn’t have cared less about him, so they bought him stuff as a substitute. He spent so much time at Wren’s, but Wren’s mom didn’t know what Justin was really like sometimes. She would have never let him stay otherwise. Most mornings Justin picked Wren up in his throaty car, peeling off from the curb so fast that his breath was always stolen for a second, Wade hulking in the back seat behind Justin. He never asked to sit in the front seat. He knew the pecking order, Justin, Wren, then him.

  Wren slid out of the passenger seat, already looking for Olivia’s car. He saw it over in the corner. She was here. His chest tightened; his hands began to sweat a little. He couldn’t wait to find her.

  Wade yelled out to a bunch of kids from their grade. ‘Let’s drink some beer and fuck some bitches!’ Everyone laughed and he even received a few high fives from the group. Everyone knew Wade was with the two most popular guys at school, who were almost joined at the hip.

  Justin seemed a little pissed off all the time ever since Wren had started dating Olivia. They seemed to really have a problem with each other, even though Justin said he thought she was great. He was for sure always touching her. On more than one occasion, he’d seen him ‘accidentally’ graze her boob. He let it be; Olivia was capable of taking care of herself. She was a strong girl, able to fend off Justin.

  ‘Wren, go get me a beer,’ Justin said.

  ‘Screw you. Wade go get us some beers, buddy,’ said Wren, delegating the job. Wade walked off to find the alcohol.

  ‘Nice job. Taught you well.’ Justin grinned at him. ‘Olivia here yet?’ he asked.

  ‘Yeah, somewhere. Her car’s here, just have to find her.’

  Justin, as usual, was the leader; Wade was the muscle, and Wren? Well, Wren was the brains.

  ‘Hey, Wren!’ He held up his hand in greeting to a group of girls who laughed when he said hi. They smiled as they walked past and Justin, being Justin, said, ‘You know I fucked Tanya?’

  ‘Yeah, you told me.’

  Wade came back holding six warm beers, three bottles in each hand. ‘Took you long enough,’ Justin said. Wade told him to fuck off and received an angry stare in return.

  ‘Drink up boys, I have a feeling that tonight will be a night to remember.’ Justin smiled at both of them, winking.

  Justin pounded his drink, as did Wade. Wren drank a little more sedately. ‘C’mon Wren, keep up. More beer, Wade.’

  Justin slammed his back again, Wade copying. This time Wren drank a bit faster and felt a little light-headed. Wade got them each one more beer when Wren would have preferred to stop for the moment. Wren held his in his hand as he went looking for Olivia. Eventually he found her, sitting on a log by herself on the edge of the party, since she only really knew a couple of people here and they were off with their own group of friends. Wren studied her for a moment. Beautiful, desirable, an enigma. She wore a short skirt and a singlet top. She looked better than any girl at the party, any girl he’d ever seen. Casual yet elegant, as if she wasn’t even trying to be that gorgeous.

  He went and sat beside her. ‘Hey, babe,’ he said as she turned to face him.

  ‘Hi,’ she said over the thumping music that reached her log. She was people watching. ‘Ever wonder what’s going on in people’s minds, especially at a party? Am I pretty enough? Did I put on deodorant this morning? Why doesn’t he like me?’

  Wren laughed. ‘You think of the weirdest things. Love it. Love you.’ He kissed her and she wrapped her arms around him.

  The thing with growing up in a small town was that everyone knew your business. Everyone knew that Colin the postman and Barbara, the married owner of the local grocery store, were having an affair; and they all knew that Mark used to beat his mom and Maggie, yet nobody put a stop to it. It was like living in a fishbowl: everyone could see your business, and everyone remembered everything. Wren wished he could start again, and he had plans to do so when school was over. Everyone knew his embarrassing stories, and nothing was ever lived down. He wished to be free, and he’d finally found a way to do it.

  Olivia Holmes.

  Spending time with Wren was better than anything Olivia could ever have imagined. Wren was the love of her life; he was patient, kind. But Justin called her uptight and frigid, just like Marcie had. Never in front of Wren, of course, but enough times to make her think that there was something wrong with her. She didn’t want the best thing in her life to end, so she never told Wren about Justin’s comments. And then Wade would laugh in that grating voice of his, getting on her nerves. They were as bad as each other. But she would not be the girlfriend who came between best friends. She simply took Justin’s behavior as a trade-off for being with Wren. It had been months since they had started dating and she had thought that tonight, she might take him home from the party and give to him something she’d wanted to give him for a while. Wren was the guy with whom she wanted to lose her virginity. She could sneak him in the back door. She had no idea how her dad might react – she’d never tried it before – but she was nearly eighteen.

  Wren had invited her to the soccer end-of-season party. She’d heard the parties were held in a field on the outskirts of town. Some people brought their own booze, but there was a keg and most people got rip-roaring drunk. Olivia was not one of them since she had to drive, but she knew Wren would most likely be coming with Justin and Wade and hopefully leaving with her. Tonight was the night.

  She parked her car in the corner of the field and went to find Wren. She was wearing a short skirt and a singlet top, the heat still warming the air despite the late hour. She had thought about putting her hair up, but Wren liked it down. She was perspiring slightly on her neck under her thick tresses.

  She could hear the music from where she was parked and as she got closer, she could feel the bass in her chest. Laughter carried across the open field, tire marks crisscrossed the dirt lot, straggling weeds fought for survival and the dust floated round her ankles churned-up from the cars.

  Olivia wasn’t too fussed about these kinds of parties, finding them merely an excuse for people to behave badly. She wasn’t a prude and she didn’t hate parties or anything, but she rarely drank and especially not while driving, so there wasn’t much for her here. Except Wren. She tried to find him, but when she couldn’t she went and sat on a log on the outskirts of the party. The music still rang in her ears and if she had to talk to someone, she’d still have to yell. She’d just sit it out until Wren found her, which she was confident he would do soon.

  Olivia wasn’t sure if her friend Lisa would be there or not. Apparently she’d been grounded for the weekend. Lisa told her that she’d been caught screwing her boyfriend in the garden shed. She had laughed as she said it, and even Olivia could see the funny side, but she knew she’d miss her tonight. Maybe she had managed to talk her parents round, but she hadn’t seen her yet. So she sat on the log and waited. And waited. And waited, until finally Wren appeared, sitting down on the
log next to her. He was here and all was right with the world again. They had a brief conversation, Olivia barely remembering what they talked about. She was lost in his dark eyes. She pushed back a stray piece of hair and he drew her forward for a kiss.

  Suddenly she was pulled backward pressing into something hard, a body. Bands of steel wrapped her waist.

  ‘Justin, put her down, you’re scaring her.’

  ‘You’re not scared, are you, Olivia?’ Justin said loudly in her ear. She nodded her head, too scared to talk. Yes, she was scared.

  Justin stood up, depositing Olivia on her feet. She immediately smoothed down her skirt and went to Wren’s side, reaching out to hold his hand.

  * * *

  ‘This party blows,’ Justin announced. ‘Let’s go somewhere and talk.’ He exchanged a glance with Wade as he looked from Wren to Olivia and back to Wren. ‘C’mon, Wren, we can get to know Olivia properly. Wade even brought her a beer.’

  He offered the drink to her, but she refused to take it. ‘I’m driving, but thanks anyway.’

  ‘Wow, your girl is uptight, probably frigid too. Tell me, Wren, you been there yet?’

  ‘Justin…’

  ‘I know, I know. Olivia can’t take a joke. Let’s go.’

  Despite having a terrible sinking feeling in her stomach, Olivia followed Wren who gripped her hand hard. Maybe he was nervous too, who knew? Or maybe he was just angry at Justin for being such a dick.

  They followed Justin further into the field, decorated with tufts of weeds. The music started to fade, the bass no longer thumping in her chest. She was beginning to feel anxious, but she was with Wren; he wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her.

  ‘Look at the stars out here, Olivia. Bet you don’t get that in the city – too much light pollution,’ Wren said. She looked up.