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“Oh dear, why not?”
“Teenage stuff.Giving my parents a bit of grief, that’s all.”
“Can I ask why?”She was leaning her chin in her hands, her eyes full of genuine concern, and despite vowing he wasn’t going to talk too much about himself, the whole problem spilled out.“So now she’s threatening to give up the flute if Mum stops her going to this party, which is crazy because she’s so talented.She was on track to get accepted for a scholarship in Paris, but now I feel like she’s about to throw it all away.”
“It’s probably just a phase; it’s normal for kids her age to experiment.”
“Yeah, but I’m worried she’s out of her depth with this one.Avery’s not… how do I put this?”His lips thinned for a moment.“She’s not one of those kids who knows much about life and, erm, sex and stuff—bit of a late developer, I guess.She’s never worried about what she looks like until recently, then suddenly she pulls out this dress and it’s tiny and silver with sparkly things all over it, and, you know, kind of—” He gestured at an imaginary lowcut neckline.“And…” He stuck his leg out from under the table and made a slicing motion at the top of his thigh.“The hem’s, like, right uphere…”
He glanced up to see Judith frowning and folded his leg back under the table, feeling sheepish.“Sorry, am I sounding like a judgemental prick?”
“No, you sound like a concerned older brother.”
“D’you reckon I made a mistake talking Mum into letting her go?”
“No, actually I don’t.When Pippa was fourteen she took a whole lot of risks, staying out late, not letting our parents know where she was, that kind of stuff.Mum and Dad had no idea what to do with her.So, they grounded her.Took away her phone, picked her up and dropped her at school every day.They were really strict.”
“Did it work?”
She shook her head.“No, it just made her more secretive.Unbeknown to any of us, Pip would climb down the tree next to her bedroom window at night.No-one could work out why she was so tired at school.Mum was convinced she had glandular fever.They took her to several doctors, but the tests were all negative.Then one night we got a call from the police to let us know she’d been caught spray painting hoardings with her gang.Luckily she was linked in with a school counsellor who was fantastic.”Her voice warmed.“She helped Pippa to find other outlets.For Pip it was sport.She still loves netball, plays twice a week with her team.Her energy just needed to be directed into something that wouldn’t stuff up her life.Now she’s a qualified sports physio.”
“Wow!”Carts threw himself back in his chair.“That’s an amazing story.”
“Yeah.Not that it happened overnight.Pippa pushed back—at Mum particularly.They’ve never really seen eye to eye.”She frowned, and he wished he could reach out and smooth the little crease away from her forehead.“The thing is, if my parents had allowed her to experiment a bit more… not been so rigid with the rules, maybe she wouldn’t have felt the need to rebel.”
“I see what you mean.”
“Perhaps Avery needs to try out new things to know what she really wants.I bet it will end up being her music.”
“Maybe.”He paused.“Do you mind if I ask you something, like, personal?”
She laid her knife and fork down neatly on her plate.“Of course, anything.”
“Well—I mean at school, being quite, um, tall.As a girl.What was that like for you?”
She took a slow sip of her wine, and he worried he’d brought back memories she didn’t want to talk about.“Avery is about your height, that’s why I ask.She’s terrified of growing any taller.”
“I know how she feels.”A little grimace.“To be honest, school wasn’t great for me.I wasn’t in with the cool crowd or sporty.It would probably have helped if I’d been like Pippa in that regard.But I was the quiet skinnytallgirl who loved hanging out in the art room and barely spoke.Not a great recipe for popularity.How about you?”
Carts suppressed a grimace.“Horrible in my early teens.I had a massive growth spurt at thirteen and was mega skinny and nerdy.The perfect combo for being picked on.Then when I was fourteen, this super-cool, confident kid arrived at the school and for some reason took a shine to me.That’s my mate, Aaron, who’s in the UK, I think I may have mentioned him to you before.”She nodded.“Having him in my corner meant I wasn’t the weirdo they’d all labelled me as.Things got better after that.Can’t say I ever had a lot of friends, but I did okay.”
“He sounds nice—Aaron.”
“Yeah, he’s a great guy.Majorly conceited on the outside, especially about his hair, soft as a marshmallow on the inside.He’ll be back in about six weeks… You’ll meet him.Maybe.”No assumptions.No assumptions.Nor was he going to tell her how they’d both fallen for Alice.He did, however, mention how Alice worked in her mum’s shop, the Book Genie, because anyone who loved reading would know that ramshackle marvel of a second-hand book shop in Northbridge.
Sure enough, Judith clasped her hands in front of her face and said, “Oh, I love that place.And Alice… straight brown hair and glasses, right?She was really helpful when I was looking for a book one time.She’s Polly’s best friend.”He nodded and she added, “Polly and I didn’t really become friends until Alice left Perth.I think Polly decided I’d do as a back-up.”
“Don’t say that.You’re the nicest friend anyone could wish for.”
“I—oh.”She shrugged.“I didn’t try very hard to make friends when I was younger.I’m close to Pippa, and being with Mark, I suppose I didn’t make a lot of effort.”She gave a little huff and placed her napkin next to her finished meal.“And that was a big mistake.You get to your late twenties and when things blow apart, you’re like… now what?”
He nodded.“I get that.Investing too much energy in love.”
“Well, the wrong love, anyway.”She shifted her chin onto her cupped hands.“Do you think you know?”The glow in her eyes sent his temperature soaring.“When you meet someone?Like, do you think you can fall in love at first sight?”
Was she trying to tell him something?Or was it simply wishful thinking?He flailed around, trying to form a sentence that was both witty and wise.And promptly opened his mouth and fucked it up.“I wouldn’t have a clue.I’m the world’s biggest failure in the love stakes.”
And whoosh, just like that, the energy changed.
