23
The next morning, Jack and Lou joined the parade of little witches, ghosts and superheroes gathering in the schoolyard. Bo looked adorable in a witch’s costume complete with an elaborate pointy hat.
‘You look great, Bo!’ Lou said, smiling at the little girl. After all, it wasn’t her fault her father was an asshole.
‘Thanks.’
She was itching to say something to Aidan, but not in front of the children. So she hung around until they’d all streamed inside. But then he was accosted by another parent and she missed her moment. She didn’t want to get into it in front of someone else, so it’d have to wait until pick-up. So she stomped home again, her pent-up fury unabated. She threw her energy into cleaning the house, blaring some music and rage-cleaning the bathroom. Thank goodness she wasn’t rostered to work today and she didn’t have to get through a shift trying to be civil to him, because she wasn’t sure she could do it, even if it meant losing her job.
She didn’t think she’d get another opportunity to talk to Aidan today, but when she got back to the school inthe afternoon for pick-up, he was walking in the gate just ahead of her. She wouldn’t usually have the nerve to be so confrontational, but her rage carried her through and she didn’t even think about it before she stormed right up to him.
‘Hi, Lou!’ He greeted her with a friendly smile, oblivious to her mood. ‘I left Shane to finish up lunch service today because I wanted to collect Bo myself.’ He must have seen something in her face, because his smile faltered. ‘Are you okay?’
‘No, I’m not okay.’ She didn’t even hesitate, launching right into the offensive. ‘How could you not invite Jack to Bo’s birthday party?’
He frowned, clearly taken aback by being confronted about it head-on. He probably thought she’d be too embarrassed to say anything and she and Jack would just suffer in polite silence and meekly accept the snub.
‘I get that you don’t like me, and that’s fine. I couldn’t give a shit! And the feeling is completely mutual, by the way. But to take it out on a kid?—’
‘What the hell are you talking about?’ He was looking at her like she was a crazy woman, which probably wasn’t far from the truth. ‘Of course Jack’s invited.’
‘Oh, really?’ she sneered. He thought he could wriggle out of it now, let on it was all some mistake. ‘Well, how come he didn’t get an invitation, then, like the rest of the class?’
‘He did. I helped Bo write them myself. He definitely got an invitation.’
Lou’s rage stuttered. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Of course. God, you seriously think I’d let Bo invite the whole class and leave outonechild?’
Lou frowned. Could she have got it wrong? Had Jack not wanted to tell her about the invitation for some reason? But as her fury was abating, Aidan’s seemed to be growing.
‘What kind of monster do you think I am? Quite apart from the fact that Bo’s crazy about Jack. She was more excited about him coming than anyone else in the class.’
The doors opened and the children streamed into the schoolyard with a clatter of shouts and laughter.
‘Look, here they are,’ Aidan said, nodding to Bo and Jack, trotting along side by side as usual. ‘We’ll sort out this invitation business.’
Lou still wasn’t sure that Aidan wasn’t bluffing and just inviting Jack now that he’d been caught out. But then he asked Bo, ‘Did you give Jack the invitation to your party?’, his hand clutching her shoulder as he looked down at her.
‘Yeah. But he said he can’t come.’
Lou frowned, her eyes going to Jack. He looked like he was about to boil over, his eyes wide with panic. What the hell? Did he not want to go? Whatever the reason, he clearly didn’t want to talk about it now in front of Bo. She’d get to the bottom of it when they were home, on their own.
‘Okay. Sorry,’ she said to Aidan, barely glancing at him. She couldn’t look him in the eye, cringing now when she thought of what she’d said to him. ‘Well, thanks for the invitation. I’ll let you know if Jack can make it.’
She was relieved when Aidan’s attention was drawn away by another parent greeting him. She grabbed Jack’s hand and raced out the gate without a backward glance, imagining she could feel Aidan’s outraged gaze on her the whole way home.
When they got home, she made Jack a snack, then sat beside him at the kitchen table. ‘So, youwereinvited to Bo’s party?’ she asked him gently.
He nodded.
‘Why didn’t you tell me? Don’t you want to go?’
His head was bent over his soup, and Lou was horrified to see a fat tear drop into his bowl.
‘Oh, honey.’ She put an arm around him and hugged him into her side. ‘What’s the matter? You love parties, and you love Bo. Why wouldn’t you want to go?’
Her heart twisted as a sob escaped his lips. His face creased and he dropped his spoon as he started crying in earnest. ‘I do, but I can’t buy her a present.’
