Page 41 of Unspoken Words
“You did.” She stepped out of my embrace.
“Okaaay. I think it’s time to go,” Mrs Mitchell chimed in. “I have a cheesecake in the fridge with our names on it.”
“Finally!” Chris clapped me on the back for the second time that night. “I’m happy to admit the play was shit for the both of us. Now let’s go home.”
“Christopher Roger Mitchell! Take that back.”
“Or what, Mum? I’ll have dishes duty?”
“Yes. For the rest of your life.”
He laughed. “You’ve already told me that. And, anyway, I said the play was shit, not Ellie. Ellie and Jenny in those tight leather pants were the only good things about it.”
Mrs Mitchell threw her program booklet at him, or at least tried to throw it at him—she missed … by a mile. “Get in the car.”
“I’m driving,” he said.
We all groaned.
*
The driveback to Ellie’shouse would normally take twenty minutes, but with Chris driving, we arrived in ten … with a renewed sense of faith.
“You’re a psycho, Chris. You’re never gonna get your licence.”
“Shut up, Elliephant.”
“You’re so original, idiot.”
Mr Mitchell gave Chris a stern look before he unlocked the door to their house. “Next time, Chris, try slowing down when the lights turn amber.”
“I made an informed decision to proceed with caution.”
“You call that caution? I call that insanity. You pull a stunt like that during your test, you can kiss your licence goodbye.”
“Okay okay. Maybe there was time to slow down and stop.”
“Maybe you’re just an idiot,” Ellie mumbled as she brushed past Chris and me and headed toward the backyard.
I took my cue and followed her down her driveway to the garage where she’d picked up her netball and was shooting the ball into the air and catching it. “Why’d you hate it?” she asked, her tone flat, her eyes on the ball.
“I told you, I didn’t hate it.”
“Then what’s your problem?”
Sucking in a deep breath, I put my hands in my pockets and kicked a stone into the garden. “You lied to me.”
She caught the ball and turned her head—exorcist style—in my direction. “What?”
“You heard me. Why’d you lie?”
“I didn’t lie. What are you talking about?”
“Tristan.”
She rolled her eyes. “What about him?”
“You never told me he was playing Doody.”
