“Excuse me?” I asked. My voice buckled at my blatant attempt to buy more time to think of an acceptable answer.
“Am I keeping you from something?” she repeated, slowly this time as if I was mentally slow.
“Someone, more like,” mumbled Lisa Reynolds from three rows behind.
I’d given up reacting to the snide comments. Everyone assumed Gabrielle’s treatment of me was down to the fact that I’d shamelessly stolen her cousin. The truth was much simpler. She was hard on me because I deserved it. Meeting Adam had done nothing to improve my French, or my motivation to learn French. I was a terrible pupil for her before, and just as terrible now – possibly worse.
The Beautifuls had taken my newfound love life particularly hard, baiting me at every opportunity. I didn’t even know what was spurring them on any more. At first I’d put it down to jealousy, but even though they had long since given up the chase for Adam’s affections, I remained fair game. None of them missed an opportunity to blow things wildly out of proportion. Being the subject of gossip and baseless rumour wouldn’t have bothered me so much if not for the fact that it always made it’s way back to Alex. It annoyed me that he felt the need to question me about it. I guess I’d spent so long doing the wrong thing that nothing seemed impossible to him.
Gabrielle strode down the aisle. “Time is up. Pass in your papers please.” Even her authoritative tone was musical. Blind panic set in as her heels clicked closer to me. In the forty-five minutes I’d had to complete the impromptu French comprehension test, I’d finished only a handful of questions. More pathetically, it was multiple choice.
Before I could circle any more, Gabrielle was standing with her palm outstretched. She gave up waiting for me to hand it to her and snatched it out of my grasp. Her eyes scanned the page for a second before thumping it back on the desk.
“Perhaps you need more time,” she suggested, in a tone nowhere near as gentle as her words. “I look forward to the pleasure of your company this afternoon, Charli. In detention.”
I heard Lisa’s cackle behind me. Gabrielle was two desks ahead of me now and didn’t give me another look. By the time she reached the blackboard at the front of the room, two more classmates had made the detention list.
“At least you won’t be lonely, Charli,” goaded Lisa, too loudly for her own good.
Mademoiselle Décarie dropped the chalk on to the ledge of the board and spun around. “No, she won’t. You will be here too.”
“No. I can’t,” she protested. “I have plans.”
“And now your plans have changed.”
“Well, thank you, Charli,” sang Lisa, saying my name like it was poison.
“You’re welcome,” I replied, cheerily.
The next sound I heard from Lisa was practically a growl. I swear I saw the corner of Gabrielle’s mouth curl as she tried to suppress a smile.
The first opportunity I had to call Adam came at lunchtime. “Don’t worry about picking me up this afternoon,” I said, easing into the tale.
“Oh, you have a ride?” he asked, sounding disappointed.
I tried to mimic his formal tone. “No. I am being detained. Gabrielle sentenced me to afternoon detention.”
“Nice one, Coccinelle. Was it your fault?”
“Entirely,” I admitted.
Sharing lunch with Nicole was about the only thing that hadn’t changed in my life. Every day we met at the same picnic bench we’d been frequenting since the beginning of our high school careers. I dumped my bag on the table; fossicking for the less than impressive lunch I’d packed that morning.
“Hello,” she greeted, not looking up from the book she was engrossed in.
“Hi. What are you reading?”
“Nothing you’d be interested in.” She had a point. She marked her page and slipped it into her bag and looked at me for the first time. “What’s the matter?”
I rushed through the details of my upcoming detention, glossing over the fact that it was well deserved. Nicole looked so bored that I expected her to take her book out of her bag and begin reading again.
“So that’s my afternoon ruined,” I complained.
She shrugged. Her indifference was beginning to annoy me. Even more annoying were the text messages she kept receiving every few seconds.
“You’re popular today,” I forced a smile but she didn’t notice. Her fingers furiously tapped at the buttons on her phone as she typed her reply. “Okay. I give up.” I threw my hands in the air in frustration, slapping them down loudly on my knees. “Who are you texting?”
“Lisa.”
That was one answer I wasn’t expecting.
“Ugh! What is she up to?” My eyes quickly scanned the crowded quadrangle, looking for any sign of an impending ambush by the Beautifuls.
“We’re going to Sorell after school today, shopping.” She spoke absently, implying it was no big deal.
“Lisa scored detention too,” I said gravely.
Suddenly, I had her undivided attention. “Because of you?” Her eyes widened. She gathered her belongings off the table and threw them into her bag. “Well done, Charli. It’s the first time in ages I’ve made plans without you and you still manage to mess them up,” she scolded.
“Yeah, well a shopping trip with Lisa Reynolds would end up messy anyway, with or without me.”
To me, the idea of a long car ride to Sorell with Lisa followed by hours of window-shopping was equal to Chinese water torture. I’d assumed Nicole felt the same way.
“That isn’t the point. You’re upset because your plans with Adam have been ruined. At least you had plans. You always have plans. I’m just trying to do the same.” Her voice trailed off.
I felt selfish. Lunchtime was practically the only time we had spent together lately, and it was completely my fault.
“I’m sorry, Nic.”
“Ugh. Don’t be. I don’t want really want to go shopping with Lisa,” she replied, dropping the choler from her voice.
“So why did you agree to go then?”
“She caught me at a weak moment.” A smile swept her face and I knew I was forgiven.
“Well, if you think about it, I’ve actually done you a favour. I think we should do something tomorrow. Just the two of us.”
“What about lover boy?” Her face was serious but her tone wasn’t.
“I’m sure he’ll be able to fend for himself for a while,” I replied casually.
It wasn’t Adam I was worried about. I was the one who seemed to have the most trouble operating when we were apart.
I took my time getting back to Mademoiselle Décarie’s classroom after school. My bag felt as if it was full of bricks. The rest of the inmates were already there. She handed me a new test paper as I walked past.
“Can I leave when it’s done?” I asked, not hopeful.
She replied without looking at me. “Yes.”
“When do I get to leave?” asked Lisa caustically.
“When Charli’s finished,” replied Gabrielle. She was enjoying herself a bit too much.
Lisa huffed, folded her arms and leaned back. “I hope you’re happy,” she said, glaring at me. It was hard to imagine she could see when she squinted like that.
“Thrilled,” I replied, turning my attention to my test paper.
We’d been holed up for less than half an hour when Lisa’s theatrics began. Huffing and puffing followed by snide little whispers. Gabrielle ordered us to behave before excusing herself from the classroom with her empty coffee mug in hand.
As soon as she was out sight, Lisa moved to the row behind me. A vicious tug on my ponytail a few seconds later followed.
“Don’t touch me,” I hissed.
“That’s the first time you’ve said that in a while,” she said crassly.
Todd Wilson and David Hamilton, the other inmates, leered at me.
Gabrielle returned, and sat without a word. Twenty minutes passed in silence. Lisa’s glare boring into my back did nothing
for my concentration. Flicking through the pages in front of me, I groaned, wondering how I’d fare statistically if I guessed the answers.
Gabrielle’s ringing phone sounded ten times louder than usual in the silence. She walked out of the room to answer it in private.
I waited for Lisa to start on me but it didn’t happen. She was distracted by rapping on the window. The afternoon suddenly got brighter. Unable to hide my smile, I walked to the window and slid it open.
“What are you doing?” I asked, grinning down at him.
“Is Gabi in there?” Adam whispered, pointing past me. I shook my head and smiled. “I came to break you out,” he said, grinning.
“She won’t let me go,” I said, half whispering my words.
Lisa’s chair made a screech. I rolled my eyes at Adam, warning him that she was coming.
“Hi Adam,” she purred.
“Hello,” he said politely.
“Are you here to save us?” she asked.
“Inadvertently.”
“Cool,” she replied, probably thinking he’d answered her in French.
“Charli, pass me your paper.”
I dropped the papers down to him. Caught by the wind, they fluttered to the ground in a messy heap.
“Sorry.”
Adam filled in the answers quicker than I could have read the questions.
“You’re cheating,” hissed Lisa.
“Technically,” I muttered, speaking more to myself than to her.
Adam passed the papers back. I didn’t even bother looking at them, focusing on him as he winked at me.
“You’re going to get caught,” warned Lisa, folding her arms and tapping her foot on the floor.
“She’ll only get caught if you tell,” said Adam, using his velvet voice to daze her.
“I would never tell. I’m not a snitch. I’m just pointing out that one way or another, Charli always gets caught.”
“I won’t let that happen,” he said. I couldn’t be sure that she’d recognised the menace in his tone. “Go,” he ordered, grinning at me.
I slid the window shut.
“How are you going to keep them quiet?” asked Lisa, pointing to Todd and David like they were the enemy.
I sat back, looking at my fellow inmates. David grinned at me but Todd remained stony-faced.
“Alright, from the beginning. A C C B C D….” I read, rattling off the answers on my page.
I heard the familiar sound of Gabrielle’s heels clicking on the hard floor. My voice got quicker and more frantic as she got closer and so did their writing. By the time she walked in, I’d given away all but the last four answers.
Jumping out of my seat, I was at her desk before she was, waving my papers at her. “Can I go now?”
“Eighty percent is a pass. Do you think you passed?” she asked, intent on torturing me some more.
“I’d bet money on it,” I replied, too smugly for someone begging for parole.
The room was so quiet I could hear her pen scratching across the page as she marked. Finally she spoke. “Eighty-six percent. Not too bad,” she praised.
Eighty-six percent? Impossible! Adam’s French literacy skills were slipping.
“Can I go?”
“Yes. I have better things to be doing too, you know.” Her tone was sharp but I was fairly sure she’d forgiven me already.
“Finally,” said Lisa, groaning out the word.
She picked up her bag and stormed out of the classroom before I’d finished packing my books. Todd and David handed their papers in and I walked out before Gabrielle finished marking them, hoping they’d had the sense to change a few of their answers. It was after four. Cursing myself for wasting so much of the afternoon, I rushed to the car park. Every atom of stress disappeared the minute I saw him. He leaned against his car, arms casually folded, looking more like an angel than a devious criminal who had managed to prematurely free me from detention.
Stretching up to link my hands around his neck, I smiled at him.
“What?” His voice sounded worried and I wondered if he knew the urge to kiss him to death was spreading across my chest.
“Nothing.”
He leaned so close that his lips brushed my mouth as he spoke. “How did we score?”
I couldn’t remember the mark on my test. I was having trouble remembering the subject matter at that point. “Ah, eighty something,” I murmured. “A very disappointing result.”
He laughed. “I could hardly give you a perfect score. I doubt today would have been the best time to showcase your newfound appreciation of the French language.” The mischievous sparkle in his eyes threatened to destroy my train of thought again.
“No, I guess not,” I breathed, leaning my face in closer to his again.
His lips brushed mine, just once, softly and sweetly. “You know what today is right?”
“Friday?” I was so flustered that I actually sounded unsure.
“Exactly.”
Alex and Gabrielle usually escaped town on Friday nights. They were prepared to take the long drive to Hobart for dinner, just so they could walk around town anonymously. Gabrielle was tired of the secrecy, but she loved him. The small gesture of being able to walk down the street while he held her hand made her remember why.
Adam’s hand rested on the small of my back, crushing my body against his. “So where are we going?” he asked.
“The beach,” I replied.
The sunshine was a welcome intruder on the winter’s day. It wasn’t enough to make me take my coat off, but it was bright enough to make-believe it was warmer than it was. The beach seemed like the best place to enjoy it.
We headed to the surf beach below Gabrielle’s cottage. Alex usually picked me up from her house when he dropped Gabrielle off after dinner. Maybe he thought I was more likely to behave there than at our house.
It wasn’t exactly deserted. A handful of surfers hung on the break and a few people making the most of the unseasonal sun meandered along the beach.
“Well this is cosy,” said Adam.
I sat on the sand and pulled him down beside me. “Do you want to leave?”
“No.”
I smiled and looked away, turning my attention to the ocean. The bright sun glinted off the spiky waves like diamonds.
“I saw you and Alex out there this morning,” he said.
“Did you?” I asked. “Were you down here?”
“No,” he said, “but you should probably know that I spy on you a lot when you’re out there.” His voice was unrepentant, his smile too cheeky to be sorry.
“Wow. Really?” My tone was dry, not at all surprised.
“I’m sure you’ve seen the binoculars Gabi has in the lounge room. She would never admit it but she uses them to keep tabs on Alex when he’s playing penguin king. I find it much more interesting to spy on the penguin princess.” He suddenly looked pensive. “You’re different out there, you know.”
“How?”
“You’re strong out there. Fearless and unafraid, which confuses me. I hate the thought of swimming out there because it’s dark and you can’t see what’s underneath.” His low voice was thoughtful. I frowned, unsure of where he was heading. “It’s like the blackest kind of night, Charlotte, endless and dark, and it’s the place that you’re most comfortable.”
I felt embarrassed that he’d put so much thought in to it. “It’s not endless, Adam.”
“No?” he asked, turning back to me.
“No. The ocean has a horizon, sky above it, a beach on at least one side, and if I was unlucky enough to sink below the water I’d eventually hit the bottom.”
He raked his hand through the sand. “I love the way you see the world,” he marvelled.
“La La land,” I said.
“Excuse me?”
“Alex tells me I live in La La land,” I explained. “I think he worries that when I go away, I’ll find some hippy commune on a deserted island, start wearing hemp clothing and stop
shaving my legs.”
He grinned. “Nicole will be pleased.”
My face twisted at mention of her name. It was a reminder of the ground I had to make up. I hadn’t treated Nicole well over the past few weeks. We’d spent years wasting away hours planning our big adventure, but since Adam had hit town, it had barely rated a mention. Nothing about our travel plans had altered since we were eight years old. But I was beginning to realise that was a lie. When all was said and done, if the perfect boy laying beside me in the sand were to change his mind about taking me with him, I would go.
Had I become that fickle? Would I seriously consider breaking my best friends heart to preserve my own? Yes I would. And I hated myself for it.
“What’s the matter?” he asked.
I shook my head.
He gently pulled me back onto the sand. I gazed upward, lost in the view of the clear sky, but his eyes never left my face. For some reason, he only ever saw the good in me.
15. Surprise
Time alone with Adam was the thing I craved most. More than sunshine, clear skies and food, as it turned out.
“You’re not hungry?” he asked, watching me from the opposite side of the dining table.
“Not really,” I admitted, placing my fork on my plate.
Gabrielle was like Jekyll and Hyde. One minute she was holding me against my will in her dreadful French class, and the next she was making sure there was dinner in the fridge for us.
“So if we’re not going to waste time eating, maybe we could use this time together a little more productively,” he suggested, flashing me an errant grin.
“Did you have something in mind?”
The calculating look on his face told me he did. He made enough room for me to sit on his lap. I twisted one of the buttons on his shirt – which is where I kept my focus, avoiding his eyes.
“We could work on the boat,” he suggested.
The way he held me tighter when I tried to stand up made me think he seriously considered scraping paint off a boat a good way to spend a night alone.
“No,” I said crossly.