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“Hey,” she says, leaning in to kiss me. Her lips taste like lipstick.
“You look beautiful,” I say.
She pulls back and flicks her hair over her shoulders. “Thanks,” she says. When she notices Lucas by the kitchen island, she flicks her hair once again. “Hey Lucas,” she says.
“Hi Clarissa.”
I stiffen, but Cleo looks unbothered. “It’s Cleo,” she corrects.
He returns his gaze to her and looks at her the way a kid would look at homework. “My bad,” he says, then meets my eyes. “Ready to go?”
“Almost.” I take Cleo’s duffel bag and start towards my bedroom.
“What’s the bag for?” The question is sharp like a blade.
Cleo smiles at Lucas. “I’m staying over tonight. Didn’t Charlie tell you?”
Lucas stares at me.
“It must have slipped my mind,” I say. I should’ve remembered to give him some warning, but a small part of me can’t help but delight in the annoyance on Lucas’s face. “I’m just going to put this away. Feel free to sit down, Cleo.”
I place Cleo’s bag in my room, and when I come out, she’s sitting on a stool by the kitchen table.
“Charlie told me you’re studying too. Engineering, right?”
“Yes,” Lucas says.
“What kind?”
“Electrical.”
I sit beside her and finish Gilly’s birthday card.
“How long are you going to take?” Lucas asks me. “We’re going to be late.”
“Don’t worry,” Cleo says, waving a hand. “It’s always better to be fashionably late than too early. So. You two grew up together, right?”
Lucas nods. “We’ve known each other since we were six.”
“That’s a long time,” Cleo comments.
“Yes.” Lucas rests his eyes on Cleo, and she smiles, but after a moment, when Lucas doesn’t say anything, her smile fades, leaving her looking unsettled.
I stuff the birthday card into an envelope. Time to get out of here before things get even more awkward.
“How are you finding Melbourne?” Cleo asks Lucas. “It must be really different from the small town you grew up in. New South Wales, right?”
“South Australia.”
“What?”
“Charlie and I are from South Australia,” Lucas says, tone flat yet ice-cold, like a glacier. “How do you not even know what state your boyfriend is from?”
“I must’ve just gotten mixed up,” Cleo says, flicking her eyes to me.
“Right,” Lucas begins, voice dripping with contempt. “Maybe you —”
“I’m ready to leave,” I interrupt. “There’s just one last thing I need to grab. Lucas?” I plaster on the nicest smile I can. “Can you help me with something in my room?”
