Page 35 of Forever Summer

Hot and flat.

Never in all my years had I ever been made to feel like a third wheel; I was always amongst it, confident in my ability to be a part of the gang. If anything, I was the one that would make others feel like the third wheel. But in this case I felt like the odd one out; well, fuck that, I thought. Not this little black duck. Even though Megsy had done nothing more than walk across the lawn and stand before us there was no way she was edging her way back into Adam’s heart, with her cutesy little fringe and funky alternative fashion, the only kind that she could carry off with her ankle boots and suede mini. She was as adorable as ever and if I were a boy I would totally be crushing on her too, and that simply killed me.

“So, do you need any more help?” I asked Adam, trying to seem like a Good Samaritan here. Adam seemed a bit taken aback, which kind of made sense. ‘Helping’ wasn’t exactly my thing, but it was for Tess so I would definitely make an exception, plus I had no doubt that Megsy would be offering to apply cold compresses to the boys’ heads and serve them up cold drinks if she could, she was just that type of person.

“Nah, I think we’re actually sorted, just be ready by six for the pickup.”

“That I can do,” I said, relieved that he didn’t want me to make a salad or anything that would interrupt my getting-ready time. I glanced at my watch, hardly believing that it was four o’clock already. I was going to need every minute of those two hours to make myself into head-turning ready; actually, I didn’t really care if any did, I just wanted one head to turn.

“Hey, lover boy, stop schmoozing and get in the car. We gotta go.” Chris slammed the back door to his black panel van loaded with grog and made his way to the driver’s side.

“You’ve been summoned,” I said, trying not to laugh.

“What else is new?” Adam sighed, peeling himself off the seat with little enthusiasm. “See you ladies later.”

Wait. What?

My head swung around to see Megsy looking equally uncomfortable with the idea of girl time.

“Remember, the bus will be here at six sharp, so don’t be late.” Adam flashed a winning smile before sliding into the passenger side of the van, his arm resting on the rolled-down window as Chris fired up the thumping engine. Adam saluted as they rolled out the drive leaving a trail of dust and a painfully awkward silence.

“Well, I guess I am a bit early,” Megsy repeated, realising the reality of the situation. I wasn’t completely cruel; I knew she would probably be feeling way more out of her comfort zone than me. My biggest concern was getting ready, and having someone to entertain was not ideal.

What’s more, the place was deserted, and would be until everyone converged on the Onslow for pre-dinner drinks before the buses arrived, so it was going to be very much just Megsy and me. Alone.

“Want a drink?” I said, chipper as ever. I was all about keeping friends close but your enemies even closer.

“Sure, thanks,” said Megsy.

“Come on, I know a little place,” I said, tipping the remnants of my Coke out onto the lawn and heading toward the Onslow, binning the bottle on the way.

It was going to be a very long, long two hours.

Sixteen

Okay, so maybe I was a bad person, because the amount of pleasure I was having in getting ready in Adam’s room while Megsy sat awkwardly on the side of the bed with her drink really satisfied me.

“So, you sleep in here?” she asked a little tentatively, trying not to seem surprised.

I glided the straightening iron through my long blonde hair and shrugged. “Yeah, all the time. It’s the perfect place to crash after a Saturday binge,” I said matter-of-factly.

I could see Megsy in the reflection of the mirror; she was looking at the unmade bed next to her, probably thinking how small it was for just two people, and a little smile spread across my lips.

Megsy’s eyes skimmed around the room, across the carpet, the clothes on the chair in the corner, up to the ceiling, down the wall before stilling.

“Ha, he took down his Jimi Hendrix poster,” she said, causing my smile to fall.

How did she know about that? When had she been in his room? Adam hadn’t been living at the Onslow when they dated in high school, what the actual …

I smelt burning, “Oh shit,” I stammered, releasing my hair from the hot plates and waving away the smoke. Great, I had nearly set myself on fire, wouldn’t she just love that?

“Well, I think it was Chris’s; he was more the Hendrix lover than Adam so makes sense.”

“He must have just done it, because it was here last weekend,” Meg said, matter-of-factly.

Last weekend, huh?

Trying to keep my cool was not a natural thing for me to do; I had always been troubled with having a hot head, and given any normal circumstance I would have probably retaliated. But I knew what was at stake here, and if Megsy was going to lay down a challenge then I had to be smart about it. If she thought she could simply disappear from Adam’s life after breaking his heart only to return and try and pick up as if nothing had changed, well, I had news for her.

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