Faking Sweet (14 page)

Goodbye, Sydney. Hello, Melbourne. Aloha, Daydream Island.

‘You seem happy tonight, Holly,' Dad smiled.

‘Yeah, I am.'

‘Now's probably the right time then.' He nodded at Mum and she nodded back. ‘Holly, I have good news. It looks like we're going to stay in Sydney … for good.'

‘What?' I dropped my fork. ‘What? Stay here? In Sydney? No!'

‘But, I thought you'd be happy?' Dad frowned. ‘It means never having to move schools again. Isn't that what you've always wanted?'

‘But you … you said we were going back to Melbourne.' The air was being sucked out of my lungs. ‘You, you promised. You promised!'

‘But I didn't say it was for sure, Holly.'

‘You did! He did, didn't he, Mum?'

‘And we'd only be back in Melbourne for six or so months. Then we'd have to pack up and move again.'

‘No!' I gasped. ‘I don't want to stay here. I, I hate Sydney. I hate St Clemmie's. You lied. You said we were …'

‘Holly.' Mum was folding her napkin for the one-hundredth time. ‘It's not definite yet. Is it, dear?'

‘Well no, not exactly,' Dad replied. ‘But it's a wonderful opportunity for all of us, Holly.'

‘No it's not!' I spat. ‘It's not a wonderful opportunity. It sucks and, and I'll never forgive you, either of you, if you make me stay here. Do you hear me? I hate you. I hate you both.'

I knocked over my chair, threw my napkin on the floor and stomped, as loudly as was possible in bare feet on carpet, down the hall and into my room; finishing with an ear-shattering slam of the bedroom door. This time I did hear a picture fall to the floor.

‘Good,' I snarled. ‘I hope it smashed.'

Sydney! Staying in Sydney. Living here forever. Going to St Clemmie's with that bunch of stuck-up plastics. Not me. I wanted Melbourne and Calypso and Daydream Island and friends and … this was without doubt the worst day of my life.

I threw myself onto the bed, dug my toes into the mattress and headbutted my way up against the wall. I bit the pillow, twisted the sheet around my wrists and sobbed. ‘I want to go back to Melbourne,' I blubbered. ‘I want Calypso.'

Outside my bedroom door I could hear the muffled whispers of my parents, mixed with the sound of broken glass being dropped into a bag.

‘Holly?' Mum crept into my room and perched on the edge of the bed. ‘Darling, it's not definite, us staying in Sydney. Your father's waiting to hear back about a job.'

‘I don't want to stay in Sydney,' I mumbled through the pillow over my head. ‘I want to go back to Melbourne.'

‘But darling, remember you weren't happy in Melbourne.'

‘Yes I was!' I sat up. ‘I was happy. I had a friend. A best friend, for the first time ever, and you and Dad knew what that meant to me.'

‘But you and Calypso only became friends a little while before we left.'

‘So? What does it matter how long we were friends for? We formed an instant bond. Instant!' I clicked my fingers. ‘And now you're asking me to give that up.'

‘But if you made friends with Calypso then doesn't that tell you that you can make friends with girls here in Sydney? It's a chance for you,' she said to me. ‘A chance for all of us to settle down.'

‘You don't get it, Mum,' I told her. ‘There is no one else like Calypso.' I sighed, my chest aching with pain. ‘I haven't told you yet, but Calypso has invited me to Daydream Island for a week. She won the trip in a competition. She wants me to go with her. Me! By the way, her grandparents are going too so there's no need to freak out.'

‘Oh?' Mum's forehead crinkled like tissue paper. ‘I didn't think Calypso had any grandparents.'

‘How would you know?' I snapped. ‘Of course she does.'

‘Well,' Mum stood up. ‘Being in Sydney doesn't stop you from going to Daydream Island with Calypso. If she really has won this trip.'

‘What do you mean by that?' Mum was really pissing me off now. She was about to be banished from my room for good. ‘Of course she's won the trip. What, you think she's just invented it?'

‘I don't know, Holly.' Mum sighed. ‘I just came in here to tell you Sydney's not definite – yet. But it would be nice to be settled in one place. That used to be what you wanted too.'

‘Why can't we settle in Melbourne?'

When Mum got to the door she turned and said very softly, ‘Don't put all your eggs in one basket, Holly. There's plenty more fish in the sea.'

‘What's that supposed to mean?' I called after her.

But she'd already closed the door and was gone.

Yes, I still had my savings: $365 to be exact. I wasn't sure how I felt about withdrawing $200 of it to put in Jess's bag. The weight of the world had just landed back on my shoulders. Bum this revenge plan. Why couldn't I just go to Daydream Island coz I was Calypso's bestie?

The timetable for the week went psycho: Year 12 had started some half-yearlies. We were herded from one class to another so as not to disturb the chosen ones. The teachers were stressed out of their brains. If we even went near the hall they'd start shrieking: ‘Tiptoe!' and ‘Whisper!' Like what did they think they were doing?

On Thursday afternoon an extra English class was sprung on us. Melissa said it was probably 'cause Gideon was still spewing that chapel had stolen half her lesson on the Monday. But she couldn't have been spewing that much 'cause she arrived half an hour late.

Melissa was up the front of the class pretending to be Gideon. She sat on the desk swinging her legs in and out. ‘So who thinks Borachio's a snivelling, sycophantic loser?' She jumped off the table and began to pace the room. She was good. ‘Holly!' Melissa thumped my desk with her fist. ‘Do you think Borachio is a snivelling, sycophantic loser?'

I giggled, feeling the heat rising to my face. I wasn't used to this sort of attention. ‘Yes, Miss,' I replied.

Melissa leaned across my desk. ‘And what, Miss Hankinson, do you suggest we do with such a loser?'

‘Chop off his head?' I shrugged.

‘Awwwff with his head!' Melissa shrieked, like the queen from
Alice in Wonderland
. We all cracked up. ‘Class, show your appreciation for the sublime and brilliant Miss Holly Hankinson.'

The class began to clap and cheer; before I knew what I was doing I stood up and took a bow. Then quickly sat back down.

‘Now girls, who's finished their assignment?' Melissa stopped at every desk calling out each name. ‘Rosie? Bella? Natasha? Jess?'

‘Nearly, Mith Melitha,' Jess squeaked.

‘Excellent, Jess, excellent. Class, give Miss Flynn a round of applause, will you?'

Again the class broke into cheers. I clapped my hands and stamped my feet with the rest of them. I didn't care that it was for Jess; I was having fun.

‘And tell us, Miss Flynn, about your assignment. Do I rightly remember you asking if you could do it on cousins of … THE OPPOSITE SEX!' she shouted.

‘Yeth, Mith Melitha.'

‘Well, I think in that case the class demands that your project includes PHOTOS!'

Melissa's request was answered with whistles and squeals of delight: ‘Yeah! Photos! Photos!'

Jess stood up on her chair. ‘Girls,' she said, using her ruler as a microphone and thankfully speaking like an adult. ‘Girls, you'll be happy to hear my cousin agrees to his photo being used in this assignment.'

More squeals and whistles and foot stamping thundered around the room. Then a chant that started with, ‘Photos, photos' grew to, ‘he's so hot', reinforced by ‘Hot! Hot!'. Gradually it got louder and louder until the class had worked itself into a hysterical frenzy. I was right amongst it.

I wondered if anyone actually knew who Jess's cousin was, or if it was all just part of the game. Either way it didn't matter to me. I was just going along with it and having a laugh, which suited me as it took my mind off the two things that had been stalking it: moving to Sydney and withdrawing $200 out of my bank account – $200 I'd probably never see again.

Shouts of, ‘Photos, photos' and ‘Hot, hot' were lifting the classroom ceiling even higher. The feet stamping was rattling the windows and shaking the floor. But now it was too loud for my worried mind. I wanted it to stop. I needed some peace to think. Calypso's plan was too big for me. Suddenly I felt like I was drowning.

I put my head on the desk and covered my ears wishing I could disappear for ever. It was starting to get to me. Even the girls' chanting sounded like ‘Scott, Scott …'

In the afternoon I made the reluctant withdrawal of $200 from my bank account. I walked back through the mall; the cash almost whispering in my pocket. ‘Go on, go to Lipstix,' it tempted. ‘Blow it all on a couple of bikinis. Go on.'

Oh, the things I could've bought. But I'd promised Calypso all those months ago, and my mission was almost complete. I counted on my fingers: Saturday, Sunday, Monday – three more days to go. Then I'd be free.

Lipstix's window had been re-decorated into a castaway island theme. There was a hammock, a basket of fruit and flowers, and on a clothesline, strewn from one end of the window to the other, were bikinis of every colour and design imaginable. It reminded me of looking at the Christmas windows when I was a little kid. I wanted to stay staring forever.

‘Wow, how incredible. Couldn't you buy every single one?' Jess Flynn had snuck up next to me. I almost fell through the glass. ‘I could. Every single one. How awesome is that black one with the pink flamingo on it?' Jess sighed. ‘That'd suit you, Holly.'

‘Me?'

‘Yeah, for sure.'

‘Really?'

‘Really. Why don't you try it on?'

Oh, how I wanted to, but oh, how I knew I couldn't. It wasn't worth the risk. But what was the risk? Falling into Jess's trap or not obeying my master's orders?

An image of Jess mocking and pointing flashed into my head: ‘Ha ha. Tricked you, Holly Hankinson. Ha ha. You complete loser.'

The sound of Calypso's scolding voice followed: ‘I told you not to speak to her. I told you she was evil. I told you!'

‘Come on, Hol.' Light fingers touched my skin. I looked down to see Jess holding my elbow. ‘I'll come with you if you want. I know Pixie. She might even give you ten percent off.'

‘Um, arr,' I stammered.

Calypso's psych-up mantra was burning a hole in my brain: ‘Jess Flynn is evil. Jess Flynn deserves to fall. Jess Flynn is a liar. A liar, a liar …'

‘I can't.' I started to walk away. ‘I can't. I, I've got to go.'

‘Another time then?' Jess was following me down the escalators. ‘One arvo after school, hey?'

‘Maybe,' I whispered.

As soon as I was out of sight, I ran. Now the mantra was screaming in my head: ‘Jess Flynn is evil. Jess Flynn deserves to fall.'

‘Well, why doesn't she seem evil?' my mind screamed back. ‘She seems pretty nice to me.'

‘But Jess Flynn is a liar.' It retaliated in Calypso's voice, high and cackling like a witch. ‘Jess Flynn deserves to fall! And who is going to bring her down? Who is going to make her fall?'

‘But what if I don't want to?' a tiny voice inside me cried. ‘What if I don't want to make her fall?'