Dare You (8 page)

Slumped on the sofa, Khaden thought about making dinner, but decided to wait. Taj would probably be hanging out with the band and Mike would be at work, or the pub.

Not that it mattered. After what happened with Sas’s sister, Khaden needed time alone. He couldn’t shake Grace’s screams from his head, or the look on Sas’s mum’s face when she rushed in the front door. Then there was Sas—so calm amid the chaos. Ruby was pretty calm too and kept Eliza and Madison out of Sas’s way. He’d just stayed with Sas, feeling useless.

Khaden thought of the curve of Sas’s calf, the curl of hair on the nape of her neck. He wanted to rush to her to check she was okay, but there was no point if they were still at the hospital.

He and Sas definitely weren’t just friends any more. But what were they? And what would it mean to Ruby?

When the back door slammed, Khaden jumped. He expected it to be Taj, but Mike walked into the lounge, holding a box of fried chicken.

‘You haven’t eaten, have you?’ he asked.

‘No.’ Khaden sniffed the air for beer, but could only smell petrol, and the food.

Mike placed the box on the coffee table.

‘Chicken okay?’

‘Always.’ Khaden forced a smile.

Mike frowned. For a moment, Khaden wondered why; then he remembered the bruise. He reached forward and flipped open the box. Steam filled the air and the smell made his mouth water. ‘Haven’t had take-away chook for ages.’

Mike’s frown folded into a look of concern. ‘Does it hurt?’

Khaden shook his head and took a bite of a drumstick.

Mike looked away from his son’s face. ‘A doctor should take a look at that.’

‘It’s fine. Just bruised.’

‘Just the same—’

‘It’s fine,’ repeated Khaden.

Mike ran his hands through his hair. ‘Mate, this stuff between Taj and me...’

Khaden watched his father search for words.

‘We’re too alike, both too stubborn. When Taj and I ... just stay out of it, okay? Let us sort it out.’

Khaden dumped the chicken bone in the box.

‘Sort it out? You’ll kill each other first.’

‘Not if Taj keeps his mouth shut.’

‘Why do you have to react? Why can’t you ignore him like you used to tell me to?’

Mike hung his head.

‘You’re the adult, Dad.’

Mike slapped his knees. ‘I need a beer. Want anything?’

Something hot and bitter filled Khaden’s mouth. ‘I’m right.’

Khaden, Sas and I strolled down the corridor to the gym for our last school assembly for the year.

‘Starting the day with assembly sucks,’ said Khaden. ‘Do you reckon Bergman will lecture us about rubbish and keeping our shirts tucked in?’

‘Can Bergman talk about anything else? You must have to be obsessed with litter and uniforms to be a vice-principal, what do you reckon, Sas?’

Sas was on the other side of Khaden, head down and shoulders rounded. ‘Probably.’

‘Hey, how’s Grace, this morning?’ I asked.

Sas’s head snapped up. ‘Since when did you care?’

It was as though she’d slapped me. ‘What’s that supposed to mean? I sent about 100 texts last night, and left messages.’

Sas stopped walking and the other students surged past us. ‘If you hadn’t been “sooo thirsty” and made us go to
the supermarket, and if you hadn’t picked a fight with that old woman, I would have been home on time and Grace wouldn’t have been scalded.’

‘Are you
serious?
’

Sas folded her arms and tilted her head.

My mind swirled, my thoughts like leaves caught in a gust of wind. ‘Khaden, you were there.’

He raised both his hands. ‘Hey, keep me out of this.’

‘Don’t come over all caring now, Ruby, when it was all your fault.’ Sas flicked her hair over her shoulder and flounced towards the gym. Khaden hurried after her.

I stood in the middle of the hall, numb.

‘Problems with The Three Musketeers?’ asked Lyndal, her face covered in delight.

‘Whatever, Lyndal,’ I said, striding after Khaden and Sas.

In assembly, I sat at the back of the gym, near the geeks, rows behind Sas and Khaden. Bergman’s voice washed over me. All I could think about was the scorn in Sas’s eyes and how cruel she sounded. When Lyndal stood to receive her ‘citizenship award’, the air in the gym seemed thick and heavy. My hands tingled and my vision blurred. I had to get out of there, fast. When I stumbled to my feet and turned to run, The Fink blocked my path.

‘Gonna spew,’ I muttered. That moved her. I sprinted down the corridor to the toilets.

Last night sucked. Really sucked. The doctor said me sticking Grace in the shower made a big difference. Wish that made me feel better. I can’t get Grace’s voice out of my head, or the look on Mum’s face when she rushed into the bathroom.

Mum’s with the plumber now. He’s changing the temperature of our hot water.

Dad’s in the lounge room playing monopoly with Maddie and Eliza, and Grace is snuggled on his lap. At least Dad didn’t bring Lee.

Khaden heard the back door slam over the Arctic Monkey’s riff he was learning to play. He strained to recognise the footsteps. Taj or Dad?

‘Oi, KD.’

Khaden breathed out. ‘In my bedroom,’ he called, still playing the guitar.

Taj stood in the doorway. ‘Sounds good.’

‘Meh.’ Khaden stopped strumming and rested his chin on his guitar. ‘First time I’ve tried it.’

Taj walked across the room and sprawled on his brother’s bed, arms clasped behind his head. ‘Meyer rang this morning. What’s he, the vice-principal or something?’

Khaden tensed. ‘Year coordinator.’

Taj nodded and turned to look out the window.

‘So?’

‘So what?’

‘So, what did he want?’ Khaden’s palms felt sweaty.

‘Easy, tiger,’ said Taj.

‘Easy? If he speaks to Dad—’

‘Mate, if he’d spoken to Dad, you’d know about it by now.’

Khaden placed the guitar on the stand. ‘You don’t get it, Taj. Meyer asked me why I wasn’t at school yesterday, and if our stories—’

‘What did you tell him?’

Taj’s calm was driving Khaden nuts. ‘That I had gastro. Again.’

‘And that’s what I told him. ‘Course, when he said you’d been away a couple of days I had to carry on about how crook you were and how Dad had it too.’

‘Did he buy it?’

‘Of course he bought it. I am the master.’ Taj, sat up and leant towards Khaden. ‘Want to tell me why you’re ditching?’

‘Couldn’t turn up with this, could I?’ Khaden pointed to his bruised cheek. ‘Taj, thanks for ... you know...’

‘Yeah, well, don’t make it a habit, okay? Dad will find out eventually. Anyway, you’re smart, KD. Smarter than me. Don’t waste that.’ Taj stood. ‘Up for a little competition?’

Khaden groaned.

‘You owe me, bud.’

‘Come on, Taj, not PlayStation. I’m over it.’

‘You can’t be over the brand new Guitar Hero
Legends.
’

‘Serious?’

Taj grinned. ‘Absolutely.’

Khaden jumped up. ‘Prepare to be owned!’

Since assembly yesterday, I’d felt disjointed and fuzzy, like I was here, but not. Maybe there was something wrong with me, cancer, or my heart was stuffed. I’d seen on a reality TV medical show that teenagers could have heart attacks.

To make sure my heart wasn’t the problem, I kept checking my pulse in class—not that you could call what we’d been doing
class.
In Economics we watched two episodes of
Lano and Woodley;
for Art and Design, Arty Harty made us clean all the paint brushes in turps; and in English, we played Who Am I? Of course, all the people were characters from books. Ms Dimasi needs to get a life. Anyway, as far as I could tell, my pulse felt normal.

For the first time since we’d been at secondary school, I didn’t mind that Sas, Khaden and I were in different classes. When the lunch bell rang, I grabbed my lunch and rushed outside before they reached the lockers. I sat under the gum
tree in the courtyard, eating a salad sandwich and watching the cool kids in my year throw water bombs at the geeks. The geeks were holding their own.

Lyndal copped a water bomb to the guts.

The Fink’s squeaky voice cut through the squeals and laughter.

‘Enough,’ she yelled as she thundered like a cartoon character down the path from the staff room.

‘Where have you been?’ I jumped at the sound of Sas’s voice.

‘We’ve been looking for you everywhere.’ Khaden dropped to the grass beside me. He held his backpack to his chest and grinned.

Sas, red in the face and puffing, sat beside him.

I slipped my sandwich back into the paper bag. ‘Didn’t see you guys in the locker room,’ I tried to sound brighter than I felt. ‘Figured I’d come out here and watch the show.’

The Fink had gathered the water bombers around her and was going off her head, pointing her finger and stamping her foot.

‘Coming?’ asked Sas. Her eyes twinkled. She looked like the old Sas.

‘Where are we going?’

‘More to the point,
what
are we doing?’ Sas winked.

Khaden beamed. ‘Time for another “adventure”, Ruby.’

A mixture of excitement and fear bubbled through me.

‘We broke into the cooking room,’ whispered Sas.

‘What?’ I screeched.

Sas frowned. ‘Keep your voice down! It’s no big deal. Someone left the door open, so we just walked in.’

‘Yeah, but we had to climb through that weird window above the pantry door to get into there,’ added Khaden.

‘The pantry? Did you steal Ms Grey-Jones’ red frogs?’ Our Food Technology teacher used either red frogs or mini chocolate bars to bribe us to clean up the room.

‘No, better than that.’ Khaden unzipped his bag.

I peered inside. ‘Is that...’ I realised I was yelling, stopped and adjusted my volume. ‘Is that cling wrap?’

Sas nodded. ‘Yep, industrial-kitchen-sized rolls.’ She stood up. ‘Come on, while everyone’s distracted.’

‘But what are we going to do?’ I asked.

Khaden reached out and heaved me to my feet. ‘Wrap a Christmas present for The Fink.’

The staff car park was down the side of the school,

behind the classrooms and out of bounds.

Khaden glanced at the empty rooms. ‘We have fifteen minutes before the bell.’ He tossed a roll of cling wrap at Ruby and handed one to Sas. ‘So we need to move.’

Sas ripped open the box. ‘I’ll do the front.’

‘Cool, I’ll do the middle. Ruby, the boot’s yours.’ Ruby’s terrified face made Khaden laugh. ‘Bloody hell, Ruby, we’re not setting fire to the thing, we’re just wrapping it. We won’t scratch or dint it.’

‘Yeah, but...’

Sas rolled her eyes. ‘The Fink will take it as a joke. Won’t she, Khaden?’

Khaden slid under the car. ‘Yep. Anyway, she’s not going to know who did it.’

Sas and Khaden worked quickly. Ruby dithered around the back.

Sas finished draping plastic around the driver’s-side wheel. ‘Front’s done.’

Khaden slid out from under the car. ‘I’m done too.’

They glanced at Ruby.

‘We’ll help you finish, chicken.’ Khaden started on the bumper bar.

‘I’m not chicken. I’m just not using much, you know, for the environment.’

‘Yeah right, that’s what she’s worried about.’ Sas laughed as she wrapped the back wheels.

Ruby opened her mouth, shut it again and stepped back from the car. ‘So, how does The Fink get in?’

‘Who cares?’ said Sas. ‘How good does it look?’

‘Awesome,’ said Khaden. He did a lap of the car and stood beside Ruby, arms folded.

‘I guess it does look good.’ Ruby, looked over her shoulder at the classrooms. ‘Hey, that was Lyndal, I swear. Lyndal was at my homeroom window. I saw her!’

Khaden patted her shoulder. ‘Easy, Ruby. The classrooms are locked until the bell, remember?

‘But, it was—’

The bell echoed off the school building.

Ruby was just about tied in a knot. ‘Lyndal ... honest...’

‘Come on.’ Khaden dragged her by the arm.

Sas grinned. ‘Let’s dump the evidence and go enjoy the show!’

‘Shove it in my backpack,’ said Khaden. ‘I’ll dump it on the way home.’

Dad slammed the driver’s door and Mum buckled her seatbelt. I stared out the window.

In the station wagon beside us, Lou’s mouth was moving in a silent tirade at a bored-looking Sas. Past Sas, I could see Mike’s stony face as he reversed out of the car park. Gravel sprayed as he sped down the school drive. Some people sweat, but these days, Mike gave off something else.

‘What the hell were you thinking?’ Dad’s voice broke into my thoughts.

Mum sighed. ‘Stuart, this can wait until we are at home.’

I rested my head against the cool window.

‘Sit up,’ snapped Dad. ‘And don’t pull that face.’

‘What face?’ I asked.

‘Stuart, please, let’s discuss this at home.’ Mum shifted in her seat, craning her neck to look at the windows facing the visitors’ car park.

‘Yeah, so we don’t make a scene,’ I said, my voice flat.

‘What the hell is wrong with you?’ snarled Dad. ‘You’re a nightmare. Rude, smart-mouthed—’

‘Like you’d notice.’ I couldn’t look at him. ‘You’re never at home. You’re always at
meetings
or playing
golf.
’

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ His voice made the hairs on my arm stand on end.

Mum gripped Dad’s forearm. ‘Stuart, drive. Now.’

He jingled his keys before starting the car. Every time I glanced up, Dad’s eyes were staring at me in the rear view mirror. By the time we turned into our street, a thick soup of tension filled the car.

Dad wrenched the handbrake. ‘Inside. Now.’ He hadn’t sounded so angry since Mrs Kozaris, Harrison’s best friend’s mum, brought Harrison home blind-drunk on goon.

I dawdled inside and leant against the kitchen bench.

Dad sat at the head of the table. Mum sat beside him and pulled out a chair for me.

I slipped into the chair opposite.

‘What on earth were you thinking, Ruby?’ asked Mum. Her hair was lank and her eyes didn’t sparkle.

‘I don’t know. I wasn’t thinking about anything.’

‘As usual,’ muttered Dad.

Mum ignored him. ‘Was it worth it? You, Sas and Khaden are suspended and will miss out on the last day of school tomorrow—the trip to Torquay, surfing and—’

‘I heard Bergman,’ I said, interrupting her.

‘Do you realise how serious this is, Ruby?’ asked Dad.

‘It was just a joke, okay? It’s not like we damaged The Fink’s car or anything.’

Dad’s lips were tight lines.

‘You’re lucky she didn’t press criminal charges.’

‘Right,’ I leant back and folded my arms. ‘Crimes against plastic cling wrap and baby-blue Volvos.’

Dad slapped the table with his open hand. ‘This is not funny.’

‘Nothing’s funny.’ I stared at the nectarine tree in the back yard and noticed that hard green fruit had replaced the blossoms. When we were in primary school, Mum used to go off at Harrison and me for picking the unripe nectarines and chucking them over the fence at the neighbour’s cat.

‘Ruby, something is obviously upsetting you,’ said Mum, leaning towards me. ‘Talk to us.’

I bit my bottom lip.

Dad scoffed. ‘This is pointless, Ginny. It’s time Ruby took responsibility for her actions.’

‘Like you do.’

Dad flinched, his eyes wide. ‘You, young lady, are grounded.’

‘But that’s not fair,’ I yelled. ‘School has already punished me.’

‘And now you’re punished at home, too. As well as being grounded, there will be extra jobs around here. Starting with the washing.’

‘Oh, come on. That’s Harrison’s job. That’s so—’

‘Tough luck,’ snapped Dad.

My heart thundered in my head. I fought the urge to punch Dad in his smug face and tell him what I knew. I had to get out of there. ‘Fine I’m grounded. Whatever.’ I ran up stairs, two at a time, and threw myself on my bed.