Friendship on Fire (14 page)

I seriously had to get some shuteye early afternoon. After I texted Nate back.

I AM tired. What's on Tues then?

Treston came into my room as I pressed ‘send' and sat on my dressing table. It creaked under the weight of his tall stature. I groaned inwardly. My brain wasn't working well enough to have any more conversations.

‘Yes?' I asked, suspecting his intentions. He wasn't the kind of person who made social calls for the hell of it. Shane must have spilled to the boys this morning while I was walking. I could be mad at him but I wasn't. It was bound to happen sometime and, honestly, it saved the whole
There's
something I have to tell you all; I have a boyfriend
speech. It was much easier this way.

‘Look, don't take this the wrong way, Dais. You are my sister and will always be important to me. Nate and I have only started to be friends and he seems like a top bloke, but I know that you getting involved with him will potentially mean hurt for both of you if it ends badly.'

He stopped, gauging my reaction. I hadn't expected this. I folded my arms.

‘Keep going.'

‘I want to keep his friendship. If you're not serious about him, please don't continue with this. I hate seeing you hurt, but don't expect me to go bash him or something if he breaks your heart. It's none of my business, got it?'

‘Wow. That was quite a speech. Um. I don't know what to say. I'm not in the habit of jumping into relationships if I'm not serious about them, and I'd never ask you to step in if it ended badly. So you don't have to worry. I'm not ‘stealing' your friend from you,' I said defensively. It stung to say his friend, as I didn't like to claim or disclaim people from others. Dating brothers' friends was touchy, but I figured technically I met him first, so he was becoming friends with my friend.

‘That's settled then. Oh and don't tell me any of the gory details about you two either. That's gross. I'll tell him the same. The thought of him touching my little sister might make me want to bash him, then this whole conversation would be vetoed,' he said with a shudder.

‘No argument from me,' I murmured.

As soon as Treston left, I channelled my annoyance into homework. My elusive English essay started to sound like it was written by an uneducated twelve-year-old, and I couldn't think of any new ideas to argue about. Besides, how unfair it is to share your new boyfriend with annoying brother? It was useless. I fell asleep with my laptop on my legs, dreaming restlessly about surfing on redskins, and Nate.

My phone beeping woke me as the sun was setting. I grabbed it through the peachy haze and pressed ‘read' on the SMS.

Dais, just want to check you got home safely last night xx 

From Roman. Yawning, I checked the time and SMS'd him back.

Yeah I'm fine. Thanks for asking. Soooo going to fail this English essay. See you tom x

I wasn't exactly sure why I reciprocated the ‘x' — maybe out of courtesy, or habit. Nate had written back to my earlier SMS too. I didn't hear it in my sleep.

Surprise. Be watching for me.

What did that mean? I could spend hours deliberating on that kind of message. Still, I was excited. I loved having mystery in my life again.

Remembering I wasn't nearly finished with the essay, I cursed Saturday night parties and boys and got back to working on it.

February
Dear Diary, 

Pashed hot new guy, Nate, last night at Rach's party. How I managed to pull him I don't know. Fate? New jeans? Or my red hair? If only that was a turn on. I'm hoping he wants to date me, but how can a girl be sure? Guys can be switched on to you one day and ignore you the next. I don't want to get my hopes up, but he sure is fine. He makes me laugh and so far has treated me well. And the best part is, he's the best kisser I've ever had. That counts for something, right? 

It's only the first weekend of year Twelve and I'm already feeling like I'm behind. I can't think of what to write about in this English essay. The fact of the matter is, I can't stop thinking about Nate's kisses. He 9 0 makes my stomach ache in a painful way, when liking someone is supposed to feel good. It's weird. Or maybe I'm just hungry. Better go eat something. Keep you updated.

Dais xx

Second, I didn't get to sleep until about 2 am thanks to my Sunday afternoon siesta, so my brain was less than available at seven when my alarm sounded. Hence my present dilemma.

I sighed.

Heaving myself out of bed was a challenge, as well as getting into the shower and eating enough breakfast to sustain me until ten-thirty. The boys were running late like me, and kept stealing the bread I'd put into the toaster for myself.

I ran out the door and Dad called me back. ‘What,' I grumbled. I was late. Embarrassingly so, for a school captain.

Dad was holding my school bag with a smug look on his face.

I stuck my tongue out at him and said, ‘Thanks.'

Roman scared me to death on the path on the way to school. We hadn't planned to walk to school together, so forgive me for not expecting a young, strong man to creep up behind me and put his hands over my eyes and say really creepily, ‘Guess who'. He got a lecture from me most of the way to school until I finally cooled off. He smiled patiently.

Roman knew just how long to wait to start teasing me after I cooled off.

‘So, what happened after you dropped metro Grammar boy off at home? Did he give you a tip and send you on your way?' he joked.

My head pounded. ‘Very funny. Actually, we went to a deserted alleyway and had unprotected sex. Happy?'

Roman's eyes glared at me sidelong. I kept a straight face. He moved to stand right in front of me and folded his arms. I kept my eyes down. This was a fun game. Technically the sun
did
hurt my eyes so I wasn't keeping them lowered to punish him.

‘Daisy Renae Brooks,' he said steadily. He used my middle name. He never does. This was working, right as I was losing my composure.

‘Yes, sir?' I asked in a serious voice. The amusement was unbearable.

‘Don't tell me you … I'll kill him,' Roman's eye sockets nearly exploded.

‘Settle down,' I giggled. I glanced up at him, my eyes adding to my trick. ‘We had sex at the beach, not in an alley way. What do you take me for?'

Roman's face went a shade of purple. ‘Daisy I swear to …' He was looking around, searching for a sign of Nate on the pathways like a wild animal. It was then that I decided to let him off the hook, in case he really did show. That'd be bad.

‘Relax. We only kissed. Check your pants.' I laughed at his tantrum and he relaxed, slightly. He put his balled fists into his pockets and was quiet for some time.

‘You kissed him?' He kept his eyes down at the cracked beige pavement as we walked.

‘Yeah. He's pretty nice, Roman,' I said awkwardly.

‘So you're keen on him?' He flicked his eyes at me then stared straight ahead.

‘Um. I guess so.' I didn't want to give away how much I was dying to see him again. It would be foolish to get hopeful in case he ditched me.

I felt especially careful of giving this information to Roman. I don't know why it was so important to hide my true feelings from him.

‘You don't sound convinced. I don't like him.' His jaw was set in a line and his voice took on a new level of masculinity.

I wasn't faltering. ‘Well I guess I don't know him that well yet, do I?' My hands tugged on the straps of my bag anxiously.

‘At least be confident in how you feel. If you're not … don't waste your time,' he said, appearing to be righteous and all-knowing. ‘He honestly looks shifty.'

‘Thank you, but I think I can handle him fine. I don't need to justify how I feel to you or what I do in my own time,' I snapped back and immediately regretted it.

‘What? I never said … look, sorry. I didn't mean it the way it came out,' he backpedalled, sounding sincere.

As usual, I kept going. ‘You can't talk anyway. The kinds of girls you were hanging out with on Saturday night weren't exactly top of the line,' I said, still hurt by his assumptions.

‘Excuse me?' Roman stopped walking and his voice held a dangerous challenge.

‘That's right, I saw you talking to Tiffany for ages like you were lovers or something. If we're talking about class here, then you need some lessons on your partner choice.'

‘What makes you think she's my partner?' He gave me one of his irritated looks; lips slightly pursed in defiance, stubborn forehead creased, blue eyes hard.

‘You looked cosy,' I said in a small voice. My argument was wearing thin.

His was only beginning. ‘You are basing your entire argument on body language? Or were you eavesdropping on my private conversations?'

‘Why would I want to do that?' My voice rose as fast as my temper did. ‘All I would have got out of it is shallow blonde jokes I bet. I don't know how you can stand her company for longer than a second.'

We were walking through the front gates at the height of our argument. We hadn't had many in our six-year friendship, but this was turning out to be one of the good ones.

‘She showed an interest in me and made me feel important. She spent time with me as a friend, which is more than I can say about you.' He ran his fingers through his hair.

‘What's that s'posed to mean?'