Hilary folded her arms. “I saw him smile twice today,” she said, matter-of-factly. “Both incidents occurred when he saw you.”
“Ooh,” Isla teased. “You made Joel smile. Joel never smiles!”
Maggie turned beet-red. “It was probably an evil smile. He’s probably plotting.”
“No,” said Hilary. “It was dumb happiness. I know because I was distinctly disappointed. Tomlins was one of the few people I could count on to remain perpetually dour.”
Blonde Lauren popped her bubble gum. “He’s cute when he smiles. Actually,” she’s back-tracked, “he’s cute when he doesn’t smile, too.” She winked at Maggie. “You should totally go for it.”
“No!” Maggie exclaimed. “Joel? And me?” she laughed giddily. “Me? And Joel?”
They rounded the corner onto Casey’s street. An unusually high volume of cars were parked along the road outside the house, and various faces from school had already spilled over onto the front lawn. Casey’s parents had gone out of town for the weekend, so logically she had declared open house.
The girls crossed the street and made their way over the dewy lawn towards the front porch, which had been decorated with a stream of fairy lights and colourful bunting.
For a split second, Maggie wondered how it must feel to have a home, with a porch, and a lawn. She wondered how it would feel to have parents who went away for the weekend. . . and then came home. She wondered what it must feel like to have parents at all.
She swallowed hard, then defiantly pushed the thought out of her mind. She didn’t need any of these things. She had a family; she had Isla.
She squeezed Isla’s linked arm a little tighter, and Isla squeezed back.
Knotted together, they crossed the threshold into the house, where a modern wood-floored hallway opened out into an elegant living room. Isla led the little foursome through clusters of Blackheath High kids to an arrangement of cream sofas set up around a table of drinks and snacks.
On one of the sofas, Kaden was seated with a couple of guys from school. When he caught sight of Isla, he waved her over.
Even though Kaden had been in Blackheath for a fortnight now, Maggie had had very few encounters with him, and up close, she realised he was rather striking. He seemed like a model, with perfectly chiselled features, cool grey eyes, and jet black hair which fell without a strand out of place. He greeted them with a charming smile.
Isla sank down beside Kaden on the sofa. “Maggie, here,” she gestured to the empty spot on the other side of him.
Maggie gingerly took a seat.
“So,” said Isla, leaning across Kaden to include Maggie, “I don’t think you guys have properly met. This is Mags, my best friend in the whole world,” she gushed. “And, this. . . well, this is Kaden.” Her long eyelashes swept downwards, coyly.
“Hi,” said Maggie, awkwardly. “Nice to meet you.”
“Maggie,” Kaden spoke her name sinuously. “I’ve heard so much about you.”
“You, too,” she replied.
Kaden raised his eyebrows. “You’ve been talking about me?” he teased Isla. “I’m honoured.”
Isla giggled and swatted at his arm. Her long, silky black hair tumbled over onto his shirt as she edged closer to him.
“I may have mentioned your name once or twice,” she purred.
“Oh?” he said, his tone mesmerizing. “And what does she say about me?” The question was directed at Maggie, but his focus never left Isla.
Maggie reached over to the snack table and took a sizable handful of party mix.
Isla answered for her, giving way to another flirty giggle, “I say that you’re. . . interesting.”
“Interesting?” Kaden echoed in a velvet voice. “I’m glad you find me interesting, Isla.” He turned to Maggie now, catching her gaze for the first time. “It really is a pleasure to meet you,” he murmured. “I hope in time you’ll find me interesting, too.”
AFTER WHAT HAD felt like a very long week, Joel was ready for the weekend. He had the night off from the carnival and he was in need of some fun—and a house party seemed like a good place to start. By the time the stars were starting to come out, he was outside the old mansion, patiently waiting for his ride. As he sat on the dilapidated porch steps, he stared out at the moonlit forest. The leaves on the trees were quivering anxiously, responding to him in ways that he could not entirely understand. Responding to questions he wasn’t sure he’d asked.
Behind him, he heard the front door open and then close again with a rattling thud. Footsteps crossed the porch.
Joel glanced over his shoulder. “Whoa! Don’t tell me you’re actually coming?”
“Of course I am,” Evan said, sitting down beside Joel on the step. “I can go to parties too, can’t I?”
Joel gave a snort. “The old Evan went to parties, but this guy”—he waved his hand in his brother’s general direction—“usually prefers to spend Friday nights with Dad.”
Evan pushed Joel’s hand away and frowned. “Give me a break. I’m still me.”
Joel shrugged. “Kind of.”
“All of.”
“If you say so,” Joel muttered under his breath.
Their conversation was cut short when a red 1978 Mustang tore up the forest path and screeched to a stop in the clearing in front of the old house. Loud bass music was thumping from the car’s open windows. In the driver’s seat, Charlie beeped the horn.
The brothers rose to their feet and approached Charlie’s car. When Joel opened the front passenger door, the music blasted out at him so loudly it made him cringe, then laugh. He slid into his seat and slammed the car door shut.
Evan was just about to climb into the back when the front door of the mansion opened again. This time, it was Maximus who stepped out onto the porch. His eyes locked on Evan and a trace of disappointment flickered across his aged face.
“Evan, my boy,” Maximus called over the pounding music that was blasting from the Mustang’s speakers.
“Get in, Evan,” Joel hissed.
Evan hovered in the car’s open door, his hand gripping the frame while an evening breeze moved through his fair hair.
“Where are you going, son?” Maximus called out to Evan. “I thought we were working tonight.”
In the front passenger seat, Joel rolled his eyes.
“I. . . uh. . .” Evan stammered. “I know, but Joel. . . Joel and some of the guys from school are meeting up tonight. . .”
Charlie let out a rowdy whoop from the driver’s seat.
“And. . .” Evan forged on, “I was hoping I could go and hang out. . . for a while.”
Maximus looked wounded. He stood motionless on the front porch, his old brown sweater rumpling in the building gale.
“Just for an hour,” Evan finished. “Then I’ll come home.”
“Just for an hour?” Joel repeated from the front seat, peering over Charlie’s head to glare at his older brother. Turning back to face the windscreen, he muttered, “You’re eighteen years old, Ev. If you want to go to the party, then go to the damn party.”
Maximus’s gaze stayed glued to Evan while he contemplated his son’s proposal. “Well, okay,” he finally agreed, glancing at his watch. “So, if it’s nine o’clock now, I’ll see you at. . . ten?”
Evan swallowed, then nodded his head. “Okay, Dad. No problem.”
Joel shook his head in a mixture of disbelief and disapproval, but said nothing.
Evan climbed into the backseat and Charlie gave another whoop of delight as he swung the Mustang around and sped off down the wooded hill.
SEVERAL MINUTES LATER, Charlie’s car was speeding down a suburban street, approaching a large double-fronted house that was lit up and teeming with people. Dozens of other cars were parked along the street and some were creeping over onto the lawn.
Charlie squeezed into a space close to the house, uncaringly blocking in an entire row of other cars. He cut the engine and offered his knuckles to the Tomlins brothe
rs to fist bump.
“Party!” Charlie boomed before hopping out onto the pavement.
Joel and Evan followed.
“I had to,” Evan told Joel ambiguously as he and Joel crossed the lawn a few paces behind Charlie.
Joel expertly sidestepped a trio of tenth class boys who were stumbling around and singing raucously. “Yeah, I know,” he told his brother, equally as ambiguous.
“I don’t want. . .” Evan began, searching for words. “I don’t want it to be like this,” he managed as a discarded red plastic cup got crushed beneath his foot.
Joel stopped a few feet from the party house’s front door and looked up. “It doesn’t have to be,” he replied emphatically. “You can tell him no. Just tell him you want to go to a goddamn party once in a while. Hell, tell him you want to play on a sports team or hang out with your friends. You need a life, Evan. Everyone misses you.” He swallowed hard and shuffled his feet on the grass. “I miss you.”
Evan’s teeth clenched. “I miss you, too,” he said quietly.
The brothers started walking again, climbing the front steps up to a breezy veranda with tasteful seasonal planters.
“But Dad needs me. He’s got a lot riding on this,” Evan continued, lowering his voice as they made their way towards the crowded entrance. “I’m the Chosen One, as you keep reminding me. I’m going to make a name for our family. I’m going to put us on the map.”
Despite the tense mood between them, Joel couldn’t help but laugh. He relaxed a little. “Whatever, Chosen One,” he mocked. “Just enjoy your one hour of freedom, okay?”
They crossed the threshold into the house and a chorus of cheers erupted.
“Tomlins!”
“Mr T, long time no see!”
“Tomlins-o!”
Knowing that he wasn’t the Tomlins that everyone was so excited to see, Joel sidestepped away from his brother and navigated his way towards the large open-plan family room, which was already packed with people from his school. It was a standard Friday night—a standard party at some standard faceless kid’s house. Nothing out of the ordinary.
But then something out of the ordinary happened. From the moment Joel stepped into the living room, it was as though he’d triggered a trip switch inside of himself. He felt a tremor move through him and, just for a second, time seemed to slow down. His eyes were drawn across the room, where they landed on Maggie.
His mouth went dry and he blinked, trying to make sense of the woolly feeling inside his head. Voices now sounded muffled to him, and the people who had just seconds earlier been dancing wildly to an up-tempo beat seemed suddenly to be slowly plodding along.
Joel blinked again. What’s happening to me?
Time had never moved like this for him before. It wasn’t something he could manipulate; even Evan couldn’t slow the passage of time—as far as Joel knew, anyway.
Dazed, he looked through the slow-motioned crowd, his eyes never straying far from Maggie, who was busy talking to a girlfriend with animated hand gestures.
He raked his hand through his messy brown hair. There had to be an explanation for this. For all of this.
Then, as if overcorrecting itself, everything sped up, double the speed it should have been. Voices grew louder and people darted around him in blurs. He cowered against the wall and squeezed his eyes shut.
When he opened them again, everything was back to normal.
With his heart racing, Joel looked up at Maggie again. She was looking back at him this time, and she smiled.
Joel turned away.
NEARLY AN HOUR passed before Joel could shake off the strange time-bending experience that had occurred upon his arrival. Now he was standing casually with Charlie, Evan, and some of the guys from the soccer team. They had been stationed at the wide wooden staircase for some time, leaning against the banister while Charlie entertained them with crass tales from parties past.
Joel was only half listening. His focus, though discreet, was on Maggie. From where he stood, he could just barely see her face. She was still in the open-plan family room, seated on the cream coloured couch and surrounded by various classmates.
Kaden, Blackheath High’s newest arrival, had been sitting beside her for a while now. He appeared to be holding court in the living room, confident and at ease with his name-brand clothes and immaculately styled raven black hair.
The polar opposite of me, Joel thought, wishing he’d gotten his hair cut already.
Maggie appeared coolly aloof—almost indifferent—as she listened and nodded along with the conversation. Her hair was down in loose sandy blonde waves, and her lips were a pretty pink colour. Of course Joel tried not to look too closely, but somehow she was always present to him, always in his peripheral.
He looked down at his hands, disheartened to see the murky green aura of jealousy lingering on his skin. He clenched his fists and blinked until it disappeared.
Get a grip, he scolded himself, nearly laughing out loud at the idea that Maggie Ellmes was making him jealous. Or, more to the point, that the new guy who had her attention was making him jealous.
I’ve spent most of this week going to extreme measures to avoid her attention, he reminded himself. That time jump must have seriously messed with my head.
He rubbed his brow.
“Well,” Evan spoke up between Charlie’s anecdotes. “I guess I should bale.”
Joel looked up, rejoining the conversation now. “It’s still early,” he said, trying to disguise the note of disappointment in his voice. “Can’t you stay a little longer?”
“It’s already ten,” Evan replied.
Charlie flung his arm sloppily around Evan’s broad shoulders, sloshing unidentified liquid from his disposable cup onto the highly polished—and very expensive—engineered hardwood flooring.
“Don’t go, man,” Charlie urged. “The ratio of dudes to chicks here is. . . like”—Charlie paused to let out a puff of breath as he attempted to do mental math—“well, it’s like way in our favour.”
Evan and Joel swapped a tired grin.
“Besides, I need a wingman,” Charlie griped to Evan. “Your bro’s no good to me anymore, E-dog.”
“Hey!” Joel exclaimed. “Why am I no good to you?”
Charlie groaned. “Because you’re all drunk on Maggie Ellmes.”
Joel felt himself turn red. Clearly his focus on Maggie all night had not been as subtle as he had hoped. “What?” he spluttered. “I am not!”
Evan studied Joel with intrigue. “You didn’t tell me you had a girlfriend,” he said, sounding hurt. His gaze travelled the room and landed on Maggie, who was still engaged in discussion with Kaden.
“That’s because I don’t have a girlfriend,” Joel replied curtly. “Especially not Maggie. I spend most of my time avoiding that girl!”
Charlie guffawed. “Whatever, dude. You want her, a-anyway,” he hiccupped. “C-dog can tell. You’re always, like, looking at each other and stuff.”
Joel cringed. “There’s nothing going on between me and. . .” He hushed his voice. “Maggie Ellmes,” he finished furtively.
Charlie snorted. “Right,” he answered, drawing out the word with a wink.
Joel stared daggers at him. “There isn’t.”
“You give each other puppy eyes all day, and you won’t even look at other girls,” Charlie slurred in a loud voice. “Haven’t you even noticed how many girls have come up to you in the past hour alone?” Charlie shook his head and wiped a dribble of drool from the side of his mouth. “You’re wasting precious moments as a guy.”
“And you’re just wasted,” Joel shot back.
In truth, he hadn’t noticed any girls approach him. He adjusted his gaze beyond his group of friends and caught sight of a few female smiles directed his way.
Growing more flushed by the second, Joel quickly returned his focus to the guys. “Shut up,” he mumbled.
Evan patted him on the shoulder. “This is all very informative,” he tea
sed, “and I’d love to hear more. But I’ve really got to go.” He climbed over the banister to get past Charlie’s large build.
“What, so you’re going to walk home?” Joel called after him.
“Yeah,” said Evan. He smiled and glanced at Charlie, who was taking another giant slurp from his plastic cup. “And it looks like you’ll be walking home too, if that’s your ride.” He grinned and began towards the front door.
“Anyway,” Charlie went on, jabbing Joel in the ribs, “I think your girlfriend’s found someone new. . . in the form of New Guy. You should move on, man,” he advised with a booming chortle.
With Evan’s departure all but forgotten, Joel glanced surreptitiously to the sofa where Maggie was seated. Kaden was leaning close to her, and as they talked she listened with interest. Real interest now, not the fake kind he’d seen on her face before.
Joel’s heart gave a thud.
Stop it, he quickly reprimanded himself. He drew in a sharp breath and forced a smile, then tore his gaze away. Look somewhere else, he ordered himself. Anywhere else.
His eyes landed on a cheerleader named Lexi.
He smiled at Lexi and she fluttered her eyelashes back at him. Without missing a beat, she was railroading across the room towards him.
Charlie gave a wolf whistle as she approached.
“Hi, Joel,” Cheerleader Lexi purred once she was close enough. She leaned against the banister just inches away from Joel, her sleek red hair falling like a curtain around them.
“Hi,” he replied.
Inadvertently, his eyes flickered over to Maggie. To his surprise, she was looking back at him over Kaden’s shoulder.
Good, thought Joel with a self-satisfied smile. I want her to see. I want her to know I don’t care. He forced his gaze back to Cheerleader Lexi.
“I’ve been wondering when you’d notice me,” Lexi said in a sultry voice.
Joel’s gaze flickered back to Maggie. She was still watching.
Good, he thought again.