Six (5 page)

‘I’ll get it,’ said Poppy calmly.

‘No—’ I said.

‘Listen.’ She grabbed my shoulder and it reminded me of the first day we met. ‘I’m not afraid. That poor girl can’t hurt me. And if anyone sees me… well, it’s a boy’s shirt. They won’t think I had anything to do with it.’

‘Poppy, I don’t want—’

‘I’ll meet you back at your house.’ She gave me a quick hug, and before I could say anything else, she had left.

‘All right. I’ll wait for an hour then I’ll ring the police,’ said Finn firmly. ‘I’ll go to The Mall and ring from the public phones there. I’ll just give them the tip-off. Won’t tell them any more than that. No names. Nothing.’

Virginia pursed her lips then finally nodded. She seemed disappointed.

‘All right,’ she said. ‘Does everyone else agree?’

I said nothing, staring out at the storm. Poppy was going to get soaked. I didn’t know these people, not really, and now my only ally had left me alone with them. Three against one. Those were bad odds.

Everyone else agreed with Virginia’s plan.

‘Sarah?’ Virginia came and stood next to me. ‘This will just save us a whole lot of bother. It’s not like we’ve done anything wrong.’ Her voice was sweet and low and I found myself agreeing with her as a door slammed somewhere in the house.

‘Who’s done something wrong?’ A tall guy, looking a lot like Finn, had appeared from nowhere.

‘Hey, Aaron,’ said Virginia brightly.

‘What’s she doing here?’ Aaron asked Finn.

‘Sarah and I were caught in the rain,’ said Virginia, making a show of drying off her hair with a towel. ‘Your brother rescued us.’

Aaron didn’t look convinced.

‘Anyway, we’d better go. Thanks for the towels, Finn. See you Nico. Aaron.’

‘It’s still raining,’ said Aaron.

‘Hardly at all,’ said Virginia, rinsing her mug in the sink.

I looked outside and saw it was true. The wind had dropped and the rain was reduced to a light sprinkle. The dark clouds scudded across the sky, as if in a hurry to be somewhere else, and the garden was looking sodden.

WE WERE A LITTLE late for dinner but Mum didn’t even mention it, so excited was she to have Virginia as a guest. Dad had managed to make it home on time for once and Poppy turned up for main course. She was chatty, giving Mum some excuse about having to go home first to check on her sisters, but I could tell there was something wrong. I don’t remember what we ate.

I finally got the chance to talk with Poppy in private when we cleared the dishes into the kitchen.

‘What’s wrong?’ I demanded, making sure the door was shut behind us.

‘It wasn’t there,’ she said.

For a moment I thought she meant the body.

‘The shirt wasn’t there,’ she said.

‘Maybe the wind blew it away,’ I said. ‘Did you check—’

‘I checked. That’s what took me so long,’ hissed Poppy. ‘That and the fact that I had to retrace our steps, which wasn’t easy. The shirt wasn’t anywhere. What am I going to do?’

‘You’ve got to tell Nico,’ I said.

Poppy was shoving the dishes into the dishwasher.

‘Poppy… Poppy you have to.’

‘I know. It’s just… I should have known,’ she said. ‘That’s why I was feeling sick. I should have known there was something wrong. The closer I got to those woods the worse I felt.’

‘Poppy! Don’t. This isn’t some game.’ I slammed the dishwasher door shut and left her alone in the kitchen.

POPPY RANG ME the next morning to say that her mum had been called in to work the night before because the body had been found in The Woods. Nothing much happened in the way of crime in Silver Valley, so a murder was big news. Two days later, on our first day back at school, it was still all over the TV and newspapers. The girl was an out-of-towner so no one at school could claim first-hand grief at knowing her, although I was sure it was killing Virginia not to mention her role in the drama. Parents reminded their kids about not taking short cuts through The Woods. There was talk about policing the area more. Poppy texted Virginia about the shirt and Virginia said she’d pass on the message to Nico. A day later I passed Virginia, flanked by Loz and Tamara, in the corridor outside the science lab. Virginia held my gaze for a split second then we just nodded and moved on.

The status quo of our intersecting lives had returned to its former state. We weren’t to speak again properly until the night of the Year 12 Formal.

He loves me

He loves me not

THE FIRST TERM of Year 12 we hit the ground running. I was doing German Language for extra credit, but that didn’t stop me from taking on other things like organising the Formal and the Year 12 Year Book. Classes were easy, and at home my parents were giving me a lot of space for a change. So home and school were under control.

What wasn’t under control was my obsession with Finn Cashin. There were days when I’d convince myself that he was still lusting over Virginia, then he’d flirt with me and my hopes would soar. Up and down. Down and up. It was like our secret day in The Woods had forged a connection between us. Poppy kept telling me to go for what I wanted, but I just felt stupid. What if Finn thought I was pathetic? Why would he think it was all right for me to ask him out? I’d always thought having boyfriends was just messy — a waste of time. Yet whenever I saw Finn talk to another girl, I would nearly faint with jealousy.

Every time I practised my driving, I made sure to drive slowly past Finn’s house, just in case I could catch a glimpse of him. I spent a lot of time on Facebook keeping tabs on whoever he was talking to. In short, I was becoming a stalker.

I composed a love song for Finn.

I wrote endless bad poetry that sometimes rhymed but mostly didn’t.

I wrote about my life in a journal that I hid in my bookcase with my old picture books. I figured it was safe there. I wrote about my feelings and my life and my friends — anything that came to me.

It was like I had a fever.

It was like being infected with a disease.

It was like finding another part of myself that I’d never met before.

I know Poppy was amused by this new me. She asked me once if I wanted her to use her Power to get some extra information on Finn, and for a moment I was tempted. But I was the sensible one. The one who had no time for boys. I thanked her briskly and said no.

Sometimes I wished I could just go back to being the predictable Sarah Lum that I knew and understood. The practical Sarah, interested in world events and the extra study questions in the back of the Maths textbook.

But I think I waved her goodbye in Year 12 on that first day back at school. The day I realised I might just have a chance with Finn Cashin.

Polly called for the doctor

to be quick, quick, quick

YEAR 12 JOURNAL, DAY 1, PART ONE

10.15 a.m.

You are the one

You are mine

You

It is the second day of school for Year 12 and I have just found out that Finn Cashin is in my English class. I am so happy I feel sick. He brushes past me as I sit and write a letter to him that I know I will never send. He knocks a book from my desk and reaches down to get it. I cover the loose sheet that I’ve been writing Finn Cashin poetry on and he hands me the book.

‘Thanks,’ I say.

And he gives me a smile like it means something and suddenly I think that maybe I have a chance with him.

It’s the first time I’ve seen him since the day in The Woods. He shows no sign that he is remembering that day as he looks at me. I want to ask him about the bedroom in his house that I wasn’t supposed to go into, but know I don’t dare. We both know why it’s empty.

My heart races. A slick of sweat pops up on the palms of my hands. I stop to consider what illness this symptom could indicate. Hypertension is the first thing that comes to mind. I wonder if I have a fever. I know the symptoms of many illnesses because of a game Dad and I used to play with our
Reader’s Digest Family Health Guide Book
when I was little. He would read out a set of symptoms and I would guess the illness. Which sounds really lame, but at the time it was nice having his full attention.

I want to say so much more than thanks to Finn for picking up my book, but he’s already gone and who am I kidding anyway? I don’t have words for him. How can that be? I can stand in front of 500 people and debate the merits of wind power, or thank a visitor at school assembly, but I can’t tell the one person I lust over about how I feel.

‘HEY,’ SAID POPPY, as she plonked down in the seat next to mine.

I slipped my journal under my textbook. Poppy knew about my obsession with Finn, but still…

Poppy.

My gorgeous, crazy, dreamy best friend did not understand. Poppy thought you should tackle love head-on. She was constantly in love — in and out and back again. We made a strange pair, even she could see that, but Poppy chose me on Orientation Day for Year 7s, and who was I to un-choose?

Remembering that day can still make me cringe.