Page 81 of Summer, in Between
‘Go for it, ladies.’Tom flips the lid of his esky.‘Beer?’
One comes to sit opposite me.‘I feel like I know you from somewhere,’ she says, ‘where do you go?’
I tell her and she snaps her fingers.‘That’s it!You did thatKing Learworkshop in the city last holidays, didn’t you?’
‘Yes!Were you there?’
‘I was, Mel and I both were.’She turns to her tall blonde friend who is grabbing them a beer.‘Mel, come over here!I’m Jay, by the way.’
‘Cat,’ I shake her outstretched hand.‘So, you’re going into Year Twelve, yeah?How’s your holiday homework going?’
The three of us compare subjects and holiday homework, finding the overlaps, grimacing in solidarity at the workload expectations, exclaiming at the serendipity of discovering we’re all aiming for the same university, if not the same courses.Next year, I could feasibly be having lunch with these girls hundreds of kilometres away from this sand dune, and I grin at the thought.
‘Hey guys, can you turn it down a bit?’An older guy, a tourist, crosses the dune.‘We’re here for some serenity, not a nightclub.’
‘Are you kidding?’says Cavey, ‘Mate, you want serenity?What if I knock you out?That enough serenity for you?’
Ugh, here we go.Jay’s head swivels from Cavey to the other guy before looking at Mel, eyes wide.I shuffle back a bit closer to Paul and put my hands on the tops of his thighs, palms flat.
‘Look, mate,’ the tourist says, ‘I don’t want any trouble, I’m just trying to watch the sunset with my friends.’
‘If you don’t want trouble, then pack up your shit and go find somewhere else to watch the sunset.This is our beach.Fucking terrorists.’
‘Terrorists?’Jay mouths at me.
‘It’s what the locals call tourists,’ I explain.
‘Aren’t you a local?’she asks.
‘Only technically from a geographic perspective, and only for another year, thank freakin’ God.’I explain the great divide between me and the rest of the general population.
‘Is it like a money thing?’
‘It’s more like a dickhead thing.My dad’s a tradie too, but he’s nothing like them, so it’s a bit weird.’
‘Wow, sounds Shakespearean,’ she says, ‘so what, are you and your hot boyfriend like living, breathing Capulets and Montagues?’
‘Not quite.He’s nothing like them either.Anyway, how long are you down for?’
‘We’re heading back tomorrow,’ says Mel, and gets out her phone.‘You have to give us your details so we can catch up when you move.’
‘Tomorrow?Bummer!And I’d love that.I was just thinking I was so jealous of you girls hanging out, I miss my friends so, so much.And this is the first intelligent conversation I’ve had in weeks.’
‘Sorry, what?’says Paul, and tickles my ribs.‘The dumb arse tradie not intelligent enough for you?’
‘You know that’s not what I mean,’ I say, ‘but you’re really bad at girl talk.Likereallybad.’I smile at Jay.‘Devo you’re leaving tomorrow.’
‘It’s just enough time to check out the hot surfer boys.’She giggles.‘Come on, give me all the intel.Which should we go for?Who should we avoid at all costs?Please tell me they’re not one and the same.’
‘It depends.Are you into misogynistic racists?’
‘Hard pass.Don’t think I haven’t noticed that you nabbed the number one.Lucky girl.’
‘Tell me about it,’ I say.‘I keep thinking I’m going to wake up and the hottest of the hot has just been a dream.’
‘Awww...that is so, so sweet!I wouldn’t be letting him out of my sight.Especially the way that one’s looking at him.’She nods her head across the group.Isabel Scuzzbucket Dillon is shooting daggers at me while curled up in Cavey’s lap like a cat, her arms up around his neck.‘Even though it looks like she’s already landed herself a surfer.Some people are just greedy.’
‘Man, she wishes,’ I say.‘I think I’m safe.’Paul’s grip tightens on my knee.
