Thrilled to bits, I walked out into the main office, which was still abuzz with a range of emotions. Most of the girls were in groups, whispering furiously, their manicured hands flailing. My good mood instantly disappeared and my stomach backflipped for them, especially Eloise, who’d always been so sweet.
I went over and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around, red-eyed, and gave me a hug.
‘The last time I felt this rubbish I was hungover, remember? Maybe we should do another cheeseburger run?’ Eloise attempted to joke, but her heart wasn’t in it.
‘You’ll get snatched up for a great job, I know you will,’ I said.
‘I hope so,’ she muttered. ‘If not, there’s always PR. I’ve heard it pays more anyway.’
Gen, Carla and Sia rushed over. ‘Eloise, we’re going to the pub right now — you in?’
‘I’m technically unemployed, right?’ Eloise said. ‘Probably shouldn’t.’
Sia waved an envelope. ‘The beauty sale money will cover everything. And forget about cleaning up — Rae’s given us the okay to leave it.’
‘It’s the least this company can do for us,’ spat Gen, still fired up.
‘Josie, you in?’ asked Carla.
‘Ah, thanks, but I’d better get going,’ I said. ‘Thanks for everything, guys.’ I hugged them all, squeezing Eloise and Sia extra tight.
‘I’ll see you soon, colleague,’ whispered Sia, keeping her exciting new job a secret for the sake of the others.
I watched them walk away, knowing I’d never see them all together in the Sash office again.
Steph was standing alone in the corner. I walked over to tell her my news, but as I drew closer I realised her face was white. ‘What? What is it, Steph?’
‘Rae wants to see me in her office. Right now, apparently. Maybe she knows I stole Dad’s car the other night and drove up the coast.’
‘You stole your dad’s car?’
That made her giggle. ‘Shhhhh.’
The receptionist called over to us. ‘Steph, Rae’s ready to see you now.’
‘Okay,’ Steph replied. She turned back to me. ‘Will I catch you later? You’re staying at Tim’s, right?’
‘I’m meant to be,’ I said, ‘but I was thinking of killing time in the city. I don’t want to walk in on James and Summer hooking up on the couch.’
Steph wrinkled her nose. ‘Firstly, gross. Secondly, he’s working.’
‘Really?’
‘Yeah, take this key and let yourself in. I’ll be back later on and we can debrief.’
‘Sounds perfect,’ I replied. ‘Good luck in there. Hope you’re not done for grand theft auto.’
‘Me too.’ She rolled her eyes.
Goodbyes done, I left the office, soaking it all in one last time. On the street, I punched Kat’s number into my phone — I had to tell her my news. Then I wondered if she’d throw a hissy fit over the death of her favourite magazine, so I decided I’d only tell her about moving to the city for now, and the fact she’d get my bedroom with the larger wardrobe. The RIP Sash news could wait for a face-to-face chat.
‘What?’ she said when she answered.
‘Hey, how you doing?’
‘Pretty busy.’
‘Oh, okay … So how’s Mum?’
‘Same old. Reading books, napping in the garden, eating cake …’
‘Cool. And how are you? Coping?’
‘Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?’ The old Kat was back, and this time around she had extra bite.
‘Fair enough … So, I kinda have some big news. Is Mum there? Put me on speaker phone.’
Kat burst into laughter. ‘Oh, that’s hilarious.’
‘It is?’
‘Sorry, what did you say?’ She giggled. ‘Koby just sent me the funniest video. There’s, like, this dog who falls into a box of biscuits. Okay, it sounds lame but it’s awesome.’
I shook my head, confused. ‘Koby?’
‘Yeah. My boyfriend. Duh.’
Of course. I mean, I’d never heard of the guy, but of course.
‘I might call you back at a better time,’ I said.
‘Righto,’ she said and hung up before I could add anything else.
In the past, Kat blowing me off for a canine YouTube clip would have annoyed me — a lot. But after everything we’d been through, it just made me laugh. Some things never changed, and in the case of my feisty, larger-than-life sister that wasn’t such a bad thing. My news could wait.
At Tim’s, I lay full-length on the couch and daydreamed. Everything was falling into place. Finally. Uni was back on track, I had an amazing job lined up, my family life was on the mend and I had a group of awesome friends. Sure, there were still some murky areas — the whole James situation, for one — but generally life was kicking butt. And for once, not mine.
It dawned on me that I needed to tell Angel the news and I had no idea how she was going to react.
‘Hang on, I’m flossing,’ she said when she answered my call, her voice muffled.
After she’d finished, I rambled on about the magazine closing down, the amazing writing job at indi with Liani, and how she and Rae knew that Ava had set me up after all.
When I’d finished, rather than scream, shout or squeal like I’d been expecting, Angel’s voice softened. ‘Wow, Jose, it’s happening,’ she said. ‘The job in the city — you’re really doing it.’
I swallowed. ‘Yeah, it’s kinda scary, huh?’
Angel went quiet. ‘I’m going to miss you.’
‘Oh, shut up before you make me cry, I’m not going that far,’ I said, but it was too late. Warm, salty tears rolled down my cheeks and I wondered whether our friendship would ever be the same again. Together Angel and I had survived braces, bullying, parties (usually not being invited to them), crushes, broken hearts, exams, assignments and family dramas. But for some reason I couldn’t shake the strange feeling that things were about to change, big time.
‘So, actually, I’ve been dying to tell you something …’ Angel said.
I thought I had all her tones down, but this one was unreadable — it lingered somewhere between her I-just-made-out-with-a-boy voice and her I-just-heard-the-craziest-gossip-about-that-bully-we-hate voice.
‘Tell me,’ I said.
‘I’m dropping out of uni.’
Shocked, I sat upright on the sofa. ‘What? Does your dad know?’
‘Yeah, he’s not happy about it, but he knows,’ Angel said. ‘Uni wasn’t for me. I mean, arts. What was I thinking? Everyone knows an arts degree is just an excuse to wear a tea-cosy as a beanie and make out with your tutor.’
‘It is?’
Angel’s voice became more serious. ‘Look, you’ve done so well being away from this place, and if I don’t get out of here now, I’m never going to. I’ll end up stacking shelves at night like Tahnee’s aunt. I’m eighteen! I want what you’ve got.’
‘So what’s the plan?’ I asked.
‘I’m going to Europe,’ she squealed. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d heard her sound so happy. ‘Staying in hostels, overdosing on pasta, working in bars …’
‘Are you serious?’
‘Want me to save space in my backpack for you?’
I avoided her question. ‘When are you leaving?’
Angel paused. ‘Next week.’
‘Next week? No, you can’t. That’s so soon!’ Too soon. I couldn’t believe it. My hands were drenched in sweat.
‘You could come, too, Jose. Picture it: you and me taking on Europe. It’d be rad. We could get matching neck pillows for the plane.’
I bit my lip. Angel was my best friend, and it would be amazing to travel with her. But I wanted to write. I wanted to tell stories. I wanted to dig up facts and report them. I wanted to be a journalist, and Liani was giving me the opportunity to do exactly that before I’d even finished my degree. As awesome as it would be to have a picnic underneath the Eiffel Tower with Angel, that wasn’t going to make my dream come true.
‘I can’t come,’ I said, ‘I just can’t. But you’d better send me a buttload of postcards.’
‘Postcards! Haven’t you heard of Skype, grandma?’ Angel laughed, and I knew it was going to be okay.
‘Well, we can always Face-stalk each other. And you’d better learn how to read a map before you go.’
‘You were always the navigation queen,’ she said. ‘I’d just get us lost in the dodgy part of town.’
‘Remember that time you took us down the wrong street and we saw that drug deal happen next to the butcher’s? We thought they were going to come after us and kill us.’
Angel let out a small snort of laughter, which set us both off.
‘Now it’ll just be me, all alone in big, bad Europe,’ she said when she could talk again. ‘Reckon they do map-reading courses for dummies over there? And what if I can’t understand any of the languages? Maybe I’ll hire a hot tutor or something. The only word I know in French is “hello” — “adios”, right?’
I almost didn’t have the heart to tell her ‘adios’ meant goodbye in Spanish, but then imagined her offending a sexy French waiter while ordering a chocolate-filled croissant, so I filled her in — and taught her a few French words. As Angel freaked out, it hit me like a sharp slap in the face: she wasn’t the only one who needed to brush up on her solo skills.
In a matter of days, I was going to know how it felt to be alone, really alone, without my beautiful, brave best friend to call on. Was I scared of losing her? Terrified. But I didn’t want to bring her down, so I gulped and forced a laugh as she ranted about her flight’s carry-on rules; and pushed aside the thought that my life was changing again and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it.