Three Words: A Novella Collection (12 page)

“
So,” he said.

“
So.”

“
Here we are.”

“
Yes. Here we are.”

A waitress
arrived to take their order and having decided on freshly squeezed
juices, they sat and stared at each other. And stared. Then Nate
said, “Is that the ring I gave you?” His eyes indicated the garnet
ring Georgie wore on her middle finger. She’d had it since they
were eleven. When it had gotten too small, her mother had taken it
to the jewelers and had and extra piece of silver inserted into the
back of the band.

“
Yes.”

“
I can’t believe you still have it.”

“
I wear it every day. Not because of you, though. I’m not,
like, living in the past or anything,” she clarified. “I just think
it’s pretty.”

Nate was
silent for a moment. “Remember that time at the movies when you
thought you’d lost it?”

How could she
forget? She’d made him crawl around on the floor in the dark,
looking for it. He’d banged his head on the metal of the seat
during the search and ended up with an eggshaped lump near his
hairline. Then, they’d almost got kicked out when he stuck his hand
under the seat in front and inadvertently felt up the woman’s foot
who was sitting there. She accused him of being a pervert.

“
That lady screamed blue murder,” Georgie giggled. “She
thought you had one of those foot-sniffing fetishes.”

“
All I had was a lump on my head and a bruised ego. I was
trying so hard to impress you with my search and rescue
skills.”

“
And it was in the cuff of my shorts, the whole time. God
knows how it got there.” Georgie remembered the incident well. She
also remembered another day at the movies with Nate. Did he
remember that?

The waitress
returned with their drinks, placing them down on the table. Georgie
swizzled her straw and looked out at the river. Nate concentrated
on the people getting off the ferry at the end of the dock.

“
When’d you dye your hair?”

At school,
Georgie’s hair had been a long golden brown sheath that had hung
down her back. Dirty blonde her mother used to call it. Nate used
to call her his ‘Little Mermaid’.

“
A long time now. I changed the color when I lived in Sydney.
I guess it stuck.”

“
I like it. But you don’t look like you. When I saw you back
there on the path, I didn’t recognize you, not until you took off
your sunnies.”

Thank God,
that was all it had been.

“
I was worried you’d actually forgotten me, like, blocked me
from your mind. Not that it would matter if you had,” she rushed
on, “but, well, you know.”

Nate gazed
across the table at her. Then he reached into his wallet and pulled
out a photo, placing it on the table between them. It was faded and
worn around the edges but Georgie could clearly see the younger
version of them, sitting together on the beach at Cottosloe, his
arm slung easily around her shoulder. Georgie’s hair was blowing
across her face and her lips, purple with cold, were on Nate’s
cheek. He looked happy as he laughed into the lens. So did she. In
the corner of the photo, a yellowing piece of sticky tape held a
lock of hair that was obviously hers from many years ago.

Georgie stared
at the picture for some time and when she raised her head, she
noticed the expression on Nate’s face had changed.

“
You think I could ever forget you, Georgie? You were my first
love.”

So, it had
been real.

Chapter 4

For the
remainder of Primary School, Georgie and Nate were inseparable.
They went everywhere together, did everything together. If Georgie
was having a slumber party, Nate was invited, even though the rest
of the participants were girls. He’d sit stoically for hours while
they braided his hair into cornrows or threaded beads into
bracelets, which they made him wear around the house. He drew the
line at nail polish, though. There was no way he was letting any
girl put that stuff on him. He was a bloke.

When Nate had
friends over, Georgie was automatically included. She played soccer
with them and followed along as they sped their pushbikes down
Oceanic Drive. Nate taught Georgie how to surf and she tagged along
on their early morning trips to the beach. She could surf way
better than any of the guys, except him. Of course, Georgie could
have easily shown him up, if she wanted to, but Nate was her
friend. She didn’t mind putting the other boys in their places but
she wasn’t about to embarrass him for the sake of being better.
When Georgie and Nate surfed together, she always let him get the
best waves.

Then one
summer, when they were both approaching fourteen, Georgie and Nate
were invited to a birthday. Georgie’s friend Tara was having a
mixed party at the movies. Tara’s mother had organized a private
screening of
Men in Black
. It was the first time boys had
been included and the girls were frenetic with excitement. Maggie
had even had her hair professionally straightened for the occasion,
at a cost of three hours and more pocket money than Georgie saw in
six months. Georgie couldn’t see the big deal. Her and Nate had
been going to the movies together since they were nine. Last time
they went, he’d eaten all the popcorn as well as two ice-cream
cones. Her mother had to stop the car on the side of the road on
the way home so he could throw up. And boys and girls going to the
movies together wasn’t a good idea. The boys never liked the same
movies the girls did. Still, it would be fun to see her friends and
eat some cake.

When the day
of the movie event arrived, Georgie had to admit she was excited.
Her mother had bought her a new pair of jeans shorts and a blue top
with sequins around the neckline. She was going to wear her
favorite red jelly sandals and the necklace with the ‘G’ that Nate
had given her for Christmas last year. Maybe she’d even try out the
lip-gloss she’d bought at
Diva
. All her friends wore
lip-gloss.

As she stood
in front of the bathroom mirror, admiring her new mascara’d
reflection, Georgie wondered briefly what Nate would think. He
probably wouldn’t notice and if did and he hated the new look, he
wouldn’t comment. Nate liked her no matter what. He told her all
the time. He even liked her when she reeked of garlic, which was
often. Georgie’s mum was going through an Italian cooking
phase.

Georgie was
the last to arrive at the movie theatre but she didn’t mind, being
first was bad in her book. You stood around looking like a dufus
waiting for a friend and you had to pretend to be interested in
stuff you didn’t give two hoots about so you looked casual and not
nervy. She walked over to where Tara stood with the rest of the
group and gave her the present she’d bought earlier in the week.
Tara loved music. Georgie hoped she liked the CD she’d picked
out.

As they made
their way into the theatre, Nate caught up to her, nudging her arm
with his elbow in his usual greeting style. He was dressed up that
day, wearing jeans of all things. Nate never wore jeans in summer.
He liked board shorts.

“
Hi Georgie.”

“
Hi.”

“
You’re late today.”

“
I had to get changed after ballet.”

“
I’m glad you’re here,” he said, grabbing hold of her hand and
dragging her towards the double doors of the theatre. “You can save
me from Jessica. She’s being annoying again.”

It was no
secret the Jessica had a crush on Nate. She followed him around
like a puppy, even inviting herself along when they went to the
beach. Not that Jessica surfed. She was a girlie girl. She sat on
the sand in her sparkly bikini and watched. She jumped up and down
and applauded Nate’s prowess so that her breasts jiggled. It was
very distracting. One time, after a particularly rigorous display,
a couple of the boys fell off their surfboards.

Georgie gave a
giggle. “Nathan’s got a girlfriend, Nathan’s got a girlfriend,” she
teased.

“
Shut up. She’s not my girlfriend. The only girlfriend I have
is you.”

Georgie
refrained from reminding him that she hadn’t been his girlfriend
since they got married in his wardrobe when they were eight. They
were mates.

“
You look pretty, by the way,” he said, as they shuffled along
the row to their seats. He put the snacks down in between them.
“That top looks nice.”

“
It’s new.”

“
Well, it looks good. You look good.” His cheery blue eyes
glanced over her body before coming to rest on her face. For some
reason, Georgie felt herself blushing.

“
Thank you.”

Then Nate’s
focus moved to her lips and Georgie reddened even more. So much for
him not noticing the lip-gloss. His eyes were stuck to it, like her
lips were made of Super Glue. Trying to concentrate on something,
anything other than the way he was looking at her, Georgie twisted
at the garnet ring he’d given her because he said it matched her
eyes. She shoved her hands between her knees, wiggling her legs up
and down. He was making her feel all weird inside. It was very
uncomfortable.

“
Georgie?”

Georgie
pretended to watch the previews that had come up on the screen.
“Hmm?”

“
Nothing.” Nate half-turned towards the movie too, a queer
look on his face. Then he blurted, “Are you wearing
lipstick?”

Geez, what was
his problem? It was as if by putting on a bit of make-up she’d
transformed from best friend Georgie to a new Georgie he’d never
known existed and now he couldn’t stop staring. But she hadn’t done
it to make Nate notice her. She’d only wanted to be like the other
girls.

“
Is there something wrong with that?”

Nate shrugged.
“Nup. I like you better without it, though. It makes you look like
you ate too many toffee apples. I like you better when you’ve just
got out of the surf and your hair’s all messy.”

So much for
never commenting on her looks.

“
And I like you better when you’re not being an idiot. If you
don’t cut it out, I’ll swap places with Jessica and leave you to
fight her off.”

“
You wouldn’t dare.”

“
Watch me.” Half joking, Georgie stood up in her place, waving
to the girl further down the row. “Hey, Jessica…”

Quicker than
she could say popcorn, Nate yanked her back into her seat. His
expression was desperate. “Alright, Alright. I didn’t mean it.
Please, don’t leave. Don’t make me sit next to Jessica. The way she
looks at me is scary.”

Sort of like
the way he’d been looking at her a minute ago.

Georgie shook
her head. Honestly, sometimes Nate was clueless. He pretended to be
cool and stuff but really, he was clueless. “That’s because she’s
hot for you, silly.”

Nate slunk
down in his seat, giving a sideways glance to where the other girl
sat. “Well, I’m not hot for her. She’s loud and her boobs are way
too big.”

Georgie would
lay bets that Nate hadn’t shared that fact with any of his other
friends. Chest size seemed to be their main topic of conversation
these days.

The movie
started and the pair settled down. Because the theatre was empty
apart from the birthday party, there was plenty of room to spread
out so Georgie bent her long legs onto the seat in front of her.
Nate did the same and together they dug into the huge bucket of
popcorn and took alternate sips of the Coke Nate had bought. Some
of the other kids had paired off as soon as the lights had dimmed
and were sitting very close to each other but not Georgie and Nate.
They were just, well, Georgie and Nate, two best friends.

As the opening
credits appeared, Georgie felt Nate sneeze and his shoulder rub
against hers. It sounded like his Hay Fever was playing up again.
Nate suffered terribly in summer. Only last week, he’d been to a
doctor about getting his nostrils desensitized but they wanted to
wait till he finished growing. Personally, Georgie hoped he didn’t
grow another centimeter. He already looked like a giraffe and he
towered so far over her, she needed a stepladder to look him in the
eye. She turned to enquire if he was okay but he was staring
straight at the screen like it hadn’t even happened. Deciding he
was probably fine, she dug her hand into the bucket of popcorn and
did the same.

Then, Nate
sneezed a second time. This time his hand simultaneously came to
rest on her bare knee. What was he doing? He never touched her
unless it was to punch her in the arm. He’d given her a hug once
when she got upset over that dog movie — the dog had died — but as
soon as she’d stopped crying he’d gone back to normal. She watched,
appalled as he lifted the armrest and scrooched closer, his eyes
never leaving the screen. A vein pumped rapidly in the side of his
neck. Clearly, something was up. This wasn’t like Nate at all.

“
What’re you doing?” she hissed, indicating the position of
his body touching hers.

“
Nothing.”

“
You have your hand on my knee.”

“
I know. I thought it was what you wanted me to do,” he
whispered, so quietly she had to practically put her ear to his
mouth to hear him. His hand gave her knee a cursory rub.

“
Why would you think that?”

“
You’re wearing lipstick and you bought a new top. Isn’t that
what girls do when they want a guy to notice them?”

And before she
could think of an appropriate come-back, Nate leant into her chest,
and, pressing her back into the red velvet of the seat, locked his
lips with hers. They were soft and warm and not at all what Georgie
expected. Her body began to quiver. Butterflies flew around in the
pit of her stomach. The bucket of popcorn fell into her lap and
spilled between them.