Six (17 page)

It had been fun at first. The pretend break-up with Finn, the secret late night meetings in his bedroom or after school in The Woods. She shivered as she thought about the body — two bodies now — dumped there. The first girl, the one they had found, had been dumped close to Finn and Virginia’s favourite meeting place. What if Virginia had been attacked while she was waiting for Finn one day? They hadn’t met in The Woods since that day of the storm — too dangerous, Finn had said. Still… Virginia shivered again.

The pretend break-up had calmed things down at home after her dad had lost it, and it had also added excitement to something that had been getting a bit routine.

But pretending to be single had only been fun for two seconds. She missed the constant attention. Someone to buy her presents, to hand her a jacket when she was cold, someone to lean on. She could feel Finn slipping through her fingers, and even though she wasn’t sure she really minded that much, she did mind that he seemed to be slipping in Sarah’s direction.

Virginia Sloan was always the dumper, never the dumpee.

Tamara called out to Loz from the nearest bathroom and Loz hustled out leaving the mirror free. One of the girls let out an excited squeal when Mrs Sloan sang out, ‘Cooper’s here.’

Virginia stood in front of her dressing table and tilted the mirror so that she could get a better look at her outfit. Then her mother was standing behind her.

‘Cooper’s here,’ she trilled, a matching red spot on each cheek.

‘Got it,’ said Virginia, waving her mother away, before checking her phone. No messages from Finn. She hesitated a moment, then scrolled through her phone’s photo album before finding the photo she wanted. The girl in The Woods. It was a close-up shot and the way her dark lashes stood out so thick and defined, her eyes so clear, she could have been a model posing for some new cosmetic line. Virginia knew she should delete the photo, but just couldn’t bring herself to do it.

She turned her attention back to the mirror.

What was wrong with this picture? She checked off the possibilities again — hair, makeup, dress, accessories — then realised what it was.

She was standing there alone.

Mummy in the teapot

Daddy in the cup

Baby in the saucer

We all jump up

FINN STRUGGLED WITH his tie one more time. Somehow the wrong end kept ending up much longer than the other, no matter what he did. He examined the creases on his shirt again, and shrugged. He’d leave his suit jacket on. He probably should have learned to iron his own shirts by now, but ironing had been something his mother had always done until, well, until everything went wrong. There was no point asking her to iron it now, because he wasn’t sure where she was. Probably supermarket shopping or visiting one of her friends. Cody wasn’t home, so maybe she was picking him up from somewhere or taking him to a sleepover. Finn doubted she even realised tonight was his Year 12 Formal. It was like she was a sleepwalker lately, just going through the motions of living.

Finn pulled at the tie once more and it slithered silkily to the ground. Maybe he just wouldn’t wear a tie? He pulled his jacket on and checked the effect in the small mirror above his desk. No. Definitely needed a tie.

He picked up the tie again. This was his dad’s job, he thought as he tried one more time. Something his dad should be teaching him. He was supposed to be here. Watching Finn play football. Teaching him about cars and tools and…and things like that. Instead he just pissed off. Pissed off when things got too hard.

Finn felt a lump rise in his throat and loosened the tie from his neck.

‘Hey,’ Aaron yelled out from the family room. ‘The limo’s here.’

The lump in Finn’s throat seemed to suffocate him.

‘Hey, did you hear me?’ Aaron stood in bedroom doorway. ‘Are you ready? What are you doing with that tie?’

Finn shrugged, unable to speak.

‘Come here,’ said Aaron.

And Finn turned obediently as his brother adjusted the tie into a flawless knot and length.

‘Perfect,’ said Aaron. ‘So who you going with again?’

‘Nico. Nico, Poppy and Sarah,’ Finn said, finding his voice. ‘And a couple of other kids you don’t know.’

‘Oh. Sarah. Have I met her?’

Finn shrugged.

Aaron had met her. The Woods day. Finn’s mind skipped over that, like a fast forward option on a remote control.

‘Well, she’s got to be better than your last girlfriend,’ said Aaron with a grin. ‘Trouble with a capital V.’

Finn knew he should be angry at the way Aaron spoke about Virginia, but he didn’t feel anything.

‘Sarah’s a nice girl,’ Finn found himself saying. ‘A little intense, maybe, but nice.’

He heard the limo’s horn sound from outside.

‘You got money?’ asked Aaron.

Finn nodded.

‘Phone?’

Finn nodded again as he headed for the front door.

‘How are you getting home?’

‘I don’t know. There’s an after-party. I’m not sure—’

‘Ring me if you need a lift,’ said Aaron. ‘Hey wait.’ He pulled his mobile phone from his pocket and draped an arm around his brother, pulling him close, their heads together. He held the mobile in front of their faces. ‘For the family album,’ he explained. ‘Let’s get a picture of the hottest brothers in Silver Valley.’

If all the world were paper

and all the rivers ink

and all the trees were bread and cheese

what would we have to drink?

I CLOSED MY eyes and saw Sarah’s upturned palm once more, offered up to me like a sacrifice. Something flashed in my mind. Something I didn’t understand. I laughed it off. Told Sarah to wash her hands. Then she went to get her hair done and I was left to play my latest favourite game.

What if.

I hadn’t talked to Sarah about Marley — the girl in The Woods — for a long time. I couldn’t talk to Nico. But I hadn’t forgotten her. Marley was our age when she died. She could have been a friend. She could have been me.

What if she were still alive?

In the salon, I imagined it was Marley getting fake nails stuck to her own real ones. Imagined it was Marley having her makeup done, her hair tonged into ringlets. But no matter how hard I tried to pretend she was alive, Marley was just the dead girl in The Woods. The girl I had gone back to when the others had left her alone. I pretended I’d gone back to get Nico’s shirt — and I had looked for it — but really, I just wanted to see her one more time. The pine needles clung to her skin as I tried to wipe them away from her face. It hadn’t seemed right to cover her up like that. I was looking for a sign. But there was no aura shining from her, just a cold nothingness that I couldn’t penetrate.

At home I decided against the curls. I wet my hair with a spray bottle then brushed it out until I looked more like me. Then I lay on my bed — on my back so I didn’t mess up my makeup. If Marley were alive, she’d be getting dressed now to go to the Formal, I thought. Then Leah and Kayla ran into my room and jumped on my bed, ready to tell me all about a puppy they had seen in the local pet shop, and I forgot about Marley as I showed off my fake nails and my makeup.

Carl decided to have one of his family meetings just before I left for Sarah’s. I couldn’t believe his timing. I wanted to scream but held it together as we all sat around the dining table, Carl sitting at the head like he was in charge. We needed to discuss the puppy situation. Before we got a puppy there were things we needed to decide, like who would take it on daily walks, who would feed it, who would brush it, where it would sleep.

Etcetera, etcetera.

Leah and Kayla could hardly sit still with the excitement of it all, but I kept looking at the clock.

‘I have to go,’ I said finally. ‘I really do. Can I get a lift?’

Mum hugged me and told me to have a great time. She had to take the girls to a party and needed to get them ready, so Carl offered to drive me to Sarah’s.

The trip to Sarah’s didn’t take too long, but Carl had his pathetic old rock music station on, so I plugged in my earbuds to listen to my own music. I texted Nico and reminded him to wear the purple tie that went with my outfit. When we got to Sarah’s I jumped out, but Carl shouted out to me and I turned to see him holding out my bag of clothes.

‘Thanks,’ I said, rearranging my stuff so it was easier to carry.

I looked up to see Carl staring at me.

‘What?’ I said.

‘When did you go and grow up?’ he said. He looked a little misty-eyed but his red aura was shining brightly around him in a happy way. ‘Nearly finished school. Hard to believe.’

I shrugged. It occurred to me that the first time I’d met Carl I was only ten years old. I hadn’t paid much attention, but he did look older. Less hair. Thicker around the beltline.

‘You have a great time tonight,’ said Carl. ‘Your mother and I are very proud of you.’

My mind did it’s usual ‘You’re not my father’ routine but it was just automatic and I realised I didn’t really mean it. I gave him a smile. ‘Thanks, Carl,’ I said.

Then I watched him drive away in his mid-life-crisis car with the pathetic rock music station blaring into the night

Jack Sprat could eat no fat

his wife could eat no lean

And so you see between them both

they licked the platter clean

NICO’S MOTHER CAME to his door and announced that dinner was ready.

‘I’m not having dinner tonight,’ he said.

‘You have to eat,’ she said, flicking a spot of gravy from her sleeve. ‘Aren’t you hungry?’

‘I’m going out,’ he said, then his phone beeped and he turned to check the message as his mother returned to the kitchen with a dramatic sigh. It was from Spud — the half-back player from the school footy team.

‘Limo’s here.’

Spud’s house was the first stop on the limo pickup. Nico decided against a shower. Instead he stripped down and emptied half a tin of Lynx onto his body then dressed in his new white shirt and suit that Poppy had helped him buy. He found the purple tie shoved into the jacket pocket and tried to tie it with shaking hands. He hadn’t been sleeping. Not for a long time. He’d hidden the parent-teacher interview form for half-year results. He’d erased the message on the answer machine from his Maths teacher who wanted to speak with his parents. And the prank texts hadn’t stopped.

‘Mum says… Hey! Are you getting married or something?’ Nico’s brother, Andrew, stood in the doorway, mouth agape.

‘Yeah. That’s what’s happening,’ said Nico, as he tried the tie once more before shoving it back into his pocket.

Andrew ran from the room.

‘Muuuuum! Nico’s getting married.’

His phone beeped again and he checked it. It was from Poppy.

‘Don’t 4gt d purple tie. LY MU X U.’

‘Jacob! What’s going on?’ His mother marched into his room, a frown plastered on her face. ‘Where did you get that suit from? Where are you going?’

‘It’s the Formal,’ said Nico. ‘I told you about it.’