Friendship on Fire (11 page)

My heart fluttered again. I kissed him.

It must have been around twenty minutes later that I heard Rach bound up the stairs and call from the top, ‘Daisy, are you up here? Gosh girl you're s'posed to be helping me.'

I gasped and held my breath, but it didn't last. I started giggling and blew our cover. We came out of the room and squinted into the light.

‘Yeah, here. Sorry, I was showing Nate around. You like the house, Nate?' I asked professionally.

He nodded equally as professionally and said, ‘Lovely set up you have here, Rach. Especially the spare room.'

Rachael eyed us suspiciously. ‘Mmhmm. Can you introduce us properly now, seeing as you two are apparently so well acquainted?'

‘Sure, sorry, my bad,' I cleared my throat. ‘Nate, this is my best friend Rachael. Rach, this is Nate, my …' Crap. What was he to me?

Nate looked at my confused face and jumped in. ‘I'm her… tutor.'

I glared at him sidelong.
Was that all you could come up
with?

Silence. He was holding to that unlikely story. Twit.

Rach rolled her eyes. ‘Whatever. Look, can you help me out? They're going nuts downstairs. I can't do everything on my own.'

‘I know. I'm coming. I'll see you down there,' I said meaningfully. She took the hint and retreated back down the stairs.

‘What am I going to tell her now?' I hissed up at him. ‘That wasn't half a lie.' I started giggling again.

He shrugged nonchalantly. ‘She would already suspect anyway, with your pathetic excuse for an innocent face.'

‘Hey, at least I wouldn't think up such a retarded excuse as yours.' I pushed his shoulder playfully and he grabbed a belt loop on the front of my jeans and pulled me to him. Another five minutes went by. I felt like my lips were going numb. I half-heartedly pushed him away.

Nate sighed and pulled me out of the room. Leading me down the stairs, he said, ‘Don't worry. Go help her, but hurry back to me. I'm not nearly finished with you.'

His lips brushed my cheek. My mind raced with anticipation. I ran with jelly legs into the kitchen to start clearing cups and plates from the floor and benches, and to make sure there was enough ice and drinks on hand. There were heaps of people constantly streaming in through the back door to get more food or drink.

The dishevelled Grammar girls were chatting up boys from our school and seemed to find them unexpectedly interesting. Some boys I didn't recognise were outside chatting to Nate. They must be friends from his school. They looked nice. Would he introduce me to them? Would he be proud of me, looking how I am? Maybe it was too early to ask him for that sort of thing.

In the corner of the yard I saw Roman talking to the blonde girl from the front door who had clung to him like a bad smell. He was animatedly describing something to her with his hands and she was laughing and clasping his arm. He didn't seem uncomfortable. I watched with curiosity, like I was eavesdropping on a conversation I shouldn't be. She took over the conversation and was telling him a story of her own. He was attentive and hanging off her every word. Roman's smile was more than polite. It was,
interested.

Roman rarely had girlfriends. He was either extremely fussy or not interested in the commitment side of things because he never had a shortage of girls interested in him. I didn't hear much gossip about him hooking up with girls on weekends, girls from school, or on holidays. He didn't seem to need the attachment for his self-esteem.

As I scanned the rest of the back yard, I noticed people dirty dancing on a small tiled area over to the left. Lights were set up and a colourful backdrop was hung to make them feel like they were in a club. Some of them were so drunk that their grinding dance movements became stumbling steps. I had never been good at dancing so I didn't exactly feel I was missing out on any of the action. I secretly hoped Nate didn't like dancing; I couldn't put him off me already with my useless, unsexy dance moves.

Nate found me in the walk-in pantry a little later. He shut the door and turned the light off.

‘I found you,' he said in a hoarse whisper.

Laughing too loudly for our rendezvous to be secret, I let him kiss me for a while until I had to move away from the spices that were making my nose tingle. We went out the front of the house to talk instead.

‘You have interesting friends,' I told him as he was kissing up my cheek on to my forehead. We were standing under an old maple tree. The lamplight shone softly on the branches.

‘Not as interesting as you,' he breathed into my ear as his hand slid from the small of my back up to the middle.

‘I'd like to meet them, all the same,' I said. He stopped kissing my nose and gazed into my eyes. ‘Well, you got to meet Rach already. It's your turn.'

‘And you will. But you'll have to wait for me to warn them off you first,' he said quietly.

‘Is that so?' I raised an eyebrow at him.

‘Yep. Can't trust them as far as I can kick them. You're all mine.' His brown eyes sparkled under the street lamp.

I wasn't at all sure I could keep up this level of teasing without crumbling into a heap on the grass.

‘Prove it,' I bluffed.

It was probably unwise to dare a man to prove such a thing when his eyes burnt with the fire that Nate's did. ‘Are you sure you can handle it?'

Nodding, I grabbed his waist and pulled him towards me. He didn't need a second to read what I wanted. Nate responded immediately by kissing me so hard that I stumbled against the tree trunk. Putting out one arm behind me to steady us, he curled his other around my back. I was impressed with his passionate attempt to claim me the way I had challenged him to. Nate's hands gently explored my hips and back, more than showing me what I required. I was losing control, and getting pash rash big time.

This had to stop before it went too far. My brain was trying to preserve any logic I had left, but I could feel myself slipping under my attraction for him; especially his scent and touch.

I slid out from under his warm body and put my fingers to my lips. They stung with the effects of splendid passion. Taking a deep breath, I took his hand and led him to a wooden bench on the front porch. He sat down and put his arm out to gather me into him. I rested my head gently on his shoulder and slung my arm across his chest. We sat in silence amidst the muffled dance music coming from out the back.

‘So how long have you known Rach for?' he asked casually.

I calculated. ‘Since year seven. We met on the first day of school and have been best friends ever since. We have other friends too, but we understand each other the most out of everyone we know.'

‘That's cool. I don't know if I've had a friend that's lasted longer than a year or so,' Nate commented.

‘Really? Why's that?'

‘Stuff happens. We move, we fall out, we lose contact. It doesn't last,' he said without resignation.

I frowned up at him. ‘What about those guys in there? Aren't they your friends?'

‘Of course they are. And they're good friends, too. Until something happens; like I go to uni, or we have to move for some reason, or one of them tries to hit on
you
…' He looked down at me to check my reaction. I smiled, blushing.

‘Surely they wouldn't,' I reassured him. ‘I wouldn't do that to you, anyway.'

‘That's why I like you,' he said, kissing my forehead.

‘This is the best party ever,' I gushed into his ear.

He laughed at me. ‘Anyone would think you'd won the lottery the way you're carrying on.' Quickly, he added, with a straight face, ‘But it's cute.'

At the peak of the party, when everyone was dancing, drinking, kissing and having an awesome time, we got a complaint from the next-door neighbours. I'd heard about them in the past; they sounded like a pair of cranky, old, boring people who needed to get a life.

I answered the door with Rach and listened to their ramblings. We had a quick committee meeting in the lounge room to decide what to do. Rach's parents finding out about the party was certainly a big no-no, so we figured it was a good time to wind it up and send everyone on their way.

I found Roman and asked him to start asking people to finish their drinks, take some food and then leave as soon as they could. He nodded and took on the dance floor.

I rushed around to different groups inside the house and told them the party was over. They groaned but moved off. I thought this shouldn't take long, and then I could get back to kissing my tutor.

What I didn't bargain on was that as soon as I told one group of people to leave, they simply moved from one part of the house to the other, set up camp and started drinking again. Because I didn't recognise all their faces in my haste, I thought I was telling a new group of people to leave each time. It must have been a great joke for them. Likewise, I would get groups of people from outside — Roman's rejects — move into an area I had already cleared, and I had to start the speech all over again. I was getting pretty pissed off at everyone.

By the time the three of us realised no one was leaving, it was too late. Sirens blared and lights coloured the dark sky as the police rounded the corner and parked out the front. So much for giving us time to wind down the party. Their neighbourly visit may as well have been a tip off that they'd already called the police.

Like professionals, the entire gathering made quick plans to split and meet up at a designated spot later to continue drinking. Nate was at my side instantly, along with Rach and Roman.

‘Daisy, listen. I've brought my Dad's car here and I can't drive it home because I've drunk too much. He doesn't know I've taken it and he can't wake up tomorrow morning with it and me missing. Can you please drop me off at home and you take it home and bring it back early tomorrow or something?'

He spoke hurriedly and his eyes were pleading. I didn't know what to say. Rach shrugged at me, Roman folded his arms and looked confused, and Nate just looked gorgeous.

‘Well I would … but … I don't have my licence yet. Not ‘til next month at least.'

I was nervous about the prospect of spoiling our new relationship if I didn't help him.

‘Don't worry about it. I'll help you. Talk you through it. We need to leave now. Trust me.'

He grabbed my hand and pulled me outside towards a shining black BMW M3.

Roman called out to me. ‘Dais, are you sure you want to do this? Who is this guy anyway?'

I answered over my shoulder, ‘Don't worry about it Roman. I'll be fine. See you soon.' I knew this wasn't a good enough answer but it would have to do right now.

We got to the car and I gasped at its glory. I ran my fingers through my hair. ‘Nate, I'm seriously not a very good driver. Especially not with a car like this. I … have a bad track record, and that's without my Ps. Besides, how can I leave Rach to deal with this mess all by herself?' I stuttered. She would stay with me if it were my place and my party.

Nate's voice was urgent. ‘Look. If you don't help me, the cops will ask questions about the car. They always pull over P-platers with expensive cars. If Dad found out …'

I caved. ‘Give me the keys. You'd better pray I don't stuff this up.' I would be praying harder than him.

We timed our escape perfectly. So did everyone else for that matter. Most of them were hiding in the bushes out the front of the house, while we were sitting low in the car. Only our eyes could be seen above door level. If it wasn't so serious I would have been cacking myself with laughter at the sight of everyone playing
Where's Wally?
with the cops.

The cops knocked on the door and Rach opened it. She looked nervous. They went into the house, no doubt to make sure there were no under-age drinkers on the premises.

‘All the noise was being made by one small brunette?' I imagined them asking.

I turned the engine on and it roared like a lion. Bright red lights lit up the dashboard and angry music filled my ears. Nate swore and turned the music down. I put my seatbelt on, and he put the car into gear for me.

‘Easy out with the clutch, Dais.'

I stalled it. I put my head against the steering wheel. ‘I told you …'

‘Again.' His voice was firm.

Slowly, with many shudders, I reversed his father's one hundred and seventy thousand dollar M3 off Rach's lawn and Nate put the car into first gear for me. He showed me how to turn the headlights on and off we went.

I was concentrating so hard I couldn't stop frowning and biting my lips. He reached over and put his hand on my leg.

‘You're doing well, Daisy. What were you worried about?' He grinned at me.

My leg burned. ‘That's very distracting.'

‘It's part of your training.' Although I refused to look at him, I could imagine the cheeky smile on his face.