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CHAPTER ELEVEN
Now
The following week, things are tense between me and Lucas. I only speak to him when I have to — to inform him that we’ve run out of milk, or that I’ve paid the hot water bill so he can transfer me half the money.
On Thursday, he asks if I’m going to volleyball. I say I can’t, I need to go shopping for birthday presents for Gilly and my mum. He offers to come with me, but I say it’s okay.
That afternoon, I walk through a shiny department store, thick with clouds of expensive perfume, and try not to think about the wounded expression on Lucas’s face when I told him no. He deserved it. He can’t be a dick to me, then make those puppy dog eyes when I refuse to pretend to be friends with him. If he wants to be friends again, he has to actually try.
I pick a candle off a shelf and smell it. It’s fresh, like clean laundry, but with a surprising dash of spice. It’s the kind of scent Mum would love. I turn over the candle and almost drop it when I see the $75 price tag. $75 for a single candle? What the hell. Is the wax liquid gold? Is the container made of gemstones?
I put the candle back onto the shelf and end up purchasing two books instead. Mum’s got a whole bookshelf at home in her bedroom dedicated to Australian fiction. She loves any novel about farmers in the outback, struggling with droughts, small-town politics and romance.
I get Gilly a pair of slides, since he’s mentioned a few times that he needs them. I’m about to leave the department store when I spot a section dedicated to DIY gifts. There are boxes that include all the parts to make a ceramic mug, a terrarium, a personalised notebook and a bracelet.
My eyes linger on the bracelet. The box includes thin silver, gold and copper strings, as well as different types of beads and charms. On the front of the box is a huge graphic of a red love heart.
I pick up the box. I could get this for Cleo. It’s almost our one-month anniversary — not that I’ve been keeping count. Okay, yes, maybe I have been marking the days off my calendar, but not because I’m a mushy-gushy romantic or anything. It’s more just to see how long it takes until she gets sick of me and dumps me. Part of me can’t believe she hasn’t dumped me already.
My fingers curl into the box, creasing the thin cardboard.
Shut up, Charlie. She’s not going to dump you.
I buy the DIY gift.
When I return to the apartment, I set myself up on the carpet of my room. Lecture recordings play from my laptop as I unbox the bracelet set. I’ve already watched the lectures, but I’ve got a few tests coming up and want to try to squeeze in a bit more revision while making Cleo’s present.
An hour later, the front door opens, and after a minute, Lucas pokes his head into my room. He’s wearing sports clothes, so he must have just returned from volleyball. His eyes find mine, then fall to rest on the silver heart-shaped charm I’m threading onto the bracelet.
I don’t say anything. He doesn’t either. His jaw tightens, and then he leaves.
*
Lucas is scowling at me. Despite his expression, he looks good. But who am I kidding? He always looks good, and right now, he looks even better than usual. His hair is combed and styled with gel, and he’s wearing a button-up shirt that accentuates his triangular torso. Wide shoulders, impossibly trim waist.
“She’s really coming?” he asks.
“Yes. Gilly said I could invite her.”
His mouth flattens.
“What?” I demand.
“Tonight’s meant to be about celebrating Gilly’s birthday, not seeing your girlfriend for the forty-seventh time this week.”
“Don’t speak to me like that,” I say. “You wouldn’t be lecturing me if you had a girlfriend.”
He rolls his eyes. “Here we go again. Do you really think I’m envious because you’ve found someone who deigns to be with you?”
I focus on writing Gilly’s birthday card. Do not feel upset. He doesn’t get to have that power over you. Focus on the good. Cleo will arrive soon, and then we’ll go to Gilly’s birthday, and I can ignore him for the rest of the night.
The intercom rings.
I get up from the kitchen bench and answer it, which allows Cleo through the front door and into the elevator. She arrives at my front door a minute later.
When I see Cleo standing before me, I remember just how lucky I am that she’s my girlfriend. She’s totally out of my league.
Tonight, she’s wearing a light-green dress that falls mid-thigh. Her sparkly eyeshadow makes her eyes pop, and her hair falls over her shoulders in shiny curls. Hanging over her shoulder is a floral-patterned duffel bag.
