Friendship on Fire (12 page)

‘Fine.' I held the smooth leather steering wheel with both hands like a grandma, refusing to take my eyes off the road. I would be petrified if anything happened. Not to mention any chance of getting my licence would fly out the window.

We drove through the back streets in case the cops left the house early and headed south to the peninsula. Thankfully there wasn't much traffic on the road so I didn't have to fight with anyone for lane space. I noticed after a while that he was directing me to the nearest beach; a conveniently secluded place at two in the morning. I loved the calm of beaches in general, but they were more enchanting during the dead of night. Nothing compared to the wind and darkness and the sound of crashing waves pummelling the sand.

Nate kept me chatting to distract me from our illegal activity. He was incredibly interesting. We rounded the last corner before the dirt car park and I remembered to ease the car gently so stones didn't flick on to the paintwork.

I brought the car to a halt where I could just see the waves over the top of the entrance to the beach, while I left the headlights on to see the black water. It was loud, menacing and wonderful, yet peaceful.

‘See, it wasn't that bad, was it?' he teased. ‘You could get your licence tomorrow, easy.'

‘Whatever,' I laughed, nervously.

It took all my willpower to peel my hands off the wheel and sit comfortably in his amazing car. I made sure the hand brake was on, the gear was in neutral and the windows were down. The breeze was quite balmy as I stuck my head out to breathe in the salty air. Perfect.

‘Thanks for keeping me calm. I needed it.' I smiled at him nervously and kissed him on the cheek. He squeezed my knee.

We sat in silence listening to the sounds of the ocean. He was drawing circles on my thigh with his fingers that were burning trails of nerves where his hands left. To be completely honest, I could hardly concentrate on not jumping his bones right then and there. It was self-preservation that stopped me from doing it, and my hope for our future. I knew quite well if I gave in to my emotions right now, I probably wouldn't see Nate again. Or my virginity.

I grabbed his hand to stop the dizzying circles and kissed the top of it. I felt like we'd come far enough already and I was cautious of rushing things any further. What if I was only a one-night stand to him?

‘Watch'ya thinking?' he asked, nodding toward my frown.

‘Nothing much,' I lied, and he immediately smirked. ‘Well, about how we met and … now this …' I stopped.
Don't be an
open book,
I silently scolded myself. Taking a deep breath, I added, ‘It's nice out here, don't you think?'

‘Sure is. I wouldn't be here at all if it wasn't for you though… so apparently I have you to thank.'

‘I wouldn't go that far,' I replied casually.

‘I would. It takes guts to do what you did. You're pretty awesome, Daisy,' he said, eyes genuine.

‘You are. Seriously, your dad has these cars lying around for you to borrow? I'd think he'd have everything secured under lock and key.'

‘He kind of does,' Nate said slyly. ‘But I know where he keeps all this stuff, so …' He let me finish the sentence for myself.

‘You're terrible,' I accused, laughing. ‘Your poor dad.'

‘If only he knew half the things I got up to,' he said cryptically. Then he changed his mind, ‘Nah, he deserves everything he gets. Don't wave a red rag under a teenager's nose and not expect them to charge it.'

‘I guess so. What would happen if you asked him to use it?'

‘What do you think he'd say?'

‘No?'

‘Yep. Definitely a no. Being rich and having nice things doesn't mean you share them. It means you get tighter.'

I frowned. ‘That's almost illogical.'

‘Of course it is. But how do you think people get rich in the first place? They have to be tight at some point.'

‘So you don't get an allowance of some sort? You don't work, do you?' I asked.

‘Nah I don't work. I get an allowance. It's a pretty decent one. You'd think it was, but compared to his fortune, it's like giving me five cents to play with.'

‘Interesting,' I said, mulling over his words.

‘Let's talk about you.' He changed the subject again.

‘What could you possibly want to know about me?' I asked, amused.

‘Everything. Tell me anything,' he challenged.

I put my leg up under me and said the first thing that came into my head. ‘I want a cat. A kitten. I love them. But Mum doesn't want one. They make her sneeze.' I giggled behind my hand at the memory of Mum sneezing over and over and over after being around cats.

‘We have one. A cat though, not a kitten. You have to meet him, he's hilarious.'

‘I'd love to. What else would you like to know? I don't know what to tell you.'

‘Um. How many boyfriends have you had?' His cheeky look told me he was half joking, but serious enough to ask.

‘A few … why?' I answered hesitantly.

‘No reason. But I can tell you haven't had many.'

‘OK …' I self-consciously frowned down at my feet.

‘And I like it like that. You have a special look about you,' he said, grabbing my hand.

Relief flooded me. I was worried I wouldn't be experienced enough for him. I couldn't change who I was in a flash, and I was a useless pretender, as he now knew. I looked at the clock.

‘Nate, I should be getting you home soon. It's late.' I waited for his response.

He checked the clock too. ‘Not for a while. I'm not tired, are you?' He gave a hopeful look.

‘Sorta. Well not really, but we've both got homework …' I started.

‘Don't say that word. It's still Saturday night, Daisy,' he groaned.

‘Technically it's Sunday morning. Very early. We need to get some proper sleep.'

‘Are you sure that's the only reason you want to go? I won't bite you know. Unless you ask me to.'

I punched him in the leg but he grabbed my hand afterwards. ‘I reckon I could see you every day and not get sick of you. That's saying a lot, for me.' He gently placed my hand back on my leg and patted it there.

‘Thanks. It still won't change the time, though,' I teased.

‘Let's go home then, nerd.'

I turned the engine on and was still laughing when I took down the handbrake and eased my foot off the clutch. It was only after I heard a
clunk
that I realised I hadn't put my foot on the brake.

‘Shit. What'd you do?' Nate flashed his eyes at me with annoyance. I held my breath. Within a second he was out of the car, running to the back and assessing the damage. The language that was coming out of his mouth made me cringe with stupidity. I didn't like to be told off, especially not by the person I'm trying to impress the most. I hoped the damage wasn't bad so we could go back to being the way we were ten seconds ago.

As soon as I felt that, another thought popped into my head. A part of me felt indignant. He was the one who practically dragged me to the car to drive him home, so why should I get all the blame for this?

He yelled at me to get out and have a look. I opened the car door and gingerly trotted to the back of the car with my hands holding the back of my head. I bent over to have a look under the car. I had hit a medium sized rock that was randomly in the middle of the car park. It had now been dragged under the car so far that we couldn't reach in and pull it out.

The plan was to go forward again and hope it didn't scratch more on the way out. By now Nate had taken off his good black shirt and was using it as a rag to try to rub some of the dust off the number plate and see exactly how much was scratched under it. He was grunting and cursing as he worked.

Although I knew full well it wasn't a good time to perve on his body for the first time, I couldn't take my eyes off his bare torso. It was almost shimmering in the moonlight, like an oil painting. How badly I wanted to touch it, study it, until my eyes gladly hurt. He eventually brushed his hands off and looked up at me, completely catching my eyes on his body.

I blushed.

‘Like what you see, then?' he laughed, and stood up. Closing the distance between us, I felt the familiar sensation of jelly knees and fidgety hands.

‘You've done a good one,' he breathed. ‘Hopefully Dad won't notice. We're lucky.' He kissed my forehead, and added, ‘Sorry if I was a bit pissed off before. You surprised me. I don't take surprises well.'

‘Yeah I didn't see it coming either. Remember, you asked me to drive. You wear the consequences.' I put my hands in my jean pockets sheepishly and looked down. ‘And I didn't like it that you snapped at me.'

‘I'm sorry. I told you I had some bad habits. My sharp tongue is one of them; I'm still trying to refine it.'

He gazed down at me with genuine remorse. I stared back at him. His eyes smouldered with liquid chocolate that was impossible to resist.

‘I know how it feels. Having a temper isn't much fun. Guess that makes us even, then?' I asked.

I was glad he forgave me quickly. I don't think I could stand him to be mad at me. I liked peace and harmony around me. In this case, I didn't want peace purely because I was attracted to him and everything was new, but that was a large factor, I must admit.

‘For sure. How about you get back into the car and try to drive forward real slow, so we can get away from this rock.' He got closer to the ground again ready to guide the rock out.

I turned the car back on and tried to remember all the steps before I took off. Hand brake on to not kill hot boy near car — check. Car in first gear with clutch in — check. Slowly ease clutch out and rev accelerator until car engages — check. Hold on to steering wheel firmly and check rear vision mirror — check. Everything had to be perfect.

‘This year sometime, Daisy,' Nate teased me from under the car.

‘Shut up, or I'll back into you,' I yelled back.

With a little jolt I moved forward and heard the scratching sounds of the rock trying to dislodge from under the car.

‘Nearly there,' Nate called. I held my breath, trying not to jump forward or roll back on to him.

‘Got it. Stop.'

I watched him in the rear view mirror pick up the rock and run with it to the edge of the car park. He threw it into the bushes, dusted off his hands, and ran back to the car. Putting his seatbelt on breathlessly, he said, ‘Let's go home.'

‘How thoughtful of you.' I nodded toward the rock now in the bushes.

‘Well I wouldn't want it to happen to some other poor guy. It is a bit of a mood killer,' he winked at me, and I laughed.

‘And you thought you'd get anything else? No chance.'

He shrugged. ‘Plenty of time for that.'

Fifteen minutes later, I was instructed to pull into his street and turn the headlights off. A few houses away from his home, Nate pulled me close to him and kissed me until I questioned my ability to drive home. I pushed his shoulder away and leant back into the seat.

‘Stop,' I squeaked.

‘Told you that you couldn't handle me,' he said, and got out of the car. He put his head back in through the window and whispered, ‘I'll need to prank you when it's a good time to bring the car home. That means you have to give me your number.'

‘Oh, nice one. How about I drop it back early, say at around five-thirty, and if you get caught, your problem?' I grinned.

‘Or we could do it your way.' He put on a disappointed look. ‘And I'll be grounded for the rest of my life and you won't get to see me again. Is that what you want?'

‘Maybe. Give me your phone.' I held out my hand for it and entered my number.

‘See you in a few hours babe.' He walked to his lawn whistling, black shirt still in one hand.

I did my best pink panther impersonation and tiptoed into the house barefoot. It was dark and quiet. Congratulating myself on my effort, I snuck into my room and shut the door, turning my lamp on next to my bed. Within seconds, Shane was at my door, sticking his head in. He made me jump with fright.

‘Oi. Party girl. Where'd you lift the M3 from?' he whispered eagerly.

‘It's …' I rubbed my forehead. No point trying to think up an elaborate lie. ‘It's Nate's dad's car.'

‘Nate, hey. Nate, Nate.' He let the name roll around on his tongue. What a space cadet. ‘The rich boy? Same boy who came ‘round the other night to hang with Tres and went into your room?' he asked directly.

I nodded.

‘You two are a thing?' He leant against the doorway now.

‘I think so,' I replied. We hadn't had a chance to talk about it ourselves, mind you.

‘You kiss him?'

‘Yep,' I replied.

‘You shag him?' he asked more seriously. I laughed at how far left field his question came from.