Chay waits for me under our tree. She stands tapping her foot with her oversized sunglasses pushed up on her head. ‘Took your time,’ she says as I sink into my usual spot on the ground.
I roll my eyes rather than pointing out that, unlike her, I’ve had to walk from the other side of the school. Nor do I mention the missed meeting from this morning.
Chay paces a flat path in the grass. Today she’s in a black jumpsuit with a dark green cardigan.
Dark green like Sebastian’s eyes.
‘Earth to Kathleen.’ Now she’s crouching in front of me, her glasses not hiding the deep frown creasing her brow. ‘Are you even listening?’
‘Don’t call me that.’ Only Mum gets away with my full name, and only when I’m in the kind of trouble that requires a lecture. Then I usually cop my middle name of Mary too. At the start of high school Chay and I decided to cool ourselves up. Her hair transformation from mousy brown to bottle blonde stuck, but my attempt at Kat or even Katie failed. Chay was disappointed for me but I didn’t really mind.
‘Sorry,’ she mutters from behind the glasses. ‘But I was trying to tell you why I didn’t make it to the science block bathroom this morning.’ Her lips puff up into a pout. ‘I thought you might want to know.’
I almost don’t. The pain in my eye has lessened but it’s been replaced by a pounding in my skull. Too many tears, too much thinking, too much of everything to handle Chay’s dramatics. But she’s been my best friend for as long as I’ve been in this town and she’s the one who stood by me yesterday.
‘I did. I mean … I do.’ I try to stop thinking about Sebastian but can’t resist hugging his hoodie a little closer.
Distracted from her guilt trip, she reaches for the sleeve and I fight the urge to tug it out of her grasp. ‘A master stroke by the way.’
‘What?’
‘I heard you were carrying some mystery guy’s clothes through the halls. People are talking about it.’ For the first time there’s support in her smile. ‘Which means they’re not talking about Joel and Lana. Or not as much.’
‘It’s Sebastian’s.’ Saying his name aloud is strange when it’s been echoing silently in my head since our meeting.
Her jaw actually drops open. ‘How did you score that?’
Now I’ve mentioned who gave it to me, I wish I hadn’t. Why didn’t I just pretend I found it on the way to school? Or maybe that I brought it from home?
Probably because she knows my wardrobe better than I do and because I’ve always shared everything with Chay. And she with me. It’s what being best friends is all about.
Like she told you Lana stole her boyfriend?
I shake my head to clear the disloyal thoughts. She was embarrassed. I, of all people, understand how that feels. She’s waiting for an explanation.
‘I bumped into him this morning on the way to class.’ I pause, unsure how much more to say. Our conversation was about nothing in particular and at the same time everything.
I settle back against the tree trunk. ‘We talked for a while.’
‘Brilliant. Did people see you? I wonder if Joel’s heard yet?’
‘I don’t know.’ When I was with Sebastian I wasn’t aware of anyone else. I wasn’t trying to score points or win anything. ‘It was by the IT building so there weren’t many people around.’
‘And the clothes exchange?’
‘He thought I might need it.’
She whistles. ‘Must have been some conversation.’
I’ve known her long enough to hear the prodding in her tone but I pretend not to. ‘So, why were you late?’ I ask, knowing once she starts her tale she’ll forget the inquisition. Nothing distracts Chay like a drama, even better when it’s her own.
She leans forward, eyes rounded with the enormity of what she’s about to tell me, showing off thick black eyeliner and matching mascara. ‘I was on the early school bus and the driver totally, and I mean totally, was looking me up and down. He had to have been like forty and so completely not cool.’ She adds an exaggerated shudder. ‘I told him to keep his greasy paws to himself.’
‘He touched you?’
‘No.’ She tosses her long blonde hair over one shoulder. ‘I could see he wanted to though. It was in his creepy eyes.’
I wince, at both the image and her description. ‘Nice.’
‘Not. Anyway, Principal Tyrant has given me a Saturday detention for being rude to the bus driver.’
‘Saturday detention for a smart mouth?’ Our town school bus is run by volunteers and I imagine Principal Bryant would have been less than impressed, but …
Chay rocks back and purses her lips. ‘I was apparently on my last warning.’
‘Again?’
‘Anyway, you have to help me.’ Her red-painted fingernails press lightly into my wrist. ‘I need you, Kath.’
I pull my arm back, sensing trouble. ‘How?’
‘Be-me-on-Saturday.’ The words come out in a gush accompanied by a wide-eyed, hopeful expression.
‘But no one is going to believe I’m you.’
‘I’ve worked it out. Mr Jones is on duty and he’s always hung over on Saturdays. Wear a hat, scarf, some of my clothes and he’ll buy it.’
‘What about the notes home and the call to your folks?’ Our school has a system to make sure any trouble is reported to the student’s parents. The sinking feeling in my gut tells me I’m grasping at excuses. It’s hard to argue with Chay, especially knowing what her dad is likely to do if he finds out she’s got another detention.
And it’s not like I can afford any trouble on my own record.
She’s already moved on. ‘Don’t worry. I have that under control. All you have to do is turn up, sit, and study for two hours. I knew you would do it for me. Thank you so much.’ Her smile turns saccharine. ‘Like I stood up for you yesterday.’
‘I haven’t agreed to anything yet.’
‘You will. It’s what best friends are for.’ Her smile flashes a white strip between red lips. ‘I’ll bring the clothes around tonight after dinner and we’ll work on Aaron some more.’
I glance around to make sure no one heard her mention the fake guy. The one I’m already having second thoughts about. I spot Sebastian walking into the maths building across the courtyard. I’d know his walk anywhere even if I hadn’t already seen him today. I hug his hoodie a little closer.
Maybe if Chay comes around we can cancel the whole revenge idea. But I know better than to broach the subject before I have my argument sorted in my head. She’s pretty convincing.
‘You’re always welcome at our place, but what about your dad?’
A shadow darkens her eyes but only momentarily. The smile replacing it is bright and wide and doesn’t fool me for a second. ‘Working late.’
* * *
Another late client in the salon means I get to throw together a stir-fry for dinner without any heavy non-comments from Mum about the envelope or Joel or her death-blog friend Colin.
I leave her a bowl of honey soy chicken to be reheated later and eat while trying to finish my English assignment. I know once Chay arrives study won’t be on the agenda. Having never actually seen her crack open a book, I figure she’s either a secret genius or scrapes through with whatever she can manage at school before the morning bell.
By the time she dumps a pile of bags on my favourite rug I’ve done enough to have the rest of the evening off. Mum is pretty cool with Chay coming around during the week as long as I keep my grades up. She met Chay’s dad once. Only once in all these years of friendship but it was enough.
‘What’s with needing …’ I make a show of counting ‘seven bags for me to be you for one morning?’
She twirls in front of my mirror, having changed the jumpsuit for a long gypsy dress with a plunging neckline. ‘You think style like this just happens?’
‘Do you really want me to answer that?’
Our polar different wardrobes have been a standing joke between us since we hit high school and Chay discovered the effects of revealing clothes both on her male classmates and in pissing off her father. A double win.
She doesn’t wait for an answer, instead itemising the bags. ‘Outfits one, two and three are here. Then we have the shoes and then of course there are the accessories.’
‘Of course.’
The glittering silver scarf she throws at my head flutters harmlessly over my toes. ‘The hair is the tricky part. The forecast is for a cold morning so I’ve gone with hats and scarves to cover you up.’ Her eyes sparkle. ‘And my signature red lipstick.’
‘I have my own make-up.’
‘And it’s great … for you.’
I ignore the jibe and look through the bags. I lift out a miniskirt that’s more like the width of a belt. ‘Really?’
As if I wasn’t worried enough about fooling the teacher, I’m also going to be showing more leg than I do at the beach.
‘At least he won’t be looking at your face,’ she says with a smirk.
‘Great.’ I stuff it back in the bag. I bet the rest is along the same lines.
Chay has moved on already, flicking open my laptop. ‘Mind if I log in?’
She brings up Aaron Winter’s personal page before I finish my nod and I scoot across the rug to look over her shoulder. He is rather hot, with a mature look unmatched by any of the boys at school, except maybe Sebastian.
I blink. ‘No freaking way. Three hundred friends already?’
‘I made a few more friend requests this morning.’
She must have been busy. ‘He has more friends than me.’
Not that it’s hard. I tend to only add people I’ve met in real life and since I’ve lived in this tiny town since I was eight the numbers aren’t huge. There’s a few out-of-towners – mostly people I’ve met on our antiques trips – but nothing like this. I skim over his wall. There are already dozens of posts.
She scrolls down. ‘Look at this.’ One of the girls from school has left a message reminding him he promised to call after last weekend’s gig. ‘He ripped it up on stage Saturday night apparently.’
Her giggle is infectious. I shake my head. ‘I can’t believe it. People talking about a band that doesn’t exist.’
She grips my fingers. ‘But they do. I knew I’d heard the name Fake somewhere. It’s a thrash group that play in the city sometimes.’ Excitement shines from her eyes. ‘Lana’s next.’
I move to my bed, absently running my fingers along the edge of my blanket. I can’t quite meet her eyes. ‘I don’t know.’
‘Don’t tell me you’re wimping out?’
Her scathing tone is hard to ignore but the day at school wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I know I won’t be able to carry Sebastian’s hoodie with me all the time but I think people are already forgetting. And from the look in his eyes in class, Joel seems genuinely sorry about the way it all happened.
‘I don’t see the point.’ My teeth clamp my lower lip as I try to gauge just how pissed at me she is.
She stands. Her hands settle on her slender hips. ‘Grow some balls, Kath.’
‘What?’
‘Toughen up. Stop being a victim.’ Her voice rises. ‘Nine years I’ve known you and you always just let life treat you like crap. This is your chance to get one back.’ She leans down over the laptop again and her fingers fly across the keys. ‘Read this.’
I don’t move from the bed so she brings across and plunks it in front of me.
‘Read this,’ she repeats.
It’s Lana’s page and I can’t escape looking at it.
Lana Elliot agrees it was probably stolen.
It … The hoodie … Sebastian’s hoodie. Then below.
Lana Elliot wonders if that bitch thinks we’re stupid.
Hot and then cold washes over me and I hate that my body is a stereotype. I can’t even feel upset with originality. I push back the anger rising to flood my vision and my senses.
‘No. She’s probably not even talking about me.’
Chay shakes her head. ‘Maybe, but look below.’
There are a few comments on her post. Two arguing for her guess and one against. None make it clear what she’s talking about until …
Joel Moss Lay off her babe
It’s typically sweet and this time when my eye stings it’s not the allergy from the cucumber. Joel’s pity hurts more than Lana’s bitchiness. He liked me, he did. I just wasn’t enough for him to keep interested in when someone like Lana came along. Someone special.
Chay turns the computer back around and strokes the keys.
When she points it back my way it’s back to the handsome, popular Aaron and a friend request to Lana Elliot. ‘It’s up to you.’
I squeeze my eyes shut so I don’t have to read the screen. I hate, hate, hate decisions.
Okay, think.
Chances are the whole plan will fizzle out, but if it doesn’t Lana will discover what it’s like to be me: to be not good enough for someone you like. Maybe then she’ll hesitate before screwing someone else over. And maybe then the dark hollow feeling deep inside me will go away.
This is not about Joel anymore. He’s just a tool for Lana to spread hurt. I open my eyes. ‘Fine.’
‘Fine?’
I reach out. Take a deep breath. Click the button. ‘Fine.’
Chay’s grin is triumphant.
I feel a little sick. What will I do if she accepts?