“Hey, Angie,” I said when I walked into our headquarters—a small study room tucked away in the back corner of the library. “Sorry I’m late.”
“Hey, Audrey,” he said, his eyes pinned to the screen of his laptop.
I dropped my school bag down and pulled out a chair.
“What are you working on today?” I asked.
His fingers paused over the keys, and his eyes flickered up to meet mine.
“I’m working on a tribute to Ana.”
I drew in a deep breath. “Yeah?”
Angie rubbed at his chin. His fingernails were painted with bright pink polish and finished with a smattering of rainbow glitter. Today he had rolled up the sleeves of his white polo shirt to show off his perpetual golden tan. He wore a tartan skirt over the school-issued gray tights, which he had neatly tucked into a pair of Doc Martens.
“I thought we could interview some of her friends, share their stories. I know Candela has some wild ones to tell—the two of them were as thick as thieves.”
I sat down and pulled my laptop from my bag.
“You know her boyfriend, Rad, don’t you?” he continued.
“Yeah,” I said, instantly feeling guarded. “But we’re not in touch anymore.”
“Really?” said Angie, his perfectly shaped eyebrows shooting up in surprise. “Since when?”
“It’s been a couple weeks or so,” I said with a shrug.
“Oh,” Angie shut the lid of his laptop and rested his chin in his hands. “I know it’s none of my business, Audrey, but I heard through the grapevine that the two of you had something going on.”
“What? From whom?”
“Just a few of my sources—you know.”
I rolled my eyes. “Aren’t there more interesting things to talk about?”
“It happens to be the trending topic at the moment.”
“Well, it must be a slow news week.”
“Is it true that Rad looks like River Phoenix?”
I thought about it for a moment. “Kind of, yeah.”
“Is he more like Mike Waters in My Own Private Idaho or Eddie Birdlace in Dogfight? Both are equally hot by the way.”
“Mike Waters.”
“I am so jealous right now.”
“Don’t be. There’s nothing to be jealous about.”
“So nothing happened between you?” Angie’s voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. “Not even a pash?”
“Of course not,” I insisted. “I have a boyfriend —remember?”
Angie sighed. “I love Duck. Everyone loves Duck. He’s a great guy, but he’s wrong for you, honey.”
“No, he’s not.”
“Yes, he is. You sit with a different clique. You two don’t have anything in common. Don’t get me wrong: Duck is great husband material, and he’s cute as hell. But the two of you—” he drew his hand across his neck in a cutthroat motion “—are doomed. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.”
My mother was at Duck’s place when I arrived there late that afternoon, sitting at the kitchen table with Zoe, a glass of wine in her hand.
“You look exhausted, Audrey. Have you been burning the midnight oil?” Zoe asked as I walked through the archway that separated her kitchen from the lounge room.
I nodded, putting my bag down by my mother’s chair.
“Poor kid. Duck has been the same.” She gave me a sympathetic smile. “The pressure they put on you is ridiculous, isn’t it? I still wake up in the middle of the night sometimes thinking I’m back at school and forgot to do my homework.”
“Seriously?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“Did you hear the latest news, Zoe?” said my mother. “Candela’s dropped out of school. You know, Amita’s girl?”
“Really? Right in the final term? What a shame.”
Mum shook her head. “I always knew that girl was bad news.”
“Don’t be nasty, Mum,” I said. “You don’t know the full story.”
“I’ve been hearing all sorts of things through the grapevine about the type of people she’s hanging out with now. Poor Amita—after the whole fiasco with Jeff walking out, it’s the last thing she needs.”
“Well, Lucy and I are going to meet up with her tomorrow,” I said.
“You’re not going to her house, I hope?”
“No,” I lied, “we’re going out for a coffee.”
Duck surfaced from his room a few moments later.
“Hi,” he said to me and turned to Zoe. “What’s for dinner?”
“Your dad is picking up some pizza on his way home. Should be here any minute.”
My mother glanced at her watch. “I didn’t realize how late it is. I’d best get home. Audrey, are you going to stay here for dinner?”
“Yeah, Duck is going to talk me through calculus later on.”
“Okay then. I’ll see you tonight.”
“I bumped into Lucy and Freddy today while I was in town,” said Duck. “They said Rad got you a birthday gift. How come you never mentioned it to me?”
It was shortly after dinner, and we were sitting in his dad’s study, our textbooks sprawled between us across the large desk. Duck’s dad ran a law firm in the city. His study at home was like an extension of his office, all mahogany and leather with rows and rows of intimidating legal books.
I put my pen down and looked up. “I don’t have to tell you every single detail of my life. Anyway, why would they mention that? Were you interrogating them?”
“No, we were just chatting about your birthday night, and Lucy asked if I saw the gift Rad got you because, in her words, it was so sweet.”
I cringed inwardly. I didn’t want Duck to get the wrong idea. I hadn’t even spoken to Rad since that night. Though there were times when I wished I could call him—and I would have too, if I hadn’t deleted his number from my phone.
“So, he got you a snow globe.”
“Yeah.”
“Why is that sweet? What’s so damn special about a snow globe?”
“Because I mentioned something about liking snowcapped mountains . . .”
“Oh, great, so now he knows more about you than I do.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“I thought you said you didn’t invite him.”
“I didn’t! I didn’t invite anyone—it was a spur-of-the-moment thing.”
“Then how did he know to get you a gift?”
“How am I supposed to know?”
“Well, he’s your friend. Apparently you seem to know a lot about each other.”
“You’re acting crazy again, Duck! It’s been weeks since I last spoke to him.”
“Why did you stop speaking to him? Did something happen between you?”
“No, of course not. The truth is we didn’t know each other that well, anyway, so it’s not a big deal.”
“If it’s not a big deal, then why don’t you keep hanging out with him?”
I didn’t have an answer.
“Everyone is talking about how the two of you have something going on. And you seemed pretty friendly with him at your birthday party.”
“I was friendly with everyone at my party. That’s how you behave toward your friends.”
“I saw the way you were looking at each other. I’m not a fucking idiot.”
“Stop it, Duck. Seriously. I’m your girlfriend, okay? Everyone knows that. I’m not going to talk to Rad anymore, especially if it upsets you this much. It’s not worth us fighting over.”
“Don’t talk as if you’re doing me a huge favor, Audrey.”
I felt tired all of a sudden. I couldn’t seem to do anything right. I stopped seeing Rad, and a large part of that was because of Duck, but it still wasn’t enough for him. What did he want from me? Not to talk to another boy for as long as I lived?
“Look, I think I should just go.” I grabbed my books and shoved them roughly into my bag. “I get enough shit from my mother.” My voice quivered and tears sprung to my eyes. “I don’t need it from you too.”