Chapter 8
WRX, express to success, or is it?
Saturday comes more quickly than I realise. I wake up, look at the clock, then realise that I’m going to be late for school. Why didn't Mitch wake me up? Oh yeah, it's Saturday! Mitch doesn't wake up until lunchtime on Saturdays because he's usually out all Friday night and usually gets home around 2am.
I roll out of bed and walk towards my mirror to see what damage has been done. Amazingly, my fringe looks ok and my hair just needs a bit of gel. I think I might be alright with make-up.
I bound my way over to my wardrobe. I think I'm going to wear my grey skinny jeans, my new skater shoes and my bright blue top with the pink writing over the top. That'll look good and maybe my navy blue jacket if it's cold.
I get dressed and walk out into the kitchen. Dad's already up. He's probably getting ready for work.
"Good morning, Dad."
"Oh, hi, Kiddo," he looks down at my clothes. "Where are you going today?"
"You said I could go to the movies with a couple of friends today, remember?"
"Oh yeah, have fun!"
"Are you going to work today, Dad?" I notice he isn't wearing his suit. Dad is still in his pyjamas.
"No, I got the day off." I notice that he looks a bit upset about something, but I can’t really be bothered to ask. I walk back to my room and start getting ready. I might go shopping and then come back in time for Josh and Nathan to come pick me up.
I pull out the make-up I'm going to use today. I’m so happy that I feel like I’m walking on clouds! I pull out my hair gel and do my hair. I've decided I’m going to curl my hair today since I find it looks more natural, even though both straight and curly hair suits me.
In my room I do my make-up. I really like my blue eyeliner so I use that. But I want to keep my look casual and not too dressy. I don't get heaps of pimples so I don't need to use foundation and concealer. In the end I only use eyeliner and mascara.
"Sis, you look great! Who's the lucky guy?" he’s a sly fellow sometimes.
"What are you on, Mitch? I'm going out with friends!" although I wish this was a date!
"You look really hot. Shame it's not for a guy!" I pick up my pillow and throw it at him. "Ok, I get the picture! Sometimes you can get really scary…" I know what he’s talking about. I can turn mean at the drop of a hat.
"Get lost, Mitch!" he can get really annoying.
I log onto my computer. Nat's already logged on.
Me: Hey Nat! I'm going to the movies in half an hour.
Nat-Girl: Hi KJ that’s really toast!
Me: Josh is picking me up
Nat-Girl: Even better
Me: I'll send a pic of him!
Nat-Girl: Toast! What are you wearing…?
Me: Skinny legged jeans, blue t-shirt, jacket and skater shoes
Nat-Girl: Toast! You always look cute in that outfit!
Me: Got to go, Mitch is calling!
Nat-Girl: Tell me all about it tomorrow over coffee!
Me: Ok, see you tomorrow!
I didn't really want to lie to her, but I wanted to get off the computer. I know how lame wanting to get off the computer so you can analyse everything is. Sometimes I think I have to be the worst best friend ever. I know I won’t win the ‘Best Friend Ever Award’, but hey, at least I know I’m a bad friend, so that means I still have time to be a better friend. I turn off the computer and walk down the hallway into Mitch's room.
"Kaila, get out!" Mitch says over his shoulder as he packs clothes into his footy bag.
"Why? Hey, where are you going?"
"It's my weekend to stay at Mum's, remember?" I remember. I also remember that he hates going to stay with mum because he thinks that she’s a total psycho and that she is so uncool for trying to act young. We both agree that mum tends to act really desperate, for once!
"You're going to go and visit Alex, aren't you? Why do you go out with her? She's such a pain!" another thing, every time it’s his weekend with mum he sneaks off to his girlfriend’s house and stays with her, I don’t have a problem with the sneaking off thing. It’s what I’m going to do next weekend. But I really don’t like Alex. She’s so superficial! She’s a wannabe model. It’s almost as if the only criteria models have are, 1. They have to be anorexic or bulimic, and that is so not cool, 2. They have to have absolutely no brains, and 3. They have to have an inferiority complex! Let’s just say Alex has all of those lovely qualities.
"Yes, I'm going to see her, but don't tell Dad. He doesn't like her. I go out with her because she's hot!"
"Brothers, we are so not related." I roll my eyes at him.
He pushes his way past me into the corridor. I walk back into my room and grab one of my magazines off the huge pile on the floor. I climb across my bed and lie down with my feet closest to the door so I can kick it shut if Mitch attempts to come in.
"KAILA!" I jump so high I nearly hit the roof. My magazine goes flying into the air and lands in front of me on the floor. I jump off my bed and turn around to punch him, but standing next to him is Josh.
"Look who I found waiting out in front of the house! And you said you weren't going on a date!" he smiles mischievously at me.
"I'm not. Josh is one of my friends from school!" I retort.
"Really…?" Mitch can be such an arse sometimes!
"Hey Josh, sorry about my brother. He can be really annoying at times"
"Yeah, my sister can get like that. She's either on the phone or on the computer talking to her friend. They came up with this word, but I've forgotten it," Josh replies.
"That's cool!"
"Hey, I'm Mitch. You look after her. She's very special to me!" he grins jokingly at me.
"I'm Josh. Nothing will happen to my K- I mean nothing bad happens to my friends. Kaila will be perfectly fine with me!" I swear he was about to say my Kaila! But maybe I'm imagining it.
"Weren't you going somewhere, Mitch?" I eye him down.
"Ah, yes I was. I'll leave you two love birds to it!" he walks out of my bedroom. A few minutes later I hear the front door close.
"I didn't think you were this neat!" Josh says as he sits down on my bed.
"Personally I think it's genetic. You're here really early!"
"Not really. Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah, just let me grab my jacket." I pick up my jacket and we walk out of the house.
"Is that your car, Josh?"
"Yeah, do you like it?"
"It's gorgeous!" I'm looking at a blue Subaru WRX. They are great cars, and very fast with great handling. They are designed really well, too. I know, I’m a huge car freak but that’s what happens when your brother is into cars and your father is the boss of a car dealership.
"I'm glad you like it. It's got great handling and I played with the engine so it can go about fifty km/h faster than normal Subaru WRXs." He says beaming with enthusiasm.
"Where are Nathan and Ash?"
"Oh, Ash decided to go with Flick. She has a chick car and Nathan is going with Mike and Sam. Mike drives too. So it's just you and me!"
"Cool!" I climb into the passenger seat. Josh climbs into the driver's seat beside me.
He drives a manual. Every time he changes gears there feels like there’s static electricity between my leg and his hand.
After a very quiet ten minute drive Josh parks the car in the parking lot. I feel really suspicious. He's really early and that's suspect.
"Before you start freaking out, Kaila, I thought we could get to know each other better without everyone around us."
"Oh ok, sure." I feel really puzzled this guy can be so cool, but right now he looks really self-conscious.
"How about we start with favourite colours? Mine’s blue. What's yours?"
"Blue, too. To be precise, light blue! Ok then, what's your middle name?" This feels like we're speed dating; finding out the small details about each other, in the space of half an hour instead of a few years.
"My name's Jo
shua Charlie Jamieson. My parents had a thing for J’s. My grandfather’s name was Charlie. He died a month before I was born. What's yours?"
"Kayley Daniela Jenson." I pause for a second, not sure of what I should ask next. "What's your favourite…um…fruit?" I know it sounds really stupid but I couldn't think of anything else.
"I like Oranges and Strawberries, actually. I know strawberries are kind of a girl fruit but they taste delicious." he gushes. I feel like laughing at his easiness to confess to me. "What about you? What's your favourite?"
I laugh because it's such a stupid question. "My favourites are Oranges, bananas and passionfruit!" I laugh shortly and then continue. "You know, strawberries aren't just fruits for girls."
He raises an eyebrow, "Really? Ok, next question. What is the best film you've seen recently?"
"It's either Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or St Trinian’s. They're both good in their own way; St Trinians for rebellious teenagers and TMNT for downright cool ninjas!" I look at his face, he's smiling at me in an excited, ‘I totally agree with you’ way. "What about you?"
"A mix between Gothica, Shooter and Saving Private Ryan," I smile at his choices. He's such a guy’s guy!
"Favourite TV series from when you were little?" I press.
"Um, Captain planet, Batman and Robin and TMNT the series. What about you?"
"Oh my god, I watched all of those TV shows too! How strange! But then again, my brother and I are really close so we liked all the same things, so that probably explains it." It's my turn to ask a question and I'm almost blank except for three questions one of which would be really embarrassing to ask.
"Um…what's a good question? If you had a choice between Coke and Pepsi what would you choose? And do you think they taste different?" I know this is like the most stupid question on earth but I genuinely think there is a huge difference between them.
"Um…they both taste the same, but I usually drink Coke. What do you think?"
"I think Pepsi tastes sugary. You know what? None of my friends think so they all think it tastes the same as coke! But I would still choose Coke in a heartbeat!"
"It's nice to know I'm not crazy, every now and again!" I laugh like a maniac at this because it's like he's reading my mind and saying exactly what I'm feeling.
"Yeah I agree there but then again it's good to be random sometimes! I should know!" I really want to get out of the car and go to the movie but I'm not sure how to tell him without hurting his feelings.
"Um Kaila, we better get going to the movie otherwise the others will think something's happening!" Oh my god, I'm so glad he said that! It might be a bit awkward during the film though.