Friendship on Fire (7 page)

That's the last I wanted to hear from Nate.

I was nearly late for school because I couldn't seem to wake up. As it always turned out, my body wanted real sleep just as it was time to get up. I waited until everyone else had left the house before dragging my sorry butt into the kitchen to pack my lunch and bolt to school.

First period was history. Having only ten students in our class helped to keep it informal and close knit. Miss Shaw looked me square in the eyes as I walked in late but let me off the hook. After she had set everyone working on a source reading, she came to sit next to me.

‘How are you settling into year twelve, Daisy?' She smiled at me with genuine interest.

‘Fine. I mean it will take a while to get used to, but everything is sweet,' I lied.

‘Good. What about assignment wise? I bet you have heaps already,' she said, eyes annoyingly kind.

‘Yeah I do, actually. I'm going to be flat out pretty soon.'

‘Some teachers forget what it's like to be studying. Don't worry. It'll be over before you know it,' she assured me, and moved on to other students.

I appreciated her special attention. It didn't necessarily fix my problems, but it showed she cared, which was what other teachers apparently found hard.

I told Rach what happened at training last night through a note in human biology. I watched her reaction and she quietly gasped in sympathy. She wrote back straight away: 

Told you he was a tosser. Will you give up on him now? He isn't interested. There won't be a date. Give your attention to someone else who deserves it.

Good advice. I caught her eye and nodded soberly. I knew it was a waste of time to pursue anything after this, not if he was always this moody. Nate was just one big disappointment.

That night, Treston invited a guest home for dinner. I heard commotion at the front door. A new girlfriend perhaps? I intended to embarrass him as much as I humanly could in front of her. I bounced out of my room with a cheeky smile on my face. As it so happened, I was just in time to bump into none other than Nate. Of course. We both quickly stepped back and I couldn't help but show my revulsion.

‘Oh, it's just you,' I said coldly, and walked past him to the fridge. My knees shook.

Nate, surprised by my impolite tirade, chose to be polite in his new friend's house, so he didn't say anything.

Treston didn't bat an eyelid.

‘Sweet. You know each other, that saves me the effort,' he said, and handed Nate a drink.

‘I never got your name, though.' Nate's brown eyes watched me briefly before he took the drink.

Treston waved a hand in my general direction. ‘That's Daisy,' he said, dragging Nate into the lounge room. Nate glanced over his shoulder at me and shrugged slightly. Spineless loser.

I ran through the house to find Mum. She was getting changed out of her work clothes as I burst in and rallied her attention. I was going right off about Nate being here when she shushed me and asked what was really the matter. What did she mean, what was really the matter?
He
was the matter.

She asked how I knew this boy in the first place. I told her a watered down version of the story of what happened at school and she listened intently. Then she said, ever so logically, ‘Daisy, sometimes boys are undecided with their intentions. You have to give them more time than a few days. There are things going on in their heads that we don't know about. He has to establish his friendship with Treston too. Maybe he doesn't know how you feel about him?'

‘I don't feel anything for him in that way, if that's what you're implying,' I answered hotly.

‘OK sweetheart, I'm just asking. Things always seem much larger when you're young. Relax. It will work itself out. Come help me with dinner,' she said, and I nodded grumpily.
Stupid boys should cook their own food
, I thought.

Mum and I ate at the table, while the boys ate in front of the TV. No big surprise there. After dinner, I studied history with my earphones in and munched on some sour snakes. It was continuously hard to drown out the noise of the television, and life that I didn't see much of, coming from the lounge room. I felt, rather than heard, a loud knock on my door.

I was cranky enough as it was without the disturbance of unwanted company in the middle of planning an extended response.

‘What?' I called out.

‘Can I come in?' a muffled voice called.

My music was conveniently too loud, so I shouted,
‘
I can't hear you' to the anonymous person.

The door opened a crack. A head popped round it. ‘It's Nate, can I come in now?'

My heart leapt through my chest. ‘No. Shut the door.' I snapped, without turning around.

‘Please, Daisy,' he asked gently.

I stopped typing. For some reason I liked the sound of my name in his voice. He hadn't said it before to me. I wanted to hear it again.

My resolve softened slightly. I spun around in my computer chair, eyes narrowed. ‘Right. What could you possibly have to say to me? You clearly have issues with your tongue when more important people are around,' I spat, folding my arms for effect.

‘What would you know about my tongue?' he mocked.

I glared at him.

‘You never called me,' he said quickly, as if grasping for a new argument.

I smirked. ‘Why would I bother when you keep snobbing me off in public and then you're nice to me when it suits you? Anyway, I should never have been asked to call you in the first place. You're backward. Boys are supposed to do the calling. Or aren't you experienced enough to know that?'

I half hoped my sharp words would shrink him until he disappeared.

He was barely fazed. ‘Whoa, sorry, I'm a little unconventional. If I'd known you'd be so uptight about it, I would have got your number and done it myself.' He put his hand out. ‘Give it to me then and we'll try this again.'

He finished his coaxing with a cocky, crooked smile that made me want to slap him. Then kiss him.

I stared at his open hand and weighed up the consequences of both courses of action in my head. It was tempting, but so easy for him. I said nothing. So he tried a different tack.

‘Come on Daisy. I didn't want your brother to go all over-protective on you. I had to suss out what he's like first.' He ran a hand through his hair. ‘Can you please trust me? Let me get my footing first and it will all work out.'

Back up for a minute. ‘What will work out exactly?' I demanded.

‘Stuff. Look, let's wait and see what happens. Life isn't meant to be perfectly planned out. I like to go with the flow. I think you're interesting, even if you're kind of cranky. I want to get to know you.'

The look he gave me with his speech made me feel like I'd played the guilt card for long enough. I gave in.

‘Fine, but I'm not giving you my number.' I had to relinquish some pride.

My ears rang. He thinks I'm interesting? Nate was intriguing me more than ever but I got the feeling he would be hard to pin down.

‘Fair enough, I can wear that. No number. We don't need to talk on the phone. We live close to each other anyway. But, as a show of good faith, how about you let me walk you to school tomorrow, with my little sister? I'm seriously five minutes away. No strings attached.'

He stood with his hands in his pockets now, looking boyish and charming. It wasn't exactly an offer of casual sex, so I took it. Maybe I did misjudge him. In my quest to right all the wrongs in the world I often blew up at people too quickly. Frankly, I wanted an excuse to see him again. I was going to get a heap of crap from the Blonde Brigade at school, but who cares?

And Roman. What about Roman? How do I tell him about this proposition? We had walked to school together since the start of high school. Not every day, but most. Surely he wouldn't care. He's always been magnanimous.

So why did I feel uneasy telling him anything about Nate?

I texted Roman early the next morning when I woke up to say I wouldn't be walking with him to school. He wrote back straight away.

No probs. Will you be late to school? Don't forget we have leadership stuff on 2day.

I didn't think I would be late …

No — just helping out a friend. See you in class.

I wasn't a very good liar, but it was technically true.

At eight, I walked to the corner Nate and I agreed to meet on, half expecting him not to show up. And why would he? What did I have to offer that girls at his school didn't already have in abundance? I bet those Grammar girls were much more interesting than I was, if you know what I mean.

After scuffing my feet for a while, I looked up. He was already there, but without his little sister. Was this another one of his games? I frowned, putting my hands in my dress pockets.

‘Mum dropped Amelie off early; it's just us this morning,' he said, as if reading my mind.

‘Right.' I stopped in front of him, shrugging under the shoulder straps of my backpack. He had to lead.

‘That's all right, isn't it?' asking for my sake; he didn't really look concerned.

‘Of course,' I replied nonchalantly.

‘Let's go then.' He turned to go and I raced to catch up. We walked in silence under the trees on the footpath, both unsure how to start the conversation. It wasn't until we started crossing the first intersection that Nate spoke.

‘So where'd you learn to play soccer so well?' he asked. He was trying to be nice, but I knew I wasn't that good at soccer.

‘Having older brothers helps, I guess. I love playing. Watching others play is good too,' I smiled as I remembered him playing like he owned the field. The memory distracted me until I remembered where I actually was.

‘You're lucky to have a family who are close and play games together. It's only me and my sister in mine, and she's not exactly stiff competition in sports,' he joked.

‘I don't think I am for my brothers either. Sometimes I think they only let me play to amuse me. But you're right, it's nice to play with Treston,' I said, taking a deep breath. As we crossed a road, I added, ‘So how old is Amelie?'

‘Twelve,' he said. ‘She's packing it about starting high school, but she doesn't have to worry. She's shy, but real nice. Soon she'll wonder why she ever worried about school.'

‘You're right, it's not that bad. I'll look out for her from a distance, if you like? Until she gets settled,' I offered.

‘That'd be good. Only if you have time,' he said quickly.

I didn't, but I'd make time. I smiled back. We kept walking. I thought of other ways to break the ice.

‘Nate, why do you go to a different school to Amelie?' I asked, then realised that might be forward. My curiosity baited me however, and I continued, ‘It seems odd, that's all, having to sort out two different uniforms and stuff. Is there anything wrong with our school?' I looked at him sidelong and watched him rifle through his responses.