Six (16 page)

‘Careful,’ said Nico as he stepped around Cooper. ‘Claire helping you out?’

Cooper stepped in front of Nico, barring the exit.

‘Well, I’d say be careful yourself, young Jacob,’ he said with a grin. Then he stood aside and waved his arm to the exit in a mock bow.

Weirdo, thought Nico as he strolled back to the deli. Cooper and Nico had both gone for the deli job at the start of last summer but there was only one position going and Nico had won the kudos of being a deli pig while Cooper had been left to stack shelves and mop floors. No hard feelings, Cooper had said, but Nico didn’t trust the guy. And Cooper had gotten cockier since he turned up one day at school in his own car.

The news that Virginia and her gang were going to the Year 12 Formal with Tom Cooper had caused a stir, although Finn hadn’t seemed too fazed when Nico mentioned it to him.

‘She’s not my problem anymore,’ said Finn, and they’d left it at that.

The long tongs did the trick. Nico was able to reach as far as the escaped chicken wing and some other things, which were unidentifiable but probably had been part-chicken at one time. The mobile in Nico’s pocket vibrated, and he thought about pulling off his gloves to answer it, but Sheryl was watching him from the salad section and he didn’t want to get on her bad side. Personal calls were forbidden during work hours. There were worse things to do than clean out the chicken oven.

At the end of his shift, he stood outside and waited for his father to pick him up. He checked his phone to see he had two text messages. One from Poppy and one from his father to say he’d be ten minutes late. Nico grunted and settled on the outside seat when his phone vibrated — a call coming through.

‘Hello?’ he answered, his attention diverted by Claire Zimmerman leaving for the night.

‘Where’s your shirt?’

Nico’s stomach fell ten storeys. He couldn’t tell if the voice was male or female. ‘What?’ he said.

‘You know.’

‘Listen, you gutless wonder—’

Then the signal dropped out. Nico scrolled down his recent calls list, but the number was blocked.

‘Hey, you need a lift?’ Cooper was leaving, dangling his keys like a trophy in front of Nico’s eyes.

‘Nah, I’m good.’ Nico waited for Cooper to leave before checking his mobile once more.

The texts had been coming for months now. Ever since that day in The Woods. Ever since he had left his shirt behind. Why had he been so stupid; why had he done such a dumb thing—

Nico kicked at the ground.

There were only five people who knew about that day in The Woods. Five living people, he corrected himself. He was one of them, so that left four. He couldn’t imagine the others making the call, though Virginia could be a bitch sometimes. Maybe it was Virginia. Maybe it was her idea of a joke?

The caller had whispered, so it was hard for Nico to know if it had been a male or female voice, but he couldn’t imagine Poppy or Sarah pranking him.

So Virginia.

He would have to ask her.

I didn’t do anything wrong, he reasoned with himself. And then his body started up its familiar shake.

With silver bells

and cockle shells

and pretty maids

all in a row

SOMETIMES, WHEN YOU want something desperately, things go wrong. It’s like the wanting is a sign to the gods that you expect too much out of life and they have to let you know that life can’t always be wonderful and just how you want.

When I was five I wanted Santa to bring me a puppy. I met Santa at The Mall that year. Mum let me have a photo with him and I asked him to bring me a puppy — I didn’t mind what type, any size would do. I desperately wanted that puppy and he promised I could have one, but that year I ended up with a soft toy puppy, not a real one at all. Maybe that was my fault for not being specific.

When I was nine I really wanted to be Alice from
Alice in Wonderland
. Each year for our school production, the music teacher would choose a theme and that year it was Story Books. Our class teacher chose
Alice in Wonderland
for our theme and took a week to decide who would play Alice. It had been one of my favourite stories, and I imagined myself as Alice, standing at the front of the stage, not the geeky Sarah Lum they all knew, but shining like a newfound star. Of course, Pam Farnsworth — of the long golden hair and straight long legs — was given the role.

So I wanted that Year 12 Formal to be the best night of my life. I wanted it desperately. But I pretended not to. I didn’t want to jinx my night, so when other girls would huddle in the Year 12 common room and talk about dresses and hair and limos, I would concentrate on other things like emptying the recycle bin or working on the Year Book or checking the numbers for the Formal.

Still, it was there. A little coal of excitement that Finn could fan into a flame, just by looking at me or saying a few words.

On the day of the Formal, which was on a Friday, I attended morning classes, then Poppy and I skipped the afternoon lessons to get our hair and makeup professionally done. I even got my nails done, which was ridiculous because I hate fake nails, yet there I was letting someone glue these gel things onto my bitten-down nails. Poppy grabbed my hands once the nail polish had dried.

‘Sarah Lum, look at you,’ she said. ‘You could be a hand model.’ She inspected my hands as if seeing them for the first time, then her face fell.

‘What?’ I said.

‘It’s just—’

‘Who’s next?’ demanded the manicurist.

Poppy and I swapped seats.

‘Did you see something in my palm?’ I asked Poppy. ‘What was it? What did you see?’

‘You might want to wash your hands,’ said Poppy. ‘You’ve got stuff all over them.’

‘Poppy!’

‘Come on, Sarah. You don’t believe in that stuff anymore, do you?’

Then I understood. Poppy was just getting back at me for telling her to grow up and leave the whole ‘Powers’ idea behind. It niggled, but I wasn’t going to let it ruin my day.

Then the hair stylist, Manny, led me away to try and do something with my hair and I sat next to Tamara Deng who was just finishing up.

‘What do you want?’ Manny asked in disgust, lifting my dead straight hair.

‘Um, I thought you might have some ideas,’ I said.

‘Well, what do you think of my hair?’ demanded Tamara looking at me in the mirror.

Honestly, I thought her hairstyle made her look like a fifty-year-old, but I wouldn’t say that. ‘Wow,’ I said. ‘Your hair is really… high.’

Tamara seemed happy with that description as she tilted her head this way and that to get a better look.

‘I know. It took them ages to get it this high,’ she said smugly. ‘I can’t wait for tonight—’

‘I know, I can’t believe the Formal is finally here,’ I said.

Tamara frowned in the mirror and flicked a stray curl from her brow.

‘I meant the after-party,’ she said. ‘We’ve hired some slushy cocktail machines. Make sure you bring your invite. You won’t get in otherwise. How are you getting to the Formal?’

‘Limo,’ I said, watching Manny separate my hair into sections with large coloured butterfly clips.

Tamara wrinkled her nose. ‘I did that for my deb ball,’ she said. ‘This time I’m going in a Jag. With Cooper and Virginia and Loz.’

I wanted to ask how Virginia was, whether she had mentioned anything about that day in The Woods, but all I came up with was, ‘That’s nice.’

Tamara’s mobile rang. ‘Yes, I’m finished. No, don’t come in, I’ll meet you outside. See you tonight, Sarah.’

And with that she paraded out of the salon, a princess on a mission.

Baa baa black sheep

have you any wool?

UMM, TOM COOPER, vid blog 21 — A Day in the Life of a Legend.

Just a thought that I wanted to share with you, my fans out there. Another key-to-life moment.

Preparation.

Preparation.

Preparation.

As you can see, I am dressed in a suit.

(He stands and tilts the camera so the viewer can get the full view.)

That’s right, school Formal time. So, if you followed this blog from Vid 1 until now, you’ll know this is the night I get to take Virginia Sloan to the Formal.

In preparation for tonight,
(he holds up a can of Lynx)
deodorant, but not too much. You can’t smell nicer than your date. Breath fresh
(he holds up a small spray bottle)
. Make sure you get a small bottle so you can hide it in your pocket. The essentials
(he holds up a some condoms)
— I like to have a couple on hand. And of course
(he holds up his phone)
make sure this is charged at all times. Mine also has a camera, for obvious reasons.

So what I wanted to say about preparation—

(Knock on door.)

‘I’m busy!’

(Knock on door.)

‘Go away!’

‘Do you need a hand with your tie, Tom?’
(His mother opens the door.)

‘Mum, I’m busy here.’

(His mother moves over to adjust his tie, in full view of the camera.)

‘I can’t believe you’re playing video games
now
.’

‘Video games? Could you not?’
(He slaps away at her hands, but she ignores him and pats the tie into place.)

‘There, that’s better. Your father and I want to take a photo of you downstairs.’

‘I’ll be there in a minute.’

(His mother stands, waiting for him.)

‘Could you go?’

(She sighs and leaves the room. He slams the door shut and returns to the camera.)

Okay. Now where was I… oh yeah.

Preparation.

If you want something in life you have to be prepared to go and get it. You can’t just dream about it and hope that one day it’s gonna come true. You have to prepare a plan. Lay the groundwork. Be ready for the right opportunity.

And if Plan A looks like falling through, you need to go to Plan B.

So my Plan B tonight is that I get to arrive at the Formal with three girls in the Jag instead of one. Doesn’t hurt my reputation. Keeps Virginia happy. And that’s what I want tonight. A happy Virginia.

Preparation.

That’s the lesson for today.

London Bridge is falling down

my fair lady

WHAT IS WRONG with this picture, thought Virginia as she looked into her mirror. Hair? Check. Makeup? Check? Dress and accessories? Check and check.

‘Virginia, can I use your mirror?’ said Loz as she pushed her way into Virginia’s bedroom. ‘Tamara is taking up all the bathroom.’

‘We do have four bathrooms,’ said Virginia dryly, but she stepped aside as Loz dumped her cosmetics onto the dressing table and peered into the mirror. ‘Why are you redoing your makeup?’

‘I have an oily T,’ said Loz pointing to her face. ‘I’ll positively shine in photos if I don’t powder this down.’

Virginia sighed and moved over to her walk-in robe. She’d already chosen her after-party outfit, but there was still time to change her mind. She paused as she checked out the happy snaps inside her wardrobe. Finn had been spending a lot of time with Nico, Poppy and Sarah lately. Just one big happy foursome. It was really pissing her off.